Pictures and photos are the basis for any scrapbook page layout. Although colour photos give a sense of realism it is well worth experimenting with black and white photos which will give your scrapbook pages a timeless look. Most printing companies can offer to have your pictures developed in either colour or black and white so why not have one of each and see which one looks best.

If you are attempting to capture a black and white photo for the first time it is important to make sure the lighting is just right to achieve the best possible photo. It is recommended that black and white photos should be taken with natural light and during the day so no flash is therefore required.

There is a range of older style scrapbook paper to choose from which will compliment a black and white photo. You really will be spoilt for choice. The important thing is to capture the mood within the photo. You can then add some colour and scrapbook quotes to create a beautiful scrapbook page layout.

It is always nice to have a photo with someone posing exactly as you want however if all your scrapbook pages are like this you will soon lose the whole concept of why a scrapbook album is made. Having real life action pictures mean you can use imaginative scrapbook quotes and each scrapbook page layout will be totally unique and will tell a story.

If you have memorabilia from when the picture was taken such as tickets or receipts adding these items to the pages can give your scrapbook page layouts a real personal and distinctive appearance.

When designing your page layouts always begin with the picture and where you want to place the picture on the page. Then find the papers that match and get a rough idea of what embellishments you will be using. Remember you do not have to keep a 12 x 12 sheet of paper as it is, mix and match other papers, use techniques such as ripping and tearing to create something totally distinctive.

Be careful when adding more than one picture when creating your scrapbook page layouts. Remember it will look far better with less pictures than if you over crowd it with several. The best way is to find the pictures from a certain event lay them all down and choose one or two of the best ones. You can crop and cut some of the others but it is wise not to have too many the same shape and size as your scrapbook pages will begin to look like a standard photo album. Alternatively you could do a double page layout giving you more room if you really can not choose between the photos you have.