Scrapbooking with Black and White Photos

My friend hosted a scrapbooking party a couple years ago and included me on the invitation list. Never scrapbooked in my life I couldn't figure out why she invited me.

It turned out to be "perfect timing"... two weeks before her party, my husband came back from visiting his parents with a bag full of photos.

My first scrapbooking project began dealing with those old, but cherished black and white photos.

Fortunately, the photos were in good shape with only a few faded or discolored from age.

If your photos are showing signs of aging and damage, there is not much you can do to reverse it. With today's software

packages, you can scan the photo, make corrections and print it. Adobe software is my personal favorite. Now you have a duplicate of your photo to use in your scrapbook.

You can also take your photo to a professional restoration company. Many camera shops offer this service.

Preventing further damage to your photos starts with selecting the proper paper for mounting and backgrounds

Look for acid free, lignin free paper. Acid and lignin accelerate photo fading and general deterioration. These chemicals will gradually yellow and crumble your paper and photos.

Storage and temperature play an intricate role in photo preservation. Store your cherished, older photographs in a dark storage environment like your scrapbook album. Ideally keep your album stored at 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) or less with a relative humidity of 20-50 percent.

Stacking works great for Tupperware(tm) but not your photos. Store your prints and albums vertically.

Creative Memories(tm) offers neutral color album pages which naturally enhances black and white photos. Especially those with decorative borders.

Take your black and white photos with you when you visit your local scrapbooking store. You'll find many time period stickers and colored paper to showcase your photos. Having your photos with you will make finding what you need easier.

This was my first scrapbook project and I found it challenging at first. But soon discovered scrapping with black and white photos provides an advantage over color photos. You can select any color theme for your pages.

One treatment I used in this scrapbook was to build some of my color theme around a few of the faded photos. You can view a sample layout here: http://www.fastscrapbooking.com/articles/b-w-photo.html

Don't let black and white photos intimidate you...Creating an album offers a great way to preserve your family history.

Ann Rusnak is the owner of fastscrapbooking.com. She discovered scrapbooking as a great way to relax when taking time off from running her business. For more articles and resources, visit http://www.fastscrapbooking.com

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