Printing Digital Scrapbook Pages

A few of you have asked me how I print my digital scrapbook pages. I print a few different ways. I've printed individual pages and slid the pages into traditional scrapbook albums. I've printed lay flat books, and then I've printed just a typical scrapbook photo album. I use Persnickety Prints for my individual pages. I use AdoramaPix for my lay flat books and I use Blurb for my typical scrapbook. I really love all of these options, and I've chosen different books for different reasons. I don't think I could choose a favorite!

I'm going to quickly go over each.

Here's one of the Blurb books I had printed. It's a 12x12 book with over 100 pages. Look how slim it is! It fits nicely on my bookshelf without taking up lots of space.

Read full review here.

Here's what the inside looks like. I choose to have the white border around each page so I don't have to worry about losing anything (with bleed and trimming) on the edges of my scrapbook pages.

Here's a review on my first Blurb book.

This is a  lay flat book from AdoramaPix. This was a 10x10 book with about 27 pages. It's definitely a little bit bulkier than the Blurb book. It's tougher than the Blurb book, and it will definitely stand up to some wear and tear. I've printed two lay flat books. I usually save them for smaller, more special albums since they are a little bulkier and a little bit more expensive. Plus the page limit on these lay flat books doesn't usually fit my 100+ page yearly albums.

And since I don't typically plan ahead for bleed and trimming (the edge around your page that could get cut off in the printing process). Sometimes the edges of my page get cut off. You can see in this image that it cut a little too close to my title. If you plan to do a lay-flat book you definitely need to plan for bleed and trimming. *look for a tip below

Since it's a lay-flat book you don't have to worry about losing anything in the gutter (where the fold/middle meets). I think lay flat books are great for double pagers where you want a seamless meeting in the middle.

One of the first ways I ever printed my pages was individual 12x12 pages. I would print them and just slide them into a traditional scrapbook album. I still do that with some of my albums. I use Persnickety Prints to print my individual pages so I do not need to worry about bleed and trimming at all (that's what's nice about Persnickety's individual pages!). I will lose none of the digital scrapbook page in the printing and cutting process. Plus if I want to add a page later (maybe I forgot some pics) it's easy to remove and arrange your pages. Well, maybe not so easy, but it can be done, unlike a printed book.

Here are some 8x8 printed pages from Persnickety Prints.

And I've never done a full review on my individual 12x12 albums, but here are some pics I took today of some of my "traditional" digital scrapbook albums.

No worries about gutter, bleed or trimming.

And look at that detail. It almost looks real!

The Digi Files has also comprised a great list of Photo Album Reviews. If you are researching what kind of album to print this might be a good place to start.

I just learned that Shutterfly now has a lay flat book that can hold over 100 pages. I *might* try this for my 2014 Daily Life Project Album. I think I'll have to start saving my pennies now. I know it will be quite expensive to print it as a lay flat book, but I know it will be worth it in the long run.

*Here's the Tip:
Since I'm thinking about trying the lay flat book for my 2014 album, I've been setting guides on my 2014 pages to make sure I don't lose any important journaling, titles or photos. Jenn wrote up a little tutorial on how to do that here. I'm also going to be putting together a little video tutorial soon to show you how I'm doing it on my end. Look for that soon!

I hope this helps you decide how to print those precious scrapbook pages. If you've never printed them I highly recommend it. My girls just LOVE to look at our albums. It's just so much better than looking at them on a computer screen.

-Liz
*This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are 100% my own.