There are so many techniques for scrapbooking and just as many tools. Cropping is one of the many techniques for your scrap booking. There are also necessary tools for adding the cropping technique to your scrapbook pages or decorative cards. In this article we will discuss the cropping techniques and necessary tools.
Cropping is defined as the removal of the outsides of a picture or other image to improve the framing of the picture or image. In scrapbooking you will want to add your pictures onto your pages with some type of decorative finish. This is done more easily when you first crop your photo. Here we will take a look at some of the different cropping techniques including some do’s and don’t for cropping. We will also look at some of the necessary tools for easier cropping of your pictures or other images.
You will want to start with a picture that was taken after 1950 or from an instant camera this will insure that the picture is preserved well. Make sure you aren’t cropping out any special elements like landmarks or signs that were meant to be in the picture. Basically you will want to keep anything on the picture that helps indicate the place, time or mood of the picture when it was being taken.
After you have your photo or image that you want to crop you will need to mark your lines. Tools that are necessary for this would include a straight edged ruler and a marking pencil. You can also use a personal trimmer to help you keep the lines straight or there are tools for rounding the corners of your photo to give a unique look. These tools will mark where you want the cut and some will even cut it for you. You will then use scissors to cut out the empty spaces or anything else you want cropped out. A good pair of straight edged scissors should also be a necessary tool, even if you do have a personal trimmer.
Some techniques for cropping your photo or image would include using different shapes to highlight your photo. You can buy plastic templates with certain shapes that are ready for you to use. You just trace the shape on the back of the photo and then cut along the lines. This will give you many different techniques to use with different photos and page layouts.
Decorative scissors are also a good technique in cropping your photos. This will give a nice decorative edge to the photos. There are many different types of scissors to choose from, they are also available in sets. Just make sure that the scissors are sharp before cutting into a picture and possible ruining it.
Another technique would include cropping and then enlarging the photo. First you would crop the unnecessary parts of your photo and then enlarge the photo with either the internet or help from a photo store. This way you get the image you want and not the unwanted background. You may also need to crop the photo to add a balance to the photo if it was not centered right.
The only tools that may be necessary when cropping photos or other images is scissors, straight edged rulers, and a marking pencil. There are many different types of personal trimmers out there to make an easier cut but it all depends on what you feel comfortable with and how much you want to spend.
Remember when cropping your photos or images that your main reason for cropping is to give you more space per page and to enhance some of the pages. Don’t crop everything. Make sure that you really want that certain photo cropped because you won’t be able to go back. Make sure your scissors or trimmers are sharp so they don’t pull the photos and cause tearing.
Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Fri 7 Mar 2008