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Article by Rebecca Bennett

Scrapbooks have gone through many changes over the years. New styles, new materials, new technologies have all contributed to evolution of this craft medium. Now that the PC and PC based printers are widely used, the scrapbook can go more high tech, with digital images, page layout programs, and scrapbook fonts especially designed to enhance scrapbook pages.

When creating a scrapbook, labeling the pictures and other material is an important consideration. If you have a large extended family that goes over the scrapbook regularly, labeling may not be as big an issue. People will remember which one aunt Jeanine and which one is aunt Jeanette.

But, as families age and the people in the pictures pass away, it is more and more important to include information about each picture in the scrapbook layout. That way you are preserving information along with the images. This is even more essential if the scrapbook has a particular underlying theme.

In a sports themed scrapbook, scores, records, and other stats can be just as important as the picture of Billy making the winning touchdown.

In historical or heritage scrapbooks, outlining family or community history, the facts are what makes the pictures come to life.

Traditionally, the person with the best handwriting in the family would letter the names, dates and personal information near the pictures in the scrapbook. Now, with computers, your personal handwriting takes a back seat to computer generated characters. Scrapbook fonts were developed to make this technology even more effective at helping you make quality scrapbooks.

A font is simply a lettering style, traditionally done with pen and ink or typesetting. Most PCs come with a word or text processing program that can use multiple fonts. Some are good imitations of hand or typeset fonts of the past, while others are creative innovations that would be difficult or impossible to create using older methods.

There are two ways to use computer based scrapbook fonts… The old school method is the cut and paste. Unlike the computer equivalent, this is a literal description of the action. You first print the text on paper. Next you cut the sections of text out and paste in onto the scrapbook page near the image or other element you want to describe.

The second method is more computer centric, but requires a little additional planning on your part. Text created with scrapbook fonts can be printed directly onto the page that is to be included in the scrapbook. Special scrapbook printer paper is available for this.If the photos are digital, they can be printed on the page at the same time as the text using special software tools.This technique can be used for traditional photos as well. Just set up the page with spaces for the photos to be pasted in.

Here are a few tips to help make your selection and use of scrapbook fonts more effective.

–> Be creative. Take some time to look at what is out there in scrapbook fonts. And it will take some time. Hundreds of scrapbook fonts are available for download at various Internet sites, most for free. Try out samples in your word processor using the Preview function before you decide on which scrapbook font or fonts you want to use.

–> Choose your scrapbook fonts carefully. Remember that the function of the text is to highlight the images, not overpower them. Make sure that the fonts are readable. Some fonts may look really cool, but are hard to read.

–> If you use multiple scrapbook fonts on the same page, make sure that they work together. Making a scrapbook page is like putting together a room or an outfit. If the elements work well together, the overall look is good. If they clash, then the effect can be spoiled.

–> Make sure that the scrapbook fonts relate to the material, theme and style of the book. Using a old western style font on a wedding themed scrapbook won’t work unless the bridesmaid were dressed as dance hall girls.

–> Old fashioned font styles are great for old fashioned themes, but more contemporary scrapbooks would benefit from more modern scrapbook fonts.

–> Make sure that your use of fonts is consistent. If you select a combination of fonts for banners, headers and text on page one, you should use the same combination in the rest of the scrapbook, unless there is a significant thematic shift in the book. For example, a scrapbook may be divided into sections based on the age of the people in the pictures. Baby picture pages could have a different scrapbook font scheme than the school, graduation and wedding sections, but each page in each section should use the same theme.

–> Don’t let the print to be too busy. The idea is to balance the visual images with the text. Much like baking a cake or making a soup, if one ingredient overpowers the rest, the effect is lessened.

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