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When you start to collect a number of prints, you need to get them out of boxes and into albums so that friends and family can enjoy them. There are two main kinds of photo albums you can use-traditional albums or scrapbooks. Each has clear advantages and disadvantages due to the look you ultimately want for you photographs.

Traditional photo albums are a quick and easy way to get your pictures organized. They’re also relatively cheap, which is important if you take a high volume of pictures that you then make into prints. When buying a traditional photo album, always look for a label that reads “acid free,” “photo safe,” or “archival quality.” This will ensure that your pictures will stay as safe as possible from the harmful chemicals in the world around us. Never use an old-fashioned magnetic photo album.

While these were popular in the past, they contain high levels of acid, explaining why photographs and newspaper clippings stored in them turn yellow or otherwise discolor within a few years. When buying a traditional photo album, also look for one that includes room for journaling.

While the specifics of an event might seem unforgettable at the time, in twenty years, you will be asking yourself who is in the picture and what was happening, let alone the date. Journaling is also beneficial for people looking at your pictures if they were not a part of the event.

If you want a more artistic approach to organizing and displaying your photographs, you might want to try scrapbooking instead. This is a unique approach to using photo albums, and in the last ten years the scrapbooking market has blossomed.

By using specialty papers, stickers, and other embellishments, you create a scrapbook that will impress your friends and family. To make this unique art form, however, you must have extra time and money to devote to your scrapbooking hobby.  In the end, the results are more beautiful then if you had just put your photographs in a traditional album, but only if you can devote some effort to creating the project.

Whatever way you choose to organize your photographs, overall, it is simply important to get them out of the box and into albums so that you can share them with the people you love. Traditional photo albums and scrapbooks help protect your photographs from acid and give you a project you can show to people with pride.