When I first started scrapping, I did a lot of research on whether my printing methods and albums were archival and chose the best methods I could afford. But then the number of scrapbooks began to grow, and grow, and grow. Each of my photobooks (and before that my postbound albums and D-ring albums) covers about 6 months. Between when my oldest was born and when my youngest turns 18, that will work out to about 46 books. Let's face it--none of my kids is going to want to inherit that number of albums or books in the future. So how important was it that everything be archival? I decided that I scrap and print for us to enjoy now, not for us to keep forever and pass down. My oldest photobooks are about 8-10 years old, and they look just as good now as when I first printed them. I don't know if all photobooks from all printers are created equal, but mine are still in great shape.
I have all the digital files, and when jpgs become old technology I'll convert to whatever the new file format is. I'll eventually give my kids digital copies of everything plus a reasonable number of printed books (maybe 2 or 3?) that cover all the highlights of their childhoods. When I print those books, archival quality and longevity will be a concern. Maybe I'll end up going with printed pages in an album because of it. But for the books I'm printing now, I'm more concerned with a decent lifespan (20+ years, not 100), less space on the shelves, and an attractive format that people want to pull off the shelf and read.
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