Thinking about switching to rectangle LOs instead of square - thoughts?

[wvasweetness]

I scrap in 12x12 and print 12x12 and 8x8 (mostly 8x8).

With Wes being in preschool, he has tons of projects that I would like to incorporate into his scrapbooks - and they're all 8.5x11" or at least rectangle.

Which made me think about switching from square layouts to rectangle... but this is a HUGE change. And I'm not sure that the anal side of me can make the jump.

Thoughts?

[ColleenSwerb]

I think you think too much.
Try a few pages in that size, and see what you think. If you can't deal with it, resize the canvas to 12x12 and go on your merry way.

ETA: Do you print in bound books, or loose pages? If you print loose pages, use 8.5x11 albums with a mix of 8.5x11 and 8x8 page protectors (or a 12x12 album with a mix of all 3 sizes).

[jessica31876]

I used to do rectangle 8.5 x 11 and the reason I switched to 12 x 12 was because I needed more room.

[AllieP]

For this exact reason, I bought 8.5x11 albums and have page protectors for that size and also in 8x8. I print the scrap pages in 8x8, and they fit perfectly in the top two holes in the binder. Then I have the 8.5x11 page protectors for letters and keepsakes from school. It works perfectly for me!

[Jenn Barrette]

I have just kept the school stuff separate in a regular binder, with 8.5 x 11 page protectors, then I have there yearly bound 8x8 scrapbook pages. I used to scrap 8.5 x 11 when I first started, but really prefer the square shape for some reason.

[rochelle789]

I personally wouldn't change. I'd just adhere his rectangle projects and papers to 12x12 pages and put them into the book that way. I'm doing a Cathy Zielske-style school album for my daugher and it's 12x12 3ing album. All of her papers/projects and the like will go in a pocket page designated for each year of school. All of my other scrapbooks are 8x8, but the school ones will be 12x12 so I can incorporate the larger memoribilia pieces. When my daughter leaves home she can take her school books with her and I can keep all the others. Getting a bit off topic there, but no, I wouldn't switch.

[Nettio]

I don't think it needs to be all or nothing. When I first started scrapping, I did both 8.5x11 and 8x8 pages. I don't do too many rectangle pages now but I still use the 8.5x11 Ding albums and have all the pages in there together. I love the mixed sizes and that you can see the larger pages peeking out behind the smaller 8x8s.

If he has a lot of horiztonal pages, you could also go with a 12x12 album that way you can flip through all the art without having to turn the album around. And if you like to print bound books, you could always just have the artwork be in a binder on it's own rather than mixed in with the scrapbook pages.

[rach3975]

I'm one of the few remaining rectangle scrappers. I stick with 8.5x11 because 8x8 is too small for me and I can't print 12x12's at home or fit them on our bookshelves. If you're otherwise happy with the size you're scrapping now, I'd stick with square and either mount his work to fit, scan and reduce his artwork, or use a different book for it. The disadvantages to rectangle are:

-it's getting harder to find albums
-you have to adapt templates
-when papers have edge details (like distressing or darker edges) you usually lose them
-I can't say for sure, but I think not scrapping square is a point against you when applying for CTs

That said, I'm all for people coming back to 8.5x11 and changing the disadvantages!

[shupe]

Originally Posted by rach3975

I'm one of the few remaining rectangle scrappers. I stick with 8.5x11 because 8x8 is too small for me and I can't print 12x12's at home or fit them on our bookshelves. If you're otherwise happy with the size you're scrapping now, I'd stick with square and either mount his work to fit, scan and reduce his artwork, or use a different book for it. The disadvantages to rectangle are:

-it's getting harder to find albums
-you have to adapt templates
-when papers have edge details (like distressing or darker edges) you usually lose them
-I can't say for sure, but I think not scrapping square is a point against you when applying for CTs

That said, I'm all for people coming back to 8.5x11 and changing the disadvantages!

What she said!!

[Balinda]

I do the 12x12's and just mix page sizes when I need something a different size~pages of my niece's and nephews usually just get 8x8's and if I wanna print the 8.5 x 11's that's easy too cuz the American Craft's albums I use can easily adapt to whatever page protector ya wanna use.

[Sarah8914]

I haven't decided for sure what I'm going to do with my dd's school stuff. My plan as of right now is to just scan it all in... that way I can put multiple papers on one page. Saves space and we are not too attached to everything she does. I like to have some memory and see how she grows, but I don't feel the need to keep all the originals. Maybe some though... but I haven't started, so we'll see.

I kind of like this: http://digiscrapinfo.com/wordpress/2...-school-stuff/
although I'm sticking with square!

[Milmomma]

Well my oldest just hit Kinder this year. I'm the opposite of a pack rat though. He he doesn't come home raving about the project, I don't tend to keep it. He's got at least 12 more years of school to go and collect more stuff. I don't feel the need to incorporate it all either. It has its own binder. I take some picks of some of the stuff he does and scrap those, not the project. I may just be an odd ball here. I'd totally stick with my 12x12's no matter what

[julifish]

I'm so jealous that all of you have scrapbooks for your kids' school work/art projects! My girls are in 3rd and 6th grade and all the stuff I've kept is in my room in a drawer. LOL!

I think mixing the 12 x 12 and the 8.5 x 11 would be the best solution personally but I'd say give it a try and just see how it works.

[Jengerbread88]

I was reading a Better Homes and Garden article on decluttering. It suggested having a file box with 13 file folders (one for each year of school), and saving just what fits in 1 file folder. Anything else, if I really like it I'll probably scan it and use in a layout...

I'll probably just scan everything in that I like, honestly.

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by Jengerbread88

I'll probably just scan everything in that I like, honestly.

me too. I'd scan in the pieces I want to scrap and shrink to the size I want. Unless I go hybrid, it's the only way I'm scrapping the school projects.

[suladesign]

I started digiscrapping with rectangle size simply b/c I knew I wasn't gonna print a lot of my pages and wanted to use them as desktop and screensaver for my computer. But I did encounter all the problems Rachel mentioned above, plus:

* a lot of element packs come in square sizes, too: overlays, page borders, stitches, ... (it's not only the grunged up paper edges that get lost)
* you sometimes might get less views/comments in the galleries, b/c people just don't like your differing page size.

* templates however are not such a big deal, b/c what I used to do is just copy the clusters over to my re-sized canvas and then work with that.

Last summer I switched over to 12x-12x (for a photo book project) and found it was a lot easier to work with everything, but honestly, I kind of really miss the old ways, b/c I like it when my pages show up on my computer, really fitting my screen. So, I wish the designers would put out more rectangular shapes - I'd probably totally go back to that format.

If you're still considering, you can check out my gallery (go back to page 16 and beyond - I got tons of pages to give you an idea of what opportunities you have with this size).

[FireWolf]

Being an avid paper, hybrid and digi-scrapper of all sizes I use only 12x12 D ring albums and all of my pages go in them no matter which media I use or what size it is. I can fit any size page protector in it that I want, from 6x6 up to 12x12. Of course, if you are using bound books for your LOs then this wouldn't work for you.

Having said that, I agree with Col, try it out for a few pages and then see how you feel.

Edited to add: Stacey Julian has a fabulous take on scrapping the school years and I'll tell you how it works. First, you should know that her school of life album she makes for each child is the ONLY album said child will take with them when they leave home. All her other scrapbooks are for her and will stay with her.
Second, she only scraps 2- 2 page spreads and 1- 1 page LO each year to go in these albums.

The first spread consists of school highlights for that particular school year.
The second spread has highlights of life outside fo school for that year. ie: a family photo, holidays, birthday, special events and a few personality shots.
The single page LO is a pocket page where she tucks in schoolwork and possibly a class photo from the year. This is easily adaptable if you are using a loose pages and not a bound book.

I hope this helps a little and gives you some good ideas.