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!!

[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).