Article written using Adobe Photoshop CS5 with Windows 7
When it comes to digital scrapbook page design, I’m one of those “less is more” people. I like to pick a focal point — usually a single, strong photo — and then create a simple setting with papers and embellishments, one that won’t compete with the photo itself.
But sometimes, in order to tell the story, you need more than one or two images on a page. Sometimes, more is better!
There are so many ways to arrange multiple photos on a digital scrapbook layout, so the task might feel a little intimidating at first. Fortunately, in the ScrapGirls Boutique, you’ll find a wide variety of products that will help you showcase your photos attractively, from easy-to-use templates, to photo borders and frames, and even frame clusters that do the design work for you.
On this layout, I’ve chosen a frame cluster from Frame Groups 2 Embellishments by Brandy Murry. This gorgeously assembled cluster of frames gives me several frame sizes for image display, and if I had tried to build the cluster myself from scratch using individual frames, I’d probably still be messing around with it! What a time-saver… and that left me with the fun part – choosing the photos, papers, and adding embellishments.
Digital scrapbooking products used:
(Click on image to be taken to product page)
Here are some tips on how to effectively display multiple images on digital layouts…
1. Decide how many photos you’ll need to tell the story. I’m a firm believer in letting the images do the talking, so choose only the ones that clearly demonstrate the story you want to convey.
2. Once you’ve chosen your images, decide how you want to “mount” them on the page. Will you use photo borders, individual frames, a cluster frame, a variety of blended images, or will you choose a ready-made template?
3. Arrange your photos on the page. As you put together your arrangement of photos, think about each photo’s relationship to the others. Multi-photo digital layouts usually fall into one of two categories: chronological or collage. Chronological layouts have images arranged in sequence to tell the story from beginning to end. Collage layouts feature a selection of related images arranged randomly.
There are many ways to arrange your images on the page. A chronological layout might look great with photos placed in a single line, either horizontally or vertically. A collage layout might call for a creatively inspired grid pattern, similar to the way photos would be mounted on a wall. Remember, if you’re putting together multiple photos in a grid pattern, be sure to leave exactly the same amount of space between each of your photos on all sides as I’ve done with this hexagonal grid.
Digital scrapbooking products used:
(Click on image to be taken to product page)
Or you might want to go for a casual, random arrangement, as if your photos were lying on a table, similar to this layout created with some wonderful, distressed photo masks and from the Shabby Photographs Embellishment Mini, also by Brandy Murry. I love the rustic, aged look they give to my photos, which were taken on a drive in the country. They’re perfect for vintage photos, too, or any contemporary photo that you want to add some shabby character to. There are five masks in a variety of shapes and finishes, and I’ve used each one here.
Digital scrapbooking products used:
(Click on image to be taken to product page)
4. Decide if you want to make one photo a bit larger to serve as the main feature with the others supporting it or if you want to keep them all about the same size. Also consider blending one large photo into the background and layering some smaller images on top of it. The possibilities are endless.
5. Make it easy on the eye. However you choose to arrange your images, the secret is keeping them contained in a specific area where the eye can easily take them in. One of the pitfalls of multi-image layouts is the tendency to scatter images all over the page. In addition to looking cluttered, there’s no true focal point, so the eye ends up scanning all over the page, trying to take in the information. Keeping your images contained allows the eye to first appreciate the overall effect of the multiple images, and then enjoy them one by one.
So the next time you have a big story to tell or you just want to show off more of your fabulous photos, use these tips (and try out these tools) to create an eye-catching, multi-photo layout!
– Jan
Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Off The Wall are also available.
Tutorial written by Jan Walker