Tutorial Tuesday | Multiple Photo Layouts

TutorialTuesday-MultiplePhotoLayouts

Hello everyone, and welcome to yet another edition of our Tutorial Tuesday series here on The Digital Press blog! Today, I am going to share a few very simple (yet quite useful!) tips for fitting multiple photos onto a layout.

If you’re like me, one of the most difficult parts of scrapbooking is choosing photos with which to scrap. I suffer from ‘separation’ and ‘abandonment’ anxiety when it comes to discarding some of the photos that don’t make the ‘cut’. 🙂

Whilst good selection may be essential for effective storytelling, I often find that I am trying to fit more photos onto my pages — especially when there is a back-story to those photos. Therefore, I went back through my gallery to see how I’ve solved this issue in the past, and to compile a list of some useful tips and tricks I could share with you. And believe it or not, I found there actually is a method to my madness, when I scrap! LOL

So without further ado… the following are my thoughts on “how to work multiple photos into your layouts”…

1. Make pocket pages

The first obvious approach is to make a pocket style page. The beauty of this scrapping style is that the canvas is neatly divided into spots that you can then fill with your photos, journaling, papers, embellishments or a combination of all of these. Here is an example from one of my favourite pages.

Credits:Beats Journalers by Creashens, Template is Duo 10 Go anywhere by LBVD Designs, Blue skies ahead alpha and papers by River Rose Designs

There is also an awesome tutorial about pocket scrapping and how to go about it if you are new to it :).

It becomes even more effortless if you can find pocket style templates that work for you. One doesn’t need to be a Project Life scrapper or even a Pocket scrapper to dabble in this style. The key is to have fun and adapt these to suit your own style and needs. Here at the Press we have an amazing selection of these. Check them out here.

2. Use unusual photo spots

Here are some examples to do this. In this first layout I have clipped photos to photo spots in the template but also layered with patterned papers. The various shapes were a good way to show different crops on multiple photos I had of my girls ‘rowing the boat’.

Credits: Drawing blanks template by Sandy Pie Creations, A lot by Creashens

In the next one, whilst there was just one photo spot in the template, I wanted to show a long shot of where the kids were. I adjusted the template to insert a big photo in the background.

Credits: Everything from April shop collab – Fresh Air

In this final example I have literally added more photo spots. Simple and effective 🙂 Varying the photos between black and white and colour also adds a great deal of interest to the page.

Credits: To remember album, This is everyday wordart, Time stood still all by Sabrina’s Creations

3. Clip photos to other shapes

Photos don’t always have to be rectangular or square in shape. It is great fun to use some different shapes to add a varied flavour to your style. In this example below, I have slipped one of the photos to a watermark star shape – probably not meant to be used as such but worked for me!

Credits: 31 days of December by Meg designs, Thanksgiving by Rachel Hodge,Plus Side by Sahin Designs

4. Create a background of photos

This is my favourite go to method. Especially when I have nice pictures to show off. Putting that pivotal picture in the background not only creates a great canvas for the layout but also sets the context and lets you be more creative and experimental with the other photos. Here are some examples.

Credits:Tranquil by Sahin Designs, Chinese Whispers template by Jimbo Jambo designs, Found papers by Creashens

Credits:Forever by Little Lamm and Co, Family Love templates by Sabrina’s Creations

5.Change the crop to tell a different story (a.k.a. working with multiple similar shots)

So what happens when you have great photos but they look quite like one another? Fear not, there are a few ways to approach this, as well.

In the following examples, I have simply used different crops of similar shots – some in colour and some in black and white. I also used full length big photo on the left hand side.

All-of--me-loves-all-of-you-copy-for-web

Credits: Hello February by Dunia Designs, Choices template by Meg Designs

Credits: Documented papers and templates by Anita Designs, Love is in the air elements by Mommyish and Mari K

Credits:Clean and Simple templates 24 by Sabrina’s Creations Also used by Meg Designs: Its the Little Things, Spring Song papers, Recharged JCs, Melliflous JCs

6. Use templates

As mentioned before templates are a great booster.Using the right template can get you to a great start! There are many interesting multi-photo templates available here at the Press. See some examples for yourself.

Credits:Scraptime vol 9 templates and Awakening Bundle by France M Designs

Credits: May 2016 Templates and Grad bundle by Sahin Designs

7. Use templates, but don’t be afraid to change them up

Whilst templates can be great for a great start, feel free to play around with them to accommodate your photos – e.g. creating more spots if required or altering their position, shape and sizes.

If you look at the following layout and the template I have used as a starter, it is only but a small proportion of my overall design. In other words the template is hardly recognisable but I still had a great start using it and take it further from there.

Credits:XO Cards by Dunia Designs, Hey love stamp sheet by Karla Dudley, Love is in the air elements by Mari Koegelenberg, Hello February elements by Dunia Designs and Cynosure templates by Meg Designs

So that’s it! …seven (7) easy ways to approach scrapping when you have lots of photos you need to include on a single page. I hope you find these ideas to be useful! Meanwhile, if you have ideas of your own for solving the “fitting multiple photos onto one layout” issue… I would love to see your own hacks! I’m always looking for more ideas. Please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Until next time… stay creative! Ciao!

About the Author Shivani Sohal is a donner of many alter-egos. A finance professional by day in busy London, she morphs into a seemingly normal mum of two in the evenings and weekends. She is constantly found with her fingers in too many pies and juggling the metaphorical balls. That is living on the edge for her; aided by the two ankle biters and a darling hubby who define the warm and mushy for her. She is ferociously dedicated to memory keeping — almost immune to any nay-sayers (or equally-disruptive crying children or annoying house fires!); keeping her head down and forging ahead at all times.

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