One of the advantages of today’s multitude of scrapbooking tools is that you no longer have to suffer with a rectangular photo on every page. Cropping your photos is an excellent method of drawing attention to the element in the photo that you want to pop and it also adds interest and flavor to the scrapbook.

If you’re nervous about cutting into your photo, you might want to practice with a couple of pictures that didn’t really turn out. Use your straight cutter to trim the edges and then cut a circle or oval for practice, centering your subject.

In this post, we’re going to look at the different methods of photo cropping, along with examples, so you can see exactly how this improves your photo album.

Trimming

We refer to straight cuts as trimming since they don’t really change the shape much. Trimming is ideal for getting rid of the excess background or removing a toddler’s head from the bottom of the photo. When you don’t want a fancy crop, trimming the extra will make your photos more focused and interesting.

Before Photo: No Trimming

Before Photo: No Trimming

Eliminating the distractions in the photo means people will look at what you wanted the photo to be of in the first place. It also keeps the photo to a nice manageable size for the album page.

After Photo: With Trimming

After Photo: With Trimming

Corners

If you are opting for straight lined photos, you might want to spruce them up a bit by adding rounded corners or something even fancier. A simple pair of scallop scissors can create an elegant corner, but there are also corner cutters on the market that allow you to punch out designs . . . anything from lacy flowers to stars.

When a picture is cropped just the way you like it and is still square or rectangular, there’s nothing wrong with a little corner embellishment to add some interest. And if you want to keep things nice and simple, all you need to do is snip off a straight bit of corner to give the photo a beveled look.

Circles and Ovals

Circle and oval crops are actually fairly different, as you`ll see in a moment. They both add a lovely flow to the scrapbook page, though and it’s great to toss in a few round or oval photos to balance out the squares and rectangles.

In general, you’ll want to use circles to frame things like faces, particularly baby faces, or objects that would go well in the center of a circle . . . for example photos of animals at a distance from that trip to the zoo. Ovals are best used for longer pictures, such as when you want to capture your baby standing for the first time.

Circles and Ovals

Circles and Ovals

It’s fine to crop away a part of the picture while fitting your rounded shape, as long as the focus is still there. Notice in the example that the oval crop actually cuts off the toddler’s feet. This is fine, since the focus is on his face and the bag of snacks he’s holding. If you crop too big the first time, you can always tighten it the next time.

Other Shapes

There’s no need to stop with just squares and ovals. Why not get out your stencils and cookie cutters and start getting really creative? While you may not want super fancy shapes on every page, tossing in a heart or a pumpkin shaped photo every now and then can be a lot of fun and add to the theme you’re trying to create.

Pumpkin Shaped Crop

Pumpkin Shaped Crop

Using cookie cutters, you can trace just about any type of design you like. Why not crop that cute photo of your green baby into a shamrock for St. Paddy’s Day? Or create a Christmas page with your children`s faces as stars and bells? The possibilities are endless.

Cropping can really add a whole new dimension to your scrapbooking. Don`t be afraid to branch out from simple trimming and add a few fun shapes to the scrapbook pages, too!

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