Why it is important to print out your digital photos, a London, England mini-album and cost saving photo printing tip

This post is long on written content you probably don't want to read, but I do hope you will. Promise – if you're a papercrafter/scrapbooker it will make you stop and think.

I don't always post my scrapbooking projects on the blog, but I make quite a few albums, both for myself and to give as gifts. I think it's very important that we take the time to actually print our favorite digital photos – on the best paper and with the best ink – and I'll tell you why.

As I mentioned a few posts back, my mother passed away the end of July and I realized I didn't have many photos of her as a child. I asked one of my aunts to see if she had any and she did, which she scanned and sent to me. I was so glad to have them. When my mother became seriously ill  in May, I went to the States to visit her and to help my brother sort her things. We spent days delving through photos and papers. We laughed, we cried – and I realized how precious those photos were to us (my mother was very good to write what/where/who/when on the back of each photo, too, bless her). And it wasn't just photos, but letters, as well; she kept letters I'd written to her as a child and reading those moved me deeply.

Now, ask yourself – will today's generation and future ones have these kind of visual, tangible, familial records to refer back to? What treasure – what history – are we loosing?

We keep digital photos with the best of intentions, but systems change, disks crash, and our cherished memories are lost. What our present systems can read now, future ones will not (remember floppy disks? how many computers can still read those?!). I'm afraid we're losing visual records for an entire epoch and it makes me sad.

The upside to this, though, is that it's a good excuse to scrap! Just think, you're not just scrapbooking, you're creating a visual archive for future generations – we're not just scrapbookers, we're archivists!

This little album is of a special June trip my husband and I took to London. I used one of my favorite techniques – taking an inexpensive album as my base (I only paid €0.79 for it) and altering it (this gift album post is another example). I used my image processing software to create and print an inside cover page and the photo descriptions on each of the patterned paper to which my photos are glued. Plastic pockets keep everything in place and protect my photos. I created a pocket on the back cover for ticket stubs, etc. and my favorite type of elastic closure keeps it shut. These are the before photos below.

*Crafty Tip* If I know I'm going to be printing a lot of photos, I use Snapfish. When you factor in the actual at-home cost of printing – using the best photo paper and brand ink – it's actually less expensive per photo to use Snapfish. Plus, you've got an archival quality print. Unfortunately, many inkjet photo prints quickly fade (never expose inkjet prints to the sun!). I've even used Snapfish to print an entire album and been very pleased with the result.

Supply List
Craft Artist Digital Image processing software and Canon MG6150 inkjet printer
Paper – cardstock, TOGA Destination Londres paper pad, miscellaneous patterned paper
Dies/punch –TOGA appareils photo camera die, border punch, Die-namics circle stax
Embellishments – flower, coin charms, foam letters, heart sticker, elastic, eyelets
Misc. – inexpensive photo album
Font – Channel Slanted 2 font

I'm linking up with: Altered Eclectics September – Anything Goes Mixed Media/Altered Objects