Scrapbooking 101 – A Beginner’s Guide to Scrapbooking Terms
These are the basic words you’ll need to understand before you begin your scrapbooking activities.
Acid -free: products that have a pH of 7.0 or higher; this means that you shouldn’t have any problems with chemical reactions that can cause paper and other materials to deteriorate over time.
Album: book with space in it for you to store your scrapbook pages.
Adhesive: material used to stick items together; includes glue, glue sticks, mounting tabs, and double-sided tape.
Archival-safe: term used to describe products that have been tested and found to have pH levels that are safe to use with photos.
Borders: pre-cut strips of paper used to add page accents.
Cropping: trimming a photo to keep only the important parts and/or to make it a particular size or shape; also a slang term for a scrapbooking session or party.
Embellishment: any extra item used to add interest to a scrapbook page; includes things like stickers and charms.
Font: a collection of characters (letters, numbers, and special symbols) that make up a printing style.
Journaling: descriptive writing that explains the photos and events on the scrapbook page.
Layering: overlapping different materials on a page to create more interest.
Layout: placement of items on a scrapbook page.
Lignin-free: products with safe levels of lignin (a chemical found in newsprint that weakens paper and turns it yellow with age).
Mat: paper used to make a border (frame) around a photo.
Page protector: clear plastic sleeve that prevents damage to scrapbook pages.
Ph factor: number that shows how acidic or alkaline an item is.
