Digital Scrapbooking Page Sizes
By Jill Costello, 10th September 2005. Copyright The Scrap Witch. No part of this article may be
reproduced or otherwise used without prior written permission.
What Size Should I Create My Digital Pages At?
Newbies to digital scrapbooking often ask this question. There's no right or wrong answer here. Many
digital scrappers prefer to create their pages at the standard 12x12 size (ie 3600 pixels x 3600 pixels). This presents
a problem however, as it is reasonably difficult to get professional prints done at this size, not to mention expensive.
Many digital scrappers therefore create their pages at 12x12 with the intention of resizing them to a smaller size for
printing (typically 8x8). Other scrappers prefer to adhere to the established film print sizes such as 8x11 or 8x10 and
create their pages at these sizes.
Image Resolution
Another important aspect to consider is image resolution. Resolution refers to the number of individual
dots of colour that make up your picture or image. The more dots, the better the quality of your image. This is often
expressed as dots per inch (dpi).
After an image has been captured, resolution cannot be increased without losing quality. You should therefore aim
to create your digital scrapbook pages at a higher resolution and then resize them downwards for different purposes.
What Resolution Do I Need?
This depends on what you ultimately want to do with your digital scrapbook pages. Below is a rough guide
to the resolution required in different situations:
Printing Through A Professional Service - 300 dpi
If you intend to have your pages printed out through a professional lab, you need a resolution of about 300 dpi for the
best results. Lower resolutions will give you poorer quality prints.Printing On An Inkjet Printer - 150 to 200 dpi
If you intend to print out your pages at home on your colour inkjet printer, you need a resolution somewhere between 150
dpi and 200 dpi. (Resolutions above 150 dpi won't add significantly to the quality of an inkjet print.)Sharing On The Internet - 72 dpi
For sharing your pages on the internet, you need a resolution of 72 dpi. This is the resolution of your computer screen.
A resolution higher than 72 dpi will not add to the quality of your image, it will only add unnecessarily to the filesize and
cause your images to load slowly. Your online friends will not appreciate this.Sharing Via Email - 72 dpi
The same rule of thumb for sharing on web pages applies to email.Storage On CD - 300 dpi
Store your pages at their original resolution. If you created them at 300 dpi, burn them to CD at that resolution. It's
a great idea to backup your digital scrapbook pages for safe keeping. You will be able to reprint your pages should anything
unfortunate happen to your printed copies. You can retrieve the original files at any time and resize them for specific
purposes (eg. sharing on the internet).
Other Resources:
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