How many pages does a scrapbook album actually hold? This question is asked so frequently. In fact, I see it several times a week on a variety of message boards I frequent, so I thought I would address it and give you the best answer available.
The first part of the answer is simple. It has no answer. Except it does so I will explain. It really depends on the name brand of the album, the size of the album and how much three dimensional scrapbooking you do on your individual layouts. Here is more on each situation.
Album Brand
Certain albums are designed to take refills and certain albums are not. For instance, you can pretty much guarantee that if you purchase a spiral bound album, you won’t be adding any extra pages. However, three ring binders, post bound and strap hinge albums are all refillable. This makes expanding easier. Some of those types of albums are easier to refills than others.
Album Size
This has nothing to do with a 6”x6” album, opposed to a 12”x12” album, but it does depend on how thick the spine of the album is. A three ring binder style album tends to hold more or less depending on the ring and spine size. For instance a 3” model will certainly hold double the pages than a 1.5” size will. Post bound albums come from a variety of brands, and each one is different. Some enable expansion, and some do not. Most post bound albums can be expanded if you purchase extra posts and follow the instructions. Strap hinge albums can be expanded, but they usually have a limit.
Layout Dimension
No, not the size of the completed layout, but the dimensional elements can create havoc when you are trying to expand an album. The more pages you have, the heavier it becomes and the dimensional elements will leave indents on your photographs, etc.
The answer I usually give to people, when they ask me how many pages I typically have in my albums is this. I use Close to My Heart scrapbooking albums and I can usually fit approximately 50 to 75 page protectors in each one which allows for 100-150 scrapbooking layouts that are completely flat. Add some three dimensional embellishments and I have to remove a couple pages for each layout that is like that. I typically wind up with around 50 page protectors per album on average. Hopefully this helped to answer the question and explain that while there isn’t really an answer, there are key factors that come into play.
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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