Terms To Know

Acid-free  - Products with a pH factor of 7 or higher. If acid remains in materials used on layouts, it can react chemically with photographs and speed their deterioration. Archival quality  - Status given to materials that have undergone testing to determine that their acidic and buffered content are within safe levels. Collage  - Overlapping arrangement of page accents and elements such as ephemera, small photos and embellishments. Cropping  - Cutting or trimming a photo to eliminate unwanted portions and to improve its composition. Die Cut  - Letter or shape cut from a commercial or personal machine. Journaling  - Written text on a scrapbook page that provides additional details about the event, emotions, or photographs. Can be handwritten, computer-generated, or completed with stickers or stamps.

Lignin  - Bonding material that holds wood fibers together. Poses a danger to scrapbooks because paper that is not lignin-free (such as newspaper) is likely to become yellow and brittle over time. Matting  - Creating a backing for photos. Can be torn, decoratively cut, or embellished. Memorabilia  - Items such as postcards, buttons, brochures, ribbons or tickets that have been saved as reminders of past events. Paper Piecing  - Creating an image or element by cutting, layering, adhering, and detailing several pieces of paper. Photo Safe  - Items shown to be both acid- and lignin-free. Repositionable  - Adhesive that holds an item firmly but allows you to remove and restick it elsewhere.