Scrapbooking and Preserving Newspapers - How to Incorporate Them on Your Page

When our grandmothers were first scrapbooking in their black, tagboard albums, they used photo corners, black and white photos, and lots of odds and ends - dried flowers from corsages, ticket stubs, and lots and lots of newspaper clippings.

Back in "the day," newspapers were the one and only source of news. You couldn't Google something and print out a color copy of an article. You couldn't take a magazine clipping and add it to your page. If you wanted to add context to a scrapbook and share some of the latest and greatest happenings of the day, newspapers were your only choice. Birth, death, and wedding announcements were often big deals, and it was very common to add these items to scrapbooks.

Now, even though we have many options for adding news to our scrapbooks, newspapers are still a fun and often important element to include in our albums. But as you likely know, newsprint is not a very stable material. In a phrase, it's not archivally safe. The acids break down the fibers, leading to fading and yellowing. So if you want to add newspapers to your album, here are some options:

• Scan and print your article. Scanning your article into your computer and printing it out on archivally safe paper allows you to include the "color" of the newspaper without risking the longevity of your scrapbook. This is a great solution for newspaper articles that include a color or black-and-white photo.



• Make a color copy. Color copying offers the same advantages of scanning, but double-check that the printer paper is archivally safe, or pH neutral.


• Make a black-and-white copy. You may not care if the color of the paper shows up. If that's the case, make an inexpensive black-and-white copy. It will cost you just a few cents and save your scrapbooks.


• Place the original article in an envelope that will allow it to be visible, but protect the rest of the album. There are clear, archivally safe envelopes available specifically for this purpose.


• Make it safe. Archival sprays, such as Archival Mist, neutralize the acid in the newsprint and make it safe for use in your scrapbook.

About this Author

There's no reason not to use these valuable pieces of history in your scrapbooks. For more information on how to make your scrapbooking fast, fun, and fabulous, check out http://www.layoutaday.com, hosted by scrapbooking author, designer, and instructor Lain Ehmann.

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