The ‘do it yourself’ album February 1, 2010

You don’t have to have a purpose made album for your family digital photo album pages.  Look for good quality binders – the sort that might be used by sales people to hold brochures – at your stationery shop.

Bantex binders available at Officeworks

I look for the ones with 4 rings that have an insert on the front cover and a full length insert along the spine.  The 4 rings hold the pages straight and prevent the droop and folding you get with 2 ring binders.  (Officeworks Australia has a brand I like – see it here.)

Now buy yourself good quality plastic insert sleeves that match the size of the binder, in my case that is either A4 or A5.  Don’t get the cheap ones, go for the better quality ones.  They’ll last longer and often they are clearer as well.  You might even find some that are acid free.

Put the sleeves into the file.  Create a suitable first page and put it in the front sleeve along with a strong piece of white, good quality cardstock to give it strength and structure.  Put another piece of good quality white cardstock in the end sleeve.

Create inserts for the spine and front cover and you have an album all ready to add your pages as you go.