FAQ
PHOTO ALBUMS:
PHOTO ALBUMS – PAGE INFORMATION
Our photo albums are made from one of the following paper or page types. All card, board and paper used in our photo albums are PH neutral and of archival quality, which will ensure that anything you place into the album will not be adversely affected by the book. Take care when choosing a glue, please see our adhesives in the album accessories page.
Thick Card Pages
The thick card pages are made with heavy, unbendable white display art board (750gsm). The pages are joined with a linen hinge before binding, ensuring strength and durability. They are the ultimate in photo album pages...You will require an adhesive to stick items onto these pages. Please see our photo album accessories page on this site for a choice of safe adhesives. We also recommend using one of our permanent pens when writing on these pages because the board has a very smooth finish and therefore some pens do not work efficiently.
Interleaved Pages (Cream)
The pages in these books are made with cream coloured, bendable card of 230gsm. They are interleaved with a semi- transparent tissue paper which is designed to stop the photos from sticking to the facing page. You will require an adhesive to stick items onto these pages. Please see our photo album accessories page on this site for a choice of safe adhesives.
Self-Adhesive Pages
The self-adhesive pages are made with a double sided sticky board with a transparent “peel back” cellophane sheet on both sides which protects your photos. These pages are made up in a postbound binding which allows you the versatility of removing and replacing pages. Extra pages can be added.
Scrapbook Pages
The scrapbook pages are made with good quality heavy white bendable paper of 160 gsm. The pages are stitched with guard* pages which prevents the binding from straining when you fill the book. The scrapbook is designed for storing newspaper cuttings, memorabilia, postcards and photos. You will require an adhesive to stick items onto these pages. Please see our photo album accessories page on this site for a choice of safe adhesives.
* Guard Pages are a narrow strip of paper, approx.. 1.5cm which is stitched into the Scrapbook binding. This ensures the binding of the book is not strained when you fill the book with photos and scraps.
STICKING PHOTOS INTO PHOTO ALBUMS
Adhesives
Our preferred choice is 3m Spray Mount Glue, ( blue can)
Benefits: it is permanent (do not buy the red can)
Downside: It can get messy!
Equipment (to avoid mess as much as possible)
Can of 3m Spray Mount (Blue Can)
Large cardboard box minimum recommended 1’ high (this is to stop any surplus glue spray)
Egg cup
Can of Lighter fuel
Cotton Wool
Photos
Albums: Some clean sheets of paper
Method
Do this in an area you do not mind getting messy, as the glue can settle on other surfaces if not careful
- Set out photos how you would like them displayed on a page or double page in album.
- Place cardboard box on floor. Place egg cup in the box.
- Place photo face down on egg cup.
- Spray back of photo ( read instructions on can). You will not need too much glue (and spray from 6” away to ensure an even covering)
- Place photo in situ in album.
- Repeat process until you have filled page.
- Carefully check the page and photos for any glue residue which may be on the front, and gently dab of excess glue with cotton wool and lighter fuel. (This is suitable for all machine printed photos, but not on desktop printer printed photos. (the life of these printers ink is not very long, so for photos you care about and certainly ones going into album, always use professionally printed photos)
- Place a clean piece of paper over the photos.
- Turn to next page and repeat process.
- After you have done several pages, go back to the first page and check there is no glue stuck to the clean piece of paper. If clean, remove paper and carry on. If not. Remove any surplus glue with cotton wool and lighter fuel.
- Ensure the page and photos are Clean and Dry before proceeding.
It sounds like a bit of a faff, but once you get into the routine it is straight forward. The trick is to not use too much glue and to make absolutely certain the photos are clean and dry before proceeding. (that is the use of the sheet of paper)
Unfortunately being a spray glue we do not have the licenses to send this through the post. However you can get it from any good stationary or art shop.
Alternative Adhesives:
Much less messy, but the laying out of photos etc follow the same principals as above.
For more details please see our selection of Album Accessories
These Herma products are great, very easy to use, and I would suggest maybe putting more than one tab on each corner.
We find it easier and the story of the photo album flows much better if you lay out all the photos before sticking them in. You can then review them and make alterations before you finally stick them in. (Also you can check you have not missed a page, which can happen!)
PRINTING PHOTOS
It is also advisable not to use desk top domestic inkjet printers for printing photos you want to preserve in photo albums and photo frames. Sadly many people have already discovered, the inks used in these printers do not necessary have a long life and the ink will fade in a matter of a few years. I have had clients tell me as little as two years! So beware. It is very inexpensive these days to have photos printed professionally.
DIGITAL IMAGE SIZES EXPLAINED
High / Low Resolution Images;
There really is a difference between low and high res. It can determine whether your photo or image looks fuzzy or clear.
For printing or enlarging photos / images high res is essential.
Explanation
Hi-res stands for high-resolution, or denser image quality. Images are made of tiny pixels or squares of colour. You usually don't notice individual pixels because they all blend together to form the picture that you recognise. But they are there. You can see pixels when you zoom in really closely to a picture, or if you try to enlarge an image beyond what it can handle.
Hi-res images are at least 300 pixels per inch (ppi). This resolution makes for good print quality, and is pretty much a requirement for anything that you want to make a print from.
Low-res images are around 72 pixels per inch. They will look fine on a screen, but because they are small it will not provide a good quality print.
As low-res images take up less space they are used for websites and are screen friendly. They also can be sent on emails easily.
Be savvy and ensure your camera / phone is set to take the photos at a high resolution, so they look good when printed.
Easy way of remembering: Low-res for screen or web: High-res for printing.
PHOTO FRAME SIZES EXPLAINED
The following information is to help choose the correct sizes when ordering photo frames
IMPORTANT NOTES WHEN ORDERING PHOTO FRAMES
Photo frames supplied with mounts, please order the size of the photograph.
Photo frames supplied without mounts, please order the outside measurement of the item you wish to frame (this may be just the photograph or it could be a photo already mounted.)
MOUNTED UNMOUNTED
PORTRAIT LANDSCAPE
LANDSCAPE OR PORTRAIT
Most single photo frames stand in both the Landscape and Portrait formats.
(Portrait format is vertical : Landscape format is horizontal)
WOODEN PHOTO FRAMES:- Sizes and mounts explained
PHOTOGRAPH AND FRAME SIZE
The quoted size of the photo frame is the size of photograph that the frame will accept. This rule applies whether a mount is present or not. It is possible to remove all our mounts from the photo frame if you so wish. If you do remove the mount from the photo frame it will then accept a larger photograph. See chart below for sizes:- This applies to single photo wooden photo frames only.
WOODEN FRAMES WITH MOUNTS |
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Quoted Frame Size |
Photo Size |
Outside Size |
5x4" |
5x4" |
7x6" |
6x4” |
6x4” |
8x6" |
7x5” |
7x5” |
9x7" |
8x6" |
8x6" |
10x8" |
9x6” |
9x6” |
11x8" |
10x8" |
10x8" |
10x12" |
8x12” (A4) |
8x12” (A4) |
10x14" |
10x12” |
10x12” |
12x14" |
Single Mount Double Mount Triple Mount
BESPOKE FRAMES
Many of the wooden photo frames illustrated, are manufactured here in our workshops in Hungerford.
If you cannot find the exact size you require on this site, please e-mail or telephone us on 01488 448 401 and ask for a quote for the exact size you require. We will be pleased to help.
Most bespoke photo frames can be made up and dispatched within 3 days if necessary.