| When designing pages for your scrapbook, the two | | | | Three colors that are next to one another on a color |
| most important elements will be design and color. Even | | | | wheel (blue, purple, and red for example) will create a |
| if you have great designs, without brilliantly coordinated | | | | nice effect. |
| color schemes, your album will be nothing more than | | | | Color Families |
| mediocre. Choosing good color combinations does not | | | | Yet another way to think about colors is to chose a |
| have to be difficult. By following a few simple steps, | | | | single color (brown for instance) and use all the tints |
| you can use color to make a statement in your album. | | | | and shades of that color family (tan, medium brown, |
| Black and White | | | | chocolate for instance). This works stunningly well with |
| The two most effective colors to use in your album | | | | black and white photography as well, just as black and |
| are black and white. Both create a clean slate for your | | | | white do. You may even try using all the colors in a |
| pictures and embellishments. White tends to hide as a | | | | family plus black and white for a modern look. |
| background color, while black will give you a bolder | | | | Choosing Colors |
| look. If you have black and white photographs, these | | | | Once you have an initial color to use as a starting point, |
| two colors work very well on the page, but your | | | | choosing colors to create your layout is not difficult. |
| pictures will stand out more if you also add a third and | | | | However, how do you choose that first color? If your |
| maybe even fourth color to the mix. Beware of using | | | | page has a holiday theme, that might be easy, but in all |
| too much color with black and white pictures; you will | | | | other cases look at your photographs for a cue. If |
| distract the eye from the photograph. | | | | your subject matter has bright blue eyes, for example, |
| Contrasting and Complementing Colors | | | | use blue papers that will showcase this. Also try to |
| Just as black and white are opposites, every color has | | | | pick colors that will complement the idea behind the |
| its exact opposite, and these two colors usually work | | | | pictures-a child's birthday party will probably look better |
| well together because they balance one another on | | | | with bright colors than natural browns and greens. In |
| the page. To find a color's opposite, you can use a | | | | the end, go with your gut and experiment with color |
| color wheel. The most basic pairs are purple and | | | | and design in your everyday life, and use this as |
| yellow, orange and blue, and green and red. Another | | | | inspiration when creating pages. |
| way to group colors is by using complementing colors. | | | | |