The best scrapbook allows you to display prints of family and friends in a way that immediately elevates them. Rather than just chucking everything online, a physical book encourages you to curate your photos and narrow them down to the absolute best, as well as getting creative with layout and decoration.
Whether you're a seasoned scrapbooker or just starting, the right scrapbook can make all the difference. There are a range of innovative and stylish products on the market, and we've carefully curated the best of them here.
Seeking other ways to put your memories on display? Then check out our guides to the best photo books and the best digital photo frames. Finally, while some scrapbooks are self-adhesive by design, many aren't, so check our roundup of the best scrapbooking glues.
1. Leatherkind Personalized Cortona Leather Photo Album
If money's no object, this is best leather scrapbook you can buy. It's handmade in Italy using top-grain leather called Spazzolato, which is usually reserved for high-end designer handbags. Read more below
This large-size scrapbook is glossy, bright and cheerful; a top-loading scrapbook that has 10 pages of acid-free cardstock inserts, so your memories and photos will be kept safe. Read more below
This is a quality leather scrapbook from Kolo that's a bit more affordable than our first option. This scrapbook comes with 20 pages made with plain paper (no clear sheets). Read more below
With its sleek design, this large album from Pioneer is perfect for any scrapbooking project. It is made using a deep black, vinyl material, that make it look and feel like a quality product. Read more below
5. American Crafts D-Ring Modern Scrapbooking Album
If you’re after a cover that you can easily customize, then this scrapbook is worth a look, as you can decorate it with your own paper and embellishments. Read more below
This scrapbook from AIOR has a quality linen cover which is elegant and stylish in appearance. It comes with a linen ribbon closure, plus the metal ring binder itself is easy to pop open. Read more below
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Best scrapbook overall
(Image credit: Leatherkind)
1. Leatherkind Personalized Cortona Leather Photo Album
The best scrapbook overall
Specifications
Total pages: 50 (100)
Holds: 120 8x10, 6x8, 5x7, 4x6 photos
Dimensions: 23.5 x 30.5 x 7.5 cm
Weight: 1.6 kg
Manufacturer: Leatherkind
Reasons to buy
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Comes with a unique gift box
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High-quality leather
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Protective interior sheeting
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Option to personalize
Reasons to avoid
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A bit pricey
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You have to use mounts or photo corners to display your snaps
If money is no object, and you'd like to buy the very best leather scrapbook you can, look no further than this one from Leatherkind.
It's handmade in Italy using top-grain leather called Spazzolato – a material which is usually reserved for high-end designer handbags. The leather is lustrously smooth thanks to advanced tanning techniques. And the album has a contemporary design featuring hand stitched, subtly contrasting leather edging. It is, quite simply, beautiful.
Inside, the high-quality, acid-free pages are separated by transparent sheets, which stops your photos from potentially rubbing on each other and helps to prevent a build up of moisture within your album. As the album is 6 x 22 x 26cm, it’s one of the largest hand-crafted albums you can buy, so there’s lots of room to personalize it. And talking of personalizing, there's the option to have it engraved too.
In short, if you're looking to create a gift or an heirloom that will wow people, this scrapbook, with its luxurious leather and contemporary appeal, is a winner.
Want some a little more reasonably priced than the first entry on our list? This large-size scrapbook is glossy, bright and cheerful with embossed lettering on the front saying “Live, Laugh, Love”. It’s a top-loading scrapbook that has 10 pages of acid-free cardstock inserts, which means you can relax knowing that your memories and photos will be kept safe from dust and fading over time.
The neat elastic band ensures your scrapbook closes nicely and safely. The scrapbook has a screw-in post spine which makes it easy to move the pages around, and means that the scrapbook can be easily expanded.
Only 8.5 x 9.5 inches is available for layout design
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No plastic sheeting
This is a quality leather scrapbook from Kolo that's a bit more affordable than our first option. If you like your scrapbook to have protective clear sheets to keep your photos safe, then look elsewhere. But if you like to create your own pages without the sheen of plastic interrupting your viewing, this is a good buy.
This scrapbook comes with 20 pages and these are plain paper, but you can easily pop in any other paper that you'd like by using a hole punch. It measures 8.5 x 11.0 inches, with approximately 1.5 inch for the binding edge, so only 8.5 x 9.5 inches is available for layout design, which may or may not be handy depending on the size of your photos.
The size and D-ring design makes scrapbooking a dream
Reasons to avoid
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Have to get your own interior pages
With its sleek design, this large album from Pioneer is perfect for any scrapbooking or paper-crafting project. It is made using a deep black, vinyl material, that makes this scrapbook look and feel like a quality product.
The D-ring design enables you the creative freedom to choose what you want each page to look like – you can choose any paper type and simply punch a holes in them to place them into the scrapbook, knowing that your photos will be safe and your memories will look great for years to come.
The D-ring is especially useful if you’re not certain on the size of your project when you first begin scrapbooking. And as it's a large album, it will accommodate most photos, no matter the size.
5. American Crafts D-Ring Modern Scrapbooking Album
The best scrapbook with a customizable cover
Specifications
Total pages: 40 (80)
Holds: any size photo
Dimensions: 2.75 x 15.25 x 12.12 inches
Weight: 1.9 pounds
Manufacturer: American Crafts
Reasons to buy
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Good value
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Ring-binder design allows greater freedom
Reasons to avoid
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Chipboard cover can get dented easily
The heavyweight chipboard cover of this American Crafts Modern Album might not be to everyone’s taste and you have to store it carefully as the chipboard can easily get scratched or damaged. However, if you’re after a cover that you can easily customize, then this scrapbook is worth a look, as you can decorate it with your own paper and embellishments.
The secure interlocking D-ring binding system enables you to turn the pages with ease and gives you the creative freedom to move the pages around once assembled. The scrapbook is great for archiving your special memories and it includes 10 top-loading page protectors.
Comes with photo corners, two metallic pens and three individual postcards
Reasons to avoid
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Ring-binder design isn't for everyone
This scrapbook from AIOR has a quality linen cover which is elegant and stylish in appearance. It comes in gray, beige, blue stripes or white, and has a linen ribbon closure, plus the metal ring binder itself is easy to pop open and closed. The scrapbook is a decent size of 28 x 21cm, with the inner pages measuring 26 x 18cm, so it can fit two 6x4 photos per page.
The scrapbook comes with 30 sheets / 60 pages of photo paper, and this is durable enough to stick your photos down on, should you want to use glue to do so. However, as this package comes with photo corners, you don't have to! We'd recommend you create your design using photo corners, to keep your photos safe and archival, and the vintage black pages inside allow you to do just that.
The refillable ring-binder design and black pages are well suited for creating a beautiful scrapbook, giving you the freedom to move interior pages around while enabling you to lay the pages of the scrapbook out flat, so you can view your photos with ease.
This leather scrapbook by Rustic Ridge Leather is the perfect way to store and present your photos and memories with style and class. The rustic leather cover is made from high-quality leather that not only looks great, but will last for years to come. The scrapbook holds one hundred 4x6" or 5x7" photos, and is the perfect size to bring along with you to gatherings with family and friends.
This Rustic Leather scrapbook has a uniquely classic look, style, and feel that you won’t find in a modern-style scrapbooks. This would make a great gift for someone or for yourself, and the natural variations in the leather make each album one of a kind. The cream-colored pages are traditional acid-free cardstock with a semi-transparent sheet between each page, allowing you to attach photos to both sides of the pages.
Been on your travels, and want to collect your best photos together in a keepsake collection? This themed cardboard scrapbook has a suitable cover, leather-style binding, thick Kraft paper pages, and can hold more than 100 prints. Best of all, you can untie and re-tie the binding, so if you want to add extra pages, that's perfectly possible too. This scrapbook would also work for wedding/honeymoon photos, baby showers or a 'baby's first book'. It could also make a good gift for others embarking on a similar 'adventure'.
This large, well-made memory book is a nice choice for crafty projects. Its 60 pages of 200gsm high quality thick Kraft paper are encased in spiral-bound spine, along with a sturdy, hard cover, ornate metal corner protectors and a ribbon to tie the notebook as you fill it up. The pages are a good fit for 6 x 4 inch photos and can be written on or decorated as you see fit.
This multi-purpose scrapbook is excellent for storing your inspirations, memories and ideas safely and attractively. It comes with a spiral bound spine and high-quality Kraft paper that will stand up to the heavy use of adhesives and paints, and a satin ribbon to tie it all together. It's not the largest at 12 x 12cm but on the plus side that does make it super-cute and easy to store. Also, the binding rings are nice and large, so you can fit quite a lot in.
Scrapbooking is a way to preserve memories in a creative and personalized format. It involves collecting memorabilia like photos, drawings, writings, newspaper cuttings, postcards, ticket stubs and other memorabilia, and arranging them in a scrapbook along with embellishments and journalling.
How do I preserve my scrapbook materials?
Use acid-free paper and archival-quality materials when possible. This will help to prevent your photos and memorabilia from fading or deteriorating over time.
How can I improve my scrapbooking?
There are many places to find scrapbooking inspiration! Look online at scrapbooking websites and Pinterest boards. Scrapbooking magazines and books, such as our sister title Papercraft and Scrapbooking, are also a great resource. Consider taking a scrapbooking class to learn new techniques.
How do you choose the right one for you? Firstly, consider size. Remember that not all scrapbooks are expandable and so you'll need to have a good idea of how many photos you'll be presenting in order to make the right choice.
In other words, before you choose a scrapbook, you first need to think about selecting all the photos you want to use and how many you'd like to display per page. You may already have some printed and so you'll need to ensure that you choose the correct size scrapbook to accommodate them. To make a coherent collection, we'd also recommend looking at the chronology of your photos so that you can create the best story from your favorite memories.
Next, think about format. Scrapbooks generally have white, off-white or black inner pages, so you have to decide which one would showcase your snaps in the best light. Plain cardstock or patterned scrapbook paper are the essential materials to have to hand. You can usually buy these in sheets or pads at 12 x 12-inches size, and then you have to cut the pages down to the specific size needed for your scrapbook.
Finally, think about adhesives. There are a range of specialist scrapbooking glues and photo corners available, but if you don't want to mess around with things like that, there are also scrapbooks that are self-adhesive by design.
When we test scrapbooks, we examine the quality and durability of materials, ensuring adhesives don't damage photos, and verifying ease of use for adding and rearranging elements. Evaluating scrapbooks also entails assessing design elements such as layout options, embellishment compatibility, and overall aesthetic appeal. Functional tests involve checking closure mechanisms like rings or bindings for security.
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