Is it Possible to Cut in a Straight Line?!

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I know one person who can cut a perfectly straight line. It is my father in law and he as been framing pictures for forty years.

I tend to cut straight for the first inch or so and then I veer off to the right or left (depending on which side I’m cutting on).

A paper trimmer is an essential item if you are not good at cutting straight lines.

Straight matting is essential. Loosely cut matting can make a page appear sloppy. I prefer a paper trimmer for this application because mat board can be quite thick and hard to manage with a pair of scissors.

However, if you do not have access to this type of equipment, with a little extra effort and a penciled in line to cut by, you can cut a relatively straight line without too much trouble.

X-acto knives are also a great way to get a smooth, straight edge.

Place a cork-backed ruler onto your mat to prevent slippage and cut away.

It is best to cut with one quick motion then it is to move slowly because the paper can bevel up on you.

The traditional method of cropping is no longer popular anymore. You no longer see pictures that are cut into every shape under the sun.

A more simplistic approach is now applied to cropping.

We crop in order to compliment the picture rather then to compliment the scrapbook.

In the old days of scrapbooking, cropping was done mostly on a cosmetic basis rather then a practical one.

Selective cropping methods allow you to focus and direct the eye in a direction towards the focal point, thus further enhancing the photo.

They do this by taking distracting images from the photo and bringing your attention to the part of the image that you are supposed to focus upon.

If you are not a prize-winning photographer, this technique can some in handy when trying to polish up photos for presentation.

With a small amount of attention and the right type of cropping technique being applied, you can turn an ordinary photo into an extraordinary one.

Cropping and enlarging is another hot, new technique out there. You can do this digitally on your home pc using a scanner and a picture editor by raising the resolution at which it is scanned only to lower it and then heighten the pixel dimensions at the same time.

If this sounds a bit too complicated for your tastes, then try the Kodak Picture Maker at your local drugstore.

It is for sure worth the trip to give it a try. Cropping regular photos and enlarging them into an 8x7 format can make a professional appearing photo from a normal, everyday snapshot.

Although new scrapbook cropping techniques have veered away from the traditional, more creative approach, this does not mean that you cannot have fun and be creative while cropping your images.

Rather, crop them into interesting and unique shapes and space them out into your layout rather sparingly.

You can buy really great scissor extensions for scrapbooking scissors that can cut really nice patterns and grooves into the edges of your photos and other content.

If you want to get a little more creative, then you can always try cookie cutters or die shape cutters to get really unique and attractive edges.

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