Scrapbook glossary

Adhesives - There are lots of different scrapbooking adhesives available, but some will work better than others for particular applications. You can choose from adhesives that set up instantly as well as repositionable adhesives that let you safely lift and rearrange elements (wet bonds usually are permanent while dry bonds usually are repositionable).Here are the most popular types of adhesives and the applications where each works best:

Double-sided tape and dots: Usually sold in plastic dispensers, and is available in both permanent and repositional adhesives. Adhesive dots are great for adhering smaller items to layouts and also are available in permanent and repositional forms.

Photo corners and sleeves: Photo corners with a peel-away backing come in sheets and rolls and in a variety of colors. Photo sleeves are made of clear plastic and have adhesive backing; they simply slip over your photos. Corners are ideal for attaching photos directly to layouts; sleeves work best for displaying photos that you may want to change later.

Spray Adhesives: Aerosol spray adhesives provide an even layer of glue that can cover large surfaces quickly. Sprays work well for adhering background papers or photo mats, and the dried adhesive won't show through transparent papers, such as vellum. Use spray adhesives only in well-ventilated areas and away from flames; never let children use them without adult supervision.

Liquid Adhesives: These come in a bottle, stick, pen, and wand applicators, and with thick or thin tips. The adhesive itself may be permanent or repositionable and fast- or slow-drying. Liquid adhesives work best for attaching small items such as punches or die-cut letters, or for tacking down dimensional items such as beads and buttons.

Adhesive Tabs: White and transparent double-sided adhesive tabs come in roll form and in refillable dispensers. They're great for adhering both small and large items with minimal mess.

Adhesive Foam: Use double-sided adhesive foam, dots, squares, and roll tape to secure items to your page and add dimension at the same time. They'll life die cuts, letters, and cropped photos up to a 1/2-inch from the page surface.

Scrapbook glossary

Buffered paper - During manufacture, a buffering agent such as calcium carbonate or magnesium bicarbonate can be added to paper to neutralize acid contaminant. Such papers have a pH of 8.5.

Journaling - Journaling refers to text on a scrapbook page giving details about the photographs. It can be done in your own handwriting or with adhesive letters, rub-ons, and stencils. It is probably the most important part of memory albums.

Lignin - Lignin is the material that holds wood fibers together as a tree grows. If lignin remains in the final paper (as with newsprint), it will become yellow and brittle over time. Most paper other than newsprint is lignin-free.

pH factor - The pH factor refers to acidity of a paper. The pH scale is the standard for measurement of acidity and alkalinity. It runs from 0 to 14, each number representing a tenfold increase; neutral is 7. Acid-free products have a pH factor of 7 or above. Special pH tester pens are available to help you determine the acidity or alkalinity of products.

Photo-safe - Photo-safe is a term similar to archival quality but more specific to materials used with photographs. Acid-free is the determining factor for a product to be labeled photo-safe.

Sheet protectors - These are made of plastic to slip over a finished album page. They can be side-loading or top-loading and fit 8-1/2 x 11-inch or 12 x 12-inch pages. It is important that they are acid-free. Polypropylene (vinyl), commonly available for office use, is not of archival quality and should not be included in albums.

Materials Albums - Photo-friendly, acid-free albums are available in standard 8-1/2 x 11-inch, 12 x 12-inch, and 5 x 7-inch sizes. Most will let you insert plastic page protectors. The most popular types of scrapbooking albums are:
Three-ring: These familiar favorites have rings that snap apart for easy page insertion and removal.
Spiral-Bound: Albums with this type of wire binding have permanently attached pages and are ideal for one-topic and themed scrapbooks.
Strap-style: Albums that use plastic straps allow the pages to lie completely flat when the album is opened.

Scrapbook glossary

Terms

Acid-free - Acid is used in paper manufacturing to break apart the wood fibers and the lignin that holds them together. If acid remains in the materials used for photo albums, the acid can react chemically with photographs and cause their deterioration. Acid-free products have a pH factor of 7.0 or above. It's imperative that all materials (glue, pens, paper, etc.) used in memory albums or scrapbooks be acid-free.

Acid migration - Acid migration is the transfer of acidity from one item to another through physical contact or acidic vapors. If a newspaper clipping is put into an album, the area it touches will eventually turn yellow or brown. A deacidification pH factor spray can be used on acidic papers, or they can be color photocopied onto acid-free papers. Archival quality -

"Archival quality" is a term used to indicate materials which have undergone laboratory analysis to determine that their acidic and buffered content is within safe levels.