How to edit scrapbook layout photographs with your phone

Do you share your layouts online? One of the most common questions I see in forums and scrapbooking groups is how to take good layout photographs. Especially if you make only phone photography, it becomes a bit more head scratching.

I’m going to shed some light on this topic. I’ll talk about how you can take the photo of the layout with your phone, set up the scene and plus how to edit it within the phone.

Well here are my top tips… and its not as difficult as you think. Let’s dive in!

Set up the scene

First, you need to find a place in your house with good natural light and a clear background. I like to use my white table which is next to a window. If you don’t have a table you can also use a large sheet of poster board or something similar. I like to add props such as coordinating embellishments, washi tape and sequins scattered around to add extra interest.

Take the photo

Stand over your layout and take a few photographs from above. I usually take 5 or 6 so that I can guarantee there will be at least one good photo.  I use my iPhone to take my photographs and then edit them using Snapseed. It’s a completely free app, really easy to use and as you can see the difference is pretty impressive!

Edit the photo with an app

I start by correcting the white balance using the color selector tool. Then increase the brightness, highlights, saturation & contrast as much as is needed. Often, this can be all it takes to edit your photograph but there are a few other steps I sometimes use to correct specific issues.

This photo had quite a lot of shadows at the top of the picture, I correct this by using the brush tool in “exposure” mode and then just brush over the areas that need extra brightening. Do this as many times as is needed to correct the shadows, remembering to accept the changes each time before repeating. You may need to go back and adjust the contrast or saturation again after this step.

Snapseed also gives you the option of extending your image to give extra white space for adding text to your picture.  Unless you have a clear space in your photograph this may have to be done gradually but you can also use the “healing” tool to erase unwanted areas by cloning other parts of the image.

I hope you’ve found my editing process useful. Once you have a chance to read the article I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

What do you use to photograph your scrapbook layouts; is it a smart phone or a camera? And, what’s your favorite software/app to make adjustments to the photograph.