These Ain't Your Grandma's Photo Corners
To attach your documents and photos to the pages of a paper-page album or scrapbook, you'll need to select an appropriate adhesive. A double sided tape dispenser is a great choice, as are glue dots for memory books. Photo corners are the preferred method.
Old-fashioned photo corners had a water-activated adhesive, meaning you had to lick them to make them sticky. Besides being tedious (not to mention tasting icky!), this adhesive was prone to early deterioration which means they can fall off. You may have seen an old scrapbook with this kind of corners on the pages, and they are coming apart.
The reason photo corners work best is because the adhesive never touches the photo, it is stuck only to the page of your album. If you decide to remove or rearrange a photo later, there is no adhesive to remove, just pop it out of the corners.
You should avoid most household glue like white craft and school glues because the high water content will cause your pages to warp. You should also avoid using regular cellophane tape and rubber cement, because they are not pH balanced, and will deteriorate over time, losing their stick and leaving ugly brown marks on your pages and irreplaceable photos & documents.
If you choose to purchase an adhesive locally, look for the following markings on the package:
- Acid-free
- Photo-safe
- Archival
- Neutral pH
- or similar indications that the adhesive has long-term archival properties
So, here's how to use our self-adhesive photo corners. They are pretty much self-explanatory, but just in case you need a little help, here's a step by step.
Self adhesive photo corners come on a peel-off sheet.
Just slip each corner of your photo into the triangular pocket
Pull the photo corner away from the sheet while it is attached to your photo
The back of the photo corner is coated with an archival "sticker" adhesive
Place one photo corner on each corner of your photo
Position your photo where you want it on the page
Gently press down on the photo corners to fix the photo in place
Clear Photo Corners work the same way, but they are dispensed on a roll instead of a sheet.
Clear photo corners are almost invisible, and give a more modern look.
Glue Dots for Memory Books are great for larger photos and documents.
They are little circles of double-sided adhesive, dispensed on a roll.
Press one dot of the BACK of each corner of the photo by pressing it against the dot on the roll.
Turn the photo over and position it on the page. Press the corners lightly to fix it in place.
Glue dots adhesive is permanent and doesn't show on the face of your photo at all.
