How to Mat a Picture

Matting pictures in a scrapbook is a nice way to highlight special memories. The matting draws attention to favorite photos and makes them stand out on the page.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Scrapbook paper
• Photo-safe adhesive
• Scissors or photo cropper

1. 

   Choose your photo or photos. Pick one or two that you want to stand out from the rest.

2. 

   Crop your pictures. Cut the photos down to the size you want, and remove any distracting elements in the photo.

3. Choose the paper for the mat. Pick a color or pattern that matches the picture, or draws out details. For example, choose a blue mat for a close-up photograph of a child with blue eyes.

4. Decide how thick you want the mat to be. A mat can be so thin that it's barely visible around the photo, or thick enough to stand out.

5. Measure and cut your mat to the right size. If you want a 1/4-inch mat, cut your scrapbook paper 1/2 inch longer and wider than the photo.

6. 

   Center the photo on the mat. Glue the photograph to the mat with scrapbook adhesive.

7. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 to double or triple-mat your photo.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're using multiple mats on a page, use the same matting paper. You don't have to mat every photo; only matting one or two photos will make them stand out from the rest.