Think before you crop. Many new scrapbookers begin by cutting their photos into shapes with templates or decorative scissors. Before you crop your photos keep these tips in mind:
It is pretty easy to get carried away with cropping and then wish later that you had cut a little less off of some of your photos. Keep in mind some things your should never crop:
1.Do not crop Polaroid snapshots – The chemicals inside the photos can leak and ruin the picture and your page. Instead, if you choose to, you could conceal the photo edge with paper frames on your layouts.
2.Do not crop out all historical or place references – cutting too much out of a photo can remove a significant part of the story.
3.Limit the number of shapes that you crop your photos into on each layout.
Trimming your photographs is one of the first things that most scrapbookers are taught. We do this for several reasons: to be able to include more pictures on a page, to create a focal point for a picture, or to remove distracting background images. As you flip though recent scrapbooking magazines and idea books, you will find that cropping has taken on some new trends that can greatly enhance the overall look of your scrapbook pages. Here are three cropping methods to consider before you cut into your very next 
photo.
•Cropping for Balance and Focus
•Cropping and Enlarging
•Cropping Creatively
