Accordion File/Crop File Tutorial

Happy Sunday, Friends!! A few people asked me what camera do I use to take pictures of my cards and projects on my blog. Although I have a Canon Rebel, I don't use it to take pictures of my cards. I use my Fuji S5200 camera. . .it's a regular digital camera and not a DSLR.

The reason I don't use my Canon for my cards is that for some reason, although the colors are nice and rich, the photos turn out darker compared to the photos I take with my Fuji camera.

I also don't take my photos in natural light because I don't have enough light that shines in my room. On one side I have an OTT-Lite (you can find at any craft store) and on the other, a lamp using a "craft bulb" that you can find at any hardware store. The reason I have a craft bulb on one side is because I don't have enough room on my table to put a second OTT-Lite, so I have a standing floor lamp that I can move around the room. Both the OTT-Lite and craft bulb provide "true full spectrum color" so when you take a photo of your card or project, the colors are exactly as you see them in person. Regular light bulbs cast a "yellowish" color to your photos.

Another trick is to not shine your light directly in front of your card/project. Use two lamps, one slightly to one side and above your card and one slightly in front and to the other side of your card. If I don't use two lamps, one side usually looks too dark . . .that's the reason why I have two lamps.

Anyway. . .there's no real camera tricks except to take a picture of your card in "macro setting" with "no flash". Never use flash. . .arrggh, the color looks terrible. The "macro" setting prevents blurry close up shots.

Okay. . .now to my project and tutorial. I created this tutorial. . .gosh, like two years ago. It's been so long and I've never recreated the project since! Well, until now. Like I said in previous posts, I'm trying to convert all my past tutorials into "pdf files" so in order to post the tutorials in pdf, I have to create an updated version of the projects on my blog. The tutorials will still show the old photos when I first created the tutorial.

When you look at the tutorial, the photos are terrible but back then I didn't have my awesome Fuji camera and I didn't have an OTT-Lite so good lighting and good camera makes a big difference on your presentation.

Anyway. . .this project is an "Accordion File or Crop File". In the past, I've used this file to store my pre-colored images so it's useful as a crop file.

As you can see in the photos, there are pockets created using a #10 Business size envelopes. It's a very easy project so try it out!! Scroll down for the tutorial.



I embellished my accordion file with metal embellishments. I love the contrast to the pretty paper.

Hope you all are having a fabulous Sunday!

Project Details:

Paper: Prima, Inc., SU Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Making Memories Metal Sentiment, SU Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Blue Moon charm, SU Word Window Punch, SU Round Tab Punch, SU Corner Rounder, Silver metallic cord



With the tutorial below, if you want to print it, click on the drop menu that is labeled "iPaper". It'll give you the option to print. You may view a full page of the tutorial by clicking on the icon to the very top right corner. It'll open up a new window with the tutorial. If you just want to enlarge directly on the blog, click on the + button or the magnifying glass! Anyway, try the tutorial out when you have a chance! You may also scroll through the tutorial by using the scroll bar to the right of the tutorial!