This 5 photo layout could be put together fairly quickly.  If you don’t have a 5×7, you could use 2 horizontal 3.5×5 inch, instead.  The photo hanging off the mat on the right page helps break the lines of all that vertical paper, giving your eye a rest.

The layout uses 5 patterns and 1 solid, but only 3 photos. I had never done a 3 photo layout before, but this time  I didn’t have much choice.  I’m very pleased with the result, though!  And while I didn’t have a photo to hang off the mat, the over-sized numbers work just the same way.

This 7 photo sketch is great for when you have some strong photos that you not only don’t want to crop much, but you want them bigger!   If you don’t want to add a sub-title, you could add even more photos there, instead. There is more visual white space than in most of my sketches, so if that bothers you, add more photos or stuff!

The layout uses 7 photos, though one of them is tucked into the title.  There is no journaling, just a quote, because the pictures and title say it all.  I don’t usually leave so much space that doesn’t have photos in it, but the busy word paper made me okay with the idea.  As it turned out, this is one of my favorite layouts I’ve ever done.

This 7 photo sketch requires very little cropping of your 4×6 pictures, and none at all if you use a 5×7 as your focal photo.  The large letter used in the title helps balance the left page.  The background papers are a simple layout.  This would be a fast layout to do!

In this 6 photo layout, the photos have been cropped more than in the sketch, to allow more room for embellishments, and the large initial (number, in this case) starts the title that is finished in the journaling (Five Things I Love About Easter).

This 6 photo sketch uses almost full-size 4×6 photos, and 1 5×7, placed in blocks to make a big visual impact on each page. The matting on the photos on the left side is part of the design, but not required.  And, as always, remember that if you don’t have a 5×7, you can use a 4×6 and mat it more than once to get the same effect.

This layout really uses the patterned paper as a design element, eliminating the need for many other embellishments. I used 6 patterned papers and 1 cardstock, but since the patterned paper was all double-sided, I didn’t have to buy as many pieces as I otherwise would’ve.

Here’s another 10 photo sketch.  Ten is the 2nd most popular number of photos for my sketches!  (Eight is tops, so far)

This layout is 8 photos, because I combined the strip on the left and used part of a brochure in that place, and on the right I shortened the top right photo and added a small one under it. The photo on the bottom right is a postcard, which allowed me to include a perspective I otherwise couldn’t. Don’t be afraid to use postcards and brochures on your layout (the title on this one is also from a brochure)! There are 4 patterns and 2 solids used here.

This 10 photo sketch has 2 focal photos. The left focus is enhanced by heavy matting, while the right is a larger format photo. The background is mostly just that… background that is there to anchor the photo arrangement. That doesn’t mean it can’t be fun, though!

This layout only used 7 photos.  In the 8th photo space (the 5×7), I used part of a program from the ceremony we attended. It is often daunting to include the program and multiple photos, which is one reason I wanted to show that it can be done and still look good. I replaced the 9th photo with a date/time journaling block. This layout uses 3 patterns and 1 solid.

This 9 photo sketch is a first for me.  It is the first time I’ve
created a sketch without having already created the layout.

Here is the layout I ended up creating from the sketch idea.  As you can see, the only thing that really looks like the sketch is the background papers.  That’s what happens when I create a layout from a sketch instead of vice versa… the sketch ends up being inspiration for a layout that may barely resemble the sketch itself!

There is a nice simplicity to this 7 photo sketch. It can be dressed up or down, depending on your mood, but the basic paper layout is easy.

This first example is exactly like the sketch. I used 4 patterns & 3 solids. The brackets are chipboard covered with paper, but you could get the same effect with pop dots or by using strips of paper instead of brackets.

This second example was created by my friend, Robin S.  She used the left side of the sketch for inspiration, then did her own thing with the right side. This is a good example of using a sketch as a starting point for inspiration, and not having to follow it exactly.

This 11 photo sketch was created from a layout by my friend Robin S. I love how she got so many photos on here, and yet only 3 of them are severely cropped!

This first example is the layout the sketch was created from.  She is the embellishment queen, in case you can’t tell!   There are 4 patterns and 4 solids on this layout.

The second layout is my own version  of Robin’s layout. Yep, even the pictures are the same, because they are of us and our husbands, from when we spent a day on the lake together. I really like being able to show you another take on the sketch, using the same set of pictures. I only used 9 pictures, moved the title, and added some journaling. There are 6 patterns and 2 solids.

This 8 photo layout has a good combination of cropped and non-cropped photos.  Almost half of them are straight-from-the-developer sized.

The layout I created has only 5 photos because I wanted to have a big title and room for embellishments.  I don’t usually like to split photos over 2 pages, but it worked in this instance.  I used 6 patterns and 1 solid.

This 10 photo sketch can easily be adjusted for fewer photos, if you like. I like using the 4×3 size because you can get 2 of them on a 4×6 print.

The layout I created actually used 12 photos, because I made a photo strip at the bottom of the left page. I used 6 patterns and 1 solid. I’m not sure more patterns would have been possible, but I certainly could’ve used less.  As you can tell, though, I love mixing patterns!

This 10 photo sketch uses 2 focal photos. Turning them different ways keeps them from competing with each other much, and adds visual interest.

The template can be downloaded here.

In the first example, I did not use 5×7 photos as shown in the sketch, but matted my regular 4x6s in a 5×7 size. Doing that gives me room to play around with the embellishments, which I love. I used 5 patterns and 2 solids.

The second layout is a re-creation of the first, done digitally for a photo book. I altered the sketch again, this time making the focal photo on the left larger (10 inches long), removing one photo on the left, and changing the size (again) of the right focal photo to allow for more embellishments.  Credit for these beautiful papers and embellishments goes to Kelly Jo.

This post was updated on September 25, 2010.

This 8 photo sketch does not require severe cropping of at least half of the pictures.  The larger photo, as in any sketch, can be replaced with a regular size photo that is matted well.

In this example, you can see that I switched the sides of the sketch,
mostly to show time progression of the photos.  I also played around
with the sizes of the photos some, because I wanted to add in more
embellishments and quotes.  I used 4 patterns and 2 solids.

This 5 photo sketch is more about the layout of the papers than it is the photos, because the photos could be arranged in just about any way, using more or less.

In the example, I used 4 (busy!) patterns and 3 solids.  If the colors had not been so limited, the papers would’ve been too busy to use together, but I think it worked in this case.

This 15 (yes, 15!) photo sketch is flexible, if you need it to be.  You could do more, or less.  The position of the title is different than many of the other sketches, being positioned in the bottom third of the page instead of in the top third.

In the example I only used 14 photos because my title was so long.  That meant I had to adjust my other photos as well, to fit in the journaling.  And if you look closely at the left side of the page, the 2 larger photos are not the same size.  And that’s okay!