I'm creating a work portfolio, essentially a very nice looking notebook with examples of things I can and have done, at home, at church and on the job, along with all my reference letters in the back and an award as well.

I discovered that the pages were very hard to turn, when a couple people examined it, so I got plastic page protectors, which made that problem go away. However, now I have a new one. The nice dividers I bought to make the tabs with for the different sections, no longer stick out beyond the plastic page protectors.

I attempted to slip one of of the nice page dividers into a plastic protector with a slot cut for the tab, which looked nice at first glance, but when you close the notebook the tab sticks out of the book somewhat.

I'm so frustrated, I wanted this to be done this weekend. So I'm asking you, is it tacky if the tabs stick out of the notebook a little? Is that unprofessional or have you ever seen special portfolios that did that?

I also tried leaving the dividers as they were, but extending the tabs beyond the plastic page protectors just a little bit with large white stickers, placed back to back, but I think that looks worse, really, even though they don't stick out that far. I was considering putting colors on the stickers (cover them with colored paper) for a colored tab effect to match the color coding used on each section. That might make them stand out, because they tend to blend in which is what I don't like the most.

Any suggestions? I'm so discouraged, don't know whether to head back to the office store and see if there is a wider notebook, or different type of tabs, or keep trying to modify what I have.

Can anyone offer a solution here?

Thanks.

Brenda
Nightowl >8#

(Edit: I tried putting the colors on the tabs, and it looks a lot better, I used sticky notes to make colored tabs, so they stand out more and they don't actually stick out of the notebook, either. Gonna show it to some people at church today and see if they think it looks professional, but still could use your opinions).

I don't know where you live, but the Staples in Frisco, TX where I live has been an inexpensive godsend on more than one occasion. Find an office supply store with a "copy desk" to help you with what you need.

I live in St. Louis, and the nearest Staples is in the Ozarks. But we have Office Max and Office Depot. Office Max is where I've been going so far.

They have a "copy" desk, but it does far more than copies. Take your book down there, let someone look at it. It sounds like you simply need a tabs that are just a little bit wider than the page protectors. Or smaller page protectors. Staples (or any decent office supply store) will have that, and people who can help you.

Yeah, I don't think there are smaller page protectors, but maybe a little wider tabs.. or even a wider notebook. Guess I'll have to go back to the office store, just feeling like we've already spent a lot on this project... sigh.

My son bought a $15 magazine a couple of weeks ago, with all the "tips" for his Pokemon Sapphire game. The pages started coming out. When he returned to the store where he bought it, they were out of stock.

So, we went down to the copy desk at Staples and they cut the non-working glue binder off the magazine, punched holes in it, and put a plastic binder on it. We added clear plastic cover pages on the front and back. The lady even clipped the corners, so he would not "poke" himself. Total cost: $1.88. I would have paid 5 times that.

So, find yourself a good office supply store with a copy desk, and get yourself fixed up. They will help you make it look good!

Thanks, I'll ask their input this time instead of trying to pick out what works on my own.

Nightowl >8#