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Scor-Pal Product Review
Rated: ««««¶

By Susan Caplan
Product Reviewer
Rubber Road Adventures Ezine

Scoring tools have been on the market in various forms for many years; however, I had never been that intrigued to try one.  I mean, how difficult is it to fold a piece of cardstock in half?  I prefer tools that have many uses.

I have recently been hearing a lot about a new scoring tool that was user friendly for both scrapbook and stamp enthusiasts.  It is light weight, portable, and made multi scoring tasks easy.

I was now intrigued to find out what all the fuss was about.   The new tool is called Scor-Pal.

The Scor-Pal is a light weight, plastic tray type object, with deep set vertical grooves.  It is roughly 13” x 15” and works with any size paper up to 12” x 12”.  There is a ruler that runs along the top where the grooves start.  For the most part, the ruler is marked off in half inch segments with a few seemingly odd markings included here and there.  There are, also, rulers along the sides marked off in half inch segments.

When I first set the Scor-Pal on my table, I was a bit confused by the markings. I laid my ruler on the tool to try and figure out what the odd grooves were for.  After reading the instructions that are included, I learned that the odd markings/grooves are for specific types of paper folds.  That being clear, I set out to see if this tool was going to be a “must have” addition to my studio.

The scoring mark at 4¼” is there but not labeled; so, I marked it with a permanent marker for future use.  I placed my 5½" x 8½” cardstock down in the top left corner making sure it fit snugly. I put the score tool in the groove and proceeded to glide down the paper.  It couldn’t be easier, and the score was smooth and clean. 

I still needed to find a way that this tool could be used besides scoring my paper in half.  So, I focused my attention to the markings on the top ruler. I needed to make them useful to me.  I knew that I had ¼” grooves already marked between the 4” and 4 1/4” notches. I noticed that the marking from 4¼” to 5” was a ¾” space and marked it. This would make locating a ¾” measurement easy to find in the future.  On this board there is a 6 3/8” marking for gate folded cards.  I marked the area from 6” and 6 3/8” knowing that in the future I might want a 3/8” measurement.  If I couldn’t figure out what the measurement between two grooves was, I took out my ruler and measured.  It took me about 30 minutes to customize my Scor-Pal so that the grooves made sense. I found this to be well worth my time.

With markings preset, scoring is faster.  For a ¼” vertical line, all I have to do is set my edge at 4”, score at 4 ¼”, move my scored mark over to 4” and then score again at 4¼”.  This process is repeated until my card is covered with perfectly even ¼” scored grooves.  I can do the same procedure for 1/8”, ½”, 3/8”, 5/8”, ¾” and 1 inch+.  I can see many creative ways in which these markings can be used in future projects.

In my sample card, I created the background tiles by making continuous ¼” score marks down my cardstock. Next, I turned the cardstock so the lines were perpendicular and repeated the scoring.

The end result was perfect ¼” tiles! 

I made a diamond shaped background by placing the cardstock on an angle and scoring repeatedly.  I then turned the card and scored again.  I can make vertical or horizontal lines across my paper and make any size squares or rectangles that I want. 

My verdict on this tool is a definite YES.  It may not be a tool that is used every day, but it absolutely has a place in any stamp or scrapbook room.  The Scor-Pal makes clean, even score marks that I can’t achieve from a ruler and bone folder alone.   There is a bit of a learning curve to this tool. Take the time to determine what the various size grooves are for and how to best use them for you. I know that I will be quick to grab for it in my future score filled projects. 

My over all rating for this tool is: ««««¶  

For more information, a gallery, projects, and a magazine, check out the Scor-Pal website at:

                                                         http://www.scor-pal.com/