I love working with panels. I study my panel to visualize what would look best with a particular panel. Decide how much larger you want for your finished size then go from there. Good luck!
ps. My albums have panel quilts in them but usually large quilts. In my albums I see a blank square where a small picture should be. However, if you click on the blank, a picture will show up. Since the Quilting Board upgrade some of my albums look blank but are not if you click the blank.