HAVE A LUXURIOUS AND STYLISH PHOTO BOOK MADE
CHOICE GUIDE FOR CHOOSING YOUR PHOTO BOOK
When creating a request for your stylish photo book, you can choose from a variety of different sizes, design styles, covers and extra options.
If the sheer number of choices leaves you unsure what to choose or in doubt as to what best suits your needs, read some tips below.
Read the entire article or go straight to the topic you have questions about.
What format should I choose?
What design style do I choose?
Which binding is best to choose?
How can I create a nice separation between different destinations I visited during one trip?
Which cover is best to choose?
How many photos fit in a photo book?
LANDSCAPE, PORTRAIT OR SQUARE?
WHAT FORMAT IS BEST TO CHOOSE?
The best format to choose depends on your budget and the type of photos you took.
The most popular format is the Square XL. In this format, both landscape and portrait, as well as square photos come out well. Because of the large format, the full-page photos are printed really large, and even the photos that are a bit smaller in the photo book are still large and clearly visible.
The Landscape L format is also a very popular format because in a landscape photo book especially landscape photos are shown off well, and most people primarily capture their photos in landscape orientation. Especially in travel photos where landscapes are photographed. For example, think of a tour of America where you took a lot of pictures of the beautiful nature in the National Parks, or the safari you went on in Africa.
A portrait format is less popular and mainly suitable if you took a lot of pictures in portrait mode. This is often the case when you have taken portrait photos. One downside of this format, in my opinion, is that it doesn’t stay open as easily. When you open the book it automatically folds back closed. This is because the book is bound across the longest side.
So I will always recommend going for a square or landscape photo book.
WHICH STYLE SUITS YOU?
WHAT DESIGN STYLE DO I CHOOSE?
WHICH STYLE SUITS YOUR TRIP
WHAT DESIGN STYLE DO I CHOOSE?
With design style Modern, photo books are designed in a sleek manner. With this style, statistics can also be added to your photo book. In addition, any text/travelogue will be placed in the book in a stylish way that will make your photo book look like you bought it in a bookstore.
Design style Modern, the background will play a less prominent role and optimum use is made of all available space, so the photos are generally placed a bit larger in the book than in e.g. design style Unique.
View herephoto book examples of the design style Modern
With design style Square, the photo book is designed in a stylish way with photos in blocks and you can choose to have all kinds of statistics from your trip added. Examples include GPS coordinates, name of location, route taken, date, altitude and weather conditions.
Similar to the Modern design style, with design style Square, the photos are spread across the page, with the background not taking up a large portion of the page. So the photographs themselves play the most important role.
View here ephoto book examples of the Square design style
With design style Unique, the photo book is designed in a playful way; with borders, frames, stamps in the background, and photos placed diagonally in the book. With this design style, the background takes up a larger portion of the page so the photos are displayed relatively a bit smaller than with the Modern and Square design styles. The Unique design style can’t be found anywhere else, so you truly have something unique!
If you would like all photos to be placed large in the photo book, choose the basic design style. The design options are a bit more limited, for example, a travelogue cannot be added. On the other hand, all photos will be displayed extra large (in most cases even full-page). Among other factors, this contributes to quickly getting a thick photo book at an affordable price.
View here examples of the design style Basic
If you really want something unique and an eye-catching photo book to flip through yourself but certainly also to display, choose design style Magazine. The design style is only suitable if you have a large travel diary that needs to be incorporated into the photo book.
LAY-FLAT OR TRADITIONAL?
PHOTO BOOKS WITH LAY-FLAT BINDING
In photo books with layflat binding, the pages are completely flat when the book is open. The binding does not cause any important elements to disappear. Photo books with a lay-flat binding come standard with 360-gram thick photographic paper which gives the book a luxurious look.
PHOTO BOOK WITH TRADITIONAL BINDING
Photo books with a traditional binding have a binding as you would expect from a normal book. When you lay the photo book open, the two facing pages are not completely flat but are slightly convex. Photo books with traditional binding come with 200-gram thick paper.
CHOOSING BINDING BASED ON THE NUMBER OF PHOTOS
The number of photos to be included in the photo book can play a role in deciding whether it’s best to go with a lay-flat binding or traditional binding.
This is because a lay-flat photo book can accommodate fewer photos than a photo book with traditional binding. A lay-flat photo book has up to 106 or 130 pages, depending on the size. A photo book with traditional binding can be expanded up to 400 pages. So if you have a lot of photos and would like to have everything included in 1 photo book then you should choose a photo book with traditional binding. In this article you will read more about the number of photos that fit into 1 book.
There are also a number of extra options that depend on the type of photo book. For example, gold/silver/foil printing can only be chosen on the cover if you choose a lay-flat photo book. This is not possible with a photo book with traditional binding.
If you choose design style Unique or Basic, then a lay-flat binding adds little value. Sure, it’s nice to have a photo book with photographic paper and a lay-flat binding, but with the Unique and Basic design styles, photos will never (with the exception of panoramic photos) be designed over the binding. Thus, a photo is always placed either on the left or right page and not enlarged across two pages. So no important details will disappear in the binding of the photo book.
If you choose design style Modern, Square or Magazine, photos are sometimes dsigned over the binding though. So then, for example, a picture is placed on the left page, but still continues (partially) on the right page. In that case, a lay-flat binding does add value, the entire photo is then displayed and nothing will disappear as a result of the binding. Although a lay-flat binding does look nice with this style it is certainly not a must. I always make sure that no important details (faces and main subjects) are disappearing in the binding. So even with these design styles, you can certainly just opt for a photobook with traditional binding.
HAVE YOUR BEST MEMORIES CAPTURED
HOW TO ADD A NICE SEPARATION BETWEEN MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS
WITH A DESTINATION OVERVIEW
If you visited multiple countries in 1 trip, you can choose to have a photo book designed for each country, but of course it’s just nicer if all the photos from 1 trip are in 1 book. Still, to create a nice and clear separation between the different countries, you can have a Destination overview placed at the beginning of each country.
On the Destination overview there is space to include information about the country or to write your own introduction or summary of your trip. It’s nice to start your photo book or a new part of your trip this way, and your photo book is immediately equipped with a clear route map
In addition to the route map and text, various statistics are listed. Consider, for example, date, weather conditions, distance traveled (or distance compared to home), highest point, time difference, means of transportation you used, the highlight of your trip, etc.
WITH A SUBTLE CHAPTER SEPARATION
If you prefer a more subtle separation, you can also opt for a “Chapter separation” as shown here. Only the name of the destination is displayed with the dates when you stayed in the country, and of course a big picture of the beautiful destination.
HAVE YOUR BEST MEMORIES CAPTURED
HOW TO ADD A NICE SEPARATION BETWEEN MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS
WITH A DESTINATION OVERVIEW
If you visited multiple countries in 1 trip, you can choose to have a photo book designed for each country. Besides the fact that it is more costly, it is also just nicer if all the photos of 1 trip are in 1 book. Still, to create a nice and clear separation between the different countries, you can have a Destination overview placed at the beginning of each country.
On the Destination overview there is space to include information about the country or to write your own introduction or summary of your trip. It’s nice to start your photo book or a new part of your trip this way, and your photo book is immediately equipped with a clear route map
In addition to the route map and text, various statistics are listed. Consider, for example, date, weather conditions, distance traveled (or distance compared to home), highest point, time difference, means of transportation you used, the highlight of your trip, etc.
WITH A SUBTLE CHAPTER SEPARATION
If you prefer a more subtle separation, you can also opt for a “Chapter separation” as shown here. Only the name of the destination is displayed with the dates when you stayed in the country, and of course a big picture of the beautiful destination.
MIX AND MATCH
WHICH COVER IS BEST TO CHOOSE?
Personally, I always find it nice when the cover of the photo book matches well with the style of the interior, maintaining a cohesive look throughout the entire book. Below is a chart showing which covers match best with the different design styles.
It is of course not mandatory, and you are welcome to choose a cover that according to the table below would match less well with the chosen design style. But the following can be adhered to as what I would recommend.
| DESIGN STYLE MODERN | DESIGN STYLE SQUARE | DESIGN STYLE UNIQUE | DESIGN STYLE BASIC | DESIGN STYLE MAGAZINE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COVER GLOBE | X | ||||
| COVER FRAME | X | ||||
| COVER MODERN | X | X | X | ||
| COVER CONTOUR | X | X | X | X | |
| COVER SAFARI | X | X | X | X | X |
| COVER MAGAZINE | X | X | X | X | |
| COVER HELLO | X | X | X | X | X |
| COVER QUATRO | X | X | X | ||
| COVER SQUARE | X | X |
(Swipe right and left to scroll through the table, or view the full table on your desktop)
HAVE YOUR MOST BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES CAPTURED
HOW MANY PHOTOS FIT IN A PHOTO BOOK?
DEPENDING ON THE BINDING YOU CHOOSE
Lay-flat photo books can accommodate fewer photos than photo books with traditional binding. This is because there is a maximum number of pages for the lay-flat photo books. These can be expanded to a maximum of 104 or 130 pages depending on the format.
Photo books with a standard binding can be expanded to as many as 800(!) pages. And the more pages the more photos can be included in the book. However, I personally feel that the limit does lie at 400 pages. If the photo book gets even thicker, it is no longer fun to flip through, nor is it fun to show the book to others. Who’s going to leisurely flip through a thick Bible of photos now?
Should you really need more than 400 pages, I always recommend splitting the photos into 2 books.
DEPENDING ON AN A TRAVEL DIARY
As you will understand, text also takes up space in a photo book. Space that would otherwise be filled with a photo. This means that, on average, fewer photos fit on 1 spread and your total number of photos will therefore be spread over more pages, making the book thicker.
DEPENDING ON THE DESIGN STYLE CHOSEN
With the Modern, Unique and Square design styles, there is a lot of variation between the different layouts but on average about 6 to 7 photos are placed on 1 spread (2 facing pages). This means an average of 3 to 3.5 photos are placed per page. Sometimes a photo will fill an entire page in the book, while other times, for example, 10 photos will be placed on one spread.
With the Basic design style, no travelogue/text or any statistics can be incorporated, but all photos are displayed extra large (in most cases even full-page). The average per spread for this style is 2.5 photos.
So with this style, there can be fewer photos in total in the book because you reach the maximum number of pages earlier.
PHOTO BOOKS WITH DESIGN STYLES: MODERN, SQUARE AND UNIQUE
| 24 pp. | 70 pp. | 100 pp. | 130 pp. | 150 pp. | 200 pp. | 400 pp. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHOTOBOOKS TRADITIONAL BINDING - without travel diary | 75 photos | 225 photos | 325 photos | 425 photos | 480 photos | 650 photos | 1300 photos |
| PHOTOBOOKS TRADITIONAL BINDING - with travel diary | 65 photos | 205 photos | 300 photos | 385 photos | 450 photos | 600 photos | 1200 photos |
| LAY-FLAT PHOTO BOOKS- without travel diary | 75 photos | 225 photos | 325 photos | 425 photos | N/A. | N/A. | N/A. |
| LAY-FLAT PHOTO BOOKS - with travel diary | 65 photos | 205 photos | 300 photos | 385 photos | N/A. | N/A. | N/A. |
(Swipe right and left to scroll through the table, or view the full table on your desktop)
PHOTO BOOKS WITH DESIGN STYLE: BASIC
only without a travel diary
| 24 pp. | 70 pp. | 100 pp. | 130 pp. | 150 pp. | 200 pp. | 400 pp. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHOTOBOOKS TRADITIONAL BINDING - without travel diary | 36 photos | 105 photos | 150 photos | 195 photos | 225 photos | 300 photos | 600 photos |
| LAY-FLAT PHOTOBOOKS - without travel diary | 36 photos | 105 photos | 150 photos | 195 photos | N/A. | N/A. | N/A. |
(Swipe right and left to scroll through the table, or view the full table on your desktop)
PHOTO BOOKS WITH DESIGN STYLE: MAGAZINE
only with travel diary
| 24 pp. | 70 pp. | 100 pp. | 130 pp. | 150 pp. | 200 pp. | 400 pp. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHOTOBOOKS TRADITIONAL BINDING - with travel diary | 65 photos | 190 photos | 270 photos | 350 photos | 400 photos | 540 photos | 1075 photos |
| LAY-FLAT PHOTOBOOKS - with travel diary | 65 photos | 190 photos | 270 photos | 350 photos | N/A. | N/A. | N/A. |
(Swipe right and left to scroll through the table, or view the full table on your desktop)
