In an age dominated by Instagram carousels and scrolling feeds, it’s easy to forget the power of holding a photograph in your hands. That’s exactly why I have a passion for photography books, and why I’ve returned to making photography zines.

There’s something irreplaceable about curating a sequence of images, designing pages and creating a tangible object that tells a story on its own terms. Zines force you to finish projects, make editorial decisions and consider pacing, sequencing and scale in a way that no screen can replicate. They’re personal, collectible and deeply satisfying, in addition to expanding what photography can be.

For photographers, both emerging and established, producing a zine isn’t a vanity project; it’s a practice in storytelling, curation and self-expression. Whether exploring street photography, fine art or documentary work, a zine gives your images a home and a life beyond the conveyor belt grid.

I’m sharing five reasons why you should start making photography zines and why they might change the way you see and share your work…

1. Think in Stories, Not Single Images
When you create a zine, you’re no longer thinking about isolated shots. You’re sequencing images, and crafting rhythm, pacing and narrative arcs. Working in a series forces you to consider how one photo relates to the next, how visual tension builds and how the reader experiences your story from page to page. It’s an essential exercise for any photographer looking to elevate their practice beyond snapshots.

2. Share Your Work Authentically
Zines give me a way to present my work without the distractions or influences of social media. I can control the layout, sequence and even the paper quality; everything reflects my idea. There’s a freedom in creating a product meant to be experienced on its own terms, rather than chasing likes or algorithms. It’s raw, personal and genuine.

3. Engage With a Physical, Tangible Medium
Holding a zine in your hands is different from scrolling on a screen. The texture of the paper, the weight of the pages and even the smell of fresh ink all add to the experience. For readers, it’s immersive; for me as a photographer, it’s a reminder that photography isn’t solely digital but a real object.

4. Zines force you to finish something
Digital photography is inherently endless. Hard drives swell with 'maybe' images and folders labeled 'untitled project' grow dustier by the month. Creating a self-published photography zine demands that you commit. Even if your zine is ten pages or twenty, the act of finishing a tangible publication is invaluable.

5. Build Your Portfolio and Visibility
Finally, zines don't just have to be personal; they can be professional tools. They can be sent to galleries, used in portfolio reviews or even collected by other photographers. A well-made zine demonstrates commitment, vision and storytelling skill. It’s tangible proof of what you’re capable of and can open doors in the photography and fine art world.

Creating a photography zine doesn’t require a huge budget or fancy printing. Even a simple ten-page booklet produced at home, or through an online printer, can open new doors in your creative practice. For me, zines have become a place to refine ideas, experiment with storytelling and reconnect with the joy of photography.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, stagnant or overwhelmed by photography, start a zine. Even if just a small one for yourself.

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Check out our guides to the best photo printers and the best photo books.

What I see: Brooklyn Beckham is a photography book compiled by David and Victoria Beckham’s eldest son. It was launched in 2017 to mixed reviews – that is to say, it received more than its fair share of flak. And I’ve always hated that.

The fact is, anyone can publish a photo book, and everyone has the right to. Photography is a toxic-enough industry at the best of times, but did we really need to publicly lambast a 16-year-old photographer?

The thing that’s always troubled me most about the way the world received Brooklyn Beckham’s photography book is that he swiftly moved on from a potential career in the field. I’ve always wondered, did the reception to What I see put him off? I sincerely hope not.

I’ve never been able to fathom what people were expecting from Brooklyn Beckham’s photography book. It never professed to be a carefully conceived personal project by a veteran shooter; it’s a collection of family photos captured through the lens of a teenage boy. I’m a half-decent photographer, but the photos I took at 16 were utter crap. A lot worse than Brooklyn’s!

I tell you what I see when I look at Brooklyn’s work: a young photographer with a passion for photography who had so much room to grow. But the armchair warriors and internet bullies smelled blood, and they just couldn’t help themselves.

Part of the problem was Brooklyn’s much-talked-about shoot for Burberry. In 2016, the younger Beckham was invited to photograph a campaign for the luxury fashion brand – a move that was labelled as nepotism.

Granted, I find it difficult to argue against this particular situation. But I’ll say it again: what fashion photography-loving teenager would pass up an opportunity to shoot for Burberry? Surely those around Brooklyn should have foreseen the backlash; you can’t blame the then-boy.

I'm always happy to see a celebrity promote their passion for photography. In a world where a dedicated camera is no longer an everyday essential for the large majority of the population, inspiring a few more would-be-togs to pick up a camera is alright by me. Just think how many teens Brooklyn could have inspired, and would be continuing to inspire, if he’d continued his photography journey.

I just hope we – the braying photography public – had nothing to do with his decision not to pursue the art form as a career, for now. There's still time.

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If you're into photography books, check out the best books on fashion photography and the best books on portrait photography. And for more of my ramblings: We are becoming desensitized to great photography.

Until a few weeks ago, I thought that the 'photo album' was a thing of the past. The real physical one, anyway. In my day-to-day life I have plenty of shared photo albums on my phone, but it has been a long time since I looked at a truly hand-assembled collection of images, and I’d forgotten – or perhaps never really understood – their power.

What changed my mind? Let me set the scene. It was only minutes after I’d arrived at my family home with my girlfriend. It was her first visit to my childhood home and my parents

Suddenly, things took a turn. My mother shared a meaningful glance with my father, who left the room – weird enough – before returning brandishing a wedge of card pages totaling some four inches thick, bound in chunky hardback. It was a family photo album.

I was already uneasy. This is a rare enough social situation, and I was already feeling phrases like “Tell us about the time you two first met…” take on the tone of interrogation.

The presence of a photo album, however, pushed that discomfort to extreme horror as I anticipated the near-inevitable mortification contained within. Could my relationship survive? Was this their plan?

A few minutes later, though, we were paging through dad’s photos – caught on his Pentax SLR, for the most part – from a single family holiday from the late 1990s. Suddenly my only worries were how infrequently I changed my Weezer t-shirt back then. It started to seem like a nice way for my parents and my girlfriend to bond – and I could feel my cringe gland (science fact: this isn’t a thing) start to relax.

It helped that the photos revealed I wasn’t quite the physical wreck I remember myself being at that age. Rather than running for the door, my girlfriend seemed to delight in the pictures and the stories they triggered.

As we continued, I started to truly admire the amount of effort my dad put into the creation of this album. This single album represented just two weeks of my family’s life (albeit significant ones – the first time I’d been on a plane, and the first time I’d travelled outside Europe). Each page had captions and all the photo prints seemed well preserved given their age.

It was my father who got me interested in photography in the first place, and his care for it had clearly continued into the manual art of assembling the album. I had started to appreciate it was something of a lost art, somewhere between scrapbooking and publishing.

A week or two later and I found myself helping my girlfriend's mother get a photo album from the cupboard at her family home.

This time, though, there were no nerves – at least on my girlfriend's side! Perhaps it's her natural confidence, perhaps the fact she has been writing about herself in major publications for years, or perhaps it was the confidence inspired by seeing photos of me as a youth (it's probably the second one), but in any case we devoured an album of yellowing but charming images from many years before my trip to Boston and New York.

Now I will say that we did have to do a bit of re-assembling. It's impressive that the protective film seemed to have survived, but after a few decades it looked like time to fix things down with the best glue for scrapbooking.

My main takeaway, though, was just how nice the tactile experience of turning the pages of a physical photo album was. Seeing the captions. Talking it through with relatives.

I'd been scared of them and, I realise, I don't make them at all. Unless it's work, I tend to take photos with my phone, and I either just dump photos into albums myself or – more and more – trust the phone's AI to handle that for me.

That's a tragedy. It is, still, relatively joyless, in my view, and without love. Sorry Gen Z, a few emoji don't cut it!

Flicking and swiping on a screen with a narrower viewing angle (whatever the manufacturer claims), leaving finger smears, or grinding through an app on your TV will never be quite the same, or demand the same mix of skills.

Photography should, sometimes, be tactile, and I'd urge you to remember that – if you take photos to document your life – remember to share it. IT's part of the wider experience and, years later, it will be worth it.

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See how to make the best photo albums, and check out the best glue for scrapbooking. You can, of course, try the best photobook services. (or the best photobooks in the UK).

If you're feeling there is a commercial market, or a charity, why not try something like the Covid Street project – successfully published using Amazon's tools.

"RapidBlues is a photography and social media project that reflects my passion for both my profession and for photography. Since its inception a few months ago, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the rapid success and support it has garnered, revealing a larger community of ambulance enthusiasts than I had initially imagined. 

My interest in photography began at the age of 14 and it has been a constant in my life ever since. I find photography both relaxing and enjoyable, and I continually challenge myself by learning new techniques and drawing inspiration from other photographers. Over the years, I’ve experimented with various cameras, from film to digital, and I’m particularly impressed with the advancements in digital photography. The capabilities of editing tools such as Photoshop, which have evolved significantly in recent years, continue to amaze me. 

Due to the nature of my work, all my ambulance photos are taken on my iPhone and then edited using both Photoshop and Lightroom. I enjoy pushing the limits of what a smartphone camera can achieve and I’m often impressed by the quality of the results. I have a particular fondness for night photography and working in low-light conditions, as I believe these settings often produce more compelling images.

This particular shot was taken at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, where I aimed to capture the essence of my profession and the atmosphere of the hospital. The Bristol Royal Infirmary provides a striking backdrop for many of my photos, which I like to describe as  ‘organized chaos.’ Find me on social media pages to see more captivating ambulance captures and to follow the progress of the project."

Tech details

Camera: iPhone 15 Pro Max
Aperture: f/2.2
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec

Art photographers now hold the power to publish their own work, and there are good reasons to – even someone previously published and exhibited in Parliament and the Saatchi Gallery can find that they face an uphill struggle when they present something that challenges the art world's sometimes negative assumptions – but there are solutions!

It's hard to imagine why a photographic ode to the simple glory of wild birthing – a series which has won two awards – wouldn't be of interest. It is controversial (there's a nativity setting) and there is no AI going on; this is real photography.

Natalie Lennard – with a number of works under her name, including two books published internationally by major publishing houses, found that her latest project – Birth Undisturbed – was, at the very least, going to suffer a pretty slow process. 

In her opening salvos for her recent projects with major publishers she tells me that it wasn't unusual to hear that publishers are "Busy for the next few years." Add a publishing cycle to that (anything from six to 18 months, in my experience), and an art project might well have moved on, so you can see why Natalie Lennard would look to a self-publishing service like Blurb.

"You get complete control – as fast as you’re willing to work. That’s huge for me because I want to seize the moment to promote my projects when I'm in the heat of passion for them. Years later, my energy will likely be centered on something else."

It's also true that it's possible to start with something physical if you're aiming to reach a wider world.

All of which explains why Natalie has self-published her own book of Birth Undisturbed (indeed many books that start this way are eventually picked up by smart commissioning editors at traditional publishers) showcasing the series with breathtaking close-ups from the 100MP camera she shot them with. Using Blurb has allowed her to list the book on Amazon, which she has found from no other print-on-demand company that also offers its own design software.

Lulu, a more cost-efficient platform that provides a template for users to create their book in InDesign, doesn't currently allow Natalie's 134-page art book Surreal Fashion to be placed on their Global Distribution program – for now, limiting it to Lulu's own bookshop.

Her Birth Undisturbed book made on Blurb is pricier, even more so after adding Amazon's commission, but she's offered two sizes both on Premium Lustre paper and is upfront to her audience about the reality of costs in 2024.

"I won't bullshit – the price of my book on Amazon is eye-watering" she admits, but "This is just what it costs in 2024 for an independent." To be fair, it seems price-competitive with some of the best coffee table photography books, where it's fair to say it's harder to find a "beautiful birth philosophy and the insights of an artist who's long given up being a pretentious prig."

You can see Birth Undisturbed on Amazon.com, or UK readers are better off checking  Blurb.

If your creative interest has been piqued, you can look into building your own book using the Blurb platform; you can keep them for yourself or give them as gifts as well as publish more widely.

Full disclosure – I've worked with Natalie (I was one of those professional publishers, before my time at Digital Camera World), so I can say just how good her books were, and I know just how well they sold – in multiple languages. I can also understand why modern print-on-demand holds so much more appeal for a working artist – who wants a book to come out years after your photo series was taken?

See our guide to the best photo books, if you fancy taking your first steps in self-publishing

Leading photo book brand Mixbook has introduced a new feature called Mixbook Movies, which generates a video of your photo book, enabling creators to share a preview of their books while awaiting the arrival of the physical product. It's ideal for those who tend to leave buying their Christmas gifts to the last minute, allowing them to offer a meaningful gift without the stress of wondering whether it'll turn up in time.

Once a user completes their photo book purchase, Mixbook's AI-driven platform automatically creates a video using the photos from the book, providing customers with an instant way to share their memories.

Mixbook already produces some of the best photo books around, and this innovative new feature will no doubt make its products even more appealing.

The Mixbook Movie can then be further customized with just a few clicks, adding music, text and cinematic transitions. Once the movie is finalized, users will receive a unique link to share with family and friends. For a limited time, Mixbook users can get a free Mixbook Movie with every photo book purchase.

The software used to create the books, Mixbook Studio, will also see a series of upgrades in the run-up to the holiday season. New personalization tools include: Story Maps, ideal for plotting locations alongside images of your travels; Stickers, such as emojis, that can be overlaid onto images; AI-driven photo enhancements to ensure images are as crisp and clear as possible; and AI-generated captions, with a new Rewrite feature that adjusts the tone of captions to better express emotions. Clever stuff indeed.

No portfolio, no experience. No experience, no portfolio. It’s a vicious cycle that can feel impossible to break when you take your first steps into the photography industry. 

Once you’ve decided you’d like to make a career out of your photography, you will soon realize that you need image examples to attract your first clients. However, many of these prospective first customers will want to see a proven track record of your work before commissioning anything significant from you. So how can you break the cycle and create a pathway for yourself that leads to a job in professional image-making?

Working for free is one method many are drawn to in those formative months, the rationale being that clients will jump at the chance to receive images they didn’t pay for, while you get shots to add to a portfolio. It’s certainly a viable option, but it’s important to be aware that you might not always be met with the enthusiasm you expect. You also need to make sure you target brands that will truly benefit the portfolio you hope to create. 

Let’s look at some more precise methods you can put to use today that will not only help bolster your image library but also build meaningful new relationships with a promising client base.

Shoot to a theme 

Decide what kind of professional work you’d like to focus on and try to apply a stylistic approach to all the images you shoot. Define your creative style, from subject matter to post-processing workflow and favoured colour grades. These can then be used to align any images you create, personal and professional, in how they look and the character they convey. This is useful as you can effectively back-date your professional experience when you do come face-to-face with potential clients. Even if you haven’t shot exactly what they may hire you for, you can show them more generic images from your personal portfolio that could reflect how you would approach their brand. A landscape or family portrait you took for yourself five years ago could still be used as evidence of your skills today.

Shoot what matters

If you can’t immediately attract clients, be proactive and work out how you can capture some images to get the attention of prospective customers. If you want to shoot products or commercial imagery, collect some products you can shoot at home in your style, working hard to encapsulate the branding of the target manufacturer or retailer. Pick four or five related brands. You can then send these unsolicited images to the appropriate companies to show how you have approached their items creatively and that you understand their brand identity. By shooting what matters to your clients, you work around the lack of an extensive list of former customers because you have shown that you can work with them.

Partition free content

We all have to shoot for free at some point and there is nothing wrong with doing this if it benefits you in the long-term. However, you can put off prospective clients if you undersell yourself at the outset, as this can suggest you aren’t confident in your abilities. Clients aren’t interested in training you as a photographer, they just want great content. This is why it’s best to pitch any free or reduced-rate work as an introductory offer. Be honest about your intentions, explaining that building a specific image portfolio is currently more valuable to you than a full commission fee and that this is a one-time arrangement that could benefit both parties.

Put the client in charge

Cold-calling or walking up to a potential client can be an intimidating prospect and is often met with limited success. A better way to create opportunities for professional introductions is to ask for a favour – request the use of a space to shoot in, ask to borrow some products to photograph or enquire about using products as props. This is a less direct approach that won’t make it feel as though you are canvassing for business. It allows the client to feel in control of your relationship and helps them to understand your intention of building a professional portfolio. Not only can it supply you with images and opportunities for future work but it also illustrates your style and personality.

Make separate portfolios

Early in your career, you might not know exactly what areas you want to focus on, which can make capturing thematic or subject-specific work challenging. If you are in doubt, keep your images generic or, more effectively, maintain discrete portfolios for each type of image. 

Set up different social media accounts for portraits and products, for example, or avoid mixing editorial-style shots with narrative wedding photography. These varying genres will often require opposing processing styles and compositions so, once you do get some images to show clients, make sure you are only demonstrating the type of work they want to see.

Catch up on our career features

Digital Photographer magazine has regular features on professional photography and navigating the business side. Get your back issues here.

If you're going to shoot professionally, you might be interested in the best professional cameras – along with the best cameras for wedding photography and the best cameras for portraits. 

David LaChapelle's iconic two-book series, Lost + Found and Good News, are back in print after ten years – but you might have to hurry, as these will be the last printed editions!

LaChapelle's psychedelic pop art style of photography has graced the covers of many publications such as Vogue, Rolling Stone and I-D. A modern-day provocateur, his work is often a topic of debate among photographers – but there is no denying his unique artistic talent, and these coffee table books are a prime example.

Lost + Found and Good News are the final two installments from LaChapelle's extensive five-book anthology, which began in 1996 with LaChapelle Land, and continued with Hotel LaChapelle in 1999 and Heaven to Hell in 2006.

The fourth book in the series, first printed in 2017, Lost + Found featured over a decade's worth of unseen work from the photographer's creative revival.

LaChapelle describes the book as offering a bridge into paradise and the sublime, which is done by many famous muses playing roles in meticulously crafted sets.

It includes a who's who of stars including Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus, who you may already associate with this style of imagery. However, Julian Assange, Chris Rock and Ben Affleck may not be, and they also play a part.

Good News, also originally published in 2017, follows in the footsteps of Lost + Found and provides the concluding installment. The style and aesthetic continue in the same kitsch manner, but more religious iconography is included in this installment – alluding to LaChapelle's wider narrative of the anthology.

"Good News follows David LaChapelle’s creative renaissance as he surrenders to contemplations of mortality, moving beyond the material world in a quest for paradise," says publisher Taschen.

"Featuring a monumental curation of images, it is a sublime and arresting new body of work that attempts to photograph that which can’t be photographed."

The books are certainly a pair, exploring an extraordinary 30 years of surrealist kitsch-pop fashion photography. Lost + Found offers a stunning visual comment on our times, while Good News brings LaChapelle’s narrative to a more personal and introspective close.

Lost + Found and Good News by David LaChapelle are published by Taschen and they are both available now for $50 / £40 each (Australian pricing to be confirmed).

Taschen also offers a limited run of 500 Art Editions, which includes both books and three prints each signed by David LaChapelle. This edition is available for $2,500 / £2,000.

You may also be interested in our guides on the best coffee table books, the best books on fashion photography, and the best camera for portraits.

In a world of digital media, images can lie forgotten on hard drives or in the cloud. However, a photo book not only gives your images the appreciation they deserve but it can also make your work stand out, especially with clients. 

When creating a photo book, it is important to prepare carefully. The wrong paper, layout or poor-quality images can all have a huge impact on the overall effect of your work. With the right plan and provider, these challenges can be overcome and you can create individual photo books with character that showcase your photographic achievements.

A photo book serves several purposes that will advance your photographic work. Firstly, it is great to be able to offer one to your clients, who will have a physical product in their hands. On top of that, it is an ideal tool to show potential clients your various photographic skills and technical qualities in a way they can easily visualise.

1. Create a plan

Choose a project that you want to bring to life and select images that illustrate the concept. When showcasing an event, it is best to tell the story chronologically. To create the sense of a flowing story, choose a combination of key images showing both the action and detail shots. This will provide the viewer with an overview and also evoke feelings. When making a photo book of an event or celebration, concentrate on photos showing key people or close family and friends to keep your clients happy.

2. Choose a provider

Pay attention to the materials you use. Select the cover and the type and thickness of the paper to maximize the overall look and feel of the book and give it a pro finish. To create a photo book with character, it is important to check how customisable the settings of the layout are, as this is where your work will stand out from the crowd. Providers such as Mixbook or CEWE are ideal, as they offer a selection of basic layouts that can be easily customized to your particular taste. See other options in our guide to the best photo books.

3. Design the layout

Decide on the format of the photo book to maximise the impact of your photos. Sometimes, this decision is obvious as some genres such as landscape photography are dominated by specific formats. Most online providers feature a drag-and-drop system so you can easily adjust the layout and add an individual touch. Be careful not to try and cram too many photos on a page and work with negative white space to keep the spread focused on certain aspects.

4. Highlight hero images

Hero images are the key to emphasising special moments. To make them stand out, place them so that they fill the whole page – the viewer can concentrate on one subject and also have a visual break when leafing through the book. If printed in landscape format, make sure the subject isn’t placed in the centre of the image as the gutter of the book will break it up. If this is the case, consider cropping the original image until it fits.

5. Add some text

Depending on the theme or event of your photo book, consider adding some text to the images. This could be on a professional level with, for example, technical information, or you could add a few words for an extra emotional layer. Wedding photographs, in particular, may benefit from a few sentences to add a personal touch. Classic fonts are timeless, and more creative typography can underline the mood of the book. Make sure to integrate the text in a meaningful way so that it does not distract from the photos.

Mixbook has just announced a significant update to its mobile app, introducing groundbreaking machine learning technology. This innovative feature scans photo metadata, effectively categorizing and grouping photos based on the stories they tell. The update aims to simplify the photo curation and book-making process, enabling customers to spend less time organizing and more time making memories. 

So many of us use camera phones to capture some of our favorite memories, but no matter whether you shoot on a mirrorless camera, a DSLR or even an action camera, it’s a shame to keep those phones hidden away. Creating a photo book is a great way of creating tangible memories or even giving as a thoughtful gift. 

• Check out the best online photo printing services perfect for individual prints you can frame

Mixbook's latest update will automatically curate your recent photos into albums, grouping together photos taken in the same area or over the same weekend. Some of the albums it made for me included 'Trip to Plymouth', 'St Patrick's Day' and 'Animal Friends on Valentine's Day' (still trying to work out if that’s extremely sad or kinda funny). It then enables you to select the specific photos you want to use, or you can opt for the photos the app recommends based on their quality and similarity. 

Once you’re happy with your selection, you can choose which book design you want and the app will automatically fill in the pages. While this does save a lot of time, the chances of it getting things perfect are unlikely. I ended up having to go through the book and edit pictures to make sure they fitted the layout and weren’t cropped in strange places. 

I actually found this step to be a little bit tricky; it’s not that easy to move the images around and, when they are confined to a certain area, you can’t see the entire image. It inputs portrait images into landscape spaces and, on a few occasions, it selected a portrait image for an entire double-page spread, so all you could see was a tiny cross-section of the photo. 

This also meant that the image would’ve been way too zoomed, and it’s highly likely that the print quality would be low (it does pop up with an exclamation mark to warn you of this). When you’re happy with image placement, you can add text, shapes, stickers, and borders to make your photo book really unique. 

David Newhoff, chief product officer at Mixbook, highlighted the company's focus on addressing three key issues: lost memories, disorganized photos, and the effort required to create meaningful stories. 

"The app's incredibly intuitive machine learning tools give consumers their time and memories back," he stated. "This empowering technology enables users to effortlessly create meaningful and nostalgic photo books from the convenience of their mobile devices."

As much as I want to agree, I think if I was going to create a photo book I would still opt to do it on my desktop or laptop rather than on my phone. However, you can switch between the mobile app and the website to create your photo book – which is very helpful for uploading photos from your phone and arranging them exactly as you wish. 

 Of course, if you don’t have access to a computer, then the Mixbook app does make it a lot easier and faster than most photo book creation apps – but you might find yourself getting a little frustrated making it perfect. Photo books start from around $9.99 / £15.99 and increase in cost depending on size and number of pages. But you do get 50% off your first order when you sign up so it's definitely worth it!

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Photographs deserve to exist in print – and creating a photo book is the best way to print large collections of images. But, I find designing photo books to be incredibly frustrating. The design process often takes several hours, and, like printing out individual photos, the quality may vary widely from one lab to the next. That’s why I spent weeks designing 17 different albums in order to find the best photo book.

As a photographer, I’ve ordered a number of photo books in the past, from budget albums to high-end leather wedding photo albums. Like with ordering individual prints, factors like color accuracy and clarity matter, but photo books add in cover quality, bindings, and design software to contend with as well.

To find the best photo book, I tried out eleven of the top-ranked US photo labs, from professional labs to popular budget options. Many photo labs have both budget books and high-end professional albums, so in some cases, I ordered two, ending up with 17 different photo books from 11 different labs.

After looking at everything from the app for designing the book to the quality of the final product, these are the best photo books I found from online photo book makers.

The best photo books

Best photo book overall

Printique is the online service of Adorama, a well-known New York photo store. The fantastic design software, excellent colors, and lovely materials made the books that I ordered from Printique stand out.

Online ordering can be done from Printique's web software, as well as iOS and Android apps. The software delivers an excellent mix of lovely pre-made themes and customization options. While I loved the pre-made designs, it's still possible to create your own custom layouts. Full-resolution photos aren't fully uploaded until you are ready to order, which also means you don't have to wait long to start designing.

But the real reason that Printique stood out is what I pulled out of the box. First, even the most affordable page format is thicker and more luxurious than your average photo book. The Linen pages feel more like a thick, glossy cardstock, which prints lovely photos and also feels more durable. Most companies charge extra for layflat pages, but Printique's most affordable page still lies flat and looks fantastic.

The photo cover that I ordered turned out with excellent colors. The photo cover is glossy, but not overly so, and didn't collect fingerprints. I also ordered a linen cutout cover, which has a classic look, and the materials felt nicer than other linen covers that I tried.

Printique isn't the cheapest option, but I thought the prices were fairly well-balanced considering the fantastic quality. There's no upcharge for a flatlay and if you want to remove the Printique logo, it's only an additional US$2.

See our full Printique review

Best photo book app

The Mixbook app is so easy to use, I designed my photo book one-handed while walking on the treadmill. Mixbook has plenty of photobook templates to choose from, and those layouts autopopulate with your photos. A handy layout tool will suggest layouts based on the photos already on the page. While that offers a quick start, the app still has plenty of customization options.

The quality of Mixbook's photo books are impressive considering the prices are more budget-friendly. Printed photos had excellent sharpness and resolution. I found my flat-lay cover photo was too oversaturated with orange skin tones. On the interior page, the blacks in my black-and-white spread weren't as dark as in other photo books.

While the colors on some pages weren't quite perfect, I was willing to overlook it, considering Mixbook's prices also make it an excellent lab to consider for budget photo books. Customer service was also fantastic – when I flagged a page that had a white line on a photo (a common print error), Mixbook sent me a free replacement.

Best professional photo book

The photo book that made the best first impression out of the box was hands-down Saal. The Saal Professional Line Photo Book is bloody epic. I tried the acrylic photo cover, which puts a super-thick clear layer over the cover photo and leaves room for a lovely textured surface around the binding and the back. Talk about a stunning first impression!

The interior pages are just as good, and even Saal's budget books are flatlay with no extra charge. While most photo books require a blank white page to start with, that's not the case here – the book opens right into the first spread. Pages have a lovely thickness, and photos were sharp with colors accurate to the digital file.

While the Saal's professional line gobsmacked me with the first impression, the lab also has some more affordable options. On the more affordable book that I ordered, the interior pages still have great colors and are thick, lay-flat style. While not as cheap as budget labs, the fact that all the books are layflat makes for some lovely books without spending as much.

I found Saal's photo book design software fairly straightforward and quick to use, though not quite as streamlined as Printique's or Mixbook's. An important feature for pros, however, is that you can also create your book with your own design software and upload a PDF instead of using Saal's software.

Best budget photo book

Chatbooks is perhaps best known for its photo book subscriptions, but I found the brand offered the best mix between quality and price, even if you order a single book instead of a subscription. In fact, after I finished testing all the different photo books, I ordered another Chatbook as a gift.

I ordered both a hardcover and softcover photo book for testing, and the print quality nearly rivals some pricier labs. Out of all the budget photo books that I tested, Chatbooks had the best colors with bright, punchy tones without skewing the skin tones.

The Chatbook app is also incredibly simple to use – I actually designed my softcover book in about five minutes (excluding the wait for photos to upload). Chatbooks caters to busy parents, and the app feels perfect for anyone with a busy lifestyle. Photos auto-fill, it's easy to apply the same design to all the pages, and if you want just one photo per page, you'll be done in just a few minutes.

Chatbooks offers an ideal blend between price, quality, and simplicty. But there's a tradeoff: Chatbooks doesn't have the wide range of different cover styles, paper options, and sizes. There are just two cover options, two page options, and three sizes, all of them square. Layouts are similarly limited to only a few one-page designs. While that's great for busy people, if you're looking for more customizations, look elsewhere.

Best coffee table photo book

Whitewall is a professional photo lab, and the company's coffee table book certainly looks the part. Whitewall's books are a classic style coffee table book, with large, glossy covers and an interior designed to mix photographs and text.

Whitewall's reputation for print quality extends to the coffee table book's interior pages, which can be printed on a selection of six different pro-grade photo papers. Despite choosing one of the more affordable page materials, photographs were sharp and colors were highly accurate to the digital file. (Note, however, 50MP images aren't supported and need to be downsized).

The cover is equally crisp and color accurate. The glossy cover looks like a showpiece. The only thing I didn't like is that the cover tends to retain fingerprint smudges, so expect to wipe it clean when you dust your coffee table.

Whitewall has online, desktop and mobile software, and the coffee table books also supports PDF uploads, so you can also choose to use your own design software instead.

What else we tested

How we test photo books

To find the best photo books, I focused on two key elements – design software and final book quality – and how those elements compared to other photo labs at a similar price point.

I ordered 17 photo books from 11 different labs. Six of those labs are companies with availability across multiple continents, and four labs focused on serving either US / Canada or the UK. I also considered how many different options each lab offered and, in labs with a wide range of options, I ordered two, which is how I ended up with 17 books from 11 different labs.

While a number of photo labs offer samples so photographers can get a sense of the final quality and materials, the materials and final quality is only one piece of what makes a photo book good (or not good). To get a true sense of each lab, I designed the photo books myself using each lab’s software. I largely used the online version of the software, but tried out the mobile apps from labs that are well-known for their apps and desktop apps where necessary. I did try out free design services and automation tools where applicable – but in those cases, I also designed a second photo book myself.

In order to get the best comparison between different labs, I used the same set of images. While testing out the design software meant each photo book did not have identical designs nor identical covers, a majority of the images used were also printed in the other books. I also used photos from a range of different cameras, including a 12MP consumer drone, an iPhone 15 Pro, a 26.1MP mirrorless camera, and a 60MP mirrorless camera, in order to see how each lab does with both small and large files. I also used photos from a variety of genres, including portraits, weddings, landscapes and wildlife, and included both color and black and white images in each book.

Once all the photo books arrived, I compared the quality of each book. On the inside pages, I looked at aspects like color accuracy, clarity, and dynamic range on each photo. I also looked at the page’s thickness and finish.

On the cover, I looked at the color, clarity, and photo quality of the cover image. I also looked at the cover materials and looked for aspects like whether or not the cover scratched or fingerprinted easily. I also looked at the book’s binding.

Finally, I put the data I had gathered on the design process and the overall book quality with the lab’s price range as well as its variety of sizes and materials to try.

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A photo book is the perfect visual tool for the enthusiast and professional photographer. In an age where more photographers are turning to cloud storage and social media platforms to archive and present images, many of us rarely, if ever, print our work. While a website is a convenient way of creating a portfolio, nothing can beat a physical print for impact and emotional connection with the viewer. Being able to pick up and hold an image is an immersive experience, better communicating the story the photographer wanted to tell.  

Having a physical product to show to customers also opens up new revenue streams, through both direct sales as a standalone items, but also as a shop front for our wider portfolios. With a book of images we can arrange a collection of our best works into a unique journey for the reader – unlike our audience having to navigate between web galleries without direction. As a photographers, we have thought deeply about how each image fits within a larger database, so it can feel unsettling to have no control over how people move between each gallery. A photo book has a much more personal touch. 

 What’s more, it’s easier than ever to create your perfect photo book, using Saal Digital’s advanced design software. Featuring an expansive range of functions, this free downloadable software enables quick image resizing, bespoke design options and offline editing. High-end users also have the option to design their book to taste using an external application. This is made a breeze thanks to Saal Digital’s ICC profiles, for easy softproofing and Adobe templates for book creation in software like InDesign. 

And as one of the leading suppliers of photo products, Saal Digital is the best choice for helping you to quickly and easily connect with your audience. Saal’s wide range of photo books and print products offers something for artists of every level, from advanced enthusiasts to working pros. 

Whatever option you choose to design your photobook, Saal Digital will print it at industry-leading quality, in an exciting variety of materials and finishes. Why not try the full range of wall art, prints, cards, FineArt, calendars and photo gifts? 

Design the perfect photo book for your clients

1. Select your book type

There is an option for every taste, budget and function. A hardcover book is great for a coffee table, reception room, or bedside bookshelf, but some clients or friends and family might find a softcover option more portable. The Saal Digital Professional line is the best option for high-end enthusiasts and pros, creating for a customer. 

2. Customise the cover and materials

Once you’ve chosen your favourite size and type, it’s time to select from Saal Digital’s huge variety of print materials for your photobook. The cover and paper finish will not only control the look of your images, but the tactile experience for your viewers. Glossy papers are perfect for bright, colourful photos so choose this for weddings and fun family portrait shoots. Choose a gift box for a personal touch. 

3. Choose a design option

here are many page themes to choose from so, whatever the subject of your images, there is something for you and your clients. Here our shoot was a wedding so we picked a page theme which was minimalist and classy. This complements the detail-heavy images and allows our viewers to focus on what matters most - the beautiful bride and her beaming groom.

4. Layout your pages

ICC profiles are available for each of Saal Digital’s finishes and materials. Downloading these from the website is quick and easy and once installed in image editing software, like Adobe Photoshop, will ensure perfect colour. Choose an instant photo layout option from the Layouts panel on the right of the window. 

5. Add text and page elements

Arrange your images through the book to tell a story, from start to finish, guiding the viewer with text. Don’t use too much - let the images speak for themselves. Consider colour interactions to avoid clashes. Importantly, place your images so that critical areas are outside the gutter (the middle of the spread) although the layflat option makes sure detail isn’t obscured.

6. Finalise and order!

Mix things up by occasionally inverting the page colour for a bespoke feel. Here we changed the background to black, grey or a gradient, to complement the featured images. Once you’re happy with your layout it’s time to hit Add to Cart and let Saal Digital’s expert printers craft your hand-made photobook with a quick turnaround.

Understand ICC profiles

ICC profiles are critical for the softproofing process – the procedure by which we can compare the image on our computer screen with how it will apear when printed on specific media. You can find the correct ICC profile for your choice of photo book and media from the Saal Digital website. Navigate to the correct profile for your chosen book and download the zip file. Unzip this and find the Profile within. On a Windows PC simply Right-click and choose Install Profile. On Mac you’ll have to move or copy the profile to Library/Colorsync/Profiles.  

Once the profile is installed you can Softproof your image in Photoshop. From the View menu choose Proof Setup and Custom. Here you can select the downloaded profile from the Device to Simulate dropdown and uncheck Simulate Paper Color. This will give a preview of how the image will look when printed on the selected media. Check relevant paramters from the profile settings on the Saal Digital website.  

Try these fantastic photo books

Classic photo book

For your everyday photobook needs, this firm favourite choice amongst enthusiast photographers offers superb image quality at a perfect price. The glossy cover option makes images pop. If you’d like to print images for yourself, or as a keepsake for friends and family, this is the option for you. Use the One Minute Photo Book design mode to instantly select and populate your book with photos. 

Top reasons to choose

• Quick and easy designing 
• Great for a first photobook 
• Perfect quality/price balance 

Photo book with linen cover

If you want your photobook to have a little something extra, why not select an alternative cover and page finish? Here we selected a linen cover, which gave our book a wonderful texture, which feels great to hold. We also tried the matte photo paper option this time. This has a luxurious, artistic feel to it and reduces reflections on your photobook pages.

Top reasons to choose

• Extra texture 
• Unique product concept 
• Competitive pricing 

Professional line photo book with leatherette and gift box

For the ultimate photo quality and versatility, choose a Professional line Saal Digital photobook, to bring your images to life. There are no logos  - as is the case for all of Saal Digital’s products - so your book is personalised for your brand, while the handmade premium gift box is the icing on the cake. We selected the XT (extra thickness) paper option for an opulent high quality feel - excellent for a special gift or corporate clients of your photo business. All of Saal Digital’s high-end photobooks are passionately handmade, for a custom experience.

Top reasons to choose

• Acrylic cover 
• XT pages offer luxurious feel 
• Handmade quality 

Get your first photo book with 50% off today!

There’s never been a better time to explore how a photobook can expand your brand and wow your customers and loved ones. Saal Digital are on-hand with 50% off your first photo book order. This special offer is valid for all photo book types including the Professional Line, with no minimum order value. But don’t wait - offer ends 12/31/2022.

Make your photo book now

Start creating (US)

Start Creating (UK)

Start Creating (EU)

Delivery costs not included. Not to be combined with any other special offers or coupons. Redeemable only once per household. 

See more from Saal Digital on Facebook (UK/ US) and on Instagram @saal_digital 

We are all naturally creative in one way or another. Whether you are a photographer, a designer or a cook, there’s really no better way of showcasing your hard work than in a beautiful CEWE PHOTOBOOK. Most kitchens have a collection of cookbooks full of favourite recipes, but now is the time to design and display your own.

There are many reasons to create a CEWE PHOTOBOOK. It’s a great way to present a portfolio of your best work past and present, or maybe you want to create a gift for a relative who’s always baking. If you’re making and selling food, then you will really impress friends, family, colleagues and clients alike with the latest photo book designs from CEWE.

Bring out your creativity with the hugely customisable CEWE Creator Software, which is both free, as well as easy and intuitive. It's available to use online or to download for offline use – if you can imagine it, you can create it! If you are new to designing photo books, CEWE provides a wide range of versatile templates, created by professional graphic designers to get you off to a flying start. All you need to do is add your photos.

If you’re looking for inspiration, why not take a look at some of the photo books other photographers have created in the CEWE Community. It’s full of examples designed in CEWE Creator Software by real CEWE customers, from travel journals and cookbooks to wedding albums and yearbooks…

Steps to success: creating your CEWE PHOTOBOOK

Start your design

To begin, simply go online or download CEWE Creator Software. Select your book size, cover style and paper type.

Import your images

To add images to your book, you can easily upload them into the software, then simply drag and drop them onto the page.

Design the layout

Every page is fully customisable. To change your layout, select the number of images displayed per page, and the style.

Finish and order

All that’s left is to design your cover. Once you’re happy, make sure you save your design and click Add To Basket.

Create your CEWE PHOTOBOOK at www.cewe-photoworld.com/digitalcamera

There are lots of online photo services that let you create a photo calendar, and this is how you do it with Mixbook, one of the most popular services out there. Wouldn’t it be great if you could specify the size and layout of your calendar, populate it with your very own digital photos and add all your important dates over the next year, right at the printing stage?

That’s exactly what Mixbook offers with its calendar design tools. There are more than 100 pre-designed themes to choose from, or you can create your calendar entirely from scratch. Adding photos is as easy as dragging and dropping them into place, and you can customize the layout as you go, page by page. There’s no shortage of optional extras, with the ability to add text and stickers to mark special events.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we’ve put on our petrol head and designed a photo calendar based on MotoGP motorcycle racing, with the relevant dates being marked out. Naturally, what you choose for yours is entirely up to you. Let’s get started...

01 Choose the size and style

The first thing to do is to choose the size of your calendar. There’s a square 12 x 12-inch option, plus two landscape-orientation sizes on offer, including 11 x 8.5-inch and 14 x 11-inch. Click on your preferred option to ‘browse square’ or ‘browse landscape’ and you’ll be taken directly to the next stage in the process.

02 Pick a calendar design template

Once you’ve chosen a square or landscape option, you’ll be presented with a wide range of custom calendars. There’s a lot to choose from, but you can narrow your search by filtering the results, with choices of the number of photos on the cover page, the background color and various styles, including modern, vintage and whimsical. Tick the relevant boxes as necessary.

03 Start your calendar on any month!

Buy an off-the-shelf picture calendar and it’ll almost certainly start in the January of any given year. That’s not ideal for our motorsport calendar, especially this year when the start of the season was delayed to July. With a Mixbook calendar, you can ‘start’ the year with any month, which can also be useful if, for example, you’re creating a calendar for the academic year.

04 Choose your photos

Mixbook makes it easy to add photos from pretty much anywhere. In this case, we’ve added photos from a folder on a computer, but it’s just as simple to add them from a mobile phone or to import them from Facebook, Instagram, Google Photos or SmugMug, for example. Just click the Add photos button and make your choice. From the resulting panel of photos, choose one for your calendar’s front cover.

05 Choose your layouts

After finishing the front cover, click the arrow to go forward to the first page in your calendar. Because we set ours to start in July 2020, that automatically becomes the first page, with subsequent pages running through until June 2021. Default layouts are shown on each page, or you can choose your own, using the Layouts section shown here on the left. Once you’ve chosen your layout, drag and drop pictures from the Photos panel to fill the template.

06 Add special dates

Next up, it’s time to add events and holidays to your calendar. Click the ‘Manage Events’ button and you can add as many as you like. Select either the Events or Holidays tab as required, enter the relevant names and dates, and your calendar will be populated automatically. Here we added two consecutive Sunday race events at Jerez for 19 and 2 July. You can also create addition text boxes if you wish, using the left-hand Text panel.

07 Add some personal touches

We’ve gone for solid black as the background to our calendar pages, but you can choose any color you want for each individual pages, using the Backgrounds section and selecting a color with the additional option of variable opacity. There’s also a huge range of pictorial backgrounds you can choose from, or you can even upload your own. Yet another option is to add stickers, using the Stickers section which is also available on the left of the main design panel. We’ve added a couple for the race dates that we entered.

08 Place your order

When you’re done, check all of the pages of your calendar and, once you’re happy that everything’s present and correct, click the Order button to add it to your cart. In the Checkout section, you’ll see options for budget, standard, priority and express delivery. With express delivery, you’ll typically get your finished calendar a week later, whereas standard and priority delivery takes between one and three extra days. Budget delivery is naturally cheaper but takes about two and a half weeks.

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Do you know how to create a photo book? If the only thing putting you off is not knowing what to do, then we are here to help! We will show you how to create a photo book with Mixbook, one of the most popular online photo book services, but the principle is the same whatever service you use.

The fact is, photo books make beautiful gifts or keepsakes. If a single still photograph has the power to capture a moment and preserve it forever, just think what a whole collection of shots can do. Your digital images aren’t much use if they’re buried away on a long-forgotten hard drive, and sending and receiving pictures via social media has become second-nature to many of us but important shots can easily get lost or overlooked in the digital deluge. 

A good (not so) old-fashioned photo book has so much more to offer. You can view it anywhere, anytime, and you don’t need to charge it up first!

Hand-picking a selection of shots, arranging them with loving care, and publishing them in a photo book is a great way of telling your own story. What’s more, you can combine words and pictures, adding dates, captions or longer passages of text to flesh out the plot.

So, what’s the story? Your photo book could be about almost anything. It comes down to what’s important to you. If you’re into travel and exploration, you could make books on anything from city breaks to rural landscapes, from coastal walks to mountain ranges and beyond. Your specialist photo subjects might include wildlife safaris or sporting events. Closer to home, photo books are the ideal outlet for recording everything form births and weddings to children’s early years, family holidays and festive occasions. 

Whatever your story, here’s how to tell it using a range of photo book styles and publishing options available at Mixbook. It’s quick, easy, fun and great value for money.

01 Size and style

It can be a bit daunting to start with a blank canvas, so to speak, but with Mixbook you naturally have the option to create your photo book from scratch. However, since most of us might prefer to get up and running more quickly, when you first land on the Mixbook website you are offered a vast selection of styles to choose from. These kick off with the likes of ‘everyday’ and ‘quick & easy’ photo books, through themed choices for family, kids, seasonal, holiday, travel, sports, both wedding and wedding guest books, and much more besides. There’s also a wealth of ‘designer’ collections on offer, including a set of Martha Stewart styles.

02 Choose your photos

If the aim of your photo book is to tell a story, choose photos that bring to life all of the most important points. For a travel book, for example, you’ll probably want to include images of all the places you visited, some of the people you met along the way, and what your favorite memories are made of. You might also like the book to run in chronological order, so it’s handy that Mixbook can automatically sort your uploaded photos in date and time order. You can also create dedicated albums, containing just the images that you want to use in a particular book or other project.

03 Design options

For this tutorial, we’ve chosen the ‘Modern Travels’ design from Mixbook’s ‘Travel Photo Books’ section. As with other designs, it comes with a range of further options. For example, you can choose square, portrait or landscape orientations and a variety of sizes. The default paper style is semi-gloss, but pearl finish, premium matte lay flat and premium lustre lay flat are available at additional cost. Similarly, you can opt for softcover, hardcover with or without a dust jacket, or go for a leather cover with dust jacket. However, some sizes, paper styles and cover options are only available for shipping within the USA and Canada.

04 Design the cover

The front cover is a good place to start and it makes sense to use one of your favorite photos from the project as a cover image. Simply drag your chosen image from the photos panel on the left, onto the placeholder in the template. Tools are available for zooming and editing the image, and for adding text. You can also add text to the spine of the book at this stage, although spine text is unavailable for softcover non-lay flat books.

05 Create a layout

The minimum page quantity for our chosen theme of travel book is 19 pages, based on nine sheets of paper plus the inside back cover. You can add pages at a fixed price per page, up to a maximum of 399 pages in total. For the ultimate in speed and simplicity, you can autofill your book with the photos in your collection, using the default selection of templates. This can work well up to a point, but you’re generally much better off selecting which of the numerous ready-made templates you want to use, to suit each individual page or a double-page spread. You can also customize these templates or create new page layouts from scratch, plus you can run a single image across a double-page spread. It's time to unleash your inner designer!

06 Add some extras

More advanced options enable you to overlay photos on top of one another and to choose which goes in front or behind. You can adjust the brightness, saturation and contrast of individual photos on the page, add effects like black & white and sepia, apply borders and shadows, adjust the opacity, and create custom shapes. You can also add ‘stickers’ like the ‘To travel is to live’ motif shown on this page, as well as choosing from an enormous range of backgrounds. Naturally, you can also add your own text panels.

07 Place your order

Once you’ve finished laying out your book, it’s well worth checking it through really carefully, especially for any spelling mistakes and typos in text boxes. Next, check that the photo book project is saved, and move on to the ordering page. Here you can make final choices about the size, paper and cover style. Note that exclamation marks in triangles are displayed for options that aren’t available for delivery outside of the USA and Canada. Although Mixbook operates in various countries around the world, some products are only created in the USA and may not be available for shipping elsewhere, or may take longer to arrive.

08 Coming soon

At the checkout stage, you can choose between budget, standard, priority and express delivery options. You can expect to receive your finished photo book within a week using express delivery, with two or three extra days needed for priority or standard dispatch respectively. If you go for the budget delivery option, you should get your photo book within two and a half weeks. Prices vary according to the size of the photo book, and delivery charges are reduced for additional books ordered at the same time.

We ordered our photo book from Mixbook, and we'll let you know how it looks when it arrives. This same process applies across lots of different photo book services, though – see our guide to the best photo books for some more alternatives.

If you would like to try Mixbook, click on the link below. The current price quoted is just a starting point, and what you pay will depend on the book designs and sizes you choose.

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If you're searching for the perfect gift for someone you love (or even just looking to curate your own favorite memories in one place), a Shutterfly photo book is a fantastic option. As one of the best photo books around, a Shutterfly photo book is a great way to collate beautiful memories, whether you're celebrating a milestone birthday, a wedding, or a new arrival into the world. 

A Shutterfly photo book, like many other photo books, are super easy to put together. However, we've created this simple tutorial to help you get the most out of your sentimental photo book. 

Before we begin, there are a few things you can prepare to ensure that your Shutterfly photo book looks as good as possible. The first is rounding up all of the images that you want to use before you even click onto the website. Find all of the best photos and secure them in a specific folder where you can easily find them. Keep a sharp eye out for any that are blurry or not quite sharp, as a physical print can often be less forgiving than a digital screen.

Once you've collected all of your favorite shots, it's advisable to go through them a second time to ensure you're happy with your selection. Look out for images where people have their eyes closed or have strange expressions, as these can easily slip through the net if you're not careful.

1. Pick your style

There are plenty of Shutterfly photo book designs to choose from, so simply scroll through the selection of styles until you find a design that speaks to you. Don't forget that you can also shop by occasion, such as Travel, Seasonal and Wedding. 

Once you've selected your design, you can choose what size you want your Shutterfly photo book to be, whether you want a hard or soft cover and whether you want standard pages or a layflat option. Once you've selected the options you want, move onto the next step by clicking 'Personalize'. 

2. Upload your images

The next thing you'll need to do is upload your images. If you have a specific folder stored on your computer, then simply choose this option. However, you can also import your photos from Facebook, Instagram or Google Photos. You also have the option of adding miscellaneous images, such as photos of animals or locations, from Shutterfly's 'Art Library'. This can be a great way to enhance your Shutterfly photo book. 

3. Auto or manual

In terms of arranging your Shutterfly photo book, you can two options. The first is that Shutterfly will arrange the images for you and you can then customize the layout afterwards. The second is that you can arrange the photos yourself. There's no wrong answer here, it's just up to your preference. If you feel confident that you know exactly how you want the photos to be laid out, then we'd recommend arranging them yourself.

However, if you're not too sure, then you might want to select the option where Shutterfly automatically arranges your photos. Just be aware that this might mean that the photos aren't in a chronological order – and the aspect ratio might be changed as well. If you select this option, be sure to go through each page and inspect it to see whether you're happy.

4. Layout options

No matter which arrangement option you chose, you can still customize each page to your liking. To do this, select the page you want to work on by using the arrows placed either side of the book. Then, click on the individual page you want to work on and go to the Layout tab on the left. You can then scroll through the design choices for the page and choose the option that works best for your image.

Unless you're working on the cover of the book (where the design options will be slightly different), there will be a choice of how many photos you'll have in the layout at the top of the box, ranging from 1 to 5+. 

Once you've chosen the desired layout for the page, all you need to do is scroll along your images at the bottom of the screen and drag your chosen photo into the grey box.

5. Making the crop

If you choose a layout option with a non-standard aspect ratio, then you might find your image doesn't quite work with the automatic crop. However, don't fear! Simply click on the photo once it's been dragged into the box to bring up this screen. You can then decide which part of the photo is displayed by using the arrows. Just be mindful of placing an important part of the photo (such as a face) in the gutter (the middle of the book). 

6. Preview your photobook

Once you've designed your Shutterfly photo book, it's best to take a bird's eye look and see whether the design flows nicely. Go to the 'Arrange' tab at the top of the window to bring up an overview of the book. You can now move entire pages around – which is a great way to quickly solve any problems without having to redesign the entire book. 

Once you're totally happy with your photo book, go to the 'Options' tab at the top of the window to make your final decisions on the design. Here you can refine your cover choices, remove the Shutterfly logo from the book (this will be printed onto it automatically otherwise), add a memorabilia pocket and more. Just keep in mind that these extras will cost you more. 

Finally, before you add your Shutterfly photo book to your cart and check out, click the 'Preview' link right next to the 'Add to cart' button to flick through the finished product and double-check for any mistakes.

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Mother's Day falls on Sunday 10 May this year, and even though many of us might be spending it in lockdown, you can still celebrate your mom with a special gift – such as a photo book. While usually you might take your mom out for brunch and reminisce about childhood memories, a photo book is the perfect way to celebrate your relationship when you can't see each other face to face.

If you love the idea of collecting your favorite memories with your mom and uploading them to a stylishly designed photo book, but you're not sure where to start, then you're in luck. We've created many photo books in the process of creating our best photo books buying guide, so we've picked up a few handy tips along the way.

• Read more: Everything photographers need to work from home

Photo books are all about handpicking your favorite memories and storing them in one place. No one wants to spend Mother's Day away from their mom, but creating a photo book filled with special memories might help to lift both you and your mom's spirits in these difficult times.

How to make a photo book

Creating the perfect photo book design is all about knowing what you want to say and how you want to say it. Do you want to do a deep dive into your childhood photos and reproduce them in a cohesive manner? Or do you want to take images from a recent trip together? Or perhaps you think she'd love to see recent photos of her grandkids now that she can't see them as often.

Either way, before you even think about opening a photo book manufacturer's website, it's best to decide what theme you want your photo book to have. After all, you can always create a second photo book if you've got too many images for just one!

01. Find your photo book provider

There are so many photo book suppliers to choose from that this can often be the most overwhelming part! Luckily, we've thoroughly tested our favorites in our best photo book guide. However, you can also see some of the best deals below. If you're looking for something cheap and easy-to-create, we really like Mixbook. However, if you want a super high quality book, then we'd recommend CEWE (although they're only available in the UK).

02. Select your photos

Before you even think about powering up the photo book creator tool on your chosen website, we recommend selecting all the photos you want to use first. If most of them are on your phone, then this is the perfect time to transfer them across onto your computer so that they're ready to go.

Alternatively, if you need to digitize some childhood pictures, then you might want to check out our best film scanners and best all-in-one printer guide.

03. Choose your photo book design 

Most photo book websites are filled with hundreds of different designs, which can be somewhat overwhelming when you first scroll through the site. However, most providers will split their photo books into different sections, such as weddings, travel, family and more.

Choose the most accurate section for you and then scroll through until you find something that catches your eye. While there will be many designs with bold, brilliant colors, we'd actually recommend starting off with something simple. Not only will this give your photos their chance to shine, but you'll also be able to add your own design flourishes in later. 

04. Arrange your photos

If you were going to read an ordinary book, you'd expect there to be a coherent narrative there, so you'll want to do the same with your photo book. While we're not asking you to construct storylines worthy of your favorite soap opera, there are still ways that you can create a story that will lead your viewer through the photo book.

The easiest way to do this is pay attention to the chronology of your photos. For example, if you're uploading images from your childhood, then start off with your baby pictures and then work your way up to graduation/ wedding photos.

05. Choose some design flourishes

Most photo book websites allow you to customize your design with stickers and text, which means you can add an extra layer of sophistication to your design. However, don't be tempted to overload your photo book with them – less is definitely more! Instead, choose select pages and add an elegant sticker for a final touch. 

06. Enjoy your brilliant photo book design!

Once you've finished designing your photo book, the only thing left to do is order it and wait for it to arrive. To ensure that it reaches your mom in time, you might want to send it directly to her house so that it's there for Mother's Day. 

Read more

Best photo frames in 2019: hang your images in style
Best digital photo frames
Best photo calendars: create your own 2020 calendar
The best photo printing online - where to order your photo prints
Best photo albums

With over 50 million sold, the CEWE PHOTOBOOK is Europe’s number one photobook, and a great way to present your most-loved photos. But what you might not know is that when you buy a CEWE PHOTOBOOK, the company makes sure that it’s done in a sustainable way, with FSC-certified paper stock and carbon-offsetting ensuring that you can display your images in a beautiful photobook without it costing the Earth..

The Forestry Stewardship Council promotes the responsible management of forests around the world, and certifies companies that meet its exacting standards for maintaining a sustainable paper manufacturing process. CEWE has been FSC-certified since 2013: each of the hundreds or thousands of products it creates every year, including the CEWE PHOTOBOOK, use only FSC-certified paper and other materials. This means that you can be sure that your order of a CEWE PHOTOBOOK doesn’t harm the planet.

Climate change has become a vital issue, which is why CEWE offsets the carbon costs of producing every CEWE PHOTOBOOK, at no extra cost to you. As part of this commitment, CEWE works with the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor Project, which protects dryland forest in Kenya, supporting the wildlife in that region and helping local communities find employment in a sustainable way.

Find out more about CEWE sustainable practices

A Popsa photo book could solve a growing photo problem. With most of our treasured memories now relegated to gather digital dust on our smartphones, the ability to quickly and easily commit our photos to print is needed more than ever. Luckily, photo printing app Popsa offers photo books for reasonable prices – and you don't even need to switch on your computer to create them.

While only being able to create your photo book via a phone app might put more serious photographers off, if you're simply looking to showcase the best of your phone snaps in a book, then this might be the option for you.

• Read more: Best photo books

Specifications

Book shape: Landscape
Book size: 200m x 150mm, 210mm x 148mm
Paper: 200gsm paper
Style: Hardback, Softcover, Photobooklet
Extra pages: £0.50 per page
Shipping: Over 32 countries, including Australia, UK, US, Canada, etc.

Ease of use

While generally we'd prefer not to have to download an app to be able to order a photo book, it's clear that the Popsa app is geared more towards those looking to print snaps from their phone. It's clear the app is designed to have a quick and easy user experience, as it's simple to upload and arrange photos. You can import images from your phone or cloud-based services such as Dropbox.

However, while you can easily breeze through the designing process, it's a little harder to fine-tune your photo book to perfection. This is due to the limiting amount of design options compared with some Popsa's web-based peers. You can add captions to your photo book, but the font and size isn't customizable. Meanwhile, design flourishes such as stickers don't appear to be available at all.

Quality of results

The Popsa photo book is only available in 200m x 150mm or 210mm x 148mm, which is much smaller than the other photo books we've reviewed. We assume that this is to prevent the comparatively poor quality of smartphone photos (versus camera-quality images) being over-stretched in a larger format. However, it would be nice if Popsa offered bigger photo book sizes as well.

The quality of the book itself was pretty decent. The colors were printed fairly accurately and the construction of the hard cover book felt substantial enough. However, we did notice a small amount of fringing on the front cover's text. This could also be seen in some of the images printing inside the book as well, although it was hardly noticeable.

Conclusion

Considering Popsa is a smartphone app-based photo book service, we were pleasantly surprised by how easy their creator tool was to use and the quality of the book we received. While we did detect mild fringing on the front cover, it was hardly noticeable unless under close scrutiny.

Our main gripes are that we wish Popsa offered a web-based service in conjunction with their app, and that they also offered larger photo books as well. We'd recommend choosing a different photo book provider if you're looking for professional-quality printing. However, if you're interesting in printing a collection of your favorite smartphone photos, we couldn't think of a better service.

Read more:

• Best photo books
• Best photo albums
• Best photo calendars
• Best photo printer

Mixbook has recently announced a photo book and photo card collection with famed DIY and creative living icon Martha Stewart. This collaboration marries Martha Stewart's creativity with Mixbook's extensive experience at producing fantastic photo finishing products. Even more excitingly, there are some great photo book deals to be found on this range.

There are two main products that Mixbook have created in collaboration with Martha Stewart. The first is a series of photo books along a variety of themes, including 'Pink Floral Wedding', 'International Travel', 'Baby Girl' and 'Abstract Family'.  These beautifully designed photo books come in either Landscape, Square or Portrait and are available in a variety of sizes.

• Read more: Best photo books

Martha Stewart also exclusively designed a range of photo cards for Mixbook, covering important events such as birth announcements, wedding save the dates, invitation and more. 

Martha Stewart says: "I have always encouraged collecting memories – it is inherently organizational and helps both children and adults form a connection with something that makes their lives more meaningful."

If you're interested in shopping the Martha Stewart collection, check out some of our favorite designs below. Plus, we've found some fantastic deals to help you get even more photo book bang for your buck! Get up to 50% off site-wide with the code FAVS (including the Martha Stewart collection).

Photo book deals

Martha Stewart Mixbook collection highlights

Read more

Best photo albums in 2020
Best photo printer in 2020: top regular and wide format photo printers
Best digital photo frames in 2020: display your images the digital way!

Photo books are one of the best ways to display photos that you love, whether they’re your latest photographic masterpieces or sentimental mementos of your friends and family. 

However, choosing the best photo books can be confusing amidst all the competition. Photobox is one of the most prolific photo finishing product providers in the market, operating in over ten countries. 

While Photobox offers a wide range of photo book styles, that’s not all. You can also purchase canvas prints, wall art, calendars, mugs, cases and other photo gifts as well. We put its online photo book creator tool to the test and examined the quality of the A4 Landscape photo book that we ordered.

Specifications

Book shape: Landscape, Square,
Book size: A4, A3
Paper: Glossy 170 gsm, thicker {230 gsm), high-gloss 204 gsm
Style: Standard hardcover, lay flat, premium hardcover, Swarovski Crystal Deluxe, soft cover, love book, hexagon photo book
Extra pages: £1.98 per two pages
Shipping: Worldwide

Ease of use

Designing our Photobox photo book was pleasingly simple, with the online creator tool working seamlessly without any glitches. There’s a menu on the left that includes photos, layouts, backgrounds and borders for you to choose from for each page.

Like many of the photo book creator tools, Photobox purports to be able to design your photo book for you. You can choose whether to do this by chronological order or by file name. While it wasn’t perfect, we were pleasantly surprised by Photobox’s efforts. It grouped the images together fairly intelligently and it would have only taken a few tweaks to perfect the layout. 

Quality of results

We were fairly pleased with our photo book from Photobox. The shipping was fast and the protective packaging was pleasingly substantial - in fact, this book was the best protected out of all the photo books we’ve reviewed. 

The color accuracy on both the cover image and the photos inside was pretty decent, with no major complaints from us. However, we did have a few small quibbles with the quality of the book. The first is that each end of the book’s spine had a few small creases. While these wrinkles weren’t anything major, they weren’t ideal and we didn’t see them on most of the other photo books that we tested. 

In addition, both the cover image and the photos printed inside the book weren’t quite as sharp as they could have been. This softness was only really noticeable upon close inspection of the book, but it would have been nice if each image had been nicely sharp.

Conclusion

While our photo book from Photobox was perfectly serviceable, we didn’t quite feel it was worth the £36.99 (plus £3.49 in shipping) we paid for this standard A4 landscape photo book. Our main gripes were with the quality of the printing, as we felt the images came out a little soft. 

However, while we feel you could get better quality for a similar price point, we were overall pleased with our Photobox offering. 

Read more:

• Best photo books
• Best photo printing online: top services from around the web
• Best canvas print services
• Best photo albums

If you're looking for a gift for friends or family, a Mixbook photo book might be the way to go. Photo books are not only one of the best sentimental gifts you can buy for a loved one, they’re also a fantastic way to appreciate your own hard work on your photography. 

Whether you fill your photo book with nostalgic snapshots of friends, family and loved ones, or the masterpieces from your latest shoot, you want to make sure that you’re choosing from the best photo books.

Mixbook is one of the most prolific photo book manufacturers around, and they often offer steep discounts on their products, which can be handy when you’re looking to order a gift and you’re working with a strict budget. Mixbook offers a wide range of photo finishing products, including photo books, photo cards, canvas prints, metal prints and more. 

Specifications

Book shape: Landscape, Square, Portrait
Book size: 8 x 6”, 11 x 8.5”, 14 x 11”. 8.5 x 8.5”, 10 x 10”, 12 x 12”, 8.5 x 11”
Paper: Semi-Gloss, Pearl Finish, Premium Matte
Style: Softcover, Hardcover, Hardcover with dust jacket, Leather with dust jacket
Extra pages: £1.19 per two pages
Shipping: Northern America, Canada, Europe, Netherlands, Australia, United Kingdom

Ease of use

The software is incredibly easy to use - you don't have to download anything, as it's all done in your internet browser. There are nearly 400 fully customizable templates, backgrounds and stickers to choose from, which enables you to create a perfectly polished photo book that will impress anyone who sees it. 

Mixbook photo books come in three versatile paper types, semi-gloss, pearl finish and an ultra-thick premium matte paper for its lay flat photo book option. We chose to design a 27 page 8.5x8.5" Classic Square Glossy Hardcover photo book. 

We found the process of creating a Mixbook photo book simple and easy to navigate, with plenty of customization options available for each of the many templates Mixbook offers. Uploading images to the site was simple, and arranging them on the pages didn't take long at all.

Quality of results

Unfortunately, when our photo book arrived we did have a few issues with the quality of the front cover of the book. There was some fringing on the edges of the image and the logo. While it wasn't immediately obvious, it was definitely noticeable when inspecting at close quarters. 

In addition, the colors were inaccurate on the cover as well. In all the photo books we tested this seemed to be a common theme. However, while the original image used for the cover photo had been graded with warm oranges, the printed cover skewed more red, creating muddy tones. The Mixbook photo book was the only photo book out of the six we tested that changed the grading of the image, rather than just boosting the saturation. 

However, most of our issues were with the cover of the book. The images printed on the inside were true-to-color and printed nicely. Plus, the design and layout of the book were genuinely beautiful and helped bring the photos to life.

Conclusion

If you’re a serious photographer looking for high quality prints of your work, then you might want to consider going elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for an affordable way to collect your favorite photos in one place, then Mixbook is a great option. With Mixbook often offering substantial discounts, we recommend waiting for the opportune moment and grabbing yourself a real bargain. 

Read more

• Best photo books in 2020
• Best photo printing online: top services from around the web
• Best canvas print services in 2020
• Best photo albums in 2020

Creating a photo book is definitely a labour of love. No matter whether you’re creating it for your own work or as a gift for a friend or loved one, making sure that all the elements are working together perfectly can take some time. That’s why it’s important to choose a photo book service that can make the process as quick and simple as possible. 

Bob Books is an online photo printing service that offers a wide range of products, including photo books, wall art, calendars and photo cards. We delved into the Bob’s Books photo book service to see how easy it was to navigate and what the quality of the final product was like.

• Read more: Best photo books

Specifications

Book shape: Landscape, Square, Portrait
Book size: 19 x 15 cm, 28 x 21 cm, 38 x 29 cm, 21 x 21cm, 30 x 30 cm, 21 x 28 cm, 28 x 36 cm
Paper: Classic, Gloss-coated paper, Matte paper, Lustre photographic paper, Gloss photographic paper
Style: Paperback, hardback
Extra pages: £5.78 per four pages
Shipping: UK, Europe, USA, UEA, Australia, New Zealand

Ease of use

Bob Books offers four different options for creating your photo book, including the ‘Bob Designer Software’, the ‘Online Book Creator’, a PDF-to-Book option and an iOS App. We tried out both the ‘Bob Designer Software’ and the ‘Online Book Creator’, and found them both very easy to use.

While it took us a little while to wrap our heads around the design system that Bob Books employs, we actually grew to really like it. You simply add as many images as you want onto the page and then you’re able to choose from a variety of different layouts to get the most aesthetically pleasing page. You can also use the ‘Swap photos’ button to adjust your layout until you’re happy with the order of the photos. If you’re not sure how to arrange your images, Bob Books also offers a ‘Suggest a layout’ button, which does it all for you. 

Quality of results

A common theme across many of the photo books we’ve reviewed is that the saturation on the image used for the front cover seems to be pushed up. However, the Bob Book’s cover was by far the worst example we saw of it. With the original photo graded with warm oranges, the final cover had an unfortunate you’ve-been-tangoed vibe that significantly detracted from the book as a whole.

This was actually a massive shame, because we were very pleased with the quality of the rest of the book. The paper was nice and thick and the colors of the prints inside the book were accurate. The book felt pleasantly heavy in the hands, and the surface of the cover itself was smooth and flaw-free. 

If you’re going to order from Bob Books, we’d recommend choosing your cover image very carefully. Think twice about going for a photo that’s already quite saturated, as you might end up with garish colors. 

Update: We have since been contacted by a Bob Books representative, who has advised that the reason our photo book cover was so overly saturated was because we had used the 'Automatic Image Optimization' function (as seen in the screenshot below). 

While the 'AIO' function only advises that "Crop, aspect ratio, red-eyes, etc. will be corrected if necessary", it appears that it also affects the saturation of your photo as well. We would recommend that you turn this function off to avoid your cover becoming over-saturated. 

You can do this via Settings > Photos in the Bob Books software. 

Conclusion

While using Bob Books’ software was simple and the quality of the book was fantastic, the over-saturation of the cover image was so egregious that it’s impossible to give this service five stars. This is a real shame, as we had high hopes for Bob Books. As mentioned previously, if you’re interested in ordering from the site, we recommend avoiding the 'Automatic Image Optimization' function to avoid overly-saturated images.

However, despite this small quibble, we were very impressed with the quality of the rest of the book, the designing experience and the speed of delivery. 

Read more:

• Best photo books in 2020
• Best photo printing online: top services from around the web
• Best canvas print services in 2020
• Best photo albums in 2020

If you’re looking for a photo book as either a gift for a loved one or a place to display your latest photographic masterpieces, then you may have stumbled across Mimeo Photos. This photo book manufacturer works in conjunction with the Apple Photos app to help you create perfect collections of your favorite photos.

However, Mimeo Photos doesn’t just offer photo books. You can also purchase a variety of prints in 21 different sizes as well, including portrait, landscape, square and panoramic.

• Read more: Best photo books

Specifications

Book shape: Square, Landscape
Book size: 8x6", 11x8.5", 13x10", 8x8", 10x10"
Paper: Glossy white paper, Silk white paper (acid-free)
Style: Softcover, hardcover, hardcover with dust jacket
Extra page costs: 8x6 soft cover $0.49 /additional page, 11×8.5 hardcover $0.99/additional page, 13x10 hardcover $1.49 /additional page, 8x8 softcover and hardcover $0.79/additional page, 10x10 hardcover $0.99/additional page
Shipping: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US. 

Ease of use

Mimeo Photos is a third-party Photos app extension for MacOS, allowing you to create and edit an Apple Photo project for printing. It’s worth noting that you can't actually buy a photo book from the Mimeo Photos website. Instead, you have to download an app in order to design your book and place your order - and the service is only available on MacOS, which unfortunately prevents anyone who doesn’t work on Apple computers from accessing the Mimeo Photos products. 

Mimeo Photos offer over 50 theme options, including well-known Apple favorites and you can customize layouts and backgrounds for your own personal touch. You can also apply edits, adjustments and filters to any photo directly within the app's design page. Once we'd downloaded the app extension, the software itself was relatively easy to use. 

Quality of results

Where Mimeo Photos really shone was in the quality of the book we received. We ordered a hardcover book, which arrived with an attractive dust jacket (although the cover image was also printed on the actual cover of the book as well). 

The only gripe we have about this book was that the saturation seems to have been pushed up for the front cover image, as the skin tones on both the dust jacket and the hard cover itself became a luminescent orange. However, it’s worth noting that this seems to be a common problem across all of the photo books that we’ve reviewed - and it was also nowhere near as bad as some of the other books as well. Be wary of using a highly saturated image for your front cover, as you might find the colors turn out a little garish.

However, despite issues with the cover, the photos inside the book were beautifully printed. They were nice and sharp, with none of the fuzziness experienced in cheaper options. Unlike the front cover, the colors also printed very accurately. 

Conclusion

If you have a Mac computer, you want a great quality photo book, and you don't mind downloading an app to get it, then we'd definitely recommend Mimeo Photos. Despite the slight over-saturation of the front cover, the quality of the book really speaks for itself. Out of all the photo books we’ve reviewed, it’s the only one to offer a dust jacket, which really adds a touch of elegance to the product.

The only significant downside of Mimeo Photos is the fact that you can only access it if you’re a Mac user and only if you download an app. If Mimeo Photos operated through a website, it would be an almost perfect service.

Read more:

• Best photo books in 2020
• Best photo printing online: top services from around the web
• Best canvas print services in 2020
• Best photo albums in 2020

Investing in a photo book is a fantastic way to make the very most of your favorite photos. Whether you want to create a slick portfolio showcasing all of your best snaps, or a sentimental collection of your favorite family photos, we’ve been reviewing the best photo book providers on the market to help you decide which is best for you.

Snapfish is one of the world’s leading photo finishing product providers, serving eight countries including the US, the UK and Australia. Snapfish offers a wide range of products, including photo books, photo calendars, canvas prints and novelty photo gifts such as a photo chopping board! We tested out its online photo book creator tool and reviewed the A4 landscape photo book we ordered. Discover the results below!

Specifications

Book shape: Landscape, Portrait, Square
Book size: 5 x 7”, 6 x 8”, 8 x 11”, 11 x 14”, 7 x 5”, 8 x 8”, 12 x 12”
Paper: Semi-gloss
Style: Soft cover, hard cover, layflat hardcover, linen hardcover, leather hardcover,matte cover
Extra pages: $1.99 per two pages
Shipping: UK, Europe, USA

Ease of use

Many of the photo book manufacturers have such similar online book creator tools that we can’t help but think that they must be using the same third party company. Snapfish’s creator tool is very similar to Photobox’s, and both function well. 

You can choose a variety of designs, backgrounds, embellishments and borders to adorn your photo book creation with, which means that you can design yourself a totally unique book. 

Quality of results

We were fairly pleased with the photo book we received from Snapfish. The color accuracy was good throughout the book - and even on the cover too. In other photo books that we reviewed we tended to have trouble with the cover printing the colors of our image accurately. Either the skin tones would end up as a muddy red tone, or they’d be so overly saturated with orange that it would look ridiculous. However, we also noticed that the cover of the Snapfish photo book was wonky, with the two pieces of cardboard slightly askew. 

It’s also worth noting that while Snapfish’s offering was probably the most accurate color reproduction for the cover out of all the photo books, it was still quite heavily saturated. To ensure you’re happy with your photo book front cover, we recommend avoiding images that are already highly saturated. 

In terms of the rest of the book, the printing quality inside the book is fairly good. The color accuracy is decent and, although the prints could be sharper, the image quality as a whole is fine. 

Conclusion

Overall, we were happy with our Snapfish photo book. It’s probably one of the better photo book manufacturers in terms of value for money - especially if you take advantage of one of the periodic sales that Snapfish runs. 

There were other manufacturers who offered slightly nice paper stock and slightly more substantial covers, but not only were these more expensive, the color accuracy wasn’t as impressive.

Read more:

• Best photo books in 2020
• Best photo printing online: top services from around the web
• Best canvas print services in 2020
• Best photo albums in 2020

There can be a variety of reasons that you’d want to invest in a photo book. Perhaps you have a friend’s birthday coming up and you want to produce an album filled with the experiences you’ve had together? Or, perhaps you’re sick of only seeing your images on a computer screen and you’re ready to print them out for display?

No matter why you want to make a photo book, selecting the right company can be difficult with so many printing providers to choose from that make the best photo books. We put a range of companies to the test, including CEWE Photoworld, a British photo printing company that offers a wide variety of products, including photo books, photo calendars and even photo puzzles.

Specifications

Book shape: Landscape, Portrait, Square, A6
Book size: 14 x 13cm, 19 x 15cm, 21 x 21cm, 28 x 21cm, 21 x 28cm, 30 x 30cm, 28 x 36cm, 38 x 29cm
Paper: Classic, High-Gloss, True Matte, Classic Photographic, Gloss Photographic, Matte Photographic
Style: Hardcover, Softcover, Booklet, Faux Leather
Extra pages: £1.70 per four pages
Shipping: UK only

Ease of use

We’re not really a fan of having to download an app to be able to order from a photo finishing platform. However, despite being required to do this in order to be able to design our photo book, we did find the software quick and easy to download. It was also simple to navigate for our photo book creation process as well.

Using the photo book creator tool, you can add and edit text easily, choosing from a wide range of fonts and sizes to personalize your book. The CEWE Photoworld book assistant (CEWE’s tool for automatically arranging your images) is also one of the cleverer ones we’ve tested, allowing you to customize what number of photos are spread across what number of pages.

Quality of results

Out of the six photo books that we’ve reviewed so far, the CEWE Photoworld book was definitely one of our favorites. One of the first things we noticed when we took it out of the fairly minimal packaging was how crisp the image on the front cover was. When compared with front covers on the other photo books we’ve reviewed, CEWE Photoworld’s offering had much more detail. In addition, while the color accuracy wasn’t quite perfect, it was much better than the majority of the other books. 

Inside the book we found that the paper stock was really good quality and the images were printed sharply and fairly accurately. It’s worth noting that the sharpness of the printing does mean that noise is much more likely to show up than in other books. We also found that the prints in general ran a little darker than the other photo books we reviewed. 

Conclusion

All in all, we were very pleased with our results from CEWE Photoworld. Our Square photo book was the cheapest out of all the books we ordered (although it was also the smallest as well), but the results speak for themselves. It’s definitely worth noting that the printing for both the cover and the book pages ran dark and a little over-saturated, so it may be worth giving your photos a slight boost in brightness in an editing program before uploading them to the app. 

However, the sharpness of the prints and the quality of the book itself were both very impressive. If we were to order from any photo book manufacturer again, we’d have to go with CEWE Photoworld. 

Read more

Best photo books in 2020
Best photo printing online: top services from around the web
Best canvas print services in 2020
Best photo albums in 2020

Christmas is now so nail-bitingly near that if you listen closely enough you can almost hear the pitter patter of reindeer hooves on the roof. If you're anything like us, you might be mid-panic about what you could possibly get your loved ones for Christmas. With other 'helpful' family members having already nabbed the best options on their Christmas wish list, you might be resigning yourself to the bog standard gift card. However, don't despair just yet! 

Photo books are a fantastic way to create a unique gift that your loved ones will relish. Collating a collection of cherished memories is a perfect strategy for making the most of the festive season. But, with time marching on, how long do you actually have left to get your last photo book orders in?

• Read more: Best stocking stuffers for photographers

Luckily, you still have a couple of days to order your photo books in time for Christmas from Mixbook - one of our favorite photo finishing sites. With so many products to choose from (not just photo books, but calendars, cards, prints and even blankets!), you'll be a veritable Christmas hero this festive season. See below for the full shipping guidelines!

Mixbook US Shipping Guidelines

If you want to purchase a Lay Flat Photo Book or a Foil Card, you'll have to submit your order on Saturday 14 December. However, for everything else you have until Sunday 15 December to purchase your photo finishing product! 

Read more

Best photo books in 2019: great printing services for your photographs
Photography lover gifts for Christmas: Quirky & unusual Christmas camera gifts
Best photo printer in 2019: top regular and wide format photo printers

Printing specialist CEWE has over 50 years’ experience of bringing its customers’ memories to life, so you can have complete confidence that your images are in good hands. 

CEWE has scored a practically perfect 9.1/10 on Trustpilot, and although it offers a wide range of products, the CEWE PHOTOBOOK is regarded as the best in the world. 

Why the CEWE PHOTOBOOK is so impressive 

To start with, you can choose between six different types of paper – including three photographic papers. 

A specialist layflat binding displays stunning landscape shots across a double page, and like all CEWE brand products, a CEWE PHOTOBOOK is sustainability-certified. 

All CEWE products are checked before they leave the lab, but there’s also the reassurance of a ‘100% satisfaction’ guarantee. 

Designing your CEWE PHOTOBOOK is very straightforward. CEWE has free, award-winning software that allows you to have full creative control. If you do need help with something, then CEWE is on hand 24/7 to solve your issues. 

So let’s walk you through how to design your first CEWE PHOTOBOOK. You’ve gathered some of your favourite images together – now we’ll show you how to give them the showcase they deserve.

We hope that creating your first CEWE PHOTOBOOK will inspire you to make many more in the future. 

Use the CEWE Design Software to make your own CEWE PHOTOBOOK 

Consider how your book will look from the front when closed, and ensure that important focal points are included. Don’t let these fall along the crease of the spine, though. 

Software tip: Use ‘Favourites’ to create a shortlist of background images. 

Click the ‘Background’ button to select the background. Use one of your own images, or one stored in the software. 

Software tip: If you like a particular background, you can apply it to every page in just one click. How easy is that? 

To pick a custom colour, you can use the ‘Set text colour’ tool. Pick out colours that appear in the image, like the colour of a dress or a flower. 

Software tip: Save your custom colour by using the ‘Add to Custom Colours’ feature. Then you’ve got it forever… 

Turn your favourite holiday snaps, food shots and cat portraits from social media into a brilliant photo book in just a few clicks. 

Software tip: Choose which book to make, then go to ‘Photo Sources’ and select Instagram or Facebook. 

CEWE PHOTOSHOW is installed with the free Design Software, and is ideal for basic editing before turning images into any CEWE product. 

Software tip: Open the program directly, or by double-clicking on any image while working in the Design Software. 

Click here for video tutorials to help you design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK 

Get £10 off your first CEWE PHOTOBOOK 

To get a £10 discount on your first CEWE PHOTOBOOK (T & Cs apply), click here and use this code: FIRSTBOOK10 

For extra peace of mind, CEWE offers a ‘100% satisfaction’ guarantee on all CEWE PHOTOBOOKS, wall art and calendars. With the environment in mind, all CEWE brand products are sustainability-certified.

There’s something special about taking a digital image and making it tangible. With 50 years of printing experience, you can combine your creativity with knowledge from CEWE to give your photography a new lease of life. 

Nothing feels better than holding your images in your hand. For serious photographers, custom photo books showcase your portfolio and your talents in a professional way. In the home or office, hanging wall art of your favourite images can transform a space and inspire family, friends and prospective clients alike. 

Even if you know these benefits, choosing the right printer can still be confusing. Some companies might offer services at a low cost, only to disappoint with poor quality and lacklustre finishes. That’s where CEWE comes in…

Why trust CEWE with your photo printing?

Experts at TIPA recently rated the CEWE PHOTOBOOK as best in the world, and with a rating of 9.1 out of 10 on Trustpilot, you know you’re in good hands. With so many customisable options, each CEWE PHOTOBOOK is personal. 

There are six different types of paper – including three photographic papers – and a specialist layflat binding that displays stunning landscape shots across a double page.

When you lay out a book, CEWE’s free, award-winning software puts you in full creative control. CEWE is on hand 24/7 to solve your issues, and each product is carefully checked before it leaves the lab.

What can you print with CEWE?

A premium photo book is the perfect way to present star images from your portfolio or recent travels. CEWE offer eight different sizes of book to choose from, from pocket to extra-large landscape format. 

Whether you’re creating a personal touch at home or decking out your workspace, CEWE has both modern and traditional wall art options. Print on acrylic, wood, canvas aluminium, foam and more…

With a range of sizes, colours and styles, CEWE’s framed wall art is printed on premium semi-gloss paper to enhance the vibrancy of your images. As the prints are UV-resistant, you can expect them to last.

For extra peace of mind, CEWE offers a ‘100% satisfaction’ guarantee on all photo books, wall art and calendars. And with nature in mind, all CEWE brand products are sustainability-certified.

There’s something special about taking a digital image and making it tangible. Trust CEWE’s 50 years of printing experience, combine your creativity with its know-how, and give your photography the physical home it deserves.

Apple Mac users now have a really quick and convenient way of creating photo books thanks to a new app available in the Mac App Store. 

Motif is free to download and works within the desktop Photos application. It is currently available across North America and Europe, and there are plans to roll it out in Australia during the coming months. 

The program uses artificial intelligence to analyse your Photos collection and identify images that will be high-quality enough for printing. 

Creating a photo book – or photo calendars or photo cards, all printed on high-quality papers using rich inks – takes a matter of minutes. Photo books can be ordered with hard or soft covers. 

Photos may not be the go-to image management app for anyone serious about photography, but it works seamlessly with pictures taken on iOS devices and makes assembling collections to share with friends and family very straightforward. 

Get 30% off your first Motif order 

To receive this exclusive discount, Just enter DigitalCameraWORLD in the Promo Code field at the end of the in-app checkout process. This offer runs until 30 June 2019. 

Motif’s interface has been designed to be intuitive and easy to use. To test it out, we used Motif to create a 32-page 28 x 22cm hardback photo book of holiday photos taken on a Canon EOS 750D with an EF 28-70mm f2.8L II USM lens. 

Here's a tip if trying Motif for yourself: make a selection of images that's bigger than you need, as it's always best to have more to choose from when arranging the pages. 

Step-by-step guide to Motif for macOS 

And this is the finished result. Our hardback photo book took four business days to arrive, and came in a sturdy package. The book itself was inserted into a card sleeve and wrapped in plastic, so straight out of the box it's ideal for gifting. 

Inside, print quality is sharp throughout – even in cases of small smartphone images pushed larger than they would normally be – with good color rendition. The binding looks robust and the dust jacket is well-printed and fits snugly. 

As a result, we’d have no hesitation gifting a Motif photo book to a friend or relative. And with Easter falling within the 30% discount window, Digital Camera World users can, too. 

Not a macOS user? Then read our guide to the best photo book services. 

Any passionate photographer will tell you that nothing beats a high-quality print. We may be spoilt by the ability to upload our images to social media at the touch of a button, but the best way to display an image in all its power and glory is still a print, using the best inks and the finest, high-quality paper. If you’re a passionate photographer who wants to commit their images to print, whether you’re creating a professional portfolio for prospective clients or simply making a collection of memories to share with loved ones, we think that the best way to do it is with a CEWE PHOTOBOOK.

The CEWE PHOTOBOOK is made to the standards demanded by professional photographers who are looking for the very best. Your images are printed on 300gsm FujiFilm silver halide paper, which is heavier than standard photo paper, and it’s this that gives our photobooks their premium feel in the hands. Books are available in Classic (Lustre), Gloss or a Matte finish. 

Once images are printed, the books are then assembled with a layflat binding, which allows the images lay flat across a double page, with no page-arching and no central gutter. This means that a once-in-a-lifetime landscape shot, or even a stitched panorama, can be displayed in its full glory. A CEWE PHOTOBOOK is, without a doubt, the most professional, impressive way to display your images.

You can create your photobook using CEWE’s award winning Design Software. If you are a professional photographer, you can use their professional software to produce logo-free products or you can use the PDF-to-book functionality – designed for customers using Adobe InDesign and providing you with a free template generator and full creative control. CEWE also offers many other options for printing and displaying your images, including CEWE WALL ART, which is available in a variety of finishes including Aluminium, Acrylic, Canvas, Foamboard, Gallery Print and more. A piece of CEWE WALL ART is perfect for adding colour and interest to the walls of your office, home or studio.

Whatever product you choose, you can trust CEWE’s award-winning service to guide you through the process – CEWE was in fact awarded the Worldwide 2018 TIPA Award in the category ‘Best Photo Print Service’. Based in Warwick, CEWE have a dedicated and professional customer support available 24/7 and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Want to learn more? CEWE will be at The Photography Show 2019 on all four days of the show, so by all means take advantage of this chance to see the range of products on offer and try out CEWE’s award-winning software. There will also be a show-exclusive offer, so don’t miss out. CEWE will be at Stand E21, which is right by the entrance. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Photo albums are OK for family snaps, and tablets are fine for showing people your holiday pictures. But as a serious photographer, you want to present your work in a more professional way that people will take note of. 

A custom-printed photo book can be an excellent vehicle for showcasing your photography talents, whether they lie in landscapes, wildlife, portraits or still-life. But you have to be careful; while some companies offer this service at super-low prices, the end results can be less than satisfactory. And, of course, you don’t want to put in a lot of time, effort and commitment into capturing first-class images, only for them to be let down by cheap paper stock and low-quality finishes. 

For this reason, a CEWE PHOTOBOOK is the ideal choice for serious photographers wishing to present their work in the best possible light. With an exceptional level of quality, this high-end product will bring out the very best in the shots you’re most proud of. CEWE offers six paper types, including three photographic papers, which offer an impressive weight of 300gsm and are available in Classic, Gloss or Matte finishes. 

For these papers, a special chemical development process is used that utilises light – much like you’d find in traditional darkrooms. The result is a vibrant, high-contrast image with a much wider colour range than digital printing is able to achieve. 

You’ll notice just how fine the colour gradations are, especially on skin, with high resolution and zero rastering. Specialist layflat binding is also available. This means, quite simply, that your CEWE PHOTOBOOK will open across a double page and lie flat, with no arching of the pages and no gutter in-between. It’s an astonishing effect, and looks particularly impressive when you include a large, landscape image across a double-page spread. 

When it comes to laying out your photo book, you have two user-friendly options. You can design the layout yourself in Adobe InDesign, then use the ‘PDF to Book’ option to convert your work. Alternatively, you can use the award-winning CEWE Photoworld Pro software, which puts the design process in your hands and gives you full creative control over your project. (Note that you’ll also get a handy quantity discount as a professional user.) 

If you have any issues along the way, there are dedicated advisors on hand, all based in the UK and available 24 hours a day, to help and advise you on completing your CEWE PHOTOBOOK. And the company’s ‘100% Satisfaction Guarantee’ means that if you’re not entirely satisfied with every element of your finished product, CEWE Professional Customer Service will go the extra mile to make you happy. 

You’re proud of your photography, so give it the kind of presentation it deserves. Head to the CEWE Photoworld website to find out how to get started with your CEWE PHOTOBOOK.