Photo books or albums make for excellent presents for just about any event that you could think of, they show a personal touch and they provide a memorable gift for the recipient. In order to get the photo album just right however, there are some aspects which you need to consider, whilst planning for how your book will look once it is completed. I generally head to Mixbook to complete my albums, it is a super easy service to use and gives a really professional look to the album. Once you have decided on putting an album together, here are just some of the things that you’ll need to consider.

Chronology

It is not obligatory that you place all of the photos in chronological fashion, but the album should certainly chronicle a story. Prior to selecting which photos you are going to use, think about what story you are telling, is about a vacation? A family history? Whatever the case may be, ensure that you have put a lot of thought into how you will tell the story.

Quality

You must ensure that all of the photos that you are using are of exceptional quality. Naturally there may be a photo or two which are from a very long time ago, which you won’t be able to boost the quality of. For any photos which have been taken in modern times however, I would strongly recommend that you only use the photographs which you have, that are of high quality. A poor quality photo can really diminish the overall impression of the photo book.

Design

Whether you plan to use a great company for your photo book, or decide to do it yourself, you should spend a lot of time thinking about the design of the book itself. The colors and designs of the pages in the album are critical to bringing out the story that you are telling with the photographs that you have selected for the album. Play around with putting your photos against different colors to see which works best. Also, if you are completing this yourself, don’t be afraid to add any small design features which can help to enhance the photos, for example if it is a vacation then you could put some small planes on the page, small touches like this go a long way.

Annotation

Annotating the photo album can help to add times, dates or locations to the photograph. Equally you can annotate photos to evoke a memory of what was going on when the photo was taken. You don’t have to annotate of course, but if you do know a little more about what was happening when the photo was taken, you can make a bigger impression with the album. If you don’t know about the photos, you could always leave a space for annotation, and then the recipient of the book can write their own memories.

Photo albums can be great gifts, just make sure that you have thought it all through.