With so many options available for beautifully arranging, displaying and preserving your favourie snaps, it can be difficult to decide whether to choose hardcover photo books or photo albums.
Our practical guide identifies the differences, so that you can choose the best option with confidence…
Paper Type & Dimensions
While photo books and photo albums may look very similar on the outside, when you open up the cover and reveal its pages you’re likely to spot a difference. The photo book’s modern design and presentation allows your favourite images to be printed directly on to high quality semi-gloss or matt paper. Its more traditional counterpart – the photo album – typically features photo prints that are pasted/attached onto each page.
Due to the printing process of the photograph layouts, photo books are more lightweight, and therefore thinner in volume than photo albums. The compact dimensions are perfect for displaying a large number of themed photographs in multiple books that make up a collection, as the streamlined book takes up less space when storing on a shelf.
As photo albums contain blank pages that allow you to arrange your favourite snaps as you please, they have a charming scrapbook quality. If you choose to enhance your presentation of photos with printed paper mementos like ticket stubs, invitations or maps the additional content will obviously make the dimensions of the album appear more bulky. On the plus side though, you have total freedom to express your creativity over how you embellish the pages that display your favourite photos.
Curating & Collating
If you’re someone who loves to get lost in happy memories as you sort through piles of photographs, losing all sense of time while trying to pick out your favourite images, the photo album is the perfect choice for you. You can spend hours deciding which photos you want to show off in a striking visual arrangement, which images to display individually in photo frames, and which shots remain boxed away for a rainy day. Although it’s a time-consuming process, you’ll cherish every moment that you’re curating and collating the images that you can later enjoy browsing with your family and friends.
Stylish hardcover photo books help to simplify the entire process, and are therefore ideal if you lack the time or motivation to spend hours on a trip down memory lane. Once you’ve selected which photos you want to present in your photo book, the book is made for you exactly how you want. You do get to choose whether your wedding, family holiday or milestone images are beautifully and elegantly presented chronologically or randomly, and have total design input.
Flexible Display
When it comes to the theme of the photographs that you can arrange and display, to show off to your family and friends, photo books and photo albums offer complete flexibility.
Modern photo books are available in a variety of formats, including classic hardcover, softcover and fabric cover finishes, as well as the trendy layflat option that allows you to display your snaps across two pages in each spread, rather like a glossy magazine. If you have a stash of stunning panoramic shots, the layflat photo book can elevate your visual display and transform it into a work of art. It’s also great for highlighting larger format shots, such as wedding portraits, as the images are presented seamlessly across a double page spread. You can also personalise the photo book cover with a title on the front and/or spine of the book.
Traditional photo albums are equally customisable, in terms of the interior display. You get to choose what images you want to include, and the order in which they are arranged and presented. Chronological photos that tell a story will encourage browsers to keep on turning the page. Although this option may not offer the possibility of seamless double page display, you can still personalise all photographic content as you like.
Themed Arrangements
Many people choose to theme their photo books and albums because it allows you to tell a story through photographs. Wedding albums are the perfect example of a classic themed arrangement that will never go out of fashion. If you want to display your favourite snaps in this way, it’s best to consider your theme before you decide on which type of book/album you want to feature your story in.
Both the photo book and the photo album can be easily transformed into a one-of-a-kind picture storybook, and can also form an integral part in an on-going themed series. You can create a travel photo book to proudly display your favourite fun snaps of family holidays, and add to the series with each getaway or trip taken in the passing years. If you’re building a collection of themed arrangements, the streamlined photo book may well be the perfect option for you, as the books take up less storage space on a shelf.
A photo album makes an excellent year-in-review option, especially if you’re looking to display and preserve an exclusive collection of images of one-off themed events, like a wedding, anniversary, baby milestone, or graduation ceremony.
To make stylish and elegant hardcover photo books uniquely your own, simply personalise from scratch by choosing your favourite layout and backgrounds, and fill the high quality paper pages with an array of themed snaps. Add text – as captions, comments or anecdotes – to bring the images to life. The end result will be the ultimate custom collection.
