Photo Book Tools and Ideas

With our free Idea Center, Photo Books Guide, and Publisher Reviews you will be making fantastic photo books in no time.

People want to make photo books for a variety of reasons:

• They have several empty photo albums at home to fill with all their pictures, and realize that photo books are a beautiful alternative.
• Scrapbooks are fun to look at, but just too much work (and cost a lot if you aren't into it as a hobby).
• They don't know how to use programs like Photoshop to create the layouts and backgrounds that are available with photo book publishers.

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For the Beginner: Your Toolbox for Making Your Own Photo Books

All the tools you need to prepare yourself are included in our toolbox.

The first item we find in the toolbox is the Photo Book Guide. The Guide will help you learn how to take digital photos, digitize your pictures, organize the pictures so it is easy to find them, or even take better pictures for your next book.

The next item to pull out is the Photo Book Idea Center. A 100 photo book ideas will get you started thinking about the books you will make. Besides a photo book theme you will be shown the elements that help you decide on the book type you want to make: what size, what cover, and some background ideas.

The last item to pull out is our Story Starters. Pictures and words can be combined to create a beautiful story. You will find tips and ideas to combine these when making your own photo books.

Open the toolbox and learn in our Photo Book Guide, Photo Book Idea Center, and Story Starters.

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Special Photo Book Topics

There are many reasons to make photo books. Holidays are an obvious time to create a book, but there are other times that are special. Visit some of the special times in your life and decide if this would make a great photo book for you.

Holiday Ideas. Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, and Halloween are great holidays to make a themed-photo book. There are even a few other special days that could be considered a holiday. These special days include Mother's Day, Father's Day, and once in a while there will be a graduation. Whenever families or good friends come together to mark a holiday there are cameras. Take these pictures and commemorate the occasion with a photo book.

Kids' Projects. The joy of reading is one of the biggest gifts that you can give your children. Make a special book that will be a favorite for your child or grandchild for years to come. Kids' projects are ideas to make books for or with your children. You can make a book based on your own pictures or use one of the books that can be personalized with your child's name.

Wedding Photo Book Ideas. From an engagement book to the final photo album, photo books can be used for any stage in the wedding. This is the most photographed event in someone's life -- don't limit your enjoyment of the event with a few very expensive albums. Use your pictures to share the day in as many ways as possible.

Baby Photo Book Ideas. Bringing a new baby into the family is the second most photographed event, and that is only because you don't hire a dedicated photographer like you do at weddings. Baby photo book ideas start from the first pregnancy shot until the baby's second birthday. Capturing all the first events in the baby's life is a wonderful way to share those memories with others.

Making a Sports Photo Book. Sports photo books are a great way to highlight the spirit and dedication required to compete. Whether the book covers the work of one season or is a retrospective of many seasons, there are certain pictures that capture the team or individual spirit. Some of these pictures might not be obvious to the photographer, but become special to the person in the sport. Ideas to include these types of pictures can be found here.

Choosing Your Photo Book Publisher

Choosing the right photo book publisher is highly individual. If you are someone who already makes photo pages in Photoshop or Adobe Elements you have different requirements than someone who does not want to use or purchase special software to make their photo books.

Another factor in choosing your photo book publisher is how you currently share your pictures. Do you always upload your pictures to the same site? If that site you share your pictures on offers photo books that might be the site for you. If you don't currently share your photos online you will have the opportunity to see which publisher offers the best books for you.

Some people want to just make a book without worrying about any customization. Others want to be able to customize each page. Some people pay attention to the smallest detail. Others enjoy the process by looking at the whole project. Whichever type of photobooker you are, visit the Photo Book Publishers Page and get more information on your choices. We have reviewed over 27 different publishers to give you the best choices available.

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