A year in review photo book fits in with the end of the year retrospectives and this goes beyond the antics of Britney Spears. Sports reviews, star reviews, news stories are just a few. This year, I decided to do a retrospective of my year and make a review photo book. Let's go through my preparation together.

The Making of My Year in Review Photo Book

The last year in review photo book I did was in 2008. Trying to think of my year started out slow. Not that things didn't happen, but ideas didn't just jump out. So - what are the typical things that happen? Life changes are a good place to start -- any weddings, showers, moves, graduations, deaths (a good time to put a remembrance page together)? What about birthdays and holidays? Some good ideas here.

Reviewing Photos.

The next step in making an end of year photo book was to review the pictures that I had. Creating a 2007 archive folder is a good way to start organizing these pictures. That way you can either move pictures into one location, but if you have a different organization system it would be good for you to copy the pictures into this folder.

When I went through these pictures, other ideas were so obvious. What was I thinking? I happened to be at the no-hitter by Justin Verlander (Detroit Tigers) -- and that is something I want to make sure I remember so I can tease my brother since he has never seen a no-hitter! We spent a few months remodeling our cabin and that would make a nice page in a photo book. A short trip to Stratford, Canada was another fun time when I took a few good pictures.

Extra Photos and Events

There were also some random pictures that I really liked, but didn't "deserve" a page of their own in my end of year photo book. I had a few pix from a friend's baby shower, a couple of pix when some family members visited, a picture from a lunch with two friends, and I had a banquet picture or two that would add to my memories, but not a major focal point. These would be great in a photo collage page.

These are also the type of pictures that are the backbone of a year in review photo book - pictures you love but don't have a place in a photo book of their own.

"Borrowing" Photos

Thinking back over the year, I wanted to focus on any events where I didn't have a camera, but my friends or family did. People who take pictures usually like to share them with other people, so this is a good source. A few of these events turned up a few more pictures along with a few good laughs as we talked about some interesting shots taken at a wedding. They were all great additons to my end of year photo book.

The Easy Part: Making Your End of Year Photo Book

After gathering all these pictures and memories, I realized that the hardest part of the photo book was done. I don't edit any pictures with photo editing software, so there isn't any time spent there.

So the next step was to decide which photo book publisher I wanted to use and to upload all the pictures. This can be a bit of a choice as each publisher has their own pluses and minuses.

You can read about what the different printers have to offer on my photo book printer review page.

Once the pictures were uploaded, the photo book software was easy to use and the order was on its way.

Making Your Own Year in Review Photo Book

You can do your own Year in Review by following the simple steps I reviewed above. If you have pictures, you too can make a year long memory for you and your family. If you don't have any pictures -- you can still make a book by asking your friends and family if they have any pictures. Next year's book will be even better!

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