20+ Photo Book Ideas So You Can Share Your Pictures
Many prospective clients I talk to list “making a photo book” as one of their top priorities after their photos are digitized and organized.
What a fantastic goal! Unlike a traditional photo album, photo books can be created once and printed many times. They make fabulous gifts and help keep your photos “out” where they can be enjoyed.
Most of us think of photo books when we need a wedding album or after a fabulous vacation. But let’s think outside the book a bit, shall we? (See what I did there?)
A Photo Book for the Entire Family
Several years ago, I created a photo book for my mother-in-law with photos of her parents and eight siblings as they grew up in rural southeast Virginia. She was so tickled by it that she made her daughter drive her around on a “book tour” to her siblings’ homes to share. It then got taken to a cousins’ reunion (my husband has 21 first cousins on his mother’s side, plus his three siblings), and lo and beheld, almost every cousin and sibling wanted their own copy! After a few minor tweaks, I printed 20 copies of the book to distribute to all the cousins. What fun!
This year we lost our beloved dog, Joie. For Christmas, I made a small book of photos from our 11 years together for my husband and our kids. It featured pictures from the first day we rescued her from the pound until her last afternoon taking in the warm Texas sunshine in our backyard an hour before we had to put her to sleep. A few tears may have been shed.
Your photo book doesn’t have to be a large, complicated project. Trust me. Once I made a photo book about holes. Really, I did! You can read about it here.
To get your creative juices going, I’ve brainstormed some photo book ideas to inspire you.
20+ Photo Book Ideas
- Kids’ artwork
- Favorite vacations
- Mommy & Me (or Grandpa & Me, etc)
- Photos of friends
- Song lyrics or quotes with inspirational photos
- Anniversary album
- ABCs – A is for Albany, B is for Beach, C is for Cats
- Family faces for small children
- Cookbook with recipes and photos of favorite food
- Wedding album
- Baby book
- Bedtime storybook
- Family Yearbook
- Pets
- Favorite non-profit
- Recurring themes/traditions for vacations/holidays
- All Time Favorite Pictures
- Family History with a Family Timeline
- Christmas cards
- Hobbies
- Scan and recreate a traditional scrapbook
What other out-of-the-box photo book ideas have you come up with? I’d love to hear about them.
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Andi, I love that the photo book you created for your mother-in-law was shared so many times. Photo books are truly wonderful to make for yourself or as a gift. I love the idea of making a book focused on your dog, Joie. I just may take you up on that suggestion!
I love photo books! Great topics, Andi! This Christmas, I made a photo book for my Godchild and husband with their photos from their wedding. They loved it! I also made a photo book for my kids’ elementary school artworks. Each kid received a book for Christmas. They loved it. Maybe they will allow me to get rid of that artwork. 😉
September and October are great months to make these books since the online photo-developing stores run specials. I got the books above for about $20.00 each because of the store’s discounts. =)
Photo books are the best! Over the years, I’ve created traditional scrapbooks and also photo books. I enjoy doing both. Although these days, I’ll opt for photo books any day.
Do you have a favorite company you enjoy using to make them? There are so many. I’d love to know who you prefer.
I love the idea of an album of family faces for small children. Kids love faces. I had a book called “Baby’s World” when my girls were little. It had photographs of things in their world, and they both loved it so much that we “went through” two of them!
To be honest, I think this might be helpful for seniors suffering with dementia as well.
Photo books are very cool, though I admit I come from a family that is fairly indifferent to photos. For the past 40 years, I’ve been pretty much the only person in my family who takes photos, and while everyone wants to look at them once, and might post one or two on Facebook, that’s where their interest ends. However, after a friend did a Zoom with me to show me how she makes her own photo books, I’ve considered that it might make a great gift for friends who ARE more photo inclined, and I love all the ideas you’ve shared. My favorite of all of your ideas is the one of “family faces” for children, and I’m wondering if it might be a comfort for older seniors to use as a cheat sheet as the family expands with in-laws and grandchildren, to make them more recognizable.
I just saw you on Texas Today. It gave me an idea for my granddaughters graduation gift. A picture book of my life through the years. A keepsake for her. I’m 80 and clueless. Is this a possibility for you to help make this happen. Thank you.
MaryAnn Long
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