Some people mistakenly believe that print photo albums and photo books are different names for the same thing. While they share many similarities, they differ in significant ways.
Print photo albums contain physical print photos placed in plastic sleeves in a book or binder.
Photo books are custom made, bound books with digital images embedded into photographic paper, akin to a magazine or coffee-table book (you can see them both in the photo below).
Parents and grandparents often hand down print photo albums through generations. You may have inherited several, as well as created a few of your own.
The biggest drawback of print photo albums is their bulk. Another issue is that you can’t see what’s written on the back of the photos. The albums from the 1980s and 90s can be problematic, too - especially if made of “magnetic” pages (i.e. chemical sandwiches that slowly destroy the emulsion of the photos).
Vintage photo albums can be quite delicate and in need of archival preservation (as well as needing to have their contents scanned!)
Photo books are comprised of your curated digital images arranged via the publisher’s software. You can enhance photos using color correction, enlarging, adding text, and a variety of decorative effects. There are a variety of paper options and different thicknesses and finishes.
Covers are customizable (options depend on the publisher). And while the quality varies, styles range from softcover to heirloom-quality bound books.
Time and Quantity
When creating photo albums or photo books, the time necessary to complete either one varies.
Filling both items can take up a substantial amount of time. When adding print photos to a photo album, you must first curate your images, choose the correct size prints, then physically insert them into the pages of the album. This can be a tedious and time-consuming task, and the amount of images you can use depends on the amount of room in the book.
Photo books can take more (or less) time, since you essentially just click and drag digital images where you want them to go. However, if you're unfamiliar with the publisher’s software, it can be more time-consuming than initially expected. On the plus side, you're in control of image size and quantity, and can add a certain amount of additional pages if needed, depending on the vendor.
Customization
You can customize both print albums and photo books in various ways.
With print photo albums, you can change the final product as many times as you like. For example, if you decide to change the photo placement, you can easily do it by hand.
Photo books are permanent. To change the design of your book, you’ll have to reprint it, although making changes is possible for future editions. You can change size, the layout and add additional images or unique touches in new copies.
Conclusion
While photo books are typically more expensive (depending on size, paper and cover material), they take up less space, can give new life to old photos and become treasured family heirlooms - especially if family stories and histories are integrated into the book.
Photo albums are useful for holding original prints (if archival quality) and are usually less expensive than photo books. We love the albums from Kolo, especially their Newport scrapbook-style version. An added bonus is that you can physically write on the pages.
Want help with creating your own photo book? Let’s talk!
With so many photo printing companies on the market now, it can be so difficult figuring out where to print the best photo books in Australia. Is it one of the consumer retail stores like Kmart, Officeworks, Harvey Norman or Big W who print the best photobooks? Or perhaps one of the many other online photo book printers that offer a quick and cheap service?
As a mum who takes lots of photos of her kids, and also a professional photographer offering premium photo products to my clients, I’ve used a few different photo book printers over the years so I wanted to share my thoughts.
There are quite a few differences between photo books and photo albums, the main ones being:
Paper type - images in photo books are printed onto thin press paper similar to that used for printing brochures or flyers, while photos in photo albums are printed onto professional grade photographic paper, then mounted onto a thicker substrate to form rigid pages.