It's Easy to Create Digital Photo Books!

Now that your pictures are _ the fun begins, you can finally take your pictures off your computer and put them back onto your coffee table!

There are several items you can create with your digital pictures including, photo books, wall art/collages, calendars, cards, etc. This post will walk through the process of creating a digital photo book.

Photo books are especially appreciated because not many people do photo albums any more and they miss having them. Photo books are even better than photo albums. They are thinner, sturdier, and you can add design and copy to make them even more personalized and memorable. They can be done for anything like holidays, birthdays, vacations, family reunions, weddings, pregnancies, births, etc.

Some sites that allow you to create your books include Snapfish, Costco, Ritzpix, Blurb, and Shutterfly. My current preferred site is Blurb, but they all essentially function the same way. (All of the sample screen shots are from Blurb.) If you want your photo book to be more like a scrapbook with design on the pages a site like Snapfish is better. If you want something clean and simple, a site like Blurb is a good choice.

Most of the sites usually have you start by choosing the pictures you want to include in the book. If you haven’t uploaded your pictures to the site you are using for the book all of them provide easy options to do so, (see attached).

Then you need to choose the book size and cover style (hard or soft cover). You can also choose an overall design that is applied to the entire book, and the color and size for your copy and cover. Once all of the aesthetics have been decided on, you can start putting the book together, (see attached).

There are several page layouts available that vary by the number of photos per page. I find it best to choose the photos you’d like included on a single page and then choose a page layout that has that number of photos.

These sites also offer the option of having them automatically making the book for you with the pictures you’ve uploaded. I have not done this because I like laying it out myself, I don’t think the sites have the personalized touch or eye that I do. If anyone has ever done this I’d like to hear about how well it worked.

Once the book is complete you can order one or multiple books for gifts. I have been doing a book for my daughters covering a year from birthday to birthday. I will give them to keep once they are adults. I’d love to hear from you about books that you’ve created and sites that you’ve used.

If you are still overwhelmed with the time it will take you can also look to companies like my new company based here in Danville called Digi-Gals. I will do everything above for you; all you have to do is take the pictures! For more information visit our website at www.digi-gals.com or call me at 925/786-8574.