✦ Guide
How to make a photobook: choosing photos, pages and order
Thousands of photos, one book. Here is how to go from a camera roll to a photobook that reads well, step by step, with how many photos fit and how to get the files right.
In short
To make a photobook, decide what the book is about, gather the original photo files, choose more than you need and cut down, put them in order (by time, place or person), and pick a page count: as a rule of thumb, about 40 to 60 photos for 26 pages and 80 to 120 for 50. Send originals rather than WhatsApp-forwarded copies, which are compressed. Tru Photo Books prints the result as an A5 hardcover on 200 gsm archival matte paper in Cairo and delivers it across Egypt.
How to make a photobook in seven steps
Decide what the book is about
One wedding, one summer, one year, one person. A book with a clear subject is easier to edit and better to read than a book of everything.
Gather the original files
From every phone, camera and photographer involved, into one folder. Originals, not screenshots or photos forwarded on WhatsApp.
Make a first pick
Go through quickly and keep anything you smile at. Expect to keep two or three times as many photos as will fit.
Cut it down
Remove near-duplicates, blurry shots and photos that say the same thing as a better one. Keep the faces, the moments and a few details.
Put them in order
By time for an event or a trip, by place for a long summer, by person or by year for a gift.
Choose the page count
26 pages for a tight story, 50 for room to tell all of it. Extra pages come in blocks of four.
Choose your full-page photos
Pick the few photos that deserve a page to themselves: a portrait, a view, the moment the book is about. Group the rest two to four to a page.
How many photos for a photobook?
The number depends on how many photos share each page. As a rule of thumb:
| One a page | Four a page | A comfortable mix | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 pages | 26 | about 100 | about 40 to 60 |
| 50 pages | 50 | about 200 | about 80 to 120 |
Getting the files right for print
Print is less forgiving than a phone screen. A photo that looks fine on a phone can look soft on a full page if it has been compressed along the way. The most common cause is WhatsApp: forwarded photos are reduced in size, so always ask for the original file.
Phone photos print well when they are sharp and well lit. Very dark photos, heavy zoom and screenshots of photos lose detail on paper. For old printed photos, a scan is best; a sharp photo of the print taken flat, in daylight and without reflections, also works.
Common photobook mistakes
- Too many photos on every page: give the best ones room.
- Ten versions of the same moment: keep the best one.
- No order: a book jumps around unless the photos follow time, place or person.
- Only posed photos: the candid moments are often the pages people stop on.
- Screenshots and forwarded copies: they print softer than the originals.
Making a photobook: questions
How many photos do I need for a photobook?
As a rule of thumb, about 40 to 60 photos for 26 pages and 80 to 120 for 50 pages, in a mix of full-page photos and pages of two to four.
Are phone photos good enough for a photobook?
Yes, when they are sharp, well lit and sent as original files rather than WhatsApp-forwarded copies.
What order should photos go in?
By time for an event or a trip, by place for a long summer, and by person or by year for a gift.
How do I put old printed photos in a photobook?
Scan them, or photograph each print flat in daylight without reflections, and add the file like any other photo.
Where can I print a photobook in Egypt?
Tru Photo Books prints A5 hardcover photobooks from your own photos in Cairo and delivers across Egypt. Message Tru Booth on WhatsApp to order.
Tell us about the night.
Send your date and venue. We reply on WhatsApp with availability, booth options and a quote.