✦ Tru Photo Books
A birthday photobook: their year, or their life, in one book
For an 18th, a 30th or a 60th: the photos only you and their friends have.
In short
A Tru Photo Book is a birthday gift made from your own photos of the person: the year since their last birthday, or their whole life for a milestone such as 18, 21, 30, 40, 50 or 60, in an A5 hardcover of 26 or 50 pages, printed and bound in Cairo. You gather the photos, lay out the book online and approve the proof. It is delivered to you anywhere in Egypt, or collected at a Tru booth, and paid in cash when it arrives.
A gift made from their life
Birthday gifts tend to be things: a perfume, a watch, a voucher. A photobook is the only one made from the person themselves: the friends, the places, the stages of their life that they have never seen side by side. For a milestone birthday it becomes the record of a decade, or of a whole life.
It is also a gift a group can make together, which is often the point. Every friend sends their photos, one person makes the book, and everyone is in it.
Which book for which birthday
| What goes in it | Pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Any birthday | The year since the last one, month by month | 26 |
| 18th or 21st | School and university, the friends, the firsts | 50 |
| 30th | The decade: university, work, travel, the people who stayed | 50 |
| 40th, 50th or 60th | A life: childhood prints, the wedding, the children, today | 50 |
| A child’s birthday | Their year: the first day of school, holidays, friends | 26 |
Making a birthday book with their friends
Choose one organiser
One person collects, chooses and lays out the photos, so the book reads as one story.
Open a shared folder
Ask everyone for their original photos by a set date. Photos forwarded on WhatsApp are compressed and print soft.
Choose the best
One photo per moment. Keep the funny ones; leave out the near-duplicates.
Lay it out in the shop
Upload the photos and the shop lays out the pages. Order by year for a milestone, by month for one year.
Approve, wrap and give
Approve the proof, add gift wrap and a card message, and pay in cash when the book arrives.
Ideas for the pages
- Every birthday cake since you met, one after another.
- Then and now: the same friends, the same place, years apart.
- The year in twelve photos, one for each month.
- Each friend on a page, with a caption from them.
- The places that matter: the school gate, the café, the beach in Sahel.
- A last page with everyone who made the book.
Birthday photobook questions
What is a good personalised birthday gift in Egypt?
A gift made from their own life: a photobook of the year since their last birthday, or of their whole life for a milestone. Tru Photo Books prints A5 hardcover books from your photos in Cairo and delivers across Egypt, paid in cash on delivery.
How many photos for a 30th birthday book?
A 50-page book holds about 70 to 120 photos, enough for a decade. A 26-page book, about 35 to 60 photos, suits one year.
Can friends in different cities add photos?
Yes. Collect everyone’s original files in one shared folder, such as Google Drive or Google Photos, then one person uploads them to the shop and lays out the book.
Can I add captions to a birthday book?
Yes. A caption can go with a photo, and the shop warns you before you order if one sits too close to the edge to print.
Can I order two copies, one for them and one for me?
Yes. A second copy of the same book can be added at checkout.
Will the birthday book arrive in time?
The shop does not promise a delivery date, so start early: gathering photos from friends is usually the slow part. A paid Rush option puts your book first in the print queue.
Start your book.
Upload your photos. Approve the proof. Pay in cash when the book arrives.