Behind the Mixbook: Sam's Library of Photo Book Memories

Assembling a year's worth of photos may seem like a lot of work, but preserving your most cherished memories in photo books through a digital platform like Mixbook offers you a beautiful high-quality keepsake that will provide years of laughter, love, and enjoyment long after you create it.

Sam shares her love story through Mixbook. Her energy and enthusiasm are what drive us to do what we do. Thank you so much! We didn’t have the heart to edit anything from it. Sorry, Sam!

Create an Annual Tradition with Mixbook Photo Books

Mixbook customer Sam started a tradition several years ago. She collects, organizes, and creates a new photo book each year, featuring all the special moments and memories that she and her partner have experienced. Sam began this tradition soon after she met her true love, and having a physical book containing all their shared experiences has proven to be a magical reminder of days gone by.

“I create these Mixbook every single year on my anniversary. These are my five for the last five years, and I have my sixth one on the way they make me so excited. I create them as my anniversary gift to my girlfriend. It's like a yearbook…no picture we take is ever forgotten and no memory is ever lost.” - Sam

Creating a Mixbook Photo Book Preserves More Than Just Photos

Sure, we all share our photos on social media daily, but the lightning-fast pace of social media sharing and turnover means many of your memories can quickly fade into the past and be lost.  Taking the time each year to curate your favorite shots in a custom book design that reflects your own aesthetic elevates your special shots to keepsake territory.

Being able to choose themed book layouts, graphic elements like frames and stickers, and your favorite fonts and colors adds a beautiful personal touch. Preserving your thoughts and feelings, adding names, dates, and descriptions next to your images ensures that even your state of mind is captured - right there on the page with your special photos.

“I'm so thankful that I wrote some of this down because they’re memories I might have otherwise lost.”

Try Mixbook’s “Year in Review” Templates

If the thought of organizing an entire year’s worth of photos feels daunting, don’t worry! We have a special group of photo book template designs just for this purpose. We even have monthly book templates if a yearly book isn’t enough. Our annual photo book templates have layouts organized by seasons, months, school years, or holidays, to make it easier to identify, select and organize your images in smaller groupings.

To help you sort and group your photos for an annual review book layout, our "Sort by" feature makes it simple and easy to find the photos you want. You can sort your photos by "Date Taken," "Date Added," or "File Name." To use the search feature, type in a keyword to locate specific photos or collections.

Another helpful search and sort option can be found in the free Mixbook app. Using cutting-edge AI technology, the app can sort photos in your phone's camera folders, detect duplicates, and recommend the best photos to add to your album.

Some of our templates already have designated spaces for text - dates, thoughts, milestones, names, and places that enhance your photos with supporting background information. But you can always customize and add your own text to any of our layout templates - or blank books - with Mixbook’s online editor.

Build a Library of Year-in-Review Books

“How cute look at all these look at all these years. Plus it's a visual representation every single year. I'm like, wow, this stack is getting –that's history! Look, we got history!”

Photo books should not be reserved solely for momentous occasions like ‘trips of a lifetime’ or weddings. Sometimes the tiny little daily moments that you collect in photo books can be just as precious and meaningful. Taking the time to create a photo book capturing your favorite moments from the past year, each year, means you’ll begin building a photo book library of memories that might otherwise be forgotten. Looking back over images of your growing family, loved ones that aren’t with you anymore, or the too-short lives of your beloved pets can bring joy for many years to come.

“So, especially when I flip through… there's so many emotions that come to mind when I flip through this book, I think about the happy days, the summer tans that I had, how good of shape I was in. And yeah, like I said, just like falling in love.” - Sam

Online Storage from Mixbook Keeps Your Memories Safe

We all worry about losing our physical possessions and keepsakes to fires, floods, theft, the end of relationships, moving, etc..  An important benefit to creating photo books on Mixbook.com is that your hard work and efforts are always preserved in your online account.

“The fact that you can store these books online all the time through Mixbook on the website is a big selling point for me because I worry a lot. And knowing that I always have like a reorder option. If I spill coffee on it, or if I have a house fire, God forbid, or, you know, something crazy happens to them, I can always just reorder them. And I never have to worry about anything happening to them and disappearing…”

Can’t find the photo book with your child’s baby pictures? There’s always the option to simply log in to your Mixbook account and ‘re-order’ the same book. You can also take your saved photo book projects and apply new templates to update and refresh your favorite collections. Mixbook is always adding new design templates, paper, and finish options. Part of Mixbook’s mission is to offer only the highest quality materials. From providing a thicker chipboard than our competitors... to using only the best premium papers, you can count on your photo book creations being high-end, durable, beautiful keepsakes you will cherish for years to come. You’ll always be able to see what’s new on the landing page for all photo book options.

“I will never ever throw them away. These mean the world to me. I wanna show them to my kids one day. I wanna show them this is like the whole story of their future parents falling in love.” - Sam

Get Started Now on a Year-in-Review Photo Book

Feeling inspired by Sam’s enthusiasm? Can you feel the joy she continues to get from creating and preserving her memories each year in her annual photo book tradition? Look through our yearly photo book templates to find the perfect design for your collection of photos and start preserving your treasured moments and memories today.

Find more customer photo book stories, images, and examples from Mixbook’s “community of creators” in our Inspiration Gallery.