Photo Books vs. Traditional Photo Albums: How To Choose Between Them
Photo books created online are a modern, digital method of preserving memories of your favorite family traditions. They're easy to store and share, so you and your loved ones can treasure these beautiful books for years. However, plenty of people still prefer the tactile experience of shopping for traditional photo albums. It's fun to pick up your photos from the printer and organize them in a classic photo album. Each option offers unique features and benefits.
Which option is best for your photo project? Everyone is an individual and looking for a different experience when preserving their family photo memories. Take a look at this quick overview of each format, then read on for more great benefits to each option.
“It’s like an updated version of scrapbooking.”
Book Bindings vs. Album Bindings
Books are constructed to hold the pages together to protect them inside a durable cover. Books work well for people who plan to view them in one sitting.
An album, on the other hand, is constructed for display. Instead of a traditional binding that holds the pages together, they can lay flat without your pages working their way up on their own. This binding makes displaying your photos easier on your coffee table.
Mixbook offers a lay-flat book that gives people the durability and protection of a book binding while still allowing people to keep the book open on their favorite pictures as they reminisce over the memories.
Compact Books vs. Large Albums
And having Mixbooks, it just, it takes up so much less room on my shelf but can hold so many more photos as compared to the old photo album. - Mixbooker Lindsey Wilson
Photo books are small yet offer a large impact. A typical non-layflat photo book from Mixbook can hold up to 399 pages, with eight pictures per page. That’s a total of over three thousand images in one book. Despite a large number of images, it still fits conveniently on your shelf.
Photo albums are bulkier and can’t hold as many pictures, yet are still larger than photo books.
One-Time Design vs. Continual Updates
Photo books are designed for commemorating special occasions. For example, you can create books for holidays and birthdays, or to capture a year in review. Once an event or significant milestone is over, families or individuals can easily create a photo book by collecting all those images together and printing them in a book all at once, saving you time.
So I also love how convenient it is. Whenever I wanna look back on something, I can just open the book and click through it instead of having to try to remember where it is on my phone or in which folder on my laptop. - Mixbooker Lindsey Wilson
Photo albums have pockets where you can insert pictures as you take them. You don’t have to wait till the end of an event to put your book together. Photo albums work well when you want to update your album continuously. However, we find that making a new photo book is easier instead of having to refer back to your old albums.
Flexible Design vs. Immobile Images
Photo books provide more design options and offer a modern look and design with multiple customization options. You can resize pictures, overlap images, create collages, insert creative backgrounds, and add text where you want it to make a beautiful book just how you want it.
Photo albums limit how you can display your albums and don’t offer that magazine-styled layout. For example, you have to work with the size of the pictures you print and can only insert them in the pockets your album provides.
Digital Pictures vs. Physical Pictures
Photo books are easy to create because you can drop a complete file of pictures from your phone into your photo book project and create an entire 20-page or longer book in minutes. Do you have a collection of old photos? You can scan those into a computer and include them in your photo book.
In addition, you can create limitless copies without having to remake the photo book, which allows you to share those memories with friends easily.
Photo albums take more time as you must print the pictures before inserting them one at a time into your album. If you have a small project, a photo album can still work. However, larger projects work best with photo books.
Flat Images vs. Tangible Objects
Photo books use flat images printed on paper, whereas photo albums allow you to add tangible objects. For example, you might stick in a pressed flower, a newspaper clipping, or a napkin from your favorite restaurant. If you want to create a scrapbook, a photo album has more flexibility for adding objects beyond pictures.
However, you can add physical objects to a photo book by taking pictures of those tangible items and including the images in your page designs. This allows you to save those memories without adding to the bulk and weight of your book, making it easier to store.
Glare-Free Viewing vs. Plastic Pockets
The images in your photo book aren’t behind any plastic or protective coating. This significantly reduces the glare on your pictures which photo albums with plastic pockets are known for.
Instead, you can choose from several print options to create the look you prefer for your images.
A good non-glare photo option for photo books is the matte page. Meanwhile, the lustre photo book pages reduce the glare the most while maintaining the photos' details and color. Lustre paper has high aging and is water and dirt-resistant.
Affordable Options vs. Financial Investment
Photo books tend to be more cost-efficient than photo albums.
For example, Mixbook offers options starting at $9.99 for 20 pages and innumerable photos on each page.
However, quality photo albums range between $10 and $20 at big retailers like Amazon, Hobby Lobby, and Walmart. In addition to the album, you have the cost of printing pictures on matte paper that won’t glare when you place them behind your plastic pockets.
Start Your First Photo Book Project
Are you looking to save individual photos as you take them with the flexibility to rearrange the shots, or do you want to create a keepsake that will last a lifetime? Mixbook photo books offer quality, durable options to creatively commemorate occasions and gifts to family and friends.
Create a photo book to store your life’s most memorable moments.
