I was surprised by how many emails and comments I received on Monday’s 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days post asking about photo organization, our digital photo books, and even our church ABC book. I’m more than happy to share. First off, let me say that not a single company mentioned below knows who I am, is compensating or perking me in any way, and that these are just our experiences.
With that out of the way, let’s talk photos and books!
How I made my photo books
I used Shutterfly. I asked around and several friends recommended Shutterfly. Similar companies that allow you to load and print your own photo books are Picaboo, MyPublisher, and Blurb. As far as I know, all these are free to join–the only cost involved is in printing/ordering and any premium themes or add-ons that you want. I went with Shutterfly thanks to reviews of friends, and I’ve been very pleased with my experience.
The program itself is quite user-friendly. Basically, you upload the digital files of the photos you want to use and then arrange them in a digital scrapbook, of sorts. Then, you order as many hard copies of the book as you want! If you’re not tech savvy or even scrapbook savvy, there’s even an option that will create a book for you, putting photos in chronological order. All you have to do is choose a theme. I’ve gone the custom route, and have really enjoyed the process. You can add stickers, captions, frames, even whole pages of text if you want to write a story down to accompany a picture. Gretchin Rubin (of Happiness Project fame) has Shutterfly put her photos in chronological order then hand-writes her captions, etc. later. That’s also a great way to go.
We’ve actually been so pleased by our Shutterfly experience that we’ve tried more of their products. We’ve ordered photo prints from them with great results, and even a huge enlargement for our living room of one of our recent family photos. All of them have turned out very well (we LOVE our huge enlargement). I’ve gotten a little crazy-pants, making several photo books as gifts, and tried things like photo magnets, and have actually even ordered my Christmas cards from them already. They also have other ideas for photo gifts (calendars, acrylic prints, bags, cups, ornaments, puzzles, notebooks, etc). They even have custom iPhone cases, which would be cool. You know, if I ever get an iPhone.
A few tips for Shutterfly:
Wait for a sale! You can finish a book and then essentially store it there online until they have a great sale and order then. I’ve found there’s nearly always a special going on, and especially around holidays (even ones like 4th of July) they have great sales–sometimes 50% off! They have killer sales around Christmas and New Year’s, so you’re in luck if you want to get started. *Also, don’t forget you get free shipping on orders over $30.
Use the largest files you can for your photos for the best resolution. Shutterfly gives you a warning if the photo has been re-sized too large and might not print at best quality.
SAVE OFTEN. Always. Save, save, save-y, save, save. Nothing is worse than working for a long block of time and losing your work. Save.
Know that if you’re like me, your first book will come with a learning curve, and your second book will be better! I was and am pleased with the first book I made, but I’ve loved each new one more than the last. I can’t wait to see how this year’s turns out.
How I store my photos
I’m not an expert at this, and I could certainly use some advice if you have any to pass along. For now, our images are backed up using online storage (Mozy and Carbonite are two respected companies that do this). You pay for a subscription and your photos are automatically backed up when you log into your computer. So far, it’s worked well for us, and we’ve had friends whose computers have crashed or been stolen who were saved by having their photos stored this way.
Other than that, some of it’s still old-school stored on CDs and flash drives. Lame. Needs to be changed.
Another option: Shutterfly has a guarantee that they won’t ever delete your photos or projects while you have an account with them. I have no experience with de-activating an account with them or having photos lost, but since I don’t rely on them exclusively for my photo storage, I’m not too worried about it yet. It’s essentially free photo storage in the meantime if you’re not sure what you want to do long-term.
Gospel ABC Book
As for my Gospel ABC book, I was inspired by Pinterest. There were loads of examples here. I made mine using Shutterfly as well, using the smallest size book. I custom-made mine with photos applicable to us, and using words/phrases with special meaning for our family. Want to make your own? For some ideas, see below:
Free resources for Gospel/Church ABC Books:
Darling Doodles – Free printable that you can print, cut, and slide into a photo album (I think 4×6, but it may be 5×7?). Actually quite similar to what I came up with.
Nap Time Crafters – Free PDF printable (I think these are 8×8) This has ideas for quotes, etc.) You could laminate and hole punch these and slide them onto a ring, or if you can find an 8×8 album, you could use that. Shutterfly also prints 8×8 books.
LDS Gospel Library – This is where I got many of my photos from, especially the New and Old Testament sections. They may be downloaded and printed. (These images are free for personal use, but are not for commercial use.)
That’s it! Please feel free to email or comment with any questions you have. I’ll do my best to answer them!
Thank you for the post! I really love your photo books…the Church ABC book is a great idea! I just finished my first photo book – used Shutterfly too. I did an ABC book as well, but general – D is for Daddy, M is for Mama with our pictures, etc. It turned out great!
I’m gearing up to create a photo book for my Linnea’s first year. Thank you for the tips and expertise!
You have inspired me. I know what Piper’s getting for Christmas 🙂
I love Shutterfly as well. If you get their emails they often have deals and lately have had free things like magnets or labels where you only pay for shipping. Great for upcoming holiday gifts or preparation.
A great program you may know about is called Picasa. It’s free to download and is for organizing your pics on your computer. It’s very easy to use. You still need to back them up however you wish but we love it for seeing what we have.
Those all look fantastic!! I really need to keep working on our blog books, but just photo books would be great too. And thanks for the suggestions about the online photo backup, I could really benefit from that!
We LOVE your books, what a priceless treasure they are!
They do make the best gift, and are SO much easier to store than a traditional scrapbook. I probably need you to come sit with me at a computer and help me learn how to do this. I never want to make the old fashioned kind again.
Maybe now that I have read about your awesome photo books, I will be inspired to finally make some wedding albums (wedding was 15 months ago – oops!).
Re: photo storage (I’m a librarian/archivist): for practical purposes, you might find it easier to buy a single external hard-drive rather than using flash drives. For storage and preservation for the long term, prints are the only thing you can count on – it’s a good idea to check all your digital media once a year to make sure that you can still open all of your files in your current system, and migrate files if necessary (this is why digital preservation is such an issue for archivists, because it requires constant vigilance). CDs should be recopied every five years or so, as they deteriorate over time. (I’m just going on a hunch that you’re the kind of person who thinks about looking at family photos when you’re eighty-five:-B)
i think sophie needs to give her betrothed one of the ABC books for christmas!! 🙂
we love shutterfly around these parts too! i make kevin a photobook for father’s day every year. and i make my parents and kevin’s parents a photobook for christmas every year! which reminds me…i should get started on the christmas presents!
I’d been thinking about making a photobook of Emma’s first year as her birthday is creeping up, now I know I definitely will.
Your church ABC book is such a good idea though, and like you say it can be totally personalised for our family and our beliefs. I am so inspired! Thank you for sharing Emily!
This is so great! These photo books would be awesome for Christmas gifts, and I’m imagining all of the little books I can make!
These albums are so great, way better than clunky photo albums of old….Yes I have big, old clunky albums, am I dating myself?
Your photo books look so cute, Emily! Do you remember what “styles” you used to make them in Shutterfly? I want to get started on all of my photos!
Katherine – I made mine custom using the “Color The Town” theme. I mostly did my own thing, but I did love the bright pops of color that came with this theme. For something more toned down, I’ve also loved the “Chalkboard Chic” theme. Best of luck! You’ll be so happy you did it!