In today’s digital era, many family traditions are slowly becoming a thing of the past. For instance, two decades ago, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas involved taking photos to store for memory’s sake in a physical photo album. While people still take pics on holidays, they’re typically using a smartphone and just storing the images digitally, rather than printing photos. Even though convenient, that’s slowly killing tradition. The good news, however, is that just like many other traditions, the photo album is evolving too. Its modern version is the “photo book.”
A Photo Book as the ‘New’ Tradition
You no longer have to wait for hours on end to pick up your printed photographs. Now can create them at the touch of a button thanks to photo books.
While they were previously only made for weddings, now these lay-flat books are ones that photographers and websites are offering for baby, travel, and other special occasions. Online photo book creators like PrintedMemories also magically build stunning photo books straight from your social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. They also offer to plant one tree with every photo book they print.
Here are some of the main reasons to consider printing photos into a photo book:
Boosts Creativity
To create a photo book, you need to choose a paper type, upload the pictures you want in it, and then customize it to exactly how you want it. There are photo effects, pre-set themes, backgrounds, texts, frames, and even clip arts of your choice that you may use.
In other words, you do everything yourself. Mind you, it’s not that hard to do, given the diverse array of customization tools that the photo books make available to you. If anything, it puts your creativity into action and allows you to create a truly unique keepsake that reflects your personality.
Creates Time for Bonding
Creating photo books is an excellent way for you and your loved ones to bond. It gives you and your spouse, kids, or any other loved ones a fun activity to do together after you’ve taken some creative shots together. Furthermore, it’s something different from the routine. For instance, if your family spends Saturday evenings watching movies, then creating a photo book is a way to change that up every now and then.
With a lot of DIY options, you can spend hours putting together backgrounds, clip arts, and frames to create a unique memento. After printing photos to complete the book, your kids can look at the finished product with pride that they helped make it with you.
At the same time, you’ll all have a fun time together. And that’s a great bonding opportunity; you’ll relive cherished memories through pictures that had been tucked away in your digital drives.
You Can Create a Photo Book for Every Occasion
The beauty of photo books is that you can create one for every special event. Maybe you’re a newlywed, who wants to preserve the memories in a unique way – yes, that’ll be us soon! – or a pregnant mom who just had her baby shower. You can showcase all these memories in one unique lay-flat book.
Whether it’s a birthday party, graduation ceremony, business launch, or vacation, you probably take a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, people often only select a few pics, upload them to social media, and leave the rest in digital form.
And while you can’t upload all pics to social media, it is possible to organize them in a photo book. Then you can remember that fun vacation or another event whenever you look at it.
Printing Photos Helps Businesses Too
Lastly, if you have a company, you can also use a photo book to display your portfolio for potential clients. For instance, if you are a photographer, use it to showcase your previous works to current and potential clients. As I meet with potential photographers for our wedding, I will ask to see these types of books in person.
Are you still printing photos? Do you think it’s important? Why or why not?
I hardly ever print a photo, though I’ve taken more than 2000 in the past 4 years. A friend of me told me to print a photobook of my puddle reflection series, and your article once again tells me to do that, so I guess I’ll have to give it a go. Nice and thoughtful post!
Ohhh I hope the photobook turns out great! Then you’ll be able to look at the photo series whenever you want :)
One of my excellent sisters-in-law organised us to make a photo book for my parent’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. They loved it more than any other gift they’ve ever had. And it will last a lot longer than photos stuck in one of those old-school sticky back albums! Digital is brilliant but just not the same as looking at proper photos. Really old photos are wonderful too but they can deteriorate and having a record of them in a printed book is just a good idea. I have the bug now; I am planning on making a photo book of my child’s growing up years, including poems and art.
Ohhh your comment speaks to how special photo books can be for us and for our loved ones as presents! I want to get back to scrapbooking too as it makes great use of photos that just sit on my phone otherwise. I love your idea of creating albums as your son grows, not just for photos of him but also including his art and writing. I know he’d appreciate looking back at them in time too!
I’d better get printing before I forget how to use a computer 😆
Printed pictures are better to look at & you can sit comfortably on a sofa to look at them
So true about being able to look at the pics from the couch or chair. I’m hoping you’re doing well!
I love this idea, Christy! I have way too many photos in a jumble of saved files on multiple computers, but it’s been forever since I’ve actually printed any of them out so other people can see them. I need to try this! I also have experienced the horror of losing photos that weren’t saved properly, so I still prefer to keep paper “backups.”
I love the idea of paper backups too, Amy. There’s something reassuring about being able to hold it in our hands :) Mind you, I might lose those photographs if I don’t frame them or put them in albums haha!
I don’t often print photos any more. I share them over the internet, or take them and never look at them again. It’s so different from the “old” days when we’d take a reel of photos, send them away to be developed, wait weeks for their return, then find out that many were out of focus or had someone’s thumb in the way! :)
Oh I remember waiting for film development! I even worked at a photo counter for a while. Haha that thumb gets in the way ;) My mom sometimes cut off heads haha
I have numerous volumes of photo albums. My favorite souvenir of trips was always the photos taken and then put into volumes. Of course, film development was costly back in the days prior to digital cameras. Your idea of memorializing special times and events with these new photo books is a great one!
I love that you endorse this idea, Peggy, as you’re an avide traveler and photographer :) I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.
Sounds great! I would love to have one for each & every family trip.
So sweet :)
More importantly, you’ll still have them when the whole cloud or whatever you’re using splutters and dies one day!
Lol, that part. We rely so heavily on technology and underestimate the fact that it could all come crashing down at any given moment!
It could well do!
So remember to backup your blog too ;)
Great and interesting post
Thanks Sharon
People get mad at me for printing photos, but I still print them. There is nothing like looking through a book a looking at photos as opposed to watching your computer crash and losing everything.
How can they get mad at you for that?! You’re wanting to keep the memories safe. It makes sense!
They say that it is wrong to print photos and that you should just keep them on my computer. The problem, as you may already know, is that computer programs go out, and those photos are lost… forever as in printing them and keeping the memories preserved for generations.
I say keep printing them! Not only is it bringing you joy but also ensuring the safety of your favorite photos as they are in physical printed form then.
I will keep printing them.
Thank you for a great advice, Christy! I confess, i stored a lot of images, also docs without printing. But its very useful to use photo books, At least its the only way securing them. Michael
Yes! I like the idea of flipping through physical pages of photos and reliving moments. I hope you’ve been having a fun weekend, Michael :)
Oh yes, its was OK. Lol We have 7 degrees (C) here. ;-( A lot time to use electronical devices. Lol
Aiiii we’re having about 10 degrees warmer than mthat today – I’ll send some of it your way!
Thank you, Christy! Very kind of you! :-)
For longer storage its really better using printed photos, and its a better feeling too, flipping through the albums collected over years.
Great points :)
I am old school and still print and file photos into photo albums. I love going through them and having something tangible to hold. With that said, I am meticulous with all my digital files of photos, and have created two photo books. They are fun to create! It may be time to make some more.
Awesome! I was looking at getting a professional album made for our wedding photos but I think it’ll actually be more fun to put the album together myself. Thanks Kristie!
Lovely post and so appropriate! Out of sheer laziness I only use my phone to take and store pictures…but have tons of empty photo books that need filling. This is a reminder to take a little time to enjoy life’s memories in a more traditional way. Thanks.
Time to fill up those photo books ;) I know though, not enough time in the day… Thanks Mya x
true we can use it on every occasion …… good blog post thanks for sharing
It’s nice to remember those special moments :)
thanks christy u Are always welcom
:)
How nice.
I hope you have a photo-worthy month of May :D
Ha! All about writing at the moment. I did take a lot last month though. The cherry blossom montage came out even better than I hoped.
Ohhhh we have cherry blossoms here on Canada’s west coast and I love them!
Oh how nice. I just made that same hope for you just now haha.
Woohoo :D