Far from only being able to view your photographs on a computer screen, digital photos are much more versatile when it comes to ways to present them. They can easily be printed in different sizes or on different materials. You can even have photos printed on to t-shirts or coffee mugs! Another way that you can present a collection of related photos that has become very popular in the last few years is to make a photo book.

What are Photo Books?

Photo books are a very attractive way to present a collection of digital photographs. Instead of a photo album, where photos are glued or inserted into pockets, photos in a photo book are printed onto the pages. The final result looks just like a book that you would buy in a bookstore. The paper is of very high quality and the book is professionally bound by gluing, sewing or stapling with a soft,  hard or even leather cover. You can make a photo book in a variety of sizes, from a small ‘brag book’ to large, lay-flat coffee table  books. You can make a photo book using software from a photo book publisher like Shutterfly or Picaboo. We have reviews of the most popular publishers in our Photo Book Publishers section.

Part Photo Album, Part Scrapbook

Because you get to design and layout your photo book on the computer, you get a lot more design options than you would with a basic photo album. Depending on the photo book publisher that you use, you can choose from a wide variety of themes and backgrounds. Most publishers also allow you to add borders, frames and corner embellishments to your photos. You can even add text to pages and most publishers have a good selection of attractive fonts for you to use. You can really express your creativity when you make a photo book. However, if you are pushed for time, most publishers have the option to create the whole book for you, using a theme that you select. You can always do a little tweaking to get the final result! This way you can make a beautiful photo memory book in a very short time.

Click here to find out how to make a photo book.

If you’ve read my review, you’ll know that I love Picaboo! Well, now you can learn to love them for free! Get a free 20 page classic photo book from Picaboo, now through the end of August, absolutely free. This is a great way to try out their software and take a look at their end product, which truly is beautiful. So collect up some photos and express your creative genius!

Create a free photo book with Picaboo. Use code FREEBK through August 31, 2010.

Bohemian Graduation Backgrounds

Make your own photo book for the graduate in your life and create a wonderful keepsake of this important threshold that they are about to cross! A photo memory book of graduation day makes a great gift for the grad themselves and you can even order a few smaller versions for close family.

There are a lot of other types of photo book that you can create for a graduate too. One of my favorites is the ‘Life Lessons‘ book. In this book, you can pass on the benefits of your experience and wisdom to a special young person in your life, who is about to venture out into the big wide world for the first time. You can also interview family members and older friends for their advice and include it in your book.

Create a page for each person and use photos from the graduation ceremony. That way you will give them something to look back on as well as advice for the future. And remember, not all the advice needs to be serious. You can include some silly stuff too!

Picaboo has some great graduation background collections. I really love their ‘Bohemian Graduation‘ collection myself.  Go to the Idea Center and check out their Special Collections of backgrounds that will really inspire you to make your own photo book.

Click here to find out more…

View this Photo Book & See More Here

Don’t forget that you can use more  than just photos in your book. Other paper items can be scanned and included in your books. Artwork created especially for her by the kids or grandkids would make a great addition to a Mother’s Day photo book.

Also, try searching for a couple of beautiful ‘Mom’ quotes on a quotations web site and include it in your book. Or you could even find a poem about mothers to include. Use an attractive cursive font and pair it with an appropriate picture or photo. Make a photo book that uses pretty pastel colors for backgrounds and the cover. You can use a plain cover but one thing that I think works well is to use a background on a custom cover. I like to do this in Picaboo especially, because there are so many beautiful backgrounds available that have been created by other users. You can use the same background on the front, back and spine of the book, then add a photo and title to the front.