We’ve come a long way since premade photo albums. Nowadays, all it takes is to upload our best photos to an online photo book builder, customize the draft to our liking, and then simply wait until the order is delivered to our doorstep.
However, putting together the photo book still takes a bit of time, especially with the various customization options on offer. The way to overcome this issue is to choose the right tool from the start. By doing so, the time it takes to create a photo book significantly decreases.
Some photo book makers offer the option to have photos auto-filled into the book or have it created by a group of professionals. There are other innovative approaches to start the photo book building process, such as fetching the photos automatically from a device or social media account.
Automatic Photo Book Software
Truth be told, photo book building will always need some sort of human intervention. However, due to the ever-growing rise of AI, manual input can be reduced to just a few clicks. Plus, there are even virtual assistants to guide users and streamline the process.
Most regular photo book builders only provide an autofill option, leaving the rest of the editing process to the customer. Meanwhile, with automatic photo book builders, users only need to select a predetermined number of their favorite pictures. Then, the software or app automatically edits the book and sends a printing request.
Certain solutions have taken this approach a bit further by leveraging the power of social media. All the customer has to do is choose a certain period of time on their timeline. Then, based on this information, the software fetches and automatically arranges all photos in chronological order. It may even include each photo’s caption.
Even this process can be automated, creating a truly effortless photo book building experience by connecting the photo builder to your social media accounts. This way, when a new photo is uploaded to Facebook or Instagram, the software puts it into the book. The process is repeated until the book reaches a predetermined page limit and is ready to go.
Recommended Automatic Photo Book Software and Apps
We’ve selected some excellent automatic photo book makers, so you can carefully choose the one that best suits your needs.
Mixbook
For instance, the autofill tool automatically selects the right photos from both online or offline sources and displays the pictures in the photo holders. However, the best part about Mixbook is that it uses machine learning to organize users’ camera roll photos.
The software automatically curates the photos in a way that tells a story, sparing customers of the usual troublesome manual organization. Considering that many users give up on creating the book when they face the photo organization process, this is an excellent use of AI innovations.
Mixbook prices are fairly average, and the company often runs temporary offers. There’s also a referral program that provides a $25 discount code and free shipping (on the next order) for each successful referral.
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Printique
The software’s clean and simple interface helps users save time with figuring out how its tools work. The best part is that Printique has its own app, allowing users to upload their photos directly from their phone, which also saves them precious time.
Prices aren’t the most affordable, but Printique’s return policy is fair. Orders that are canceled prior to printing are refunded in full, whereas products canceled after printing and before shipping incur a fee of 50% of the amount paid. Regarding discounts, the company occasionally offers temporary promotions and coupons.
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Chatbooks
By connecting your social media accounts to Chatbooks’ app, your pictures are automatically uploaded. Or, there’s the option to use the pictures from your camera roll instead. All you have to do is download the app, choose the photos, and leave the rest up to Chatbook.
In addition to affordable prices, all books come with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and are prepared for shipping within 2-3 business days. There’s also a referral program and occasional promotions and coupons.
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Photo Books Created by Professional Real-Life Designers
Having the photo book created automatically is highly convenient, but there is one huge catch: accepting the photo book’s draft without checking it first can result in an unsatisfactory final product. There are two ways to avoid this issue. Either spend some time checking and amending the photo book or assign the task to a real-life professional designer.
The advantage of having a photo book created by a professional is that they’ll select only the best pictures and put together the final product according to your very specific instructions. In other words, the photo book will appear exactly as you want it without having to do any of the work.
However, this service is never free of charge, especially if the book is ordered. Since online photo book builders are ridiculously easy to use, you’re likely to be paying for someone’s time rather than expertise, which is something to consider when pricing up the task for someone to take on.
Shutterfly
Once the draft is ready, the photo book can then be further personalized with finishing touches or sent back to the Shutterfly design staff for extra modifications.
The biggest advantage of this service is that you won’t pay a thing until the photo book is ordered. If the book does get printed, then Shutterfly charges an additional fee for the professionals’ services. It’s worth checking the company’s temporary discounts when wrapping up the purchase process.
Tips for Making a Photo Book in Minutes
There are two major ways to get a photo book ready for printing in a short amount of time. The first is the simplest: using a photo book creator that was intended for quick book building. Most of the providers are capable of putting together a photo book within mere minutes.
The other way is to rely on autofill, a feature that almost all major photo book editing companies have. With this feature you only need to pick a matching style and the photo book builder automatically arranges any chosen photos.
However, thanks to the huge variety when it comes to personalization options, customers can typically add the finishing touches themselves, overriding the draft created by the software.
Granted, this may slow down the building process. So, if you don’t have special requirements for the book’s final look, then the way the editor automatically designs it should be good enough.
Best Photo Books of 2024
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