Photo books are wonderful keepsakes. While they come in all shapes and sizes, they all share one thing – the love for someone or something. From once-in-a-lifetime events to welcoming a newborn or a product showcase, all photo albums display your dedication to a specific subject, person, or pet. This is also true when celebrating the life of a loved one who passed away. The process of building a photo book can be a great help to overcome grieve. You’ll have to gather pictures from the life of the person you cherished so much, which will bring back all the happy memories you have with them. Moreover, since photo books are made to last, it’s the perfect way to pass your loved one’s story on to the next generations, allowing them to easily find more about their roots, and eternalizing the memory of your loved one.
Photo Books Keep the Memories Alive
Photography is a very powerful thing. It captures moments that can be saved as mementos forever. So, creating photo albums to either save pictures from special events or memorializing a loved one is a great idea. Although photo books are usually for moments of joy, they’re also a great help when coping with the loss of a loved one. Not only can the process be therapeutic, but you’ll also end up with a book containing all the happy moments you spent together.
Photo books are also an excellent way to honor someone who has passed away, as they show the world how much they were loved and cherished. You can even celebrate their life by creating a photo album that guides viewers through your loved one’s best moments, achievements, and life in general. On top of that, photo books are known for their durability – especially if they have a sturdy cover – so you can ensure the person being honored won’t be forgotten by future generations.
Tribute Photo Book Ideas
Photo albums are highly customizable, so you can create your own just the way you want. You can either go for a more personal photo book showcasing the best moments you spent with your loved one or create a memoir where you tell their life story. Regardless of which style you choose, there are a few ideas that will always enhance your final product.
Just because it’s a photo book, that doesn’t mean you can only add pictures. Adding memorabilia, such as letters or postcards, is an excellent way to make your photo album more personal. You can also save some space on your layout to include special quotes from your loved one.
If the person who passed away was older and you want to add some shots of their youth, don’t worry. There are various platforms that allow you to digitalize and enhance photos. This way, you can really go back in time and start from when they were just a baby.
How To Create a Commemorative Photo Book
When creating a commemorative photo book (or any other type of book for that matter) there are a few aspects you need to consider:
Select Which Photos To Include
The very first thing you need to do is go through old photos and see which ones you want to include in your memorial photo book. You should also take this opportunity to speak with family members and friends to see if they have pictures of your loved one. Then, you need to make your final selection. It’s only natural to want to add every photo available, but we recommend only adding the best of the best – you want to make sure your book doesn’t end up too dense.
Gather Mementos
If you want to include old letters, postcards, and other meaningful items, you should gather them before starting the photo book creation process. This way, you can plan which pages to leave empty, so you have space to add these mementos. If you prefer to store all the memorabilia at the beginning or end of the photo album, then you should make sure you work with a provider that offers photo books with a small pocket for document storage.
Choose a Strong Photo Book Cover and Paper
We recommend getting a sturdier cover for your memorial photo book. While this can be more expensive, there are still plenty of options at different price points. For example, hardcovers are already a robust yet more affordable alternative. However, we suggest getting a leather cover. Although it’s one of the most expensive options, it will last throughout various generations.
The same goes for the type of paper to use – go for durability over affordability. This means getting a thicker paper, so the photo book comes with stronger pages that will survive the test of time. When it comes to the type of material, we advise you to get either a luster finish (for decent color saturation and fingerprint-protection) or a silk one (to get a more vintage-looking photo album).
Recommended Photo Book Builders
The good news is that there are various photo book builders on the market. This means that you’ll always find a provider that meets all your needs, but it may take a while until you’re able to pinpoint which one. For memorial photo books, we recommend:
Shutterfly
Created in 1999, Shutterfly is one of the most popular photo book editors on the market. It provides a wide range of products that go far beyond photo albums and is highly customizable. While there are limited photo adjustment options, Shutterfly makes up for that by providing over 200 themes and various editing methods. It also offers a mobile-friendly website, which allows you to upload pictures directly from your smartphone gallery. However, what places Shutterfly ahead of its competitors is the variety of cover options available, which includes some rare ones like cloth and ivory. Prices start at $17.98 for an 8×8 photo book with a softcover. But if you prefer leather, the price jumps to $49.99. Shipping costs $4.99, and the company usually takes between three and ten days to process and ship your photo book.
Pastbook
While Pastbook doesn’t offer many customization options, it’s the perfect photo book builder for those who don’t want to spend a lot of time designing their album. You can go up to 500 pages and, for the most part, you just need to upload your pictures and the software will do most of the work for you. An excellent addition is the computer program that allows you to collaborate with others. This way, you can share the work of gathering your loved one’s pictures and memorabilia. Prices are a bit higher, and you can only select between a soft and hardcover. Despite this, the company provides free shipping for larger photo books and there are plenty of discount options.
Mixbook
Mixbook is another popular photo book builder that provides a straightforward editor, various customization options, and hundreds of themes for inspiration, including ones for memorial photo books. You can choose from three different book shapes in seven distinct sizes, but Mixbook limits your cover options to soft and hardcover. If you’re creating a memorial photo book with others, you’ll be happy to know that Mixbook allows for collaboration, as you can grant project access to others. Prices start at $15.99 for a pocket-sized photo book with a softcover, and shipping costs $8.99. While a bit more expensive, Mixbook’s processes photo books extremely quickly and ships worldwide
Best Photo Books of 2024
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