The printing is the easy part and it is not where anyone struggles. What people struggle with is going from four thousand images to sixty, and writing anything under them that is not unforgettable memories.
So this is the actual sequence, with honest times against each stage.
The seven steps
| Step | Who does it | How long |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Decide the period | You | Ten minutes |
| 2. Pull a longlist | You | An hour |
| 3. Cut to the count | You | The hard part |
| 4. Put them in order | You | Twenty minutes |
| 5. Write one line each | You | The other hard part |
| 6. Send everything over | You | Ten minutes |
| 7. Design, proof, print | Us, you approve | Two to four days, then print |
Steps three and five are ninety per cent of the effort and neither one involves us.
Step 1: decide the period, not the theme
A magazine needs a beginning and an end. Our year, the Goa trip, from the first message to now — all of these work because they close. Us does not close, and a book with no boundary turns into a scrapbook of the best-looking photographs, which is the thing everybody’s phone already is.
Pick the period first. Everything downstream gets easier.
Step 2: pull a longlist without judging
Go through the gallery for that period and pull anything that makes you pause. Do not edit yet. You want roughly three times your final count — for a 16-page book, about 180.
Look in the places that are not the camera roll: chat threads have the photographs she sent you, and those are usually better than the ones you took.
Step 3: cut to the count, which is the hard bit
About four photographs fill a page.
| Pages | Images | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | ~32 | ₹499 |
| 16 | ~64 | ₹599 |
| 24 | ~96 | ₹699 |
| 32 | ~128 | ₹899 |
| 40 | ~160 | ₹1,099 |
Two rules that make the cut easier. Keep the ordinary ones. Food, the car, someone asleep, a badly lit restaurant — these age better than the posed ones and they are what makes the book hers rather than a highlights reel. Cut duplicates ruthlessly. Four near-identical shots of the same moment is one photograph; pick the one where somebody is mid-sentence rather than the one where you are both ready.
If you cannot get down to the count, the book is too small rather than the edit being too hard. Go up a size.
Step 4: order them
Chronological works and needs no thought. It is also the right default, because a year in order is a story and a year sorted by quality is a portfolio.
The one exception worth making: open on something small. The best opening image is rarely the most impressive one — it is the one that sets the register for what follows.
Step 5: write one line each
This is what separates a magazine from a folder, and it is where these gifts actually fail.
Specific beats romantic. The day the plan collapsed and we ate at the place next to the petrol pump is worth ten of unforgettable memories. If a line could sit under somebody else’s photograph, it is not doing anything.
Write what you would say out loud while showing her the picture. That voice is right. Read the line back — if it sounds like a caption, rewrite it as a sentence.
Not every image needs one. Some carry the sequence and some carry the words.
Forty examples of what to write →
Step 6: send it over
Originals, not forwards. A photograph that has been through chat several times has been compressed each time and prints soft; the same image from the gallery is fine.
Send the order you want and the lines alongside, so the two do not have to be matched up by guesswork later.
Step 7: design, proof, print
A designer lays it out, you get a digital proof, and you approve it before anything is printed.
Read the proof properly. This is the four-second step everybody rushes, and a wrong name, a wrong date or a typo in a caption is wrong on paper forever. Check the words first and the layout second — layout problems are visible, spelling ones are not.
Then: 5 to 14 days from order to doorstep, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR, flat ₹70 anywhere. We dispatch once a week on Mondays, so a Friday order catches that week and a weekend order waits seven days.
For a dated occasion, start three weeks out. The two hard steps are yours and they take longer than people plan for.
When to make something else instead
When you have under about thirty photographs. There is no page count that hides it. A print pack at ₹270 or a single framed image is the honest version.
When you cannot write the lines. A magazine with no words is a smaller album. If the writing is not going to happen, a print pack is a better fit for the same material.
When it is needed this week. It cannot be done. Buy something good that exists.
Magazine, album or polaroid pack — which format →
Frequently asked
How do I make a photo magazine for my girlfriend? Pick a period with a beginning and an end, longlist three times your final count, cut to about four photographs per page, order them chronologically, write one specific line under each, and approve the proof properly before it prints.
How many photos do I need? About four per page — 32 for an 8-page book, 160 for 40 pages. Fewer good ones beat more mediocre ones.
How long does the whole thing take? 5 to 14 days from order to doorstep, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR, plus a design and proof stage of two to four days. The editing and writing are yours and usually take longer.
Do I need good photographs? No. Phone images print well at this size, and the ordinary ones age better than the posed ones.
Can I see it before it prints? Yes — you approve a digital proof first. Read it carefully; a typo in a caption is permanent once it is on paper.
Part of our guide to romantic gifts for a girlfriend. See also: first anniversary gift ideas and gifts for her graduation day.
Shop: Photo magazines from ₹499 · Personalised gifts for a girlfriend · Love Story Magazine from ₹499