An album is the largest thing we make, so the gap between a competent one and the right one is widest here. That gap is closed by about twenty minutes of your time, before anything is designed.
The five things to send
1. The shape of the story. Not the photographs — the structure. “Arrivals, ceremony, portraits, reception, the end of the night.” Five or six chapters is enough, and it decides the whole sequence.
2. The three or four images that must be large. Every archive has a handful that carry the book. Naming them changes which files need to be biggest and where the spreads fall. Designing for the full spread →
3. The first and last image. The two most-remembered pages, and the two a designer cannot guess. If you do not decide, somebody else does.
4. Names, in full, with spellings. Especially for anything that might be inherited. This is the part that survives you. Albums as heirlooms →
5. What to leave out. More useful than people expect. An ex-partner, a relative nobody speaks to, a photograph the recipient dislikes of themselves. Say so at the start rather than at the proof.
What not to bother doing
Do not pre-edit down to exactly the count. Send more than you need — the layout uses the extras for pairing and pacing.
Do not sort into folders by spread. Chronological or thematic order is enough; the sequencing is our work.
Do not write finished captions. Send facts — a place, a date, what happened. Turning them into captions is included. Do you write the captions for me? →
The order of decisions
| Decide | When |
|---|---|
| Format: square or A4 | Before sending anything |
| Page count | After counting usable photographs |
| Lamination | At order |
| Number of copies | At order |
| Cover image and text | Can wait until the proof |
| Sequence and captions | Send facts; we build it |
The first four are hard to change later. The last two are exactly what the proof stage is for.
A brief that works, in full
A4, 40 pages. Wedding, December 2024. Rohan Mehta and Priya Sharma. Five chapters: mehendi, haldi, ceremony, portraits, reception. The three across spreads: the entrance shot, the group on the stairs, the last one outdoors. Open on the empty mandap in the morning; end on the two of them leaving. Please leave out anything with the man in the grey suit. Two copies — one to us, one to Priya’s parents in Pune.
That is under a hundred words and it determines almost everything.
What happens next
Files checked, anything too small flagged, then two to four days of design, then a full digital proof of every page before anything prints. Revisions are included.
5 to 14 days from order to doorstep, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR. The design proof →
Frequently asked
What should I tell the designer? The chapter structure, the three or four images that must be large, the first and last image, full names, and anything to leave out.
Should I choose exactly the right number of photographs? No. Send more — the extras are what make the pairing and pacing work.
Do I need to write the captions? No. Send facts: a place, a date, what happened. The writing is included.
When do I have to decide the format? Before sending photographs. Every spread is laid out to the proportion, so it cannot change later.
Can I change the sequence after seeing it? Yes. Sequence, captions and cover are all open at the proof stage, and revisions are included.
Part of our guide to hardcover photo albums. See also: what goes wrong with albums and choosing an album cover.
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