Not the general printing mistakes — those apply to anything. These are the failures that happen because the object is a large hardcover with lay-flat spreads, and they are ordered by how often they occur.
1. Sizing up to fill the format
The commonest by a wide distance. An album feels like it should be substantial, so people choose 60 pages holding 240 images when they have 130 usable ones.
Padding is more visible here than in a magazine, because the format’s promise is that images run large. Half-empty spreads read as unfinished rather than restrained.
Fix: count usable photographs, divide by four, round down. Album page counts →
2. Faces on the fold
A portrait placed dead centre of a spread lands on the hinge. Lay-flat binding reduces the gutter; it does not remove the fold.
Fix: keep the subject off the centre line. Centred portraits are single-page images.
3. Choosing the format last
Square and A4 lay out completely differently, and every spread is built to the proportion. Deciding after design has started means starting again.
Fix: decide format before sending photographs. Square or A4 →
4. Full spreads that cannot carry the size
An A4 spread is roughly 16 inches wide and wants about 4,800 pixels. A compressed image placed there is soft across two feet of paper, which is as visible as printing gets.
Fix: send originals as documents, and flag which images you want across a spread. Photo resolution for printing →
5. Not labelling anyone
Fine now, fatal in thirty years. An album is the format most likely to be inherited and the one most often made without a single name in it.
Fix: full names and years, at least on the key spreads. Albums as heirlooms →
6. Ordering one copy when three households want one
Recoverable for seven days after dispatch, while the files exist. After that, a second copy means starting again.
Fix: decide the number of copies before design starts. A second copy for another household →
7. Giving a heavy album to someone who cannot hold it
A 100-page album on an elderly relative’s lap is tiring, and they will not say so.
Fix: smaller album, or a magazine. How heavy an album is →
| Mistake | Caught by |
|---|---|
| Sizing up | Us, before design starts |
| Faces on the fold | Us, at layout |
| Format chosen late | Nobody. Decide first. |
| Low-resolution spreads | Us, before printing |
| No names | Nobody. This one is entirely yours. |
| Too few copies | Arithmetic, seven days later |
| Too heavy for the recipient | Nobody but you |
What we catch and what we cannot
Files too small for their placement, counts that do not fit the size chosen, faces landing on the fold — all flagged before design, and again on the proof you approve.
What we cannot catch is whether the right people are named, and that is the one that decides whether the album survives being inherited.
Frequently asked
What is the most common album mistake? Choosing more pages than the photograph count fills. Padding is more visible in an album than in any other format.
Why should faces not be on a spread’s centre? Lay-flat binding reduces the gutter but there is still a fold, and a face on it always looks wrong.
Can I change the format after ordering? Not after design starts. Every spread is laid out to the proportion.
How late can I order a second copy? Within seven days of dispatch, while the files still exist.
What can you not check for me? Whether the people are named. That decides whether the album means anything in thirty years.
Part of our guide to hardcover photo albums. See also: choosing an album cover and how to brief an album.
Get it right first time: Hardcover albums from ₹1,299 · Photo magazines from ₹499