These are ordered by how often they actually happen rather than how bad they are. The first three account for most disappointment.
1. Sending compressed photographs
The single commonest one. A picture sent through a messaging app as a Photo rather than a Document arrives at a fraction of its original size, and prints soft across anything larger than a postcard.
Fix: send as a Document. One extra tap. The full numbers →
2. Choosing a size before counting
People pick 40 pages because it sounds generous, then discover they have 70 photographs. The result is padding: the same afternoon across four spreads.
Fix: count first. About three fill a page, so 70 photographs is a full 24-page book — which beats a thin 40-page one and costs ₹400 less.
3. Only sending the good days
A book of nothing but flattering photographs is duller than one that includes the argument, the delayed train and the terrible haircut. Everyone can feel the omission even if nobody names it.
Fix: deliberately include four or five imperfect frames.
4. Generic captions
“Cherish these memories.” A caption that could sit under any photograph in the world announces that nobody knew anything about this one.
Fix: places, dates, what somebody said. Send them rough and the designer can turn them into captions — or write your own, and they print exactly as you write them.
5. No ending
A book that simply stops is unsatisfying in a way people struggle to articulate. The last spread is the one that gets remembered.
Fix: decide the final image before anything else. Work backwards from it.
6. The everything book
“Our whole relationship” has no constraint and therefore no shape. It becomes a catalogue.
Fix: narrow it. One year, one trip, one theme. A constraint is what turns an archive into a sequence. A magazine of a single event →
7. Screenshots
Screenshots of photographs are capped at screen resolution and print visibly worse than everything around them.
Fix: find the original. Where the screenshot is the artefact — a message thread, a ticket — place it small and let it look like what it is.
8. Leaving the photographer out
Whoever took the pictures is in none of them. In family books this is almost always a parent, and it is the omission people notice most.
Fix: ask three other people for the photographs of them that exist.
9. Ordering too late
Made-to-order has a floor. Two days before the date, no amount of paying more helps.
Fix: two weeks is comfortable. Order by a Friday rather than over a weekend: we dispatch on Mondays, and a weekend order waits for the Monday after.
| Mistake | Caught by |
|---|---|
| Compressed files | Us, before design and again at the proof — but re-sending costs you time |
| Wrong size for the count | Us, before design starts |
| Generic captions | Nobody. This one is entirely yours. |
| No ending | Nobody. Decide it before you send. |
| Ordering late | Arithmetic, unfortunately |
What we catch and what we cannot
We flag files too small to print at the size they are placed, sizes that do not fit the photo count, and anything that will reproduce badly. That happens before design starts, and again on the proof you approve.
What we cannot catch is whether the story is right. A technically flawless book of the wrong sixty photographs is still the wrong book, and that judgement stays with you.
When several people contribute
A book that several people send photographs to picks up problems of its own, on top of the nine above.
The same moment from five phones. Everyone sends their version of the group photograph. Choose one before sending, or say which you prefer.
One contributor taking over. Whoever sends first and most ends up with half the book. Ask each person for a fixed number — their ten best, say — rather than “everything”.
Someone left out entirely. In a group of twelve, one person always assumes somebody else sent theirs. Keep a list and tick names off.
Names spelled three ways. Settle the spelling of every name once, in one message.
The person who placed the order approves the final proof, so resolve disagreements before it arrives — not by forwarding it to the whole group and waiting for consensus.
Mistakes that are not mistakes
Some things look like errors and are the point.
A blurry photograph of the moment that mattered. If the only picture of the first dance was taken by a cousin mid-step, it belongs in. It runs small, and nobody minds.
A photograph where someone looks bad — if it is the true one and they would laugh. Not if they would not.
Repetition on purpose. The same spot on the same beach, five years running, is a sequence rather than padding.
The test is simple: is it there because you could not decide, or because it says something? Padding fails that test. These pass it.
Using blurry photographs on purpose →
Frequently asked
What is the most common photo book mistake? Sending compressed photographs. It is invisible on a phone and obvious in print.
How do I avoid a padded photo book? Count the photographs before choosing a size, at about three to a page. A full small book always beats a padded large one.
Can mistakes be fixed after I order? Most, yes. You approve a full digital proof before anything prints, and revisions are included — that is what the stage is for.
What if I only have thirty photos? Then an 8-page magazine at ₹499 or a print pack at ₹270 is the honest answer rather than a larger book with gaps in it.
How late is too late to order? Made to order runs 5 to 14 days from order to doorstep. Inside a week, buy something off a shelf and give the made thing afterwards.
Part of our complete photo magazine guide. See also: how to choose photos and size, pages and price.
Get it right first time: Photo magazines from ₹499 · Polaroid prints from ₹270