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 four fill a page. A full 16-page book beats a thin 40-page one and costs ₹500 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. Write them badly; they get shaped.
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.
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 early in the week, since we dispatch on Mondays.
| Mistake | Caught by |
|---|---|
| Compressed files | Us, at proof stage — but it costs you a day |
| 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.
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 four 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