Whether for yourself or as a present for a loved one, photo books have become one of the best ways to bridge the gap between a phone full of digital photos and a place to store and enjoy precious memories. A photo book allows you to distil your myriad photos down to just the best and have them immortalised in print, all laid out in a fancy book for you to enjoy.
They're great to design and keep for yourself, and possibly even better to give - poignant gifts for birthdays, christenings, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Christmas and beyond. And the very best photo books are super simple to prepare, too.
How you get to the stage of having that memory scrap book of photos is up to you and there are lots of options. Plenty of sites now offer a photo book service which is great as it means the process has been refined for simplicity. It also means the quality of offerings is high while prices have been driven down.
We've trawled photo book services across the US and the UK for important factors like price, speed, quality, range of options, software simplicity and more to give you our selection of the five best photo books on both sides of the Atlantic.
Top 5 best photo books in the US
The key here is that the Mixbook software is easy to use which makes collating your photo book a pleasure rather than a chore. Also, the finish is so excellent that you feel like you've created a work of art rather than fuzzy printed images. The templates are simple yet fully editable so you can be as creative or as quick as you like.
The addition of backgrounds makes for a great finish, which you can do in varying materials with stickers and more. A 20-page 8.5 x 8.5-inch Mixbook hardbound will set you back around $35.
Snapfish not only offers plenty of simple-to-use templates but it actually guides you through the process, too. There are over 120 themes to pick from with a huge selection of backgrounds all of which are easy to pick and pair as the book editor guides you through each stage with drag and drop simplicity.
The only downside we've noticed is that the final physical book photo quality could have been better. But there are often deals to be had here that get you a good price for your next photo book.
Shutterfly offers another option for those looking to breeze through the software side of work while creating a great physical book. Content is plentiful with lots of backgrounds and template variations that mean you can personalise your book as you want. Sometimes the odd photo in the print are reported to be less than perfectly even in terms of balance, but quality is still generally high.
Picaboo takes fourth place as, once again, this offers some great software that straddles the line between easy-to-use and rich with content for creative options. The ability to search through background and clip art is really useful. This falls down on print quality compared to the top two, but is still better than most others out there. A nice option to polish photos and help them match backgrounds is a great touch here that makes a professional finish a possibility.
You buy everything else from the retail giant, so why not your photo book as well? With Amazon Prints you can put together your dream photo book with all those cherished memories before ordering with the rest of your shop. Amazon Prime members get preferential treatment in terms of delivery time, but everybody gets to select from the dozens of customisable options and sizes. You can get up to 150 pages of photos, text, and embellishments with an optional glossy hard cover. Well worth a look.
Top 5 best photo books in the UK
Snapfish is our favourite photobook provider in the UK, making it a great option on both sides of the Atlantic. You can be as hands-on or hands-off as you like - it's up to you whether you chose every last minutiae of detail, or let Snapfish's own set designs do the heavy lifting. We definitely appreciate the fully editable features meaning you can get the layout exactly as you desire without the compromise that some competitor photo books force you to make.
It also offers a simple way to create photo books with lots of personalised options. There are plenty of design choices in the software from clip art to templates. The slight difficulties to search through content is a bit of a drawback however - so while you have lots of options, finding them can take time. But that shouldn't detract too much from this excellent provider.
Bonusprint is easy to use and delivers a good quality print result. But what's really nice to know is that the customer service is also excellent. So even if you do somehow find an issue, you'll be able to get it fixed right away.
Since this brand has been around since 1979 it knows how to run a photobook business with the customer at the forefront, and you feel that through the process. Plenty of deals are also available if you keep your eye out, so this can be very affordable, too.
The photo book print quality from Photobox is great. meaning you know your end result is going to be excellent. That can be useful to bear in mind if you struggle navigating the software or run into issues uploading hundreds of photos. Otherwise its spot on and the easy-to-use software even offers assistance should you feel lost. A great service for those new to photobook creation and also an affordable option, even if you do opt for the next day delivery. There are lots of other options like calendars and mugs also on the site.
For a photo book service in the UK which offers ease of use, wide options for things like templates and backgrounds, plus a quality finished product, Cewe is worth a look. For £20 you can get a quality printed photo book, which is easy to build using computer or mobile software and that is simple to install and use.
Varying paper options like gloss and matte, plus nice options for the covers like faux leather are great to see, too. There's even a 24/7 UK-based customer service support team and a 14-day money-back guarantee to sweeten the deal.
For sheer print quality Bobs Books offers a really impressive offering with stunning photos. Despite the high quality, pricing is relatively low with £9 getting you a 26-page book at 300gsm premium paper quality. Images are sharp, colours are punchy, sharpness is spot on and dynamic range is realistically accurate. The online creator software is easy to use although book designs are limited. There is an iPhone app and even a professional design service available if you need that as well.
