Lockdown living offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on past adventures. Here are six platforms for turning digital travel photos into beautiful books. Samuel Ballard reports
The problem with smartphones is that it’s too easy to take thousands of photos, which means our digital albums are stuffed with images that we never have time to go through and enjoy looking at.
More curated Instagram feeds are a nice record but there is no comparison to looking at pictures in their printed form. (My Social Book has recognised this, creating a platform for automatically turning Instagram photo streams into books.)
Here are six platforms for turning digital images into printed books…
1. Papier
Papier is a particularly stylish platform that offers numerous book templates, formats and finishes to choose from. Starting from £35, the Minimalist, for example, is particularly well-suited to travel photography, with square, Mohawk Superfine paper pages that also offer the option of captions. In terms of the cover, you can select either paperback or hardback. The Colour Block is another pleasing choice, with landscape pages well-suited to panoramas.
2. Once Upon
Lina Andersson, the founder of Once Upon, realised one day that she didn’t own a photo book of her third child – despite taking hundreds on her smartphone. The books, which are inspired by Andersson’s Swedish design sensibilities, are perfect for those wanting to document past travels. Simply download the app and you can start adding pictures directly from your camera roll. You can choose from a number of formats and even create collaborative albums with your friends. Prices start from £24.50.
3. Artifact Uprising
Founded by Jenna Walker, who took up photography after her father-in-law found a camera in a dumpster, Artifact Uprising can turn your images into photo books, prints and cards. The company has also been featured in Vogue and Conde Nast Traveler. There are dozens of options available, plus customisable fabric, colour and foil lettering combinations. There’s also a colour series photo book, which is perfect for documenting different adventures. Editions start from US$20.
4. Blurb
One of the reasons that Globetrender likes Blurb is that not only can you create professional-quality photo books from your smartphone but also magazines, so it’s perfect for wannabe travel editors and publishers. You can choose from an array of different options and, if you think your photos are really good, you can even sell them through Blurb on Amazon. Prices start from £9.99.
5. Printique
Printique (formerly Adorama) has a store close to the Flatiron Building in New York where, under normal circumstances, you can pick up prints and browse their range of camera equipment. As with many of the more established operators, all of Printique’s products have a lot of choice – there are more than 80 styles of texts, papers and finishes on the photo books alone. Prices start from US$27.99.
6. Cewe
You can make photo books on Cewe by taking images from your smartphone or directly from your Facebook or Instagram profiles. Perfect if your trip to India is on your ‘gram but nowhere else. Get it printed off and you’ll have a memento to last a lifetime. Prices for a small photo books start from £5.99.