Every Paperleaf book passes through a lot of hands before it reaches yours. We are often asked what happens in between, so this is a look at one small part of the process.
This is how the two pictures sit together on one spread.
Start with what you already have
We have changed this step more than once. Each change came from a reader telling us something was not quite right.
It would be quicker to skip this. We think the result is worth the extra time.
- Include at least one place, not just faces
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Leave the cover for last
Make it a habit
Some readers keep a short list of rules on a sticky note beside the computer. Ours says: faces first, then places, then anything that made us laugh. It is not scientific, but it stops the session turning into an evening of second-guessing.
Watch the light at different times of day in your own home. Most houses have one window that is lovely for an hour every afternoon.
We don’t take more photos than we used to. We just look at them now.
Ana, a reader since the first year
One more thing
If a month feels thin, look again at the photos you took without thinking. The best ones are often hiding there.
Print sizes matter less than you think. A small photo surrounded by white space can feel more special than one stretched to fill the page.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
Try it this month
Keep the phone charged and the lens clean on days you expect to matter. It sounds small, but a flat battery or a smudged lens has cost more good pictures than any missing piece of equipment.
Do not forget the in-between moments: the car park before the party, the coats piled on a chair, the walk home in the dark. They are the parts of a day that nobody photographs on purpose and everybody recognises straight away.
- Hand the camera to someone else
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Write a few words beside the best ones
Keep it simple
Leave a little space. Not every page needs to be full, and an empty corner gives the eye somewhere to rest.
Do not wait for a special occasion. The ordinary weeks are the ones people forget, and the ones they most want to see again.
We don’t take more photos than we used to. We just look at them now.
Ana, a reader since the first year
Why it works
Faces matter, but so do places. Include at least one picture of the room, the street or the view where the month happened.
Hand the phone to someone else at least once a month. It is the only way the photographer gets into the book.
Before you start: make sure your phone is backed up. Deleting is easier when nothing can be lost.
When to stop
When a month has a big event in it, such as a wedding or a first day at school, let it take over. There is no rule that says every week needs equal space. The book should feel like the month felt.
Back up before you delete anything. It takes a minute and removes the fear that stops people from clearing out at all.
- Hand the camera to someone else
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Back up before deleting anything
A few small rules
Keep the rejected photos somewhere safe for a while. Tastes change, and a picture you passed over may be the one you want next year.
Write the year on the spine. It sounds obvious, but without it a shelf of books quickly becomes a puzzle.
We don’t take more photos than we used to. We just look at them now.
Ana, a reader since the first year
What we got wrong
If two photos are nearly the same, keep the one where someone is doing something. A raised hand, a turned head or a half-finished sentence gives a picture life that a perfectly still pose rarely has, even when the still one is technically better.
Quiet months are worth printing too. A month with no trips and no birthdays often turns into the book people return to, because it shows what ordinary life looked like before it changed.
Before you start: make sure your phone is backed up. Deleting is easier when nothing can be lost.
What to look for
Take one photo before the moment and one after. The before and after often say more than the moment itself.
Make a cup of tea, sit somewhere comfortable and put the phone on do-not-disturb. The job goes faster when it does not compete with messages.
- Leave the cover for last
- Write a few words beside the best ones
- Keep one photo per day at most
Start with what you already have
If you have too many photos of one day, that day probably mattered. Give it a spread of its own rather than cutting it down to one.
A good caption answers the question someone will ask in twenty years. Who is that? Where were we? Why is everyone wet? Write the answer while you still know it, even if it feels too obvious to bother with today.
My mum reads the captions more than she looks at the pictures.
Leila, who writes every caption by hand
Make it a habit
Do not be afraid of imperfect photos. A little blur or a stray elbow often tells you more about the day than a tidy, posed shot.
Share the book when it arrives. Leaving it on the kitchen table for a day is often enough for everyone to have a look.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
One more thing
Ask someone else to look at your shortlist. They will spot the photo you were about to drop and the one you only kept out of habit.
Try to include everyone. It is easy to end up with a book full of the children and none of the person holding the camera.
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Include at least one place, not just faces
- Leave the cover for last
Try it this month
Most people find the first month the hardest. You are learning what you like, and every photo feels important. By the third month you will notice yourself moving faster, trusting your first reaction and spending your time on the handful of close calls instead of on every single picture.
Be generous on the first pass. You are not deciding what goes in the book yet, only what is definitely out.
The book comes, and for one evening nobody looks at their phone.
Marcus, father of three
Linked from Your phone is not an archive
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
Thank you for not telling me to buy a new camera.
Any tips for doing this with twins? I end up with two of everything.
Does this work for older kids too? Mine are 11 and 14 and hide from the camera.