Picking is the part nobody warns you about. Taking photos is easy; deciding which ones deserve paper is where most monthly books stall. The trick is to make several quick passes rather than one slow one, and to decide before you start how many photos the month actually needs.
The clip below is what we put on while sorting. It runs long enough to get through a month of photos.
Start with what you already have
Start with the photos you would rescue from a fire. There are usually five or six, and they make every other choice easier because the month already has its anchors.
Do not compare every photo with every other photo. Compare each one only with its neighbours, keep the best of a small group and move on.
- Include at least one place, not just faces
- Back up before deleting anything
- Hand the camera to someone else
Why it works
Hand the phone to someone else at least once a month. It is the only way the photographer gets into the book.
Set aside a fixed time for it. The last Sunday of the month works for a lot of readers because the week is quiet and the month is complete.
Picking is a skill. Like any skill, it gets faster.
Priya Nair, Paperleaf print room
What to look for
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.
Do not wait for a special occasion. The ordinary weeks are the ones people forget, and the ones they most want to see again.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
Make it a habit
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.
Be generous on the first pass. You are not deciding what goes in the book yet, only what is definitely out.
- Leave the cover for last
- Back up before deleting anything
- Pick a fixed day each month
One more thing
Leave a little space. Not every page needs to be full, and an empty corner gives the eye somewhere to rest.
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.
My mum reads the captions more than she looks at the pictures.
Leila, who writes every caption by hand
Try it this month
Delete duplicates as you go rather than saving them for later. Later rarely comes, and a cleaner camera roll makes picking much easier.
Share the book when it arrives. Leaving it on the kitchen table for a day is often enough for everyone to have a look.
Good to know: every Paperleaf book has room for thirty photos, so there is no prize for keeping more.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
We tried the one-photo-per-day rule last month and it made picking so much easier. Thank you!
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
We have the same problem. Starring photos as we go helped a lot.
So glad it helped. Let us know how the first book turns out.
Saving this for the end of the month. Last Sunday it is.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
Agreed, this was the tip that worked for us too.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
I never thought about the light from the window. Moved the high chair and the difference is huge.