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.
Here are the photos that made it into the book. Tap any of them to see it larger.
The ones that made it
9 photos
Select a photo to see it larger. Use the arrow keys to move between photos.
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.
- Keep one photo per day at most
- Back up before deleting anything
- Pick a fixed day each month
Keep it simple
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.
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.
My mum reads the captions more than she looks at the pictures.
Leila, who writes every caption by hand
Make it a habit
If you miss a month, do not try to catch up all at once. Start again with this month and fill the gap later if you feel like it.
Think about how the photos sit next to each other. Two busy pictures side by side can fight; a busy one beside a quiet one usually works.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
What we got wrong
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.
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.
- Star photos as you take them
- Keep one photo per day at most
- Hand the camera to someone else
Try it this month
If you share a camera roll with someone, agree on who picks which month. Taking turns means each book has a slightly different point of view, and nobody ends up doing all of the work every time.
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.
I thought I needed a better camera. I needed a better window.
Tom Okafor, Paperleaf
One more thing
Delete duplicates as you go rather than saving them for later. Later rarely comes, and a cleaner camera roll makes picking much easier.
Hand the phone to someone else at least once a month. It is the only way the photographer gets into the book.
Good to know: every Paperleaf book has room for thirty photos, so there is no prize for keeping more.
What to look for
Take one photo before the moment and one after. The before and after often say more than the moment itself.
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.
- Write a few words beside the best ones
- Back up before deleting anything
- Hand the camera to someone else
A few small rules
On the second pass, look for variety. A month of the same room and the same faces feels flat, even if each photo is lovely on its own.
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
When to stop
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.
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.
Good to know: every Paperleaf book has room for thirty photos, so there is no prize for keeping more.
Why it works
It helps to know what the book is for before you start. A book for grandparents wants faces and clear captions. A book for yourself can hold the odd corner of the garden, the shadow on the wall and the plate of food that only makes sense to you.
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.
- Star photos as you take them
- Back up before deleting anything
- Write a few words beside the best ones
Start with what you already have
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.
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.
I thought I needed a better camera. I needed a better window.
Tom Okafor, Paperleaf
Saving this for the end of the month. Last Sunday it is.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
Any tips for doing this with twins? I end up with two of everything.
So glad it helped. Let us know how the first book turns out.
I never thought about the light from the window. Moved the high chair and the difference is huge.
Lovely post. The bit about keeping the blurry photos made me go back and rescue a few.
Thank you for not telling me to buy a new camera.
This is exactly the nudge I needed. My camera roll has four thousand photos from this year alone.
The bit about writing names on the back hit home. We have a box of strangers in our loft.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
This is exactly the nudge I needed. My camera roll has four thousand photos from this year alone.
We tried the one-photo-per-day rule last month and it made picking so much easier. Thank you!