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.
Before you start: make sure your phone is backed up. Deleting is easier when nothing can be lost.
Picking is a skill. Like any skill, it gets faster.
Priya Nair, Paperleaf print room
A few small rules
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.
- Delete the obvious misses: blurs, pockets and thumbs.
- Star one photo per day, even on dull days.
- Pick the cover last, once the month has a shape.
Try it this month
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.
If a month feels thin, look again at the photos you took without thinking. The best ones are often hiding there.
| Print size | Smallest file | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Square page | 1800 × 1800 px | Single photos |
| Full spread | 3600 × 1800 px | Landscapes and groups |
| Quarter page | 900 × 900 px | Small moments |
What we got wrong
Keep a note of what happened that month as you go. A few words beside a photo are worth far more than you expect a year later.
Share the book when it arrives. Leaving it on the kitchen table for a day is often enough for everyone to have a look.
- Back up before deleting anything
- Include at least one place, not just faces
- Hand the camera to someone else
Start with what you already have
Back up before you delete anything. It takes a minute and removes the fear that stops people from clearing out at all.
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.
When to stop
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.
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.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
What to look for
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.
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.
- Delete the obvious misses: blurs, pockets and thumbs.
- Star one photo per day, even on dull days.
- Pick the cover last, once the month has a shape.
Why it works
Look back at last year’s book before you start this month’s. It reminds you what you enjoyed seeing again and what you skipped past, which makes this month’s choices quicker and kinder.
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.
| Print size | Smallest file | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Square page | 1800 × 1800 px | Single photos |
| Full spread | 3600 × 1800 px | Landscapes and groups |
| Quarter page | 900 × 900 px | Small moments |
One more thing
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.
Do not wait for a special occasion. The ordinary weeks are the ones people forget, and the ones they most want to see again.
- Star photos as you take them
- Write a few words beside the best ones
- Hand the camera to someone else
Keep it simple
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.
Leave a little space. Not every page needs to be full, and an empty corner gives the eye somewhere to rest.
Make it a habit
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.
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.
Before you start: make sure your phone is backed up. Deleting is easier when nothing can be lost.
A few small rules
Delete duplicates as you go rather than saving them for later. Later rarely comes, and a cleaner camera roll makes picking much easier.
Write the year on the spine. It sounds obvious, but without it a shelf of books quickly becomes a puzzle.
- Delete the obvious misses: blurs, pockets and thumbs.
- Star one photo per day, even on dull days.
- Pick the cover last, once the month has a shape.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
Thank you, that really made our day.
Lovely post. The bit about keeping the blurry photos made me go back and rescue a few.
Ha, the box in our loft is full of strangers as well.
Saving this for the end of the month. Last Sunday it is.
That is lovely to hear. Say hello to your grandmother from all of us.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.