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.
One more thing
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.
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Back up before deleting anything
- Leave the cover for last
A few small rules
Try not to edit every photo. A little brightening is fine, but heavy filters date quickly and make a year of books look uneven when they sit together on a shelf. Let the light of the day show.
Take one photo before the moment and one after. The before and after often say more than the moment itself.
My mum reads the captions more than she looks at the pictures.
Leila, who writes every caption by hand
What we got wrong
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.
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.
Reader tip: one family keeps a paper list on the fridge of moments they want in the next book.
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.
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.
- Back up before deleting anything
- Keep one photo per day at most
- Star photos as you take them
Make it a habit
Back up before you delete anything. It takes a minute and removes the fear that stops people from clearing out at all.
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.
The book comes, and for one evening nobody looks at their phone.
Marcus, father of three
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.
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.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
This is exactly the nudge I needed. My camera roll has four thousand photos from this year alone.
I printed our first book after reading this and my daughter has not put it down since.
I never thought about the light from the window. Moved the high chair and the difference is huge.
Ha, the box in our loft is full of strangers as well.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
Try giving them the phone for a day. Worked with my teenager.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
I printed our first book after reading this and my daughter has not put it down since.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
This is exactly the nudge I needed. My camera roll has four thousand photos from this year alone.
Thanks for asking this, I was wondering the same.
Lovely post. The bit about keeping the blurry photos made me go back and rescue a few.