Making the book
How many photos do you need for a photo book?
The short answer: about 26 photos fills the shortest book, and five to ten from each person is usually right. The longer answer depends on how many of them have captions.
How photos become pages
A Paper Chain book has one photo to a page. It also has a title page at the front, a closing page at the back, and a page for each person's note. The shortest book the printer makes is 28 pages, and the longest is 200.
- Plenty of photos (26 or more): each photo takes one page, with its caption underneath.
- Fewer photos: each one gets more room. A photo with a caption takes two facing pages, words on the left and the picture on the right. Photos without captions sit side by side.
- Not enough to reach 28 pages: the book still prints, with blank pages at the back. The studio tells you how many more photos would fill them.
A rough guide
| Photos | What you get |
|---|---|
| 10 to 15 | A 28-page book with every captioned photo on its own spread. Add captions and it fills up. |
| 26 to 40 | A full book of 28 to 44 pages. The sweet spot for a birthday. |
| 60 to 100 | A substantial book. Good for a whole year from several households. |
| 190 | The limit: 200 pages. |
What extra pages cost
More pages cost a little more to print. These are softcover prices delivered within New Zealand; other countries follow the same pattern and are listed on the pricing page.
| Pages | Softcover | Hardcover | Holds up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 pages | NZ$58 | NZ$71 | 26 photos |
| 40 pages | NZ$62 | NZ$77 | 38 photos |
| 60 pages | NZ$69 | NZ$87 | 58 photos |
| 100 pages | NZ$84 | NZ$106 | 98 photos |
How many from each person?
Ask for five to ten. With four households that's twenty to forty photos, which is a comfortable book. If one person adds far more than the rest, the book tilts towards them; you can leave out as many as you like before it prints.
Captions fill a short book faster than photos do. Eight photos with a line under each makes a better book than sixteen without.
Can a book have too many?
For the reader, yes. A grandparent will read forty pages properly and skim a hundred and fifty. If you have hundreds of good photos, consider one book a year instead of one enormous one.