TripMemo Product Team
Product & releases
8 min read•Published
Summary
A photo book is printed: your photos, captions and cover are designed on screen and printed on the pages as one bound book. A photo album holds separate prints that you slide into sleeves or mount on pages. Choose a photo book for a finished story of one trip, made in an evening from phone photos. Choose an album when you already have prints, want to keep adding to it over the years, or want to swap photos in and out.
A photo book prints your photos directly on its pages; a photo album holds separate prints that you slide in or mount yourself. Choose a photo book for a finished story, such as one trip, made from phone photos in an evening and delivered bound and ready to read. Choose a photo album when you already have prints, want to keep adding to it over the years, or like to swap photos in and out.
Both keep photos off a screen and on a shelf, which is the point. The right one depends on where your photos are now, how many there are and whether the story is finished. We make travel photo books, so we have a view, but there are good reasons to choose an album, and they are below.
The Difference in One Table
| Photo book | Photo album | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Photos printed on the pages and bound | An empty book you fill with prints |
| Starting point | Digital photos (phone or camera) | Printed photos |
| Captions | Typed into the design and printed | Handwritten, or on slips beside the prints |
| Layout | Any size per page, full bleed, across pages | Fixed by the sleeves or your mounting |
| Adding photos later | No: printed once | Yes, until it is full |
| Effort | An evening or two on screen | Ordering prints, then filling by hand |
| Cost | One price for the whole book | The album plus every print |
| Best for | One trip, one year, a gift | Existing prints, an ongoing collection |
What a Photo Book Is
A photo book is designed on a screen and printed as one object. You choose the photos, how many go on each page, the captions and the cover, and the printer prints the pages and binds them. The photos are part of the page, so a single photo can fill a page to its edges, run across two pages, or sit beside a paragraph about the day.
Most photo book makers offer several bindings. In the TripMemo studio there are three: a hardcover with 24 to 298 pages of 200gsm gloss photo paper, a lighter softcover, and a layflat whose pages open completely flat for panoramas.
Why people choose one:
- It starts from the photos you actually have. Almost every holiday photo is now on a phone. A photo book goes straight from there to print, with no stack of prints to sort.
- It reads like a story. Captions, dates, a route map and a title page turn a set of photos into the trip, in order.
- It looks finished. A printed spine with the trip's name sits on a shelf like any other book, and makes a good gift.
The trade-offs: it is printed once, so a forgotten photo cannot be slotted in later, and it needs a little time at a screen to lay out.
What a Photo Album Is
A photo album is an empty book designed to hold prints. The common types:
- Slip-in (pocket) albums, with clear sleeves sized for standard prints. Quick to fill, and photos come out easily.
- Traditional mount albums, with plain pages where prints are fixed with photo corners, often with tissue between pages.
- Self-adhesive ("magnetic") albums, with a sticky page under a plastic film. Easy, but conservators advise against them for photos you want to keep: the adhesive can yellow, and prints can become hard to remove.
Why people choose one:
- You already have prints. Old holiday photos, film prints and inherited photos belong in an album.
- It keeps growing. A family album can take this year's photos and next year's.
- It is hands-on. Arranging prints, writing on the page and adding a ticket or a pressed flower is part of the pleasure for some people.
The trade-offs: every photo has to be printed first, layouts are limited by sleeve and print sizes, and an album with hundreds of prints is heavy and costs more than it first appears.
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Cost: How the Two Add Up
The headline price of an album is usually low, but it is only the container. Each photo inside it is a separate print, so the real cost rises with every photo you add, and larger prints for the photos you love most cost more again.
A photo book has one price for the whole book, which includes printing every page. Adding pages adds to the price, but a page can hold one to four photos, so a book of 100 to 150 photos is often better value than printing them all individually. For reference, a TripMemo hardcover starts at £28.49 for the book itself, before delivery.
If you only want ten photos on display, neither is the answer: frame them.
Durability: Which Lasts Longer?
Both can last for decades. What decides it is the materials and where the book lives.
- Keep either away from damp, direct sun and heat, such as a loft or a sunny windowsill.
- Avoid self-adhesive album pages for photos you care about; choose slip-in sleeves or photo corners on archival pages.
- Keep the digital originals whichever you choose. A photo book is a copy you can reorder; a print in an album may be the only one.
Which Is Better for Travel Photos?
For most trips, a photo book. A trip has a beginning and an end, the photos are already digital, and the details that bring it back (where you ate, the day the ferry was cancelled, the route) fit naturally in captions and a map. One trip makes one book, and the books line up on a shelf by year.
An album is the better choice when:
- you are gathering prints from older trips that were never digitised;
- you want one book for many years of family holidays, added to as you go;
- someone in the family prefers to arrange things by hand.
There is also a middle route: scan old prints, then make a book of them. Our guide to preserving family travel stories covers scanning a shoebox of prints without it taking a month.
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Your trip, printed.Start it in the TripMemo app.
How to Decide in Two Minutes
Answer three questions:
- Are your photos on a phone or in a box? Phone: photo book. Box: album, or scan them first.
- Is the story finished? One trip or one year: photo book. Still adding: album.
- Is it a gift? A photo book arrives finished and wrapped in its own cover; an album asks the recipient to keep it going.
If You Choose a Photo Book
Start with one trip and a shortlist of two or three photos for every page you want. Our step-by-step guide to making a travel photo book covers the shortlist, the layout and the title, and if your photos are on an iPhone, see how to make a photo book from iPhone photos. Several trips this year? A year in review photo book puts them all in one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a photo book and a photo album?
A photo book has photos printed on its pages and is bound as one book. A photo album is an empty book you fill with separate prints.
Is a photo book cheaper than a photo album?
Often, once you count the prints. An album's price is the container only; a photo book's price includes printing every page.
Which lasts longer, a photo book or a photo album?
Both last for decades kept dry and out of the sun. Avoid self-adhesive album pages, which can stain and grip prints over time.
Can you add photos to a photo book later?
No. It is printed once, so it suits a finished trip or year. An album, or one book per trip, suits an ongoing collection.
Is a photo book or an album better for travel photos?
A photo book for most trips: the photos are already digital, and captions and a route map tell the story. An album suits older prints.
Can I put captions in a photo album?
Yes, by hand on the page or a slip. In a photo book, captions are typed into the design and printed with the photos.
