If a picture says a thousand words, than a great storybook album can say a million. A well designed album takes all of your photos and crafts them into a story. It adds context, order and shape to your images. Five individual pictures viewed by themselves may not quite paint the picture but put together into a layout they can tell the story of the moments in which they were taken. The sum is greater than its' parts. A beautiful album will be a family heirloom for decades to come. It preserves your memories and keeps them fresh. Your grandchildren can re-live a day that was decades before their birth. I encourage all of my clients to prioritize a professionally designed album. There are many kinds of albums on the market today, and the terminology can be confusing and technical.
The most important piece of any album is the design. A true storyteller can see the images and fit them together to paint a vivid picture that tells the stories of the day. Most albums today are designed in a computer with special software. On the computer images can be altered and adjusted in thousands of ways while preserving the original. Computers allow us to fully utilize all our creativity and just create what we see in our heads. Traditional albums use pre cut mattes and force the creator into a rigid framework. With the computer we are free to design however and whatever we want. The design will follow the sizing of the finished printed book such as 8'' by 8" or 11 by 1
4". Many sizes are available. Some albums allow for designs to spread across the page, these are called panoramic and they are what I offer in my flush mount lines. Panoramics are beautiful and allow for huge and expressive layouts. They are what I prefer to design in.
See one of my flush mount designs:
Jessica & Brian
Printing Methods:
There are two methods for printing albums. Flush mounts use real chemically printed photographs which are then mounted to parchment and then multicoated to protect the image. This yields a thick beautiful page with spectacular color and detail. Press printing is the other method. Offset presses print the images directly onto the page and then the book is bound. This is how books and magazines are printed. The quality is still quite good and the cost is significantly less because the materials and labor involved is a fraction of the flush mounts. Press printed books are also usually designed using templates which allow for less design freedom. Flush mounts are more durable overall, although the press printed books will last decades if properly cared for. A Flush Mount with multicoating will be less likely to tear or stain (if spilled on) as well.
I urge my clients to get the album that fits their budget, if they cannot fit the cost of the flush mount into their budget the press printed album is a great alternative.
I am currently introducing a new line of press printed books starting at only $100. For the month of February I am offering a press printed 20 side album free with any 8 hour package.
4". Many sizes are available. Some albums allow for designs to spread across the page, these are called panoramic and they are what I offer in my flush mount lines. Panoramics are beautiful and allow for huge and expressive layouts. They are what I prefer to design in.See one of my flush mount designs:
Jessica & Brian
Printing Methods:
There are two methods for printing albums. Flush mounts use real chemically printed photographs which are then mounted to parchment and then multicoated to protect the image. This yields a thick beautiful page with spectacular color and detail. Press printing is the other method. Offset presses print the images directly onto the page and then the book is bound. This is how books and magazines are printed. The quality is still quite good and the cost is significantly less because the materials and labor involved is a fraction of the flush mounts. Press printed books are also usually designed using templates which allow for less design freedom. Flush mounts are more durable overall, although the press printed books will last decades if properly cared for. A Flush Mount with multicoating will be less likely to tear or stain (if spilled on) as well.
I urge my clients to get the album that fits their budget, if they cannot fit the cost of the flush mount into their budget the press printed album is a great alternative.
I am currently introducing a new line of press printed books starting at only $100. For the month of February I am offering a press printed 20 side album free with any 8 hour package.
