Chapter before decoration
Lock chapter order, chronology, and the role of each spread before you start chasing fonts, stickers, or decorative flourishes.
Square books
Portrait books
Layflat spreads
Build photobooks with page rhythm, not just image dumping.
A good photobook chooses a size first, then a spread system. Some sets want cinematic full bleeds, some want a family-yearbook rhythm, and some want dense archive atlas pages with dates, captions, and side stories.
Builder
Pick the book size and narrative rhythm.
A square gift book and a layflat family-history book should not use the same spread system.
Sizes
Photobook format lanes.
Use these as the physical constraints for template choice and caption volume.
Templates
Recommended book systems.
These template families define page rhythm, spread density, and how much commentary the book can hold.
Export
Book build reminders.
Good photobook exports respect gutter, trim, and chapter rhythm.
Mind the gutter
Faces, handwriting, and key dates should not sit in a hard gutter. Use layflat templates only when the image genuinely wants to cross the center.
Proof one copy
Run a proof before gifting or printing multiples. Dense archive pages often look good on screen and feel too small in print if the text size is not tested.
Reuse the layout logic
The same reviewed image set can branch into a softcover gift book, hardcover archive copy, and layflat heirloom version with controlled template swaps.
Hero spreads need better captures
A dense atlas page can hide weaker inputs. Full-bleed or layflat hero spreads cannot. Save the strongest print or film masters for the pages that need to carry the book visually.