The key questions to guide your perfect keepsake selection
The charm of a photo book or album is unparalleled, from the weight in your hands and the texture of its pages to the way it tells your story, ready to be shared and revisited for years to come. It’s a timeless tradition, a keepsake that feels special to hold and will always remind you of life’s most precious memories. Yet, creating a photo heirloom can often feel daunting, and knowing where to start is often the hardest step. By asking yourself the right questions before you begin, you can narrow down your ideas and clarify what you truly want your book to achieve. Read on to discover our five key questions that will help ensure your finished photo book is not only beautiful but also deeply personal.
Questions to ask yourself before choosing a format
1. What story do you want your photo book to tell?
2. How many photos do I want to include?
3. What finish would you like?
4. How will your book be used or displayed?
5. How much are you looking to spend?
1. What story do you want your photo book to tell?
Every great photo book begins with a story. Is it your wedding day, a once-in-a-lifetime trip, a family history, or a year of highlights? Confirming the photos you’re using for your keepsake sets the tone for the format, page layouts, and cover choice. MILK Books don't just offer ‘books’, we create a range of carefully crafted formats, each designed to tell your story in a slightly different way. Think of shopping for them like you’re house shopping for your precious photos - some are bold and modern, others more timeless and understated. By comparing our options, you’ll quickly see which best aligns with the memories you want to preserve.
Below are some of our most popular options to help you imagine what best suits your photos:
Magazines: Inspired by editorial photography and coffee-table publications, our Magazines bring a modern edge. With thicker-than-usual Matt white pages, they balance sleek design with a high-quality finish. Perfect for showcasing weddings, travel adventures, or personal projects where you want your story to stand out with a contemporary look.
Photo Albums: Classic and elegantly designed, our Photo Albums are made to sit seamlessly within your home as a beautiful piece filled with memories. With pages that open to lie perfectly flat and thick, board-like spreads, they have a weight and substance that instantly set them apart from a traditional photo book. An elegant choice for a wedding album, family album or to mark a special milestone like anniversaries, this format combines luxurious craftsmanship with lasting durability to stand the test of time.
Photo Books: Timeless and versatile, our Photo Books are a classic choice for a wedding, a birthday, or a yearbook as they adapt beautifully to every occasion. Printed on flexible art paper and section-sewn binding, they ensure both strength and flexibility, allowing the pages to turn with gentle ease while maintaining the book’s structure. Finished with a beautiful hardcover, Photo Books offer the same enduring elegance as our albums, but with a lighter feel and a different paper experience.
The Extra Large Premium Album: Monumental in scale, this luxurious format is our largest format designed for moments that deserve to feel grand. As a striking centrepiece, it celebrates your memories with impact while showcasing the finer details through its expansive pages. Luxurious and timeless, it’s ideal for wedding albums or generational family heirlooms that will be treasured for decades. Exclusively available to our Premium Photo Album range.
Don’t be afraid to take inspiration from the layout or style of another photo book. Explore the MILK Gallery to see what our community has created and find inspiration for your own special keepsake.
2. How many photos do I want to include?
Deciding how many images to include is one of the first practical steps in shaping your photo book. The number of photos directly influences the page count, the book size, and the overall flow of your keepsake. MILK Photo Books and Magazines accommodate 24-200 pages (24-240 for Premium Photo Books only), giving you plenty of room to include hundreds of images and tell a bigger story. Photo Albums, on the other hand, range from 24-80 pages, making them better suited to a carefully curated selection of your most meaningful moments. If you have a large collection of photos, opting for a bigger book size will also help your spreads feel spacious rather than overcrowded.
Do you prefer a minimal, editorial look with large, striking images? Or would you rather create a fuller narrative with multiple photos per spread? Whatever you choose, your photo book should have rhythm. Avoid repetition or “sameness” by mixing wide shots with close-ups and balancing candid moments with portraits. Remember, not every photo needs to be included, let your strongest images speak for themselves. If the pictures can talk, let them.
Your book can combine professional photography with smartphone images, as both can complement each other when carefully selected. The key is how they are arranged and annotated. Think about how the best photo books you’ve seen use captions, sequencing, and white space to enhance the story.
3. What finish would you like?
It’s important to ask yourself how you want your photo book or album to look and feel. The finish you choose from the cover fabric to the paper type, shapes not only how the book sits in your hands but also how your photos are experienced as you turn the pages. You can take your time to select all the finer details like the fabric type, paper finish and text details. These small choices often make the biggest difference in bringing everything together as it’s an experience.
Think about the mood you want your book to evoke. For a minimalist, refined finish, the Premium Leather Photo Album offer a timeless luxury that elevates your images. If you want something romantic, the Premium Photo Book in Merlot Vegan Leather adds depth and warmth. For a summery feel, one of our linen fabrics like Nut or Salt Linen is a beautiful choice.
The same thought should go into other details for your keepsake. Adding a title on the cover and spine instantly personalises your book, while custom fonts and font shades let you create a finish that speaks to you. Consider subtle contrasts like rich red UV printed text over Ivory Linen or crisp white UV printed text on darker fabrics to ensure your book makes a striking first impression. You might also add a short introduction or message on the first page, setting the tone for what’s inside.
Paper choice is a very important consideration as it directly impacts the finish of how your photos are printed. MILK offers several paper options across different product ranges, with finishes like Satin, Matt White, Textured paper and more, each delivering its own unique visual and tactile effect.
Within our Premium Photo Album range, two popular paper types to compare are Photo Lustre and Eggshell. Photo Lustre produces vibrant colours with a crisp, photo-like finish, making images appear bright and detailed. Eggshell, on the other hand, has a lightly textured, uncoated surface that creates a softer, more muted effect, perfect for a refined and understated look.
4. How will your book be used or displayed?
Think about the role your book will play once it’s finished. Will it live on your coffee table as a conversation piece, be displayed proudly on a bookshelf, or safely kept as a family heirloom to be passed down? Perhaps it will be wrapped and gifted to someone special.
How you plan to use or display your book will help you decide on size, format, and durability. For example, our Photo Albums are a wonderful choice for family stories because their sturdy, board-like pages can handle little hands flipping through year after year. If your book is destined to be displayed, an Extra Large Premium Album or Magazine makes a striking statement, while a Medium sized Photo Book may be better suited to a bookshelf collection.
For heirlooms or gifts, consider adding a beautiful Presentation Box for an extra layer of luxury and protection. Designed to complement your photo book, these boxes can be finished in matching fabrics, so they feel like an intentional part of your keepsake rather than an afterthought. Each box is made with premium fabrics, lined with textured Italian paper, and finished with a wide satin lift-out ribbon for ease and elegance. There are also four stunnin design options to choose from so you even showcase your 'top pick' image or keep it plain.
5. How much are you looking to spend?
Think of a photo book as an investment in your memories. While budget is an important consideration, it should also reflect the quality and longevity you want to achieve. Premium materials may have an added cost, but they elevate your story into a true heirloom.
Your budget will naturally guide choices such as page count, size, and format, as well as whether to include premium additions like Leather covers or a Presentation Box. To give you flexibility, our prices start at different points depending on the format you select and can be customized further with optional upgrades. For more detail, you can explore and compare the prices of our different ranges and add-on options on our Compare Our Range page.
If you’re unsure where to begin, browsing customer reviews can be a great way to see how others have approached their projects and what details made the biggest impact.
To summarize, choosing the right photo book begins with asking yourself the right questions. From defining the story, you want to tell and deciding how many photos to include, to selecting finishes, thinking about display, and setting a budget, each step helps ensure you create something worthwhile and lasting.
When you’re ready, explore the range of formats, finishes, and customisation options available with MILK, and start creating a photo book that feels uniquely yours.
