Three mistakes to avoid in your first photobook
Common pitfalls that are easy to dodge once you know they exist.
By the Studio5 min read
Your first photobook is exciting. You finally have a reason to go through all those photos, and the idea of holding them in a real book feels wonderful. But most first books share the same three mistakes. None of them are hard to avoid once you know what to look for.
Mistake one: including too many photos
This is by far the most common. When every photo feels precious, it is tempting to include them all. The result is a crowded book where pages are packed edge to edge, photos are tiny, and the best moments get lost among near duplicates.
How to avoid it: Choose roughly two to three times as many photos as you think you need, then cut that selection in half. When you have three similar photos, keep the one with the best expression and let the others go. Give your favourite photos room to be large. A book with fewer, bigger photos almost always feels better than one with more, smaller photos.
Mistake two: no clear story
Many first books are organised by file date, which means they follow the order photos happen to be stored in. The result can feel random: a birthday, then a holiday, then a birthday again. Without a clear story, readers flick through instead of reading.
How to avoid it: Decide what the book is about in one sentence before you start. Group photos into chapters, either by time or by theme. Open each chapter with a strong photo and perhaps a short title. Think about the first and last photo carefully, because they frame everything in between.
Mistake three: forgetting about print
Photos that look great on a bright phone screen can look dark, soft or oddly coloured on paper. Faces near the edge get cut by the trim, and important details disappear into the spine. These are the problems people notice when the book arrives.
How to avoid it:
- Edit with your screen brightness at around half, and lift shadows slightly.
- Use original photo files, not compressed copies from chat apps.
- Keep faces and text away from the page edges and the middle fold.
- Pay attention to quality warnings in the editor and run soft photos smaller.
A bonus mistake: no words at all
Captions are easy to skip, but a book without any words can feel incomplete. Years later, nobody remembers who the friend in the yellow scarf was, or which city that café was in. A few short captions, with names, places and a line of story, make the book far more valuable over time.
Your first book does not need to be perfect
Every book teaches you something for the next one. The most important thing is to finish it and get it printed. A slightly imperfect book on the shelf is worth infinitely more than a perfect one that never leaves your phone.
