Life is full of family memories. We all remember that moment in our childhood at a family gathering, looking at old pictures of our grandparents and past generations. These pictures all hold sentimental value as they can allow us to revisit and remember moments about the past and cherish their family history. Storing these pictures in family photo albums can be an engaging way to document a family's history and preserve those memories for future generations.
Below, we have put together a few tips and ideas to help you create a timeless family photo album that you will be able to share with family and friends and that stand the test of time.
Tip 1: Organise and categorise your family photos
This is probably the most important and time-consuming step when creating a family album, but we promise you, if you dedicate some time sorting and categorising your photos, the final result will be rewarding.
Start by gathering all your family photos from various sources including physical and digital, this will give you an understanding of what you have.
Then, choose the ones that hold the most sentimental value or best represent important moments in your family's history. Discard any blurry, duplicated or low-quality photos.
Once you are pleased with your selection of photos, begin the process of arranging them into different categories. Chronologically is the most common way to categorise your family photos. This method is based on a historical timeline which helps tell your family's story. Arranging your family photos this way from oldest to newest is better when you want to create a family photo album that showcases your family history over the years.
Thematically is another common method to categorise your family photos. Arranging your family photos by event is ideal when you are creating a themed family album for a specific event such as a wedding, and newborn baby or family holiday.
Consider all those key family moments in life. From a graduation, to birthdays, anniversaries and more. Each of these events can be a milestone in your family's life story. A family tree photo album can also be another interesting concept, to help track the genealogy of your family history, especially for larger and growing families.
Categorising and sorting your photos will not only help you stay organised when mounting your family photo album but will also help others understand the overall narrative of the family photo album and the story behind each photo. So, we encourage you to take some time to sort and categorise your photos before your start filling or mounting your album.
Tip 2: Create a narrative with your family photos
Storytelling is a key element to create a family photo album with a cohesive narrative that captures everyone attention. Every photo tells a story, and by carefully curating your photographs, you can create a narrative that captures the essence of what you are trying to communicate.
Much like reading a good book, the best family album will have a beginning, a climax and an ending. This could look like first showcasing your family photos of an early memory and progressing chronologically through significant events until reaching present-day. Try display your photos in a way that they flow naturally from one event to the other, guiding viewers through your family's journey.
A good tip to make your family photobook album more meaningful, is to mix photos of big milestones such as the birth of a child, a wedding or an annual family gathering with photos of your everyday life as a family such as intimate moments at home cooking or reading bedtime stories. These images will help reveal the true personalities of each family member and household dynamics that make your family special and unique.
Tip 3: Choosing the right format for your family photo album
After defining the storytelling and narrative of your family photo album, it is important to choose a format of photo album that best help you tell your story to ensure that the photos flow seamlessly from one page to the other captivating the viewer's attention and telling a cohesive story.
First, let's learn more about the different type of photos album available:
- Slip-in photo albums feature pre-sized pockets where to insert your photos and sometimes they have memo space where to write notes or messages. These type of photo albums are convenient and easy to build. However, you are limited to the pocket format of each page.
- Drymount photo albums are photo mountable albums with acid-free pages and glassine interleaving between each page. These types of family albums can offer more flexibility in photo layout designs, because they are completely customisable. However, they may also take longer to assemble and build.
- Self-adhesive photo albums feature self-mount sticky pages protected by a crystal-clear film which easily peels off the page to allow for flexible mounting of your photos.
If you are looking for a more structured and cohesive look for your family history album, then we recommend slip-in photo albums.
However, if you are after a more creative, flexible and customise look for your family photo album book, then we recommend either a dry mount or self-adhesive photo album. Dry mount albums require photo mounting accessories such as tape runners or photo splits, which are generally photo safe and easy to use.
Ultimately, choose the type of family album in a format that you will feel comfortable building, mounting and using.
Tip 4: Choosing the perfect photo album style
About the style for your photo album, it is important that you choose a timeless and minimal design that stands the test of time. You may also want an album cover design that goes well with your interior style, so that the photo album can be proudly displayed and used. A minimal design with neutral colour tones and simple typography is always a safer choice.
Aina Casacuberta, the Product Design Manager from Profile Australia, recommends choosing a photo album with a classic and timeless covering, such as a durable Regal black leather-style cover or the Plush European linen cloth cover.
Aina also suggests,"You can also add charm and personality into a family photo album by incorporating playful illustrations or handwritten notes. By choosing a family album with a classic-timeless cover, you'll ensure your album won't become dated over time."
Also consider the size of your family photo album as well. In some cases, it may be better to invest in a large capacity photo album, leaving some empty pages towards the back - which you can fill in years to come. Alternatively, you can also invest in multiple albums, to gradually build your family album collection over time.
Ultimately, choose a style that best suits your liking. Keep in mind that a family album is something very personal and meaningful to every family and it should represent and enhance your family traits.
Tip 5: Add context to your family photos
A family photo album is not just about photos only! Additional captions and labels can really add context and help you communicate your family story in a more efficient way.
Labels can also work as titles and subtitles. You can add a label at the beginning of each section such as a holiday, birthday or family event to provide context and create a narrative flow.
Captions can provide detailed information about each photo. You can add some notes or messages such as names of individuals in the picture, the relationship between each other, dates and any other relevant information to add emotion into the story.
Use as many labels and captions as needed to provide enough context and detail for future generations to be able to look back and understand where they come from, their family roots and family history.
Labels and captions are the best tool to help add context, depth and meaning to the story and to preserve and pass down your family memories.
Drymount style albums are the best format for adding additional captions and labels to your photo arrangements.
The best ways to protect and store your family photos
If your goal is to create a classic family photo album that will stand the test of time for future generations to enjoy, then choosing photo album made using high-quality materials is crucial. Nothing is more important than your family memories.
There are a few key characteristics that you want to look for, when choosing the best family photo album:
- Page material papers: the paper for the pages should be acid-free and archival-quality, to avoid any yellowing or damage to any of your photos over time.
- Cover materials: the better the material the more durable the cover. Think about a faux leather cover, a long-lasting vinyl cover or linen fabric cover.
- Binding: the binding styles that work best when turning pages are either a traditional book-bound spine or superior stitched finish spine binding.
- Photo mounting adhesives: look for materials that are acid-free, solvent-free, photo safe and P.A.T tested adhesives to ensure high-quality adhesive that won't damage your photos over time.
A premium family photo album should be made using durable and long-lasting materials which will ensure your family memories will be preserved for your children, and their children to enjoy. For this reason, it is always worth paying a little more for a quality-made photo album that is designed to preserve life’s precious moments.
All of these qualities will help prevent your photos from deteriorating over time, due to exposure to light, moisture or air. For that, it is also important that you store your family album in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight.
Finally, when flipping through the pages of your family photo album, always ensure that your hands are clean and not oily, to avoid any stains or damage.
A gift that lasts a lifetime...
There's no greater gift, than the gift of memories. This is why a family photo album can be the most meaningful gift you could create and share with a loved one. Especially when you have created it yourself. A family photo album can make a touching gift for celebrations like birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day and even Valetine's Day.
Tell your story, with a family photo album
In summary, creating a family photo album is a meaningful and rewarding project that you and your family will cherish for years to come. A family album is a unique treasure that can hold immense sentimental value. It preserves your family's most important memories and milestones, revealing stories about your family's history and heritage.
Storytelling has always been present in our lives. While past generations used to gather around a campfire to pass down stories, now we gather around a family photo album.
We guarantee that having a family photo album in your home will help bring different generations together and will strengthen connections and love between you family members. Imagine grandparents gathering with their grandkids, to share their family stories together with joy and laughter.
So, the team from Profile Australia encourages you to start this little, yet rewarding project of create a personalised album as we support you with the best products in the journey towards cherishing your family, forever.
Shop Australia's Best Range of Quality Family Photo Albums with Profile Australia
At Profile, our goal is to provide products that can help you preserve your cherished memories for years to come. And nothing matters more than family.
That's why we have curated an extensive range of high-quality family photo albums specifically designed to present and protect your precious memories. We've poured our hearts into every aspect of designing our albums, from choosing the most durable materials to designing layouts that can beautifully showcase your photos.
For this reason, all Profile albums proudly come with our exclusive Picture-Perfect lifetime guarantee, so you can rest assured that your photos will be protected by the best quality photo albums.
We understand how important your photo memories can be. They're more than just images on paper; they hold irreplaceable stories and emotions that deserve to be shared with loved ones.
Discover the complete range of photo albums from Profile Australia. Whether you're looking for a stylish display photo album, a family wedding album, or even a baby photo album, Profile offers a full selection of family albums and accessories to suit any requirement.
Want to read more? You may also like:
- Understanding Different Types of Photo Albums
- What is a Drymount Photo Album?
- The Magic of Self-Adhesive Photo Albums
- The Best Large Photo Albums to Store 500 Photos
Authors: This article was written by Jared Davis & Aina Casacuberta
Jared Davis is a Sales and Marketing Director for Profile Australia and also a published author, writer and educator.
Aina Casacuberta is a graphic design expert and the Lead Product Designer for Profile Australia.
