How to Create Memorable Photo Albums

Sunrise, sunset, iBooks, Mixbook

Cleaning the garage has never been at the top of my list of fun things to do, which is why I haven’t done it in decades. The garage was dusty and crowded and the heaviest boxes tend to be on top of other boxes. Despite several moves, when I should have gone through the mess, boxes were stacked to the rafters without obvious labels or any sense of organization. But there is one reward: discovering hidden treasures.

Nestled among the 10-foot-high mountain of junk that was ultimately hauled away in a truck were boxes full of my early writings. There were novels and short stories I’d long ago forgotten, along with letters from my father in which he wondered why it got so cold in Minnesota, where my parents lived. There were boxes full of my children’s drawings and other art projects. I let my kids choose what they wanted to store in their own homes, and packed the rest into plastic bins.

And then the fun began. 

When the dust settled, I found a box in a corner that probably hadn’t been opened in 70 years. After my wife’s father passed away, his wife gave us the box, unopened. We hadn’t been curious enough to open it ourselves. Until cleaning day. 

When I opened the box, there were a half-dozen photo albums of people my wife only vaguely could identify. Reels of home movies (that we’re going to digitize on DVDs) were stacked neatly, along with copies of Life and Look magazines from the 1950s and ’60s that are probably worth something now. But it was the bulky photo albums that most intrigued us. 

Instead of identifying the people in the pictures on the front of the photos, it was the custom decades ago to put notes on the reverse sides, and then gluing them onto the album pages. Since most of the photos were unidentified, they had to be gently pulled off each page in hopes that the people’s identifications and dates the photos were taken were on the flip side. In many photos, that information was missing. Some of the notes were illegible because the writing was destroyed when the photos were pulled off the pages. Some had no information at all. My wife’s grandparents, along with her siblings, were easily identified, but for some, she had to guess. There was no one living who could identify them. Fortunately, she did find a picture of her namesake and great-uncles and great-aunts. But the real bonanza was a whole area of the box that had loose photos of relatives that hadn’t made it into the albums. Amazingly, they were in good shape, and many  were identified. 

And then I realized the folly of what we had been doing with our family’s photos all these years. Most of our album photos of kids and relatives have no identification, which would cause our descendents great confusion. We know who they are, of course, but would a great-great-great grandchild be able to figure out the priceless photos of my Polish and Russian grandfathers, especially the one that was taken at a sibling’s bar mitzvah in 1953?

The solution to this dilemma, of course, is technology. And even though what comes next is time-consuming and requires some new hardware and software, it’s not expensive and can result in attractive and functional photo albums. Newbies shouldn’t be discouraged – it’s not as difficult as it might seem.

Here’s how it’s done. 

First, your photos need to be scanned. I use an Epson wireless scanner (model ES-500W, which costs about $350 on Amazon). The scanner also can be used for documents, such as financial or real estate documents. Other, less-expensive models also are available. Just be sure that the one you choose has an automatic document feeder and can scan “gray-scale” in the “jpg” format at 600 dpi. Sounds complicated, but the free software that comes with the Epson scanner makes those choices simple, even for newbies. I like wireless scanners, since they can be placed away from the computer.  Scanners using the familiar USB cable can be used, too. I’ve had other scanners, but I’m a fan of Epson products. They’re reliable and of good quality. I’ve used my scanner for six years and thousands of scans without a problem.

Each photo is placed face-down in the scanner’s document feeder and once it’s scanned, the file must be saved and named. Naming them is crucial, as I’ll explain later. It’s best to save the photo files to a folder you create on your desktop. With the Epson software, once you choose that folder, subsequent scans will be saved into it automatically. Each scan takes about 20 seconds, depending on the size of the photo.

Once you’ve scanned your photos, you’ll need to choose software that will help you create albums. There are several good choices. Up until a few years ago, I used an Apple program called iBooks Author, which was very easy to use. Alas, it’s no longer available. It wasn’t available for Windows PCs.

Now, if you use only a Mac, albums can be created within the iPhoto app. There are three to choose from, and I didn’t like any of them. Working with them is confusing. After crossing them off my list, I looked for album tools that would run on both Windows and Mac computers. There is no shortage of them. Many, such as Snapfish, offer deep discounts, are easy to use and produce great-looking albums. I settled on Mixbook, since its interface is intuitive and its tech support is outstanding. 

The Mixbook album tool is located at www.mixbook.com . The day I started making my album, they were offering a 35 percent discount. 

First off, I had to pick a theme, such as birthday and just about any other occasion. I chose a blank one, since I didn’t want to be tied down to one theme. Choosing the size of the album is next. I chose an 8×11 inch landscape (11 inches wide) format, with lay-flat pages and semi-gloss paper. Bigger and smaller formats are available, too. I like the lay-flat format because the album’s binding doesn’t get in the way of flipping pages. One photo can span two pages in the flat format, making for stunning whole-family portraits. Book lengths from 20 to 99 pages are offered. Each page over 20 costs $1.50.

After making your choices, photos are dragged and dropped into a window, and after that, they’re placed on pages. Thumbnail photos are shown in the left pane of the album creator. You can choose how many photos will be on each page. You also can put a caption on each photo, which is why the photo scans must be given a description, such as “Two Zaidies 1953.”

Pages can be added and moved around at any point. It’s that easy. If you need help, Mixbook has an excellent online chat function.

My 40-page book cost less than $100 – hundreds less than if I had gone with a professional album-producer. Besides my old photos album, I’m working on our current family albums. It’s more fun than it seems because of the memories the photos evoke. I hummed “Sunrise, sunset” while creating albums until my family members urged me to stop.

Again, don’t be intimidated by this. I’m fairly new at creating albums. My 40-page album took a few Sundays to scan dozens of photos and create the album. You might want to start scanning photos a few at a time when you have a few minutes, rather than scanning them all at once. As far as the scanner goes, the investment may seem high, but I use it to scan all my financial records, too.

The finished album arrived in less than a week, and it’s beautiful. My grandchildren are mesmerized by photos of their forebears. Imagine how appreciative your great-great-great -grand children will be when they find the hidden treasures of your family albums. And they’ll know who everyone was. The albums are great gifts, and they’re small enough – unlike bulky albums of yore – to be stored inside the house, instead of in a dusty garage.