best app for making photo books best app for making photo books

BEST APP FOR
MAKING PHOTO BOOKS

After investing over 60 hours into examining and trying out different tools (and designing
20 photography albums in the process), I have found Chatbooks to be the best app for
making photo books. It provides automatic book design functionality that makes it easy
to compile images from your social networks or local devices and create a beautiful
collection of your favorite memories.

Designing a photo book is a great way to ensure you can keep your favorite memories with you forever. Whether it’s pictures from your last trip to the sea, a wedding, or some candid moments from your daily life, having them all arranged in a beautiful album will always feel special. Personally, I have found my smartphone to be the best device for putting such a photo book together.

Comparison Table: Fast Glance

I started by making this table that allows you to instantly compare the leading photo album apps and their key features. Discover which platforms they’re available on, what kind of photo sizes they support, and their most appealing benefits.

Photo Book App Compatibility Sizes Available Key Feature

Chatbooks

iOS, Android

5x5, 5x7, 6x6, 8x8, 10x10

Automated image import

Once Upon

iOS, Android

6x6, 8x8, 10x10

Intuitive UI

Flipsnack

iOS, Android

8.5x11, 11x8.5

Customizable templates

CanvasChamp

Web

Robust editing features

Robust editing features

PrestoPhoto

iOS

8x8, 10x10, 12x12

More than 30 book formats

bookPress by Bookemon

iOS

8x8, 10x10, 12x12

Collaborative sharing feature

Happy Wedding App

iOS, Android

8x8, 10x10, 12x12

Designs personalized wedding albums

Amazon Prints

Web

5x5, 5x7, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12

Digital and physical printing

1. Chatbooks – Best Overall

app for making photo books chatbooks

Compatibility: iOS, Android
Sizes: 5x5, 5x7, 6x6, 8x8, 10x10

Based on my test, I can confidently say that this is the best app for making photo books with no fuss. Its engine is capable of retrieving Instagram and Facebook content to compile albums so if you often share important moments there, you can conveniently enjoy receiving heartwarming compilations of your favorite pictures in the form of cute books.

It is impressive how simple to use and efficient this photo books app is. There is a fully automated service and a customizable one. The former is something you configure once without ever having to go through that process again. It collects 60 latest photos from a social network or even just your Camera Roll favorites, arranges them, and delivers a book for $8 or $13 depending on whether you picked the soft or hard cover option.

You can also edit such automated albums by adding captions, rearranging the shots, or selecting a special cover. Alternatively, you can do every step yourself, selecting a range of 30-366 images that could relate to one special trip or event.

Key Features:

  • Automated image import
  • Intuitive UI
  • Automatic layout recommendations
  • Basic personalization
  • Convenient reordering

2. Once Upon – Customizable Templates

app for making photo books once upon

Compatibility: iOS, Android

Sizes: 6x6, 8x8, 10x10

In contrast to most photo album software, Once Upon has significantly streamlined the process of converting your favorite moments into aesthetically pleasing photo books. I can conveniently pick the desired pictures from my smartphone or social media page, and this photobook app will take me through the album design process while allowing me to customize the layout and captions.

The fact that I can choose the captions and the arrangement of all the elements allows me to create photo books that tie everything together and tell a story of my family, trip, or event.

My favorite feature about this app is how intuitive it is without limiting my creative expression. Whether I’m making an album dedicated to my birthday, summer vacation, or family outing, I can find a suitable customizable theme and design assets. The fact that I can use Once Upon offline makes it even more flexible, as I can work on my creations regardless of where I am.

Key Features:

  • User-friendly UI
  • Adjustable presets and themes
  • Can be used offline
  • High-quality printing
  • Impressive sharing functionality

3. Flipsnack – Collaborative Features

app for making photo books flipsnack

Compatibility: iOS, Android
Sizes: 8.5x11, 11x8.5

Flipsnack is an intuitive app for creating photo albums in the form of flipbooks in just a few quick steps. Users can import photos, PDFs, and interactive images and transform them into an attention-grabbing flipbook with ease.

In addition to the aforementioned features, it allows you to jazz up flipbooks with links, sounds, video clips, house tours, and even shopping carts. Those interested in making flipbooks for business projects will definitely like the possibility of complementing them with branding elements, including logos, corporate colors, and more.

Once done, you can share your photo books with others right from Flipsnack. It’s possible to export it to all popular social networks, chat groups, via email, etc. Alternatively, you can embed a flip book player onto your site or blog, and showcase your images this way.

Key Features:

  • Intuitive interface
  • Customizable templates
  • High-quality results
  • Digital sharing feature
  • Interactive assets

4. CanvasChamp – Convenient Ordering

app for making photo books canvaschamp

Compatibility: Web
Sizes: 8x8, 10x8, 12x12, 11x14, 16x20, 24x18

CanvasChamp gives users more control over the design process. There is a whole list of parameters you can tweak so anything you wish can be tailored to your liking.

The images can be imported from your social media, phone storage, or taken through this photo album app. Next, you need to specify the dimensions of the frames and their borders, as well as the layout. The book itself can be either square or rectangular with two orientation choices, including a variety of size options.

After designing the product, you can place an order and take advantage of the special offers and discounts that are occasionally provided by the platform.

Key Features:

  • Impressive customization freedom
  • High-quality prints
  • Attractive prices
  • Versatile editing features
  • Minimalist interface

5. PrestoPhoto – Lightroom Integration

app for making photo books prestophoto

Compatibility: iOS
Sizes: 8x8, 10x10, 12x12

PrestoPhoto is possibly the best photo book app for iPhone users if you’re interested in an advanced, fully automated solution for creating photobooks, photocards, and calendars on iOS, Mac, and iPad devices. You can create 2-page, seamless spreads, panoramic wall collages, and even real estate lookbooks. A wide variety of print formats and fast delivery are also two undeniable advantages of this app.

When trying to bring my DIY photo album ideas to life, I had no issues importing images from my iPhone’s storage and Instagram, as the app guided me through the process of creating a customized layout with user-defined captions and fine-tuned parameters.

The app contains dozens of templates. You can download finished PDFs from ApplePhotos, iPhoto, Aperture, InDesign. With Lightroom and iCloud integration, you can drag and drop photos directly into the app for further convenience.

Key Features:

  • More than 30 book formats
  • Pro-grade prints
  • User-friendly interface
  • Expansive customization options
  • Convenient integration possibilities

6. bookPress by Bookemon – In-depth Privacy Parameters

app for making photo books bookpress by bookmon

Compatibility: iOS
Sizes: 8x8, 10x10, 12x12

bookPress by Bookemon is a great option if you’re looking for an intuitive app to make a book with pictures free of charge. You can use it to create ebooks or publish bookstore-quality copies.

The app allows users to create attention-grabbing book cover designs and layouts. You can choose one of the available templates to create your own book with little to no effort.

With this publishing app, you can create books using images, PDFs, and Word files. The app enables you to export documents from your device, email, Cloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox. You can customize the layout and add photos to make your book more engaging.

Key Features:

  • Can use content from a blog or web page
  • Allows publishing books with ISBN
  • Create eBooks in PDF format
  • Collaborative sharing feature
  • Wide range of customization options

7. Happy Wedding App – Available in More Than 20 Languages

app for making photo books happy wedding app

Compatibility: iOS, Android
Sizes: 8x8, 10x10, 12x12

You can use the Happy Wedding App to create a wedding album in a matter of minutes to later share it with your friends and family. All you have to do is pick one of the offered themes and color schemes, provide information about your wedding, and upload the desired photos.

You can create multiple albums for different events: ceremony preparations, the ceremony itself, wedding reception, etc. You can also add a caption to each photo to immortalize the time and place of each event.

This photo book app for iPhone has an auto face tagging feature that will help you quickly find all photos that feature a specific guest or member of the wedding party.

Key Features:

  • Creates customized wedding albums
  • Attractive themes with different color options
  • Proprietary personalized app
  • Clean UI
  • Automatic face tagging

8. Amazon Prints – Quick Delivery

app for making photo books amazon prints

Compatibility: Web
Sizes: 5x5, 5x7, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12

You probably do a lot of shopping on their website already so why not go for an Amazon Prints photo book as well? If you’re a Prime user, you will get your designed album delivered faster but, even if not, all users have unlimited access to all the available design options.

While it’s not the best photo book app in terms of offering a variety of binding or covers, you can certainly make your creation look special with the countless themes and by playing around with different sizes and paper combinations.

Those who need a simple design for their personal album without spending much time or money will love this photo book making service. If you wish, your design can include up to 150 pages of photos, captions, and decorations, protected with a layer of gloss and a hardcover.

Key Features:

  • Affordable prices
  • Highly positive reputation
  • Prime member perks
  • Digital sharing
  • High-quality prints

How to Choose the Best Option for Your Photo Book?

User Interface and Ease of Use. Give preference to applications with clear UIs that are easy to navigate and learn. The best tools offer drag-and-drop controls, convenient image uploading from different sources (your smartphone or social media page), and useful guides for personalizing layouts and writing captions.

fixthephoto app example fixthephoto app example result

Interested in Enhancing Pictures for Your Photo Books?

Entrust this job to experienced retouchers from FixThePhoto. Try out the Fix The Photo Editor & Retouch app, which is available on both Android and iOS devices, and place your order. They will deliver professionally-edited photos, which you can later easily add to your photo book.

Customization Options. Examine the application’s customization functionality. Make sure it provides a wide range of templates, layouts, fonts, and background images to help you design the exact photo book you’ve envisioned in your head. Ideally, it should also let you tweak the image sizes, crop pictures, and apply borders and stickers.

Printing Quality and Options. Evaluate the printing quality and the range of available options. Prioritize photo printing apps that provide high-resolution prints and a variety of paper types (e.g., matte, glossy) and finishes (e.g., hardcover, softcover) for you to pick from. The most useful photo book apps also allow you to preview or examine sample images of printed books to evaluate the final product's quality.

Compatibility and Access. To make a photo book on your phone, make sure it’s compatible with your phone model and brand and whether it has a web or desktop version. Photo book apps for Android or iOS that can be synchronized across several devices are particularly useful since they let you start a photo book on your phone and finish making it on your PC or vice versa.

Delivery Options and Speed. Check out the delivery options and shipping estimates of your chosen album maker app, particularly if you plan to purchase a printed version of your photo books. Solutions with dependable delivery services and tracking options offer a higher chance of your order arriving on time and in pristine condition.

Additionally, account for any other extra features you’d like to see included in your ideal photo book app, like automated photo book creation, collaborative editing/sharing functionality, private cloud storage for storing your designs, and integration with social networks.

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