Travel books
How to make a travel photo book
A travel photo book is a printed book of one trip, made from the photos everyone took on it. With Photouria you upload the trip’s photos, say where or when it was, and it chooses the photos and lays out a linen hardcover book in the order the trip happened, which you can change before printing. It costs from NZ$149 with shipping included, and delivery usually takes 4 to 13 business days.
Building the book is free and needs no account. You do not need to pick your favourites first.
A fortnight away produces more photos than a year at home, and the same view gets taken six times by three people. That is why travel books stall: the choosing is the work. Here the choosing is done for you, and your part is reading the result.
How do you make a travel photo book?
1. Upload everything from the trip
Upload from your phone or computer, and ask the people you travelled with to add theirs to the same library. Duplicates and near misses can stay in.
2. Start a travel book and say which trip
Where your photos carry a location, Photouria offers the countries it found and you choose. Where they do not, describe the trip by when it was, such as a month and a year.
3. Choose how long the book is
Pick a range of photos. Photouria chooses that many, favouring sharp, well lit photos and keeping one strong frame where the same scene was taken several times.
4. Read the book, change what you like, and order
The pages run in the order the photos were taken, so the book follows the route. Swap photos, remove pages, add captions for place names, and put the destination on the spine. You pay only when you order.
How does it know which photos are from the trip?
Two things a photo usually carries: when it was taken and, often, where. A travel book uses both. If the library holds photos from Italy and from home, choosing Italy leaves the ones from home out.
Not every photo has a location. Screenshots, photos sent through messaging apps and some uploads arrive without one. Those are not lost. You can add any photo by hand while you edit, or describe the trip by its dates instead of its country.
How many photos should a travel book have?
Photouria asks for a range rather than an exact number: 24 to 30, 31 to 40, 41 to 60, 61 to 80, or 81 to 100 photos, or a custom number up to 180. A long weekend sits comfortably at the lower end. Two or three weeks, or several countries, wants the upper end.
The count sets the price. NZ$149 covers up to 30 photos, then NZ$10 for every 10 more, capped at NZ$219 from 91 photos up. Prices are in New Zealand dollars wherever the book is going, and shipping is included.
What makes a travel book worth keeping?
- People as well as places. The view is on a postcard. The photo of who you were with, in front of it, is the one you will want in ten years.
- The order it happened. A trip is a story with a first day and a last, and the book reads best that way.
- The in between. The ferry, the bad coffee, the room. A few of these between the landmarks are what make it your trip.
- A few words. Place names and dates as captions. You will not remember the name of the village.
What are the ways to make a travel photo book?
| A Photouria book | A design it yourself photo book | A shared album on your phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choosing the photos | You upload the trip and the photos are chosen for you, then you adjust | You go through every photo and pick | Everything stays, including the six copies of each view |
| Laying out the pages | Laid out for you in the order of the trip | You place every photo on every page | No pages. A scroll |
| Best when | There are hundreds of photos across several phones | You want to design each spread and have the evenings to do it | You only want everyone to have the files |
| What you end up with | A linen hardcover with the destination on the spine | Depends on the supplier | A link |
| Price | From NZ$149, shipping included | Varies | Usually free |
Can one book cover several trips?
Yes. Choose more than one country, or make it a book of a year’s travel. The other way is a book per trip in the same size, with a different linen colour for each, which makes a row on the shelf.
What is the printed book like?
Every Photouria book is the same object: a Lulu linen hardcover, woven linen over hardcover boards, your title foil stamped on the spine, and a printed dust jacket over the top. There are six sizes, from 14 × 22 cm up to A4 at 21 × 30 cm, and six linen colours. Inside, photos print on 80lb coated paper with a matte finish, and a book can run from 24 pages up to 800.
Questions about travel books
How much does a travel photo book cost?
NZ$149 covers up to 30 photos, then NZ$10 for every 10 more, capped at NZ$219 from 91 photos up. Prices are in New Zealand dollars wherever the book is going, and shipping is included. Building the book is free, so you pay only if you order it.
Can everyone who was on the trip add their photos?
Yes. Photos from different phones go into the same library and are sorted together by the time they were taken.
Do my photos need to have a location?
No. A location helps Photouria offer you the trip by country, and a trip can also be described by its dates.
Can I add place names and captions?
Yes. You can add captions and your own text before you order, and the title on the spine is foil stamped.
Where do you ship, and how long does it take?
To New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and most of Europe. Delivery usually takes 4 to 13 business days from the day you order.
Do I need an account to start?
No. You can build and preview the whole book without an account, and nothing is charged until you order.