Nora's Wedding Blog » International Destination Wedding Photography

Here is an example of a classic and clean album design. I will be posting samples of other types of album designs in the future so stay tuned!

People sometimes ask to see sample album designs. I prefer a clean look where the focus is on the images as opposed to the photoshop editing. Here is my preferred style but there are others available. 

Size: 11×14 vertical
Cover: Japanese Cloth (Taupe)
Spine: Euro Ivory Leather
Imprinting: Spine
Imprinting Color: Black
Imprinting Style: Modern

Here is a new sample album I received from WillowBook. I have another album scheduled to arrive next week so check back!

Size: 10×12.5 vertical
Cover: Sage green leather
Cover options: Centered 4×6 print
Imprinting: One line lower right (silver)

Size: 10×12.5

Silver imprinting in lower right corner.

Flush-mount pages.

Top view.

Leather cover with center photo.

Lay flat pages.

Custom design.

Custom design.

In order to reduce the amount of emails in my inbox and provide a little more info on the process of choosing and ordering I decided to do a post about albums.

There are many manufacturers, styles, colors, materials and designs to choose from. So if you’re looking for something specific, you’re in luck! Most people find this a little overwhelming, so I’ve included a standard album with my packages but have ordered six more sample albums that I’ll have by the end of February if people want to upgrade and customize a little more.

Whatever color and material you desire is available.  I was at a convention last week and saw albums with metal and animal print covers! Choosing the cover is only one of the options and there are several more such as imprinting, page material, design, etc. 

Here’s a breakdown of the different options:

1. Size.
Albums are available in a variety of sizes from 2×3 up to 14×14 or 12×18 or larger. You can choose vertical, square or horizontal orientation. Most main albums are in the range of  8×8 to 11×14.

2. Pages.
Albums can come with pages as thin as the glossy pages in the books on your coffee table to as thick as a piece of cardboard.
Coffee Table Albums: Thinner pages, typically less expensive. Bend easily and therefore can be damaged easily. Similar to pages in a book on your coffee table, hence the name
Press Printed Albums: Slightly thicker pages with printing directly on the page from the printer.
Flush-Mount Albums: Photographic prints mounted on a thin material that resembles cardboard. These pages lie flat and do not bend or wrinkle and are one of the more popular choices right now but are also more expensive than coffee table or press printed.
Matted Albums: Cutouts designed for specific photos to be mounted. The cutouts can be customized for different photo sizes or they can be all the same.

3. Cover and Materials. Metal, leather, fabric, photo, cameo.
Metal: This should be pretty obvious except that there’s different kinds of metal. You can get metal with a photo printed on it on brushed aluminum with engraving…
Leather: Different types (standard or distressed for example) of leather in different colors. Leather covers can be two-toned or all one color and have one or more photo opening on the front or not.
Fabric: Different fabric materials in different colors. Can be paired with a leather spine or be all fabric.
Photo: A photo of your choice on the front. Can be a part of the book or also inserted in an acrylic cover to stand out more.
Cameo: Leather covers with a photo cutout are called cameo covers.

4. Design.
Designs can be as cluttered or simple as your heart desires. The current trend that I personally favor is a simple design with white background with no overlapping photos. I am going to be posting some album designs here in the next week so stay tuned!

5. Budget.
Again, this is something that can vary widely depending on the album size, material, and design that you choose. Albums can cost under a hundred dollars or up to several thousands. The most expensive album I’ve ever heard of was $8,000 and I’m sure it was pretty nice. My albums currently run from $500-$1,100 for a main press printed or flush-mount album. Coffee table albums are available upon request. Parent albums which are duplicates of the main album and typically smaller are less expensive.

I am proud to offer Zookbinders, Leather Craftsmen, AsukaBook, Finao and Sequoia WillowBook albums. In the next couple of months I’ll be posting more information as well as sample designs and photos of new albums that I have ordered and should be receiving shortly. If you have already booked me for your wedding but we aren’t able to meet in person, then contact me and I’ll see if I can mail a sample to you. If you live in the area them just email me for an appointment and I’ll be happy to show you the options.

Several of my photos featured in the new issue of  Wedding Guide Chicago . I have additional copies of it so if you’d like me to send you a free one, please contact me through my contact form and include your address and I’ll get one out to you!

Another sample album. I used the same album design so that the design would be the same throughout and the differences would be the albums and materials. The Modern Book is a lay-flat book printed on photographic paper with a customizable cover. It also includes a photographic, wrap-around dust jacket.

Sizes: 8×10, 10×10, 10×13, 12×12
Sides: Minimum 10, Maximum 50

My newest sample album. A flush-mount album made by Zookbinders.
Zook Book Sizes: 10×10, 8×12 (vertical), 12×12, 10×15 (vertical).

Accompanying PhotoBooks are available in different sizes and amounts and are duplicates of the main album.
PhotoBook Sizes and Packages:
Three 4×4
Two 6×6
One 7.5×7.5 and one 4×4 (shown here)
Two 4×6

Covers Available:
Standard Leather: Black, Blue, Burgundy, Green, Grey, Ivory, and White. (Included)
Napa Leather: Black, Kiwi, Pear, Plum, and Rasberry. (Additional Charge)
Distressed Leather: Brown, Olive, and Rusy. (Additional Charge)
Reflectionz Cover: Photo Cover (shown here). (Additional Charge)

Shown: 10×10 Zook Book with black leather spine, black gilding, and Reflectionz cover.

Black gilded edges. Gilding Available: Gold, Silver, Black.

Rounded corners.

This is a 10×10 Zook Book with a Reflectionz Cover and two PhotoBooks (sizes: 7.5×7.5 and 4×4).

PhotoBook (size: 4×4).

Sometimes people want to see an example of products (i.e. albums, etc.) and it’s not possible for us to meet. If you can’t see something in person, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Here is an example of a Leather Craftsmen album and the options that were chosen for it…

Horoizontal spine imprinting.
Imprinting Style: Modern
Imprinting Color: Silver
Imprinting Case: Upper-Lower

Album Size: 8×12 Vertical
Cover Material: Rustique Saddle Leather
Cover Photo: 3×5 – Centered
Imprinting Below Cover Inset Photo: Date

Flush-Mount Album: 30 Sides, 15 Pages

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Sample page layout.

Sample page layout.

Please e-mail me for information on pricing.

For those of you who like ribbons… I am now offering Cypress Album products as well. Here are two of their stock albums that I ordered to be able to give you an idea of what their products are like. These are their self-mount albums that come in many colors or fabric and ribbons. They also offer custom products which you can see on their website. The custom products are more expensive and take longer to manufacture than the stock albums which can be delivered within a week. Please email me for a complete price list and prints are additional.

THE C BY CYPRESS
~ Sizes: 8×6, 8×10, 9×12, 11×11, and 13×13
~ Photos can be mounted with double-sided acid-free tape or photo corners
~ Acid-free pages are offered in Black or Natural
~ Library bound style binding
~ Each album comes with a standard size opening for a cover photo
~ Each album comes with 30 or 50 pages, with optional custom number of pages
~ Available in our exclusive C Collection Fabrics, with optional custom fabric upgrade

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Library bound style binding.

THE ARTISAN BOOK
~ Sizes: Small (7¾x7¾ page), Medium (10¼x10¼ page) and Large (12¾x12¾ page)
~ Photos can be mounted with double-sided acid-free tape or photo corners
~ Heavyweight, acid-free fine art pages with a natural deckled edge
~ Pages are offered in Black, Natural or White with optional vellum interleaving
~ Binding available in ribbon or library bound style
~ Each album can hold up to 34 pages (68 sides)

Ribbon binding.

For those of you who care about the environment (I do!)… Cypress recycles and uses environmentally friendly materials.