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Brian Barrett

Review: Google Photo Books

Last fall, in an unlikely attempt at thoughtfulness, I created a photo book as a birthday present for my wife. It damn near killed me.

The final result turned out beautifully, and I’d do it again. But in the process of creating it, I discovered what anyone who’s done so already knows: Piecing together a collection of photographs using today’s stalwarts—the Shutterflys and Mpixes and Minteds of the world—involves a healthy dose of crazy-making. Uploading all those photos takes time. Sorting them though clunky interfaces takes even more. And by the time you’re finished, you’ve stared so long at your precious memories that you’re already a little bit sick of them.

Google Photo Books , announced this spring, seeks to remedy that fatigue. Just sort through your sky-high digital photo pile using Google’s AI search chops, pick 20 photos you want to feature (or add more for additional cost), order them however you like, slap a name on the front, and it’ll be on your doorstep in two weeks. A 20-page softcover costs you $10 with 35-cents per extra page, while hardcover runs $20, with extras comping in at 65-cents a shot.

Like so few things in life, it works exactly as advertised. I hopped into my Google Photos collection search page, clicked on a photo of my daughter and added a few favorites to my photo book, repeated with my son, then my wife, and within a few minutes I had a 50 or so page collection of highlights from the first half of the year.

I wanted to group my book chronologically, rather than by family member, but switching around the order was simply a matter of dragging and dropping. Call it five more minutes of fiddling. Google only allows one photo per page, so you can’t tweak layouts even if you want to, beyond choosing how much white border to put around each pic (your options are: none, a little, a little more). Add a title to the front. Add another to the spine, if you’ve packed 48 pages in. Click on Cart, go to Checkout, cough up four bucks or so for standard shipping, and you’re done.

By Eric Ravenscraft

By Ryan Waniata

By Parker Hall

By Julian Chokkattu

The whole process really did take a fraction of the time that my previous efforts with other services had. And the result doesn’t feel cheap; the photo book that arrived on my doorstep a week and a half later had better-than-decent paper quality, the images looked like faithful reproductions, and it felt substantial. Google also says that eventually, it will automatically recommend photo books for you, based around specific trips, people, or subjects.

I like Google’s photo book approach for a keepsake—but less so as a gift. The stripping down of features that help the process fly also bleed the end result of personal touches, and higher-end finishes. Squeezing in more photos per page feels tedious at the time, but also helps tell a story. A mostly white hardcover book looks stark next to the warmer materials and colors offered by the entrenched photo services. Too much embellishment makes a photo book look garish, but too little can feel sterile. Besides, some people like garish.

That’s not so much a knock against Google as a caution to people who expect more than it offers here. A Google photo book is fast, affordable, and tidy—all qualities its competitors have struggled to provide. Just know that those benefits double as limitations.

You can create and order a photo book in less time than it takes to start a charcoal grill. The Google Photos AI sits at the head of the class; you can search for anything—grass, giraffes, beer—and get back an instant catalog of subject-specific photos you forgot taking. The price beats pretty much everyone, but the print quality doesn’t suffer for it. Works on desktop, iOS, and Android. You really can’t beat it for a quick memento of a specific moment or event.

You get a little more than you pay for, but remember that you’re not paying much. If you start building your photo book before you’ve selected your photos, the search function doesn’t show up, which is… weird. Start in Search first, and add shots to your photo book by clicking the ‘+’ in the upper-right corner. Beyond the photos you pick, there’s virtually no personalization.

8/10 Great for what it is. Just make sure that lines up with what you want.

Matt Burgess

Julian Chokkattu

Reece Rogers

Parker Hall

Michael Calore

Boone Ashworth

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Google Photo Review

Google photo is the minimalist’s choice when it comes to photo book creation. the interface is very simple, but doesn’t provide a lot of customization options..

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

This service is perfect for anyone who frequently uses their Google Photo account and wants a simple photo book.

This service allows you to make photo books in a hurry.

You don’t get a lot of customization options.

Why you can trust Top Ten Reviews Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

Google Photo is the minimalist’s choice when it comes to photo book creation. The interface is very simple, but doesn’t provide a lot of customization options. It’s also relatively inexpensive, and the book quality is very good.

This service doesn’t offer 8 x 8 photo books, but there is a 9 x 9 hardcover book. For 20 pages, this book only costs $19.99, which is much cheaper than other services. Google does charge for standard shipping and tax so the price will go up a little bit. To add more pages to the book it only costs $0.65 per page. Pages can be added individually so you don’t need to add two pages at a time.

This book is a quality coffee table book. Our testers loved the look and feel of the cover and felt like it was more professionally made than many of the others we received. It features a cardstock-like flyleaf, which adds to the books overall elegance. The front cover printed a bit darker than we would have liked and it is a tad grainy but it doesn’t look bad. The inner images printed well, overall. Our experts stated that some images came out a bit grainy but others looked wonderful. The quality of your images will partially depend on your phone’s camera since that’s where the images come from. You can also upload photos from your computer, but there are no links to upload directly from social media.

This service defaults to placing one image per page. To add more than one image to a page you will need to click on the “Add Collage Page” link and choose the images you specifically want to use on that page. For single image spreads, there are three layout options: centered on the page or zoomed into either taking up the whole page or zooming into a square window.

The software lets you add captions to each page so you can label them as you see fit. There are no backgrounds and no stickers or embellishments to customize your books with. If you’d prefer a minimalist, white-page book that is simple to create this is the service for you. However, if you want to be able to customize each and every page, you’ll be disappointed with this service. You’ll likely be happier with Shutterfly .

There are only two book sizes: a soft cover 7 x 7 photo book and a hard cover 9 x 9 photo book. You won’t find any landscape or portrait covers as square is the only option. Additionally, Google Photo doesn’t offer premium book options like lay-flat or leather covers.

This service is very easy to use but can be a bit frustrating due to its limitations. The number of photos you select from your album will determine how many pages your book will have. You must have a minimum of 20 pages to place an order. The images automatically fill the book and can be rearranged with just a few button clicks. Google Photo allows you to share albums with others, so it’s easy to make a collaborative photo book for family reunions or sports teams or other groups.

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Google Photo only offers standard shipping so you won’t be able to get your books to arrive any faster. Fortunately, the service does ship to other countries, do feel free to ship gifts to friends or family outside the U.S. If there are any printing errors, Google Photo will replace your book for free. Should you have questions, you can contact a representative via email or find helpful information on the FAQs page or user forum.

Google Photo offers minimalist photo books that only take a few minutes to make. They don’t offer any backgrounds, stickers or other customization options and you can only have one photo per image. The print quality of our book was decent and the binding of the book was excellent. We recommend this service to anyone who wants a photo book in a hurry and doesn’t particularly care for the scrapbooking aspect offered by other companies.

Rebecca is a writer who has covered everything from photo books to graphic design and small kitchen appliances for Top Ten Reviews. Now a gaming writer for Future Labs, she's also contributed to big publications like TechRadar, Windows Central, Android Central, Reuters Legal Solutions Blog, iMore, and more. She no longer works for TTR.

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Home » Blog » Google Photo Books Review: From Concept to Creation

Google Photo Books Review: From Concept to Creation

Every new year, folks like you turn their fave photos from last year into a tangible keepsake like a photo book. It’s a great way to reflect on the past while diving into the future.

Lots of our clients want photo books right after the holidays, and a growing number of online services are catching on. We hear it all the time from aspiring bookers: ‘I don’t know where to start!’ Decent photos are just a screen-tap away these days, but the best photo books need you to pick your favorites and a theme.

If you already use the Google Photos app or have a Gmail address, Google Photos might have already done most of the work for you. It already sorts your photos by date and location, analyzes and recognizes people (and pets!) and makes automatic photo creations to share on social media and with family. Google recently started analyzing users’ photos and suggesting ready-made books that you can order directly from them.

Here’s our Google Photo Books review for an expert take on the service.

How to Access Your Google Photos Account

Not sure if you’re maximizing your Google Photos account – or if you even have one? Here’s how to set it up if you haven’t already:

• Create a Google account. Click here to learn how!
• Desktop users: Go to photos.google.com and sign in
• Mobile users: Install and open the Photos app
• Media that’s already in Google Photos should appear
• Desktop users can drag and drop photos directly in the browser window
• Mobile users can use the Free Up Space feature to manually upload new photos, but once it’s on your phone the photos will sync automatically in regular intervals as a Google Photos backup.
• You’re ready to use Google Photos

Google Photo Books 101

Google Photo Books’ biggest selling point is convenience . It aims to handle the tedious work of photo selection so you don’t have to. One of our designers used her own account for a closer look at the basic click-and-print photo book concept.

Google Suggestions

Google uses artificial intelligence to suggest photo books with good-quality images and a cohesive theme. The app groups your photos by year, album, location, and even faces into drafts that have set titles and themes. There’s a Best of 2018 option for a quick and easy memento that sums up the past year.

Much like those ready-made Facebook slideshows, these suggestions are convenient but not always intuitive. We strongly suggest that you preview them before you order a book . Otherwise, a random food photo or awkward selfie might find its way into the mix.

Here are a couple of nuances Google didn’t pick up on in our designer’s sample book:

• “Google can’t know the difference between work and family and I take a lot of photos on my personal phone for various professional reasons so even though I love my co-workers – they didn’t belong in my family book!”
• “Some of the photos selected were BAD. There were a couple of months I didn’t take as many photos and Google filled the gap with what they could – but I replaced them. I removed a couple of screenshots as well.”
• “To me, a year-in-review photobook is about family, friends and my cats, and there were a ton of food photos I took for my Instagram that got wrapped into the selection that I removed. I take so many food photos, I’m surprised Google did not suggest a separate book just for those!”

Edit and Design in Google Photos

Editing photos.

Want better contrast or a more focused crop? While you can’t edit directly in the photo book interface, it works seamlessly with Google Photos’ other tools . You have two options for editing:

• You can always edit in Google Photos before adding any new items to your photo book.
• If you’re happy with a photo Google selected, but wish it was black and white, you can go find the original photo and make your edits. The photo in your book will update automatically!

Arrangement

Once you’ve picked and polished your photos, it’s time to arrange them on each page. Lucky for you, the hardest part of laying out a yearly book is already done for you – they’re in chronological order!

The default setting is one photo per page, but you can also choose from full-page spreads or partial-page layouts.

Hover over the photo you’d like to change. You’ll get three options:

• A full page square
• A large square with a border
• A vertical image in the middle

If you want to utilize the full page square with a photo that isn’t already square – it will get cropped!

The desktop version even lets you make collages with up to four photos of varying sizes. We wish the mobile app did the same.

Hover over the photo on the page in question and select the illustrated collage. Your main photo dashboard will open for you to select up to three more photos for that page. The best part? It’ll take you right to the group of photos the original came from!

Limits on Design

Design options in Google Photo Books are pretty scarce, but you can’t beat the convenience of how quickly it comes together. If you’re a fan of minimal layouts and simple text, you won’t struggle with the limited design options.

Here’s a list of what we found:

• You can add captions to the inside pages but can’t change the font, size or position at the bottom of the page. So you can’t caption each photo on a collage page.
• You get to title the front cover and spine, but can’t customize the title’s font or size at this time.
• You also can’t add extra graphics or other visuals besides the photos. One hack might be to save various design elements, like text boxes or clip art, as digital images to post in a collage alongside actual photos . Even then, you won’t have much control over the sizing and placement of these items.
• The background color is white, and that’s your only option!
• No easy drag-and-drop features for changing your photos’ order or layout. It is what it is!

Choosing Your Own Photos for Your Book

Not ready to roll the dice with Google suggestions, or Google got it completely wrong? We get it. In fact, most of our own design clients play an active role in the photo selection process . And we know that Google doesn’t get the photo selection perfect.

To make your own photo book draft from scratch, you’ll be giving up some of the convenience that makes this service so unique. But you know better than anyone else which of your memories should make the cut.

You can launch your own Best of 2018 photo book, or pick another theme altogether. Find photos from events that best sum up your life last year, such as:

• Family portraits

You can easily search for something like Christmas or Cats and Google Photos will use its advanced software to find the photos that seem related to your search.

Make sure there’s an even mix of your family, friends, or other criteria based on your theme. Nobody wants to feel left out! They also don’t want to see a 2018 Summer Vacation book that’s mostly photos of your hotel room.

A Google Photo Book will only print 100 pages, so be mindful of how many photos you select. 500 is too many! Try to keep it to an even 100 or less.

Quantity vs. Quality

Google Photos does put some restrictions on the count and quality of pictures in your custom photo books. Right now, you can fit between 20-100 photos in a single book. If you picked a hyper-specific theme like Dog Wearing Sweaters , but only find 15 photos that work, go with a broader idea that covers more content.

On the flipside, try making multiple books with more specific themes if a broad topic like Family 2018 covers hundreds of photos. Or check out our in-depth post on photo selection to pick the best 100 from a huge archive.

You might also see warnings for low-resolution photos that might look grainy or blurry when printed. You can ignore these alerts, but you might not be happy with the final product.

Luckily, most modern smartphones shoot high-quality photos. The real quality risk comes down to human error. Watch out for shots that are blurry, too dark, or show people making weird faces.

How to Do Photo Selection in Google Photos

Choosing your own photos is easy! Find the timeline on the right-hand side of your Google Photos dashboard. Scroll down to January 2018, and select the photos you’d like to use by checking the box in the upper left corner of the photo.

When you have up to 100 photos selected, click the plus sign near the top right and choose Photobook .

The app will import all of your picks into a photo book draft.

Purchase and Printing

Part of a photo book’s appeal is that it offers hands-on enjoyment. You can hold it, flip through the pages, and place it on your coffee table for guests to browse. Right now, though, Google’s options for printing and materials are fairly limited.

• Size: 7-by-7 inches
• Price: $9.99 to start
• Includes: 20 pages
• Add-ons: $0.35 per additional page
• Size: 9-by-9 inches
• Price: $19.99 to start
• Add-ons: $0.65 per additional page

Beyond cover density, there aren’t any options for materials or finishes. Yet the Google Photo Books desktop module boasts “premium, responsibly-sourced paper,” which seems to be semi-glossy based on product photos and reviews.

Other Photobook Options

Apple … sort of.

Die-hard fans might already know this, but can no longer buy Apple photo books straight from the source. The tech giant discontinued its Photo Print Products service in late 2018.

The good news? Apple users can still find a Mac-friendly photo books app. Some third-party vendors like Mpix and Shutterfly offer macOS Photos app extensions that help turn your iPhone pics into photo books.

Professional Photo Printers

They might not be as quick and easy as Google, but lots of printing pros offer photo books with more options for design, materials, sizes, and finishes.

Bigger vendors like Blurb also offer powerful, user-friendly design tools. You’ll have more creative control, though it’ll take more time and effort to get things just right.

You can still use our Google Photos selection tips to make a beautiful photo album book through another service.

Professional Book Design

Let’s face it – most people don’t have the time or design background to create gorgeous photo books. Professional book designers have the technical skills, fancy software, and practical experience to help turn your photo book vision into a work of art.

Maybe Google’s books seem too basic, but you’re not a visual media whiz. You might enjoy an expert design service . Though it will cost more than the DIY route, you can take a big-picture approach while your designer does the heavy lifting and follows your feedback. It doesn’t get much cooler than that!

Save the Past with a Custom Photo Book

So, is a Google Photo Book worth it? The short answer: maybe!

The tradeoff between control and convenience is a common thread throughout this review. We recommend Google Photos service if you want fast, cheap and easy photo books – just double-check those automated suggestions before you order 10 copies.

For a breathtaking family heirloom that highlights your crew’s strengths and silly quirks, we suggest you look beyond Google Photo Books. We’ll review more custom book design platforms soon, so stay tuned.

Related posts:

• Are photo scanning mobile apps good enough? A Google PhotoScan Review
• Google’s New Photo Storage
• A Professional Photo Organizer Weighs in on Google Photos
• Turn Your Vintage Albums & Scrapbooks into Photo Books

About Jens Peterson

Jens is a Marketing Associate at EverPresent. When he's not helping us save family memories, you'll most likely find him cooking spicy food or listening to heavy metal.

Android Police

Creating photo books with google photos: 6 tips to make your albums shine.

Featuring AP's best mobile photography from the past year

We live in a spectacular time. We can capture any moment with an inexpensive Google Pixel 7 Pro and share it with the world. Although smartphones may not be as versatile as a DSLR or mirrorless camera, a flagship like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra costs less than a single camera lens.

While taking and sharing photos at a moment's notice is incredible on its face, there's something about printed photographs that's hard to recreate on a glowing screen. Google Photos features all kinds of options that let you order prints of your pictures, including a robust suite of tools to create custom photo books.

Here, in no particular order, are six tips for printing high-quality photo albums from Google Photos, featuring some of the Android Police team's best mobile photos in 2022.

1. Don't get hung up on chronological order

When you create a photo book from an album on Google Photos, your pictures populate the book in chronological order, oldest to newest. That makes sense for the default, but changing the order your photos appear can make your book pop.

Place images that pair well together on opposite pages.

There's no right way to sequence your pictures. A good place to start is to find pairs or groups of photos that look interesting next to each other. Look for recurring shapes, colors, themes, or compositions, such as in the first example above, where the mirror and the Ferris wheel are each prominent oval shapes. They were also taken in different lighting (day versus night), so there's an interesting visual contrast between the two.

For a closer look at all the wonderful photos we used to create the book you see in this post, check out this Google Photos album .

If you want to get fancy, create a theme in how your album progresses. For example, visually dark to visually light images from start to finish or segments for each of the four seasons. Those are just examples and trying to make a personal photo album thematically cohesive may be more work than it's worth. But if you're up for the challenge, it can be a lot of fun.

2. Group your photos to save space

When printing a photo book, Google Photos charges by the page after you reach 20 pages. If you have several photos you think would look nice on a single page, don't be afraid to group them. To create an image group, access the Edit book view in the Google Photos app, tap any page, and then tap Edit . Use the Add photos option to choose up to four pictures to show on a single page.

With additional photos added, the Layout tab shows several arrangements you can choose from. Press and hold on a photo to drag it around the page. Placing one photo on top of another swaps their positions.

If you want to show more than four photos on a page, you'll need to use options outside the photo book interface, which gets complicated fast. But if you're committed to the idea, there are several ways to make photo collages on Android . You can upload those collages to Google Photos to include them in your book the way you would a single photo. Just make sure your method of choice exports collages in high enough quality to print.

Google Photos lets you select up to nine photos to create collages with, but the results are too low of a resolution to print. Some collage apps, like inCollage , export collages that are a high enough resolution to print in an album, but they don't work especially well with Google Photos.

3. Pay attention to size warnings

This one's pretty cut and dry, but it bears mentioning. Google Photos warns you if you include photos in an album that are too low of a resolution to print in acceptable quality. Any page in the Edit book view marked with a red exclamation point icon contains photos that probably won't print well. If you're fond of your low-res pics, you can ignore these warnings, but don't expect impressive results.

4. Highlight special photos with blank pages

If you have specific photos you wish to highlight, one way to call attention to them within your photo book is by presenting them opposite a blank page. That way, they will be the only thing to look at on that spread.

Google Photos doesn't offer this functionality natively, but you can force blank pages in by adding a blank, white image to your album. You can add the same image to a book multiple times if you want to do this more than once in a single book, so you don't need to upload more than one blank image.

Take a few minutes to think about image placement. We placed the photo verso in our example image. Placing images recto may be your best bet if you're interested in maximum visibility.

This can also be helpful if you have a photo you want to take up an entire page but still want a caption for it. Add your full-page image on one page, then a blank image on the opposite page. Insert the caption for the photo under the blank space on the opposite page.

Google Photos charges per additional page after 20 pages, so this is one to use sparingly. But if you have pictures you're proud of, this is one way to make them shine in a printed album.

5. Big photo album? Go for softcover

Going past 20 pages in a photo book means you'll pay for each additional page you want to add. Softcover books start at $15, and additional pages cost 49 cents apiece. Hardcover books are $30, and extra pages are 99 cents each.

The math shakes out to hardcover albums costing double what their softcover counterparts do, regardless of how long they are. And the more photos you add, the bigger the price tag you're doubling. A 100-page softcover album will run you 65 bucks, but a hardcover version of the same one costs a whopping $110.

6. Bonus: Create your own cover

Google Photos' cover options for printed photo books are woefully lacking. Using the tools provided, you can only use a single photo on your cover, and there aren't many options to style it. But if you're inclined, there's nothing to stop you from using design software to create customized photo book covers.

Because Google's photo books are square rather than rectangular, there's not a lot of guesswork involved. If you have a square JPEG or PNG that's high enough resolution, it's simple to slot it in as your cover image.

Canva was used to design the book cover you've seen throughout this post, but any graphic design software you're used to should be fine. The design here is simple. The pattern at the top is made of Google's free Material Icons , the strip in the middle is the same AP Mobile Photography week banner you see at the top of this post, and the photos below are snaps from inside the book. The design was exported as a PNG, uploaded to Google Photos, and applied as the cover photo using the full-size option.

Err on the side of caution and work in as high a resolution as possible if you go this route, but a resolution of 2100 x 2100 (for a seven-inch softcover book) or 2700 x 2700 (for a nine-inch hardcover book) should translate to an ample 300 pixels per inch when printed. Note that the full-size option sees your image bleed off the cover just a little in every direction, so it's best to incorporate some wiggle room if you're able, both visually and with respect to resolution.

Get serious about smartphone photography

You can become a better mobile photographer using any phone with a camera. However, if you want to upgrade to better hardware, check out our recommendations for the best Android phones you can get . If you're looking for general advice about using Google Photos, we have a handy list of tips and tricks for you to check out.

Want to take better selfies or up your food photography game ? We have guides for those, too. For something a little more technical, check out our explainer on pixel binning . It explains why your phone's 50-megapixel camera kicks out 12-megapixel photos.

Pocket-lint

How to create stunning photo books with google photos.

Google Photos is a powerful tool for managing your pictures, but it does much more than just organizing photos. It lets you order print photos, too.

Key Takeaways

• Use Google Photos to easily create and order photo books featuring your favorite digital images.
• From Google Photos' Print Store, select the photos, add a title, choose the book type, and proceed to checkout.
• Google Photos offers 7-inch softcover and 9-inch hardcover options, with prices starting at $14.99 for 20 pages.

If you use Google Photos to store your pictures in the cloud, you should ensure you're taking advantage of all its cool features. Sure, it's an affordable place to keep your pictures, but it does a lot more than that. One of the cooler features of the service is the ability to turn your digital images into physical prints at the push of a button.

Google Photos tips and tricks: Store and edit your photos like a pro

A photo book is one of the most popular items to create with Google Photos, and we're going to show you how to make a book with your favorite photos and have it shipped to your home in just a couple of days. Whether you're using a computer, Android phone, or iOS device , the process of creating a stunning print photo book is quick and painless.

How to create Google Photos photo books

The simplest way to buy a photo book from Google Photos is to visit photos.google.com , log in, and click Print store . From there, build your photo book, review it, select the type and quantity, and proceed to checkout. Enter your shipping details and choose a payment method, including Google Pay, credit, or debit cards. If needed, you can cancel the order within 2 hours of purchase.

On a computer

With google photos, you can create a photo from your computer (though the photos are generally still uploaded to the service from your mobile device). if you'd like to do it from your desktop or laptop, here's everything you need to know:.

• Go to the Google Photos website on your browser of choice.
• Click Print Store on the left side of the screen.
• Click Photo Books on the left under All Products.
• Click the + Make a photo book button on the top right of the screen.
• Select the photos you want in the book from your Google Photos library (you must choose at least 20, but you can use up to 245).
• Click Done on the top right of the screen.
• Click Add a title below the first image and type in your book's title.
• Click Next at the top-right of the screen.
• Choose whether you want a softcover book or hardcover book in the pop-out that opens and click Select.
• Click Checkout in the pop-out.
• Enter your payment and shipping information if it's not already stored.
• Click the Buy button to make your purchase and have your book printed and shipped.

How to use AI to create highlights videos in Google Photos

If you're using an iPhone or iPad to backup your Google Photos, you can actually get a photo book printed right from that device without needing to open a browser on your desktop or laptop. Here's the step-by-step process to create a photo book from iOS:

• Open the Google Photos app.
• Tap the + at the top of the screen (near your profile picture).
• Tap Photo books, prints, & more.
• Tap the Photo books button in the middle of the screen.
• Tap the + Make a photo book button at the bottom of the screen.
• Tap the first photo then tap Add a title.
• Tap Next at the bottom of the screen.
• Choose whether you want a softcover book or hardcover book.
• Tap Check out to pay for your book.
• Tap the Buy button to complete your purchase.

Google Photos Magic Editor: How the AI editor works and where you can get it

Android users aren't left out in the cold here, because they can also create a photo book on Google Photos directly from their phone or tablet . Here's what you need to do:

• Tap the Make a photo book button at the bottom of the screen.

What are the photo books' sizes and prices?

Google Photos provides two photo book options: a 7-inch softcover and a 9-inch hardcover, each holding between 20 to 140 pages. You can add spine titles to softcovers with more than 48 pages and to any hardcover book. Prices begin at $14.99, varying with the book's size, cover type, and page count.

Keep in mind, the final cost may also include shipping fees and taxes. In the Continental US, shipping options include Economy (8–11 business days), Standard (6–10 business days), and Priority (5–7 business days).

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The Best Photo Book Service

By Erin Roberts

We live in a digital world overflowing with images and screens. By creating a tangible photo book, you can reconnect with your images, as well as those moments in time. And photo books make sharing memories with family and friends so much easier.

After conducting more than 100 hours of research and testing (which included creating 23 photo books and consulting with a master printer on the results), we recommend Mixbook as the best online photo book service.

Everything we recommend

Easy-to-design photo books with vibrant colors

This service offers the best book-building experience, modern design options, color-accurate photo reproduction, great customer service, and a powerful app.

Buying Options

Budget pick.

Affordable photo books for gifts or small projects

If you want to print multiple copies of a photo book to give as gifts (or for projects that aren’t meant to be keepsakes), this service delivers good-enough books at an affordable price.

Creating photo albums is fun with Mixbook , which gathers images from your computer, social media profiles, online photo-storage accounts, and even your smartphone. In our testing, it offered the best book-building experience of the bunch, as well as some of the best themed layouts. Our finished album looked vibrant, with accurate colors, and had a high-quality feel.

If you just need a basic photo book, VistaPrint can get the job done at a cost significantly lower than our top pick. It offers some of the best album-creation software we tested, including a Smart Assistant option that made album design a snap. Although the cover photo wasn’t as color accurate as that of our top pick, the photos inside were almost indistinguishable, as was the paper quality.

The research

Why you should trust us, who this is for, how we picked and tested, our pick: mixbook, budget pick: vistaprint, tips for making your best photo book, the competition, frequently asked questions.

To discover which features are important in a photo book service, we’ve researched more than 50 companies and created 23 albums since the first iteration of this guide. We’ve compiled a mixture of images from high-resolution DSLR cameras and iPhones, selecting specific examples for both color and resolution testing, and used them to directly compare the image quality of different albums.

When updating this guide, we’ve consulted several experts, including Taylor McAtee, printing expert and owner of Stretch and Staple , a print shop in Seattle. We also crowdsourced input from friends who enjoy making albums with their family photos.

If you want to create an album of your digital photos, a photo book service is absolutely the way to go. Today’s digital photo books look much sleeker and more elegant than the scrapbooks of old. They’re also much easier to replace if an original gets damaged.

Digital photo books can be customized to fit any purpose, such as for a baby book, a family trip album, or even a school yearbook. They also make great gifts for grandparents and family. And if you’re a photographer, photo books are a wonderful way to curate your work in something that can be reproduced for distribution.

If you want to make a fancier book to document a special event, such as a wedding, consider upgrading to a layflat book, which has a unique type of binding that allows two-page spreads to lie completely flat, with no crease in the middle. You could also consider choosing a more luxurious cover, such as leather or crushed silk, to match the occasion.

If you have a collection of vintage photo albums or boxes of family photos sitting around, you might want to scan those photos and upgrade to a digital photo book.

In researching online photo book services, we looked for those that allow you to create a customizable book with captions and multiple photos on one page. We eliminated services that don’t let you at least arrange and reorder photos. And, on the flipside, we dismissed any that looked too technical or complex for people with no design experience.

Many photo-printing services offer frequent, deep discounts and promotions throughout the year, so it can be difficult to make an accurate pricing comparison—but holidays and annual shopping events are a great time to finally click the albums you have waiting in your cart. Otherwise, we can’t say for sure whether one service will be cheaper than another at any given time, so we prioritized services that offered basic, 20-page, approximately 8-by-11-inch books for under $50.

In general, these are the key features we considered:

• Customization options: The best photo book services strike a fine balance between offering a creative, diverse range of editing options and overwhelming people with a dizzying range. The service should work for photo junkies and for people who just want to quickly make a wedding album.
• Intuitive photo book software: The editing tools should be easy to grasp, even at an amateur level. Ideally, they should include all of the basics, such as a black-and-white filter, shadows, brightness, contrast, and saturation, plus the ability to rotate, resize, and reorder images.
• Elegant, ready-made layouts: You should be able to choose from a wide range of photo layouts that can suit any number of photos in a variety of orientations. You should never feel the need to create your own design.
• Flexibility in design: For more-ambitious people, a good photo book service allows you to design a layout from scratch.
• Print quality that’s true to the source files: The photo book shouldn’t make your high-resolution photos look blurry, grainy, or oversaturated. It should capture the resolution and colors as accurately as possible, even if you mostly use photos from Instagram.
• Variety of cover and binding options: The cover is the first thing people see when they look at a photo book. We preferred services with a range of options that look nice and can withstand years of handling.
• High-quality paper choices: We looked for paper that is durable, of high quality, and resistant to tearing. Photo book services should offer a variety of paper types, such as gloss, semigloss, and pearlescent.
• Easy to reprint and revisit: Unlike traditional, scrapbook-like photo albums, digital photo books can be reproduced at any time. Therefore, the service you use should save your photos, layouts, and projects so you can return to print or edit them whenever you want.
• Flexible upload options: A good service should at least be able to receive photos from your computer, as well as from online platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
• Layflat spreads: These spreads allow you to depict one picture across two pages without the center crease of a traditional bound book. Though this sounds fancy, it’s a common offering from photo book services and a worthwhile upgrade in photography or wedding books. We didn’t make this option a requirement, but we gave extra points if a service offered it.

To test these services, we made 20-page photo books using DSLR shots taken by professional photographers, as well as iPhone snaps taken during my honeymoon trip to Tahiti. We specifically selected images that can be harder to print to see how each service performed when tasked with HDR (high dynamic range) images, tricky colors, black-and-white photos, and even dimly lit iPhone snapshots.

We laid out each book in the same order, using the service’s most basic, white template. We also used each service’s default font for captions, sticking with whichever typeface and size were assigned to the theme we chose. All of the companies allow you to change fonts, but that can be a hassle, and we decided the default font would look nice enough. For each book, we also used the default cover and paper options (which are the cheapest or second-cheapest available).

Over the years and several rounds of testing, we’ve asked printing expert Taylor McAtee to compare and contrast print and page quality. We’ve asked friends who enjoy making family photo albums to examine the photo books, and they’ve provided helpful, real-world observations, such as which paper finish might hold up best in the grubby hands of a 5-year-old.

Mixbook has easy-to-use and intuitive design software, vibrant and accurate colors, and modern layouts that make it our pick for the best photo book service for most people. It is one of the few services that offers a dedicated mobile app in case you prefer designing from your phone, and you can invite collaborators to help with or review a project before it goes to print.

Versatile image-uploading options makes it easy to find the photos you want. If most of your iPhone photos end up trapped inside your phone (like ours do), you’ll likely find that adding mobile images directly to Mixbook makes the design process much more efficient.

Using a QR code on your computer screen, Mixbook guides you in selecting and loading pictures from your phone. After you refresh your screen, voilà—your iPhone snaps are now available for you to add to your current project. You can also upload directly from a computer, your social media (Facebook and Instagram), and photo storage accounts (Google and SmugMug).

Its book-building software is the easiest to use. The Auto-Create option feels like magic: after you’ve uploaded your images, a single click of a button builds your book using “only the best images.” It’s an efficient way to get a solid first draft, and it’s easy to customize from that point.

Unlike some of its competitors, Mixbook offers a swap button to swiftly replace one image for another. You can quickly change layouts too: The software displays recommended layouts using your images and may be filtered by number of images per design.

It offers helpful tips to make sure you never feel lost. Mixbook’s guidance boxes were the most helpful resource of any service we tested. These pop-ups, which you can close as needed, provide tips as you start to build a book.

Its photo-editing tools are simple and efficient. These include the same basic options offered by most other services: brightness, saturation, contrast, and opacity. You can crop and zoom in and out of photos easily, though the free-rotation tool was tricky (to fix your horizon lines, you have to click and hold down the arrow in the circle).

Six filters can give your printed photos an Instagram feel; you can also play with shadows and borders or even make a heart-shaped image. Text was easy to insert, and Mixbook offers a plethora of font choices and controls.

Thoughtful little touches make a big difference. When you’re pulling from an available image library in Mixbook, you simply have to hover over a photo to make it bigger. We really liked this feature, since it can be tough to choose your next image based on a tiny thumbnail. (When we used other services, we sometimes had to add the actual photo just to determine if it was the one we’d meant to include in the first place.)

It offers more templates than the competition. Each well-designed template can be kept as is or modified.

Mixbook offers 138 “everyday” album templates, from the simple Minimal White design (which we chose) to birthday, wedding, and seasonal themes. Plus, the themed layouts show actual photo examples, a truly useful feature when envisioning what you’ll create.

Photo reproductions are vibrant and color-accurate. As in previous testing, our 20-page, 11-by-8.5-inch Mixbook photo book was one of the most vibrant among all of the books we created, and the colors most-closely matched those in our original photographs.

Mixbook did a good job of correcting a tricky photo of me about to board a helicopter for the first time: I’m a too-dark, shadowy subject in front of the sunny landing platform where a helicopter and pilot wait. Mixbook struck a better balance of the contrast, picking up more detail in my face while retaining the vibrant background colors.

We reached out to Mixbook to ask about its color-correction practices. CEO and co-founder Andrew Laffoon confirmed that Mixbook automatically applies “very minimal” autocorrection, and that the feature can’t be turned off.

Mixbook uses high-quality paper. Of the six books we created in our most recent round of testing, Mixbook’s simplest album option came with the second-thickest pages—akin to the pages of a coffee-table book. The pages felt durable enough to stand up to the grubby paws of a small child, and they had enough sheen that we also thought they could endure a small mess and be wiped clean.

Its pricing is on a par with that of competitors. Mixbook albums cost about as much as or slightly more than other comparable albums in this category. But it’s always worth seeking out a discount, since the service usually offers an active 50%-off coupon .

If you don’t see a coupon at checkout, you can always make the book and then wait to purchase it until you can get a discount. This is especially handy if you opt for upgrades, like layflat pages, which can nearly double the price of an album.

Mixbook doesn’t spam you with email ads. Unlike Snapfish , which took our order as an invitation to send promotional emails daily, Mixbook didn’t automatically inundate our inboxes with promos once we created an account. We actually had to go into account settings to sign up for Mixbook’s email offers (and you can unsubscribe just as easily).

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Other photo book services offer more photo editing tools. We worked with Mixbook’s available brightness, saturation, and contrast sliders to boost a cloudy day photo. Though the results looked a bit better on screen, the printed version still appeared dark. Of course, you could use an external image-editing program, but we often found we needed to make another small tweak or two once we placed images on the page; editing that image elsewhere and then reimporting it to use in our design felt like a time-consuming chore. A more robust editing suite within Mixbook’s interface would mean we could make any necessary edits seamlessly while creating a photo book.

For a basic photo book at a lower price than our top pick, VistaPrint gets the job done, even if the cover photo was a little oversaturated and the design process wasn’t quite as smooth.

It lacks our top pick’s cute design templates. When you start creating your VistaPrint photo book, you can only select from seven size options, and it doesn’t have any design templates to start from. You can add some 1990s clip art or masks within the editor, but that’s not nearly as attractive or easy as selecting from one of the hundreds of templates Mixbook offers.

Adding photos is easy, yet limited. Unlike our top pick, VistaPrint only allows uploads from your computer and doesn’t allow for HEIC files, which is how iPhones and iPads save images by default.

You can change your device’s camera settings to shoot JPEG, and it’s not difficult to convert HEIC files to JPEG after the fact, but it is one more hurdle that can get in the way when you’re itching to start designing. You could opt to create a book via VistaPrint’s mobile site, which works fine with HEIC files, but that platform isn’t as easy to use as the desktop site.

Photo-editing tools are few, but print quality was nearly perfect. VistaPrint’s editor offers even fewer photo-editing tools than our top pick, and it doesn’t offer a way to fix an imperfect horizon line—a photographer’s pet peeve. By default, VistaPrint will “enhance” all photos automatically; a pop-up window bears this warning as you begin to create your photo book.

We left the auto-enhancement option on, and the results were as good as our top pick, with accurate color reproduction and impressive corrections on our tricky test images. Only the cover image appeared oversaturated, and VistaPrint had two tries at this, since the first copy arrived with a slight wrinkle in the corner of the cover.

Customer service is responsive, too. VistaPrint was responsive to our complaint; it requested images of the damage and then sent us a new copy for free. The new book arrived in just a few days. The cover was unwrinkled but still a bit oversaturated, which made skin tones appear too pink.

It’s a great book and good value. If you just need a simple book, perhaps at a price that makes multiple copies possible, VistaPrint is a solid option. The final result was a very close second to our top pick in terms of color accuracy and page quality, with just a few flaws noticed during the creation process and a not-quite color-accurate cover.

Printing expert Taylor McAtee said you should trust the experts at whichever photo book service you choose. “Just pick the photos you like,” McAtee said, explaining that because your home computer likely doesn’t have a color-calibrated monitor, the on-screen edits you make could look much different when printed.

He also offered two additional tips for selecting photos for a printed book: Avoid washed-out, intentionally very bright (aka high-key) images, which often don’t look as good in print as they might on a glowing digital screen. And don’t apply Instagram filters or use other editing apps that may compress your iPhone files, since doing so can result in a low-resolution photo when it’s printed.

Snapfish was about the same price as our top pick but, as in past years, delivered a book with dull and muted photos and some of the thinnest pages we saw in testing. Snapfish also sent us the most promotional emails following our order—at an annoying pace of about one every other day.

The photo book we built with Pikto looked a lot like the results from our budget pick, VistaPrint, but the service cost a bit more, and its software was clunkier, with no swap button. It was also difficult to connect with its customer service: No one ever answered our calls during business hours, no chat help was available, and the back-and-forth email assistance we did receive was slow.

Walmart Photo is a past budget pick, but the album we created this year wasn’t as good as in previous years. The cover image was oversaturated, making skin tones appear pink and not true to life. Color accuracy was also off throughout the thin pages, appearing dull compared with the competition.

Though Shutterfly was previously a top pick, the last time we physically tested the service, its image quality was a letdown. We took a fresh look for this update but found for its price, about $10 more than our top pick, other photo book services offer better editing tools.

Though we love the minimalist look of Artifact Uprising ’s designs, the books we ordered were both oversaturated. We tested the Hardcover Photo Book and the Photo-Wrapped Hardcover Book, the two most-expensive options we tested. In each book our photos were oversaturated, but especially so for the Photo-Wrapped Hardcover Book. This made my skin look especially reddish-pink in many photos, as though I had a significant sunburn throughout my trip (I didn’t). While turning up the vibrancy can make an image really pop, the downside can be inaccurate skin tones.

Google Photo’s photo books are the path of least resistance for people who already use Google Photos. Although it’s a fast and brainless solution, the automated process allows for little control or creativity. Photos are autofilled in chronological order, and it’s a hassle to move images around if you’d like a different format. If all of your photos aren’t already stored with Google, that adds another step in the process. Layout and design options are limited, and it doesn’t have image-editing tools.

We also checked out Amazon Photos . As with the Google option, creation is a breeze as long as you’re already using it to store your photos. The online software allows for slightly more control over image placement, but it doesn’t have image-editing tools or enough design options overall.

Apple also allows you to create a photo book right from Photos, using the Motif app. But just like the Google Photo and Amazon Photo, this option is very specific to the platform, and you have very little control over design or photo editing.

We made two books with Blurb —one with its web-based software, Bookify, and another with its downloadable software, BookWright.

We were disappointed with the options available in Bookify; it had very few layouts, and they had too much white space for our liking. We also experienced major glitches with captions.

BookWright, meanwhile, offers a huge range of design options, including layouts and fonts, with very little glitching. It reminded us a great deal of Photoshop or InDesign, so if you’ve used those programs before, you may be familiar with the added controls. We also liked that Blurb allows you to upload a PDF to create your book, and that it offers plug-ins for Adobe InDesign and Lightroom. BookWright could be a good choice for amateur photographers or anyone looking to print a series of books.

Nations Photo Lab , our pick for the best online photo printing service , continues to disappoint us with photo book software that offers almost no photo editing and only basic layouts, at a more expensive price than our top pick.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

Where can I get a same-day photo book?

Our previous budget pick, Walmart Photo , offers same-day pickup. And the site, which has some of the best photo-editing tools available, makes designing and customizing an album easy. Other services, like CVS and Walgreens , offer same-day pickup, but we haven’t tested them.

Which photo book services offer apps?

Several photo book services have a mobile app. Our top pick, Mixbook , has an app for iPhone owners . Though our budget pick, VistaPrint, doesn’t offer a dedicated app, the mobile version of the website is okay.

Which service has the best-quality photo books?

Among the 17 books we tested, Mixbook had some of the most vibrant color pages, and the colors most closely matched the colors in our original photographs. Mixbook also had more user-friendly software than most of the other services we looked at.

Meet your guide

Erin Roberts

Erin Roberts is a freelance writer reporting on cameras and camera accessories at Wirecutter. She started her career as a photojournalist working in newspapers—shooting film—and was the mobile-imaging editor at DPReview. She is also a professional photographer who has made her living photographing everything from rock stars to humpback whales.

Further reading

The Best Instant Camera

by Arriana Vasquez and Erin Roberts

The best instant camera for taking high-quality, retro-cool photos is the Fujifilm Instax Square SQ40 .

The 16 Best Tech Gifts for Any Gadget Lover

by Samantha Schoech

Looking for gifts for a tech-obsessed loved one? We have Wirecutter-tested picks, including headphones, speakers, camera tripods, and more.

The Best Online Photo Printing Service

by Phil Ryan

We’ve tested dozens of online photo printing services, and we’ve consistently found that Nations Photo Lab is the best place to get prints.

The 19 Best Gifts for Photographers

by Arriana Vasquez and Phil Ryan

Photographers can be picky about gear—which is why selecting a gift for a shutterbug can be a sticky wicket. Here are stellar finds endorsed by our staff photographers and reporting experts.

The best photo books in 2024: Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Snapfish and more tested

What service should you use to make the best photo books and photo albums? We reviewed and compared five of the most popular services to find out

The quick list

Best overall, best image quality, other services we tested, how we test photo book services, when is the best time to buy a photo book.

• How to choose

1. Best overall 2. Best image quality 3. Best value 4. Other services we tested 5. How we test 6. Photo book test scores 7. The best time to buy a photo book 8. How to choose

Whatever the occasion, a personalized photo book always makes a great gift. But where do you begin if you want to turn your photos of a summer trip to Spain or a surprise birthday weekend in the mountains into a beautiful present?

We’ve been testing the best photo book services for more than five years by doing what you would do: creating a photo book. In the process, we looked at which service was the easiest to use, which offered the most options for things like clip art and binding, which had the best image quality, and which offered the best value. 

This year, we tested Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Vistaprint. We've also included shipping information where available, as photo books take time to make — and will cost more the longer you wait to order. 

And be sure to check out our picks for the best photo calendars , and best photo cards , and discover 9 tips to make the best holiday cards .

Great features, excellent image quality, the easiest-to-use software, and even online chat support make this our top pick overall.

Read more below .

If image quality is your number-one criteria when choosing the best photo book service, go with Printique, which also has powerful design software.

Read more below.  

While not the flashiest of services, Vistaprint had good-enough quality and affordable prices to make this a solid value pick among photo books.

Read more below.

The best photo book services

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Mixbook was the best service overall for making photo books of the five we tested. Its combination of ease of use, top-notch image quality and good value should make it appealing to a broad range of users. Newbies will love Mixbook’s fun and easy-to-use software while more advanced users will appreciate the wide range of customization options to help you get creative. And the image quality of our 20-page, hardcover book came in a close second to Printique.

If you’re intimidated about designing a photo book, Mixbook takes out the stress with clear and fun-to-use software that helps make the process a breeze. At the same time, there are hundreds upon hundreds of ways to customize your book, including 644 design templates alone, if you want to take a deeper dive. Mixbook had among the best-looking and most user-friendly project editing software of the services we reviewed, matched only by Snapfish . The interface offers a myriad of options but isn’t cluttered and optimizes the space by providing a roomy preview of your project.

In terms of image quality, our finished book from Mixbook tied Printique for the best cover while coming in second place for its interior pages. For the photo books we created during testing, we used an image of a waterfall we shot at Yellowstone National Park. The photo was captured at sunset and Mixbook did a great job of reproducing detail in both the brighter light at the top of the waterfall and the shadow areas in the valley below. On the inside pages, Mixbook's default Everyday Semi-Gloss finish produced solid, pleasing contrast. Both light and dark skintones in our portraits were rendered true-to-life.

Other things we liked about Mixbook are its well-designed mobile app that lets you manage your projects on the site or create products from the photos on your phone. And finally, Mixbook’s handy 24/7 chat support is built right into the design interface, so it’s always available if you get stuck while making a book.

If you order a photo book from Mixbook, be sure to check out its shipping information and deadlines .

Read our full Mixbook review . 

2. Printique

If image quality is your main concern for photo books, Printique is the service for you. While some competing companies have caught up in other ways, Printique still makes the best-looking books around. Their overall stature, however, has slipped a bit, dropping them to second place behind Mixbook after being ranked first for books in years past. What’s changed? Printique’s software feels dated now and is a challenge to use, which could turn off less experienced users. Printique’s photo books are also significantly more expensive than the competition.

For serious photographers (including pros), though, the trade-offs may be worth it. The most distinctive thing about Printique’s books are their very thick, rigid pages, which are similar to what you’d find in a professional wedding photo album. Similarly, even the entry-level books come with a layflat binding that prevents a furrow in the seam between pages, making this design perfect for images that span spreads. The pages display really well with excellent color, skin tone, contrast and sharpness/detail. We also liked the results of a few black-and-white photos we included in our book, which looked dramatic without losing detail.

While Printique’s software offers the most control of the services we tested, we feel it’s better suited to the advanced user than newbies. Seasoned designers will appreciate the variety of rulers, gridlines, submenus, and toolbars offered in Printique’s feature-rich interface, but beginners might be intimidated. 

Another barrier for entry is price. Printique doesn’t really have an “entry-level” book that’s comparable to the other services since it only offers the premium layflat binding option with lavish, thick pages, which cost more. This level of quality doesn’t come cheap.

When ordering a photo book, be sure to check out Printique's shipping information and deadlines , so you know how long to expect before it arrives.

Read our full Printique review .

3. Vistaprint

If you think Vistaprint is only adept at making business cards and other marketing materials, think again. The company has expanded in recent years to include a wide range of personal print-on-demand services including photo books. While it’s difficult to find the book-making option on Vistaprint’s vast website, once you do, we think you’ll be pleased with the process and the results, as we were. Plus, the prices can’t be beat, making it the best value of all the services for books.

For testing purposes, we made hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. At $30, Vistaprint’s book was the cheapest of the five companies; $5 less than Shutterfly, which was the second cheapest, and a whopping $45 less than Printique, which was the most expensive. As an added bonus, Vistaprint’s entry-level books come standard at 24 pages, while all the competition’s books start at 20 pages.

Given the affordable price, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of our photo books from Vistaprint. Our wraparound matte cover shot of a waterfall had rich detail even in the highlight and shadow areas, showing good dynamic range. The white endpapers for the front and rear inside covers have a classy look and feel as does the well stitched binding. The image quality of the interior pages was inconsistent though, with some of our landscape and cityscape images looking vibrant and crisp, while portraits were flat and overexposed at times.

Vistaprint’s software isn’t snazzy, but it gets the job done. It may look basic and a bit dated but unlike Printique’s complicated and outmoded interface, Vistaprint’s rudimentary software provides a relatively stress-free experience for making photo books. Just don’t expect anything fancy or a vast assortment of editing tools and you won’t be disappointed.  

Read our full Vistaprint review .

4. Shutterfly

Shutterfly is an easy to use and reliable service that does a lot of things right. In particular, the paper quality was great overall, and it did a decent job with its photo printing. Mixbook remains the best photo book service overall for its higher quality and better software, but if you want a relatively stress-free experience in creating solid if not spectacular books from a seasoned brand, Shutterfly is the one for you. 

We thought Shutterfly’s software offered a good compromise between providing full control over a project and not overloading you with too much information. If you get stuck while making a product, just click the question mark icon in the lower left to bring up the help overlay. The only downside is we found the software somewhat slow to use; in particular, there was a noticeable lag of a few seconds before images displayed in a layout.

Despite its robust and intuitive software, the resulting photo books were a mixed bag. While the page quality was the best of all the photo books we reviewed, the color was just ok, with some pale skin tones in portraits getting washed out while darker skin appeared oversaturated with a loss of detail.

The default glossy hardcover was quite eye-catching though, and the color of our waterfall shot looked natural with ample detail. But the shiny cover surface is prone to glare. Inside, the pages have a good weight and the smooth matte finish produced minimal reflection. Some brighter images, however, appeared slightly washed out in print. We also weren’t so keen on the binding, which felt flimsy, and cut off the edges of the images in the center crease. So, while Shutterfly did a good job overall, there are enough misses to fall short of the top tier of Printique and Mixbook.

Before ordering, be sure to check out Shutterfly's shipping guidelines .

Read our full Shutterfly review .

5. Snapfish

With how easy and user-friendly Snapfish’s software was to use, we really wanted to like this service more than we did. The process of creating photo books, calendars, and cards with Snapfish was so pleasant, we expected the finished products to be equally satisfying. Unfortunately, its photo book came in last among the services we tested.

The bright glossy hardcover of our book didn’t look bad from a distance, but when inspected closer it lacked detail in the flowing waterfall shot. Not awful but not great either. The print quality of the inside pages is where Snapfish really stumbles. The floppy pages in our standard 8 x 11-inch book were the thinnest of all we created from the various companies. On the other hand, while the stitched perfect binding of the book looked cheap, the crease between pages cut off only a small portion of the images. Comparatively, most of the other books in our testing obscured noticeable portions of photos in the binding.     

We wish all of the photo printing brands would emulate Snapfish’s snazzy software. It’s not only simple to use and logically laid out, it turns the process of creating a photo book into a pleasure rather than like pulling teeth. When creating a book, you can scroll through an authentic looking visual representation of the entire book to see all of the pages more easily. Snapfish’s book builder also had the fastest load times of the various companies we tested, with virtually no lag when dragging and dropping images or scrolling through layouts. 

In the end, Snapfish is something of a conundrum. While we would recommend it for anyone who might be intimidated by the process of creating products, those with more discerning image quality taste for books should look elsewhere.

Read our full Snapfish review .

For testing purposes, we created similar custom-designed books from the five services in our evaluation, Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Vistaprint, which we deemed to be the top companies on the market. We made 20 to 24-page hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. The only major difference in the five books was the one created with Printique, which only offers a premium layflat binding and professional-quality, thick pages, even as an entry-level option. 

While creating our books, we picked layouts and designs that were similar across the five services as well. For photos, I used my own portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes, which were shot in both studio and natural light. For portraits, the subjects encompassed a variety of skin tones. The three main factors the services were judged on were software, image quality, and value. For the book-making software, we considered both the levels of customization offered and the ease-of-use. 

For image quality, we compared photos across the selection of books, as well as against the original digital images displayed on a MacBook Air retina display. Criteria for judging included cover quality, paper quality, color, skin tones, contrast, and sharpness/detail. For value, we took into account both the price of the photo books and the level of quality of the finished product. So, for instance, a good quality book that cost a low price would get a higher value score than a poor quality book at a similar price. The same value scale was used for more expensive books in our testing.

This year, we evaluated Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Vistaprint, and Snapfish. However, in years past, we've also tested a number of other services, none of whom made it into our top tier. If you'd like to read those older reviews, they're listed below. Just bear in mind that the quality of some of these services may have changed since we last reviewed them.

  Motif review | Artifact Uprising review | Amazon Prints review | Mpix review | Picaboo review | Blurb Bookify review | CVS Photo review | Walmart Photos review | Mimeo review

Procrastination is a natural human instinct, but it will cost you when it comes to photo books. In particular, if the book is a gift for the holidays or if you just want it quickly for yourself, you’re going to be paying more for rush delivery services, which can increase the cost greatly. And in our experience, fast delivery is the one thing that is seldom discounted by book companies. 

So, try to order you books as early as possible. Not only does it save you time, it gives you the chance to look over the book and order a reprint in case there are any errors. Another reason to order as early as possible is that many of the best photo book services offer big discounts throughout the year — up to 50% off in some cases, or with other extras thrown in. 

How to choose the best photo book service for you

Image quality The most important factor for most people is that their book should look good. But what does this mean exactly? In simple terms, it means the quality of the photos should be great — skin tones should be accurate, lighting should be correct, and details should be crisp. In the best photo books, you should have good contrast, deep blacks, and an overall evenness in color gradation. 

Book construction A photo book should also be built well. You shouldn't see pages coming free from the binding, the paper itself should have a substantial weight and feel, and images and text should be aligned properly.

Book-creation software If a company has poor software, you’re likely to either not be able to create the photo book you want or grow frustrated with the process and give up. While ease-of-use is a key factor, customization is also important too and our favorite brands offered a good combination of both with their software. You should be able to fully edit the book templates, easily find background art and more, and make fine adjustments to your photos, too.

Cost Price is also an important factor. With the exception of the most and least expensive options, you won't find too much variation between photo book printing services. However, some services offer options like better paper, different-size books, and things like lay-flat binding, which means you can open the book flat on a table, and not worry about breaking the spine.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best photo storage and sharing sites
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Dan Havlik has worked in the photo industry for over decades and is currently editor-in chief of Wild Eye ( www.wildeyemagazine.com ), a new magazine devoted to the celebration of nature, wildlife, and underwater photography. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Outdoor Photographer and Shutterbug magazines. He has been an editor and writer for a variety of other publications and websites including Photo District News (PDN), Rangefinder, Wired, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Consumer Reports, Maxim, Men’s Journal, Imaging Resource, and LAPTOP. Dan is also an avid runner with three marathons under his belt and has written fitness reviews, including guides to the best running shoes and GPS watches, for Business Insider.

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9 Best Photo Book Websites

Don't let your favorite photos go to waste — use these top-tested online services and turn them into keepsake albums.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Best Overall

Shutterfly photo books.

Walmart Photo Custom Photo Books

Most Aesthetic

Artifact uprising photo books.

Best for Themes

Mixbook photo books.

Best for Beginners

Printique photo books.

Best for Amazon Prime Members

Amazon prints.

Best for Young Kids

Pinhole press photo books.

Best for Google Photo Users

Google photo books.

Best for Families

Chatbooks custom photo books & albums.

Photo albums create a tangible and lasting archive of memories — ultimately proving to be more durable and accessible than the mess of digital files on your phone and computer. Plus, a custom photo book can be a thoughtful and unique gift for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, or other special events.

Online photo book services make it easy and quick to choose a theme or layout, upload photos and ship the book straight to the recipient. Best of all, some photo book makers even have apps so you can upload photos directly from your smartphone.

Shutterfly offers basic photo books at an affordable price. You can choose from a wide selection of themes, like birthday, travel or wedding, or neutral styles , such as modern or rustic. You can also create your own book and choose the book size, cover style and page style, then embellish it with Shutterfly's extensive library of stickers and ribbons to make your book extra special. We appreciate how easily users can edit within their chosen template and the brand's high-quality photo book paper, making Shutterfly a top pick.

You can also opt for one of its 6" x 6" Instant Books , which let you add photos from your phone, tablet or computer in minutes. These mini photo books have only 20 pages, but they're a great place to store goofy candids or Instagram posts you never want to forget. The possibilities are essentially limitless, though the vast array of options could be overwhelming for those getting started.

If you don't want the pressure of deciding on a layout, the brand offers a convenient Make My Book option, in which Shutterfly's professional designers curate your photos and design the book for free. Plus, you'll still have the opportunity to put finishing touches on it before it gets printed. Whether you opt for 50 or 800 photos (the maximum), you'll receive an email notification within 24 hours that your book is complete.

Crunched for time? Design your photo book online and pick up select styles at a Walmart store near you in as little as one hour. Photo books picked up in one hour can have 15 single-sided pages and a linen cover, while same-day pickups (ready in a few hours) can have up to 20 double-sided pages and the option of a hardcover.

On top of the speedy turnaround, Walmart has a great selection of styles : You can choose everything from the photo size and layout to the type of cover, including hardcover glossy or matte, linen, leather and lay-flat glossy or matte. If you need help narrowing down the choices, there's also the option to shop by occasion, whether you're looking for a one-year anniversary or 15th-year anniversary gift .

Despite the fast shipping and variety, our tester noted that the quality was not as high as the options offered by other photo book makers on this list — but that may be expected considering the bargain price tag. Regardless, these photo books still make a superb present that can cost under $10 without compromising on sentimentality.

No matter the occasion, you can't go wrong with one of Artifact Uprising's high-quality photo books. There are numerous design options, including preset books to celebrate the birth of a new baby or commemorating a marriage.

You can choose from lay-flat albums, books with photo strips and even softcover Instagram Friendly Books for the influencer in your life. The company even has an iPhone app that lets you create a photo book right from your smartphone. However, Rothman found the app to be glitchy at times and noted there's room for improvement with the software. Still, the books come out on top for elegance and simplicity .

One online reviewer wrote, "The fabric cover is beautiful. The photos are amazing quality and look amazing even though the photos were taken on film and therefore are a bit grainy." The overall 4.6-star rating (out of 5) backs up that review. Quality and elevated designs come with a higher price tag, but there are options for $20 or less if you're shopping on a budget.

If you have a special project and a little more money to spend, Artifact Uprising offers Design Services , which allow you to work one-on-one with an expert to bring your special moments to life. Just note that the design fee is rather steep at $119 and requires an additional $100 album deposit.

When Mixbook says it has "custom photo books for every occasion," it really means it. There are 374 different themed templates to choose from, including everything f rom travel and sports to weddings and recipes.

But that doesn't mean you have to give up creative control. You can still customize the look to your liking, from fun backgrounds to stickers to text using the Editor tool. Plus, there are plenty of paper varieties, from semigloss to ultra-thick matte.

Our testers appreciated the nice balance between good photo editing and price, but one did experience issues with the lay-flat option, in which the photos bled into the crease. You can also use the iPhone app to organize your photos with a tool that the brand calls "Automagic": Simply choose the images you want and select a theme. The goal of Automagic is to help arrange your camera roll so your photos are in order when it comes time to add them to your photo book.

If you're not sure where to start, our pros love Printique because it's super easy to use. You can select one of the many predesigned layouts or create an entire photo book from scratch.

Choose among portrait, landscape and square orientations, as well as hardcover and softcover options. You can even store your memories in a genuine leather or vegan leather book or pick from five different fabric colors. Although you can't choose the color for a hard- or softcover photo book, you can still customize the shape, size and paper type.

Looking for something more advanced? There'sa tool for professional photographers to design and create their own photo books. But if you want to keep things simple, consider starting with one of Printique's 4" x 4" Mini Softcover photo books , which have a maximum of 40 pages and come in three sizes.

Is Amazon Photos already your preferred destination for uploading photos? Then creating a photo book through its interface is an easy solution.

Similar to other photo book makers, you can create by occasion and size, or choose its 8" x 8" Premium Photo Book for a versatile option that has a laminated cover and lay-flat binding. There's also an option with standard binding at a lower cost, and all Amazon Prime members get free shipping . (Everyone else is eligible for free shipping with a minimum order of $15.)

In addition to photo books, you can shop large prints, calendars, cards and metal tabletops. There are fewer size and style options than most services when it comes to photo books, but the other photo product choices make up for the lack of available styles. After all, sometimes it's easier and quicker to have fewer options to choose from if you need to pull something together last-minute.

RELATED: 37 Best Personalized Gifts You Can Find on Amazon

With Pinhole Press, you can choose from various photo book styles ranging from board pages to softcovers to accordion-style setups. Upload your photos and let the system do the work, or manually place the photos into the layout yourself.

One of our testers says her kids love the Custom Board Books , which have themes such as " Count With Me ," " Healthy Habits " and " I Can Be Anything ." These photo books aren't just visually stimulating, but they can also educate and entertain kids for years to come .

"I got my daughter the ' My First Photo Book ' as a toddler and made it all about her — like pictures with family, doing things she likes, her favorite toys, at the playground and beach, etc. — and she still is obsessed with it," says GH Institute Executive Director Lexie Sachs .

We think he custom Photo Puzzle is a fun option for kids, and the Itty Bitty Books are easy to tote around in a work bag for on-hand entertainment. There's less variety in some categories, including Itty Bitty and hardcover books, but with so many additional photo categories other companies lack, there are still plenty of great options for kids.

RELATED: 12 Best Personalized Books for Kids

If you store your snaps in Google Photos, then Google's very own photo book maker might be the most convenient option for you. Even though there are no fancy designs, the process is seamless.

Choose from two options: a 7" x 7" softcover photo book or a 9" x 9" hardcover photo book. You can include between 20 and 140 pages, and you have the option to add a spine title if you hit more than 48 pages for a softcover or any number of pages for a hardcover.

Another hallmark of Google Photos is that you can make one photo book and order multiple copies to give to family members and friends who are also pictured in the photos. Since they come at an affordable price point, you could give everyone on your gift list a copy, whether you decide to create a collection of candid photos for your closest friends or a tangible memento of a fun family trip. Though there may not be as many designs and styles to choose from, that can make the customization process less daunting.

Chatbooks Custom Photo Books & Albums

"Set and forget it," one of our testers said about the ease of using Chatbooks, which markets itself as "ridiculously easy." You can upload images from Instagram, Flickr, Dropbox, Facebook or your computer and edit them on your desktop or via the app .

The service's Custom Photo Books & Albums option is great for families looking to personalize a family vacation , as you can choose colors, layouts, cover styles, collages, captions and more. Peruse its vast collection of more than 300 unique book covers, or shop the premium lay-flat and special occasion photo books.

You can also have fun with the Instagram and Facebook series — a 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" book with 60 pages — that lets you store your favorite social media posts in a tangible place to look back on for years to come.

Unique to Chatbooks is its subscription service, which allows you to receive a softcover, hardcover or mini photo book each month. If you and your family love taking photographs of walks in the park, weekend road trips or vacations, this service is ideal for getting your photos in your hands ASAP. One thing to note about the subscription option is that there are only two sizes available (5" x 7" and the monthly mini).

How we chose the best photo book makers

At the Good Housekeeping Institute , our pros in the Media & Tech Lab have been testing photo book makers for more than a decade . For this article, we referenced a robust test of photo book makers we completed in 2009 and ordered a round of new products to test in 2023. We also researched the latest updates and offerings to a variety of apps and services.

When choosing the best photo book makers, our Lab experts consider ease of use, performance and appearance . That means our pros take an in-depth look at a wide range of features, such as how easy it is to navigate the interface and add photos and text to the book; upload and delivery time; the number of styles, covers and templates offered; and the photo, paper and binding quality.

What to look for when shopping for the best custom photo book maker

Keep the following features in mind when choosing the right photo book maker website for your needs:

✔️ Size: Whether you're looking for a small photo book for kids or a much larger album to house snapshots from a long family vacation, there are regular, large and miniature photo book sizes available. It's best to think about how many photos you want to include and where you plan to store the album (i.e., will the book be too tall for your bookshelf or just right on top of your coffee table?).

✔️ Shape: Most photo books are rectangular or square in shape, but some companies also offer photo puzzles, calendars and tabletops to choose from too. The shape is really about aesthetic preference and the orientation you prefer for your photos.

✔️ Page count: Are you compiling 20 photos from your daughter's first-birthday party? Or are you putting together an anniversary album of pictures of you and your partner throughout the years? The number of pages determines the number of photos you can include in an album, so you have enough space to include everything.

✔️ Paper quality: This is probably a no-brainer, as the quality of material your photos are printed on is as important as the quality of the photos themselves. Although companies with higher-quality paper, like Artifact Uprising , may have a higher price tag, the extra money goes toward paper that won't lead to photos bleeding into the crease. But there are still services that are affordable and offer good-quality products, like our best value pick, Walmart Photo .

✔️ Binding quality: Some companies, like Google Photo , will add a binding to your photo album. This feature is especially important when considering the durability and longevity of your photo album. Whether it's a softcover, hardcover or lay-flat book, make sure the binding can withstand accidental drops and the wear and tear of passing the family album around at holiday parties.

✔️ Templates: If your photo album will have a certain theme or be centered around a specific occasion — or it's your first time using a photo book maker — choosing a service that has a variety of templates to choose from will let your creativity flow and also help you warm up to the design process.

✔️ Editing capabilities: When looking at beginner-level or more advanced designer tools, consider how robust or simple they are to use. Having lots of control over the interface is fun, but if you're looking for a more straightforward experience, opt for a service that does the majority of the decision-making for you or offers designer help, like Shutterfly .

What is the easiest way to make a custom photo book?

It really depends upon the service and your preference .

Although some online custom photo book makers also have an app, it can have limited functionality, be buggy or not as easy to use as the desktop equivalent. Often, an app makes it super simple to upload pictures from your phone (a major plus!) but doesn't allow as much flexibility for product assortment or editing once you've selected. That said, designing a photo book on your smartphone or tablet versus a desktop may come down to how many edits you intend to make .

If you plan to do a lot of editing, the non-app version on a larger screen would likely be your best choice. If you want to quickly make a book with limited changes, an app on your mobile device may be the way to go.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Elizabeth Berry is an updates editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute , where she ensures product reviews reflect accurate information. To update this guide, Elizabeth gathered notes from previous tests and researched the latest updates to our favorite services.

A previous version of this guide was written by Amina Lake Abdelrahman , a product review writer and editor who worked as an editorial assistant at the Good Housekeeping Institute from 2018 to 2020.

Elizabeth Berry is the editorial assistant for WomansDay.com, where she writes and edits lifestyle content. When she isn’t assisting with day-to-day editorial needs, Elizabeth is baking dairy-free cakes, reading books, or strolling through nature.

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One mom tried 5 digital photo book services: Here's how they compared

Remember photo albums -- books with clear plastic pockets that held your favorite photos to keep track of memories and memorialize a year of your life?

We don’t do that much anymore. When was the last time you even printed a picture?

But the joy of thumbing through a memory book of photos is still a thing, so services have sprung up online to turn your digital photos into bound books. While some have been around for decades, other newcomers have also come along. Prices and formats vary wildly, so how should you choose the right service for your images?

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"Good Morning America" asked mom Sheila Madrigal from Morgan Hill, California, to order photo books from 5 different services: Snapfish, Shutterfly, Mixbook, Amazon and Costco. She used the same 60 photos in all five books and tried to get the size and layouts of the books as similar as possible. The photos were taken with both her iPhone and DSLR camera.

After the books were created, ordered and arrived at Madrigal's house, we took them to Sam Hoffman of San Francisco’s Lightsource, a fine art print lab. While they don’t make print books at Lightsource, Hoffman evaluated the quality of the books.

Best Image Quality: Costco & Shutterfly

The primary factors Sam evaluated were contrast, warm skin tones, shadow detail, and saturation.

One of Madrigal’s photos showed her family in a field of yellow flowers, her husband Israel is tossing their daughter in the air. Both the Shutterfly and Costco books impressed him with how they handled the image.

In the Costco and Shutterfly books, the field had a rich golden color and skin tones were warm.

“I see the darkness of the blues. The separation of darkness and lighter colors,” said Hoffman.

He used that photo to judge two bottom performers in the image quality category, Snapfish and Amazon.

“There is a greyness in the flesh tones [Snapfish] and this one is the least vibrant of them all [Amazon],” he said.

Best Binding: Shutterfly

According to Hoffman, all the books used semi-matte paper, but the production from each company varied. In some books there was no cover page while others had sophisticated stamped paper in the cover and back page positions. Another difference was the binding. Some had a simple stitched binding that was visible between the pages, while others had stitched and glued binding that looked more sophisticated. Shutterfly’s book had a luxe cover page made of stamped paper, stitched and glued binding, as well as a back cover that was in a different color and design.

Ease of Creation: Snapfish

We let Sheila, who created the books, weigh in on this category. She said the Snapfish tool took her 20 minutes from start to finish to create the book. Uploads were fast, layout was simple and the user interface was intuitive. She ranked Mixbook, Shutterfly and Amazon slightly below Snapfish, but still easy to use.

She gave the Costco the lowest ranking in this category, complaining that the upload of her images took twice as long as some other sites. She said that when she used the Costco tool, it arbitrarily populated her book with the pictures she uploaded, but she had a specific order in mind and had to go back through the tool removing all the pictures then adding them back into the layout where she wanted them.

There was one more problem from the Costco book: it cut her baby's picture in half!

The online tool showed a picture of her three kids fitting on the page but when the printed book was inspected, the baby was only half visible. Sam explained that the image was placed too far into the center of the page, an area printers call the “gutter,” and the baby’s face was obscured. Sheila said it did not look like that in the online tool. Costco declined ABC News' request for comment.

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Least expensive: Amazon

The most expensive book was from Mixbook at $47.63. Shutterfly came in at $40.72 , Costco and Snapfish were a penny apart at $32.68 and $32.67, and Amazon had the least expensive book at $27.24.

One thing to consider with pricing is that many of these services offer outrageous deals on photobooks with special seasonal codes, sometimes 50 to 60% off.

Here’s a pro tip: keep a file of your favorite photos on your desktop, copy them in there as you take them each month, and when you see a killer deal come up, you’ll be able to create the book and nab a great keepsake at a fraction of the price.

Overall top pick: Shutterfly

Ranking ease of creation, image quality, price and the overall feel of the book’s production, Hoffman liked Shutterfly the best.

Our mom Sheila also liked Shutterfly the best, and resolved to make a memory book every year from now on.

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Google Photos: How to access, find, download, or delete pictures in Google's photo storage app

• Learning how Google Photos works can go a long way towards optimizing your photo storage.
• Google Photos lets you store, share, view, and edit photos and videos, and has additional AI tools.
• Google Photos users have access to 15GB of free storage, but can pay to upgrade their accounts.

Launched in 2015, Google Photos is Google's service for storing and sharing photos and videos.

It's a solid media backup system to have at your disposal. And, because it's a cloud-based tool, it can free up space on your phone. Plus, it works on both Android and iOS devices, as well as on your desktop computer.

Here's what to know about how Google Photos works, and how to get started:

How does Google Photos work?

Google Photos users can upload new photos and videos, and they can view, edit, save and create new videos, animations, collages, albums and photos books. Users can also download everything, meaning your cloud-based backup can itself be easily backed up onto your computer or external hard drive.

Google Photos is completely private, and the pictures you upload are visible only to you. Once you share your photos with others, however, they will also have access.

How do I access my Google Photos on iPhone and Android?

It's easy to access Google Photos on any device. Here's how: 

• Download Google Photos from the Google Play Store or iOS App Store .
• Open the app and log in with your Google account.
• Provide the permissions necessary to access your files and media in your phone's settings.

You can access all your stored photos in the Google Photos app. Open the Google Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android and tap the photos icon in the lower-left corner on your screen. Here you will find all your memories.

How do I download all my photos from Google photos? 

Downloading every photo from Google Drive is simple, but the option isn't accessible in Google photos. 

Google Takeout lets you download data from any Google's services. You can do this on your mobile as well as your computer. 

Here's how: 

• Go to Google Takeout  
• Click Deselect all. This ensures you're not downloading data from your entire Google account. 
• Check the box next to Google Photos , and click into "All photo albums included" if you want to choose which specific albums to download. Otherwise, Google Takeout will download everything in Google Photos.
• Once you are happy with your selection, select Next step to export. 

Quick tip: in your export settings, you can choose how often you want to download your Google photos. 

• Next, choose how you wish to download your photos.  
• Next, confirm the file type and size of your exported file, and click Create export when you're ready.

Why can't I see all my Google Photos?

If you are unable to access all your photos, you may not have enabled the permissions for Google Photos to back up your photos automatically. 

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Here's how you can check and fix the issue:

• Open up the Google Photos app and tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
• Select Google Photo settings , then select Backup . 
• Toggle the Backup button on to keep your photos backed up. 

Is Google Photos still free?

Google Photos has unfortunately ended its unlimited free storage policy. Every Google account comes with 15GB of free cloud storage shared across Google Drives, Google Photos, and Gmail — so any new photos and videos you upload to Google Photos will count toward the free 15GB of storage. 

To add more storage and save your high-quality images, users can upgrade using the Google One subscription plan, starting at $1.99 per month for 100GB.

Quick tip: If your device is running low on storage, Google Photos may not display all your photos so ensure you have sufficient space for all your images. 

Google Photos features an AI-powered assistant

Like many of Google's products, Google Photos has begun enhancing its services with new AI tools. 

In May 2024, Google announced it would upgrade Google Photos to incorporate its Gemini AI model to make it even easier for users to search through their galleries for memories or details. A new feature called Ask Photos will let users ask broad queries like, "Show me the best photo from every city I've visited," and the tool will instantly pull together a series of relevant images from their galleries.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated the feature at the Google I/O 2024 conference, asking the app, "What's my license plate number again?" The Ask Photos feature immediately provided a text response with the license plate number and a corresponding image.

Google Photos provides users with a lot of auto-generated extras, and additional AI editing tools will be available to all users without a subscription. 

Magic Eraser, PhotoUnblur, and Portrait light will allow users to make complex edits with simple actions, previously native to Android users. 

Historical features will remain. With Google Photos, you can also create photo-book collections, grouping together pictures based on factors like the date, people, and places featured. Users are given the option to print and ship those books (for a fee, of course). The Assistant will also take photos that were captured in rapid succession and turn them into GIFs (referred to as "animations"), while individual photos can be saved as motion photos — meaning they record video of a few seconds before and after you've taken the shot. These may also be known as Live Photos to iPhone users.

Google Photos has other smart features

Like Google Images , Google's search engine for photos, Google Photos has a robust search option that serves as a major draw for the platform. It lets you search for generic subjects, like "dogs" or "beach" to narrow your options, which is especially useful if you haven't yet sorted your pictures into albums.

It also gives you the option to identify different people in your photos by manually putting a name to the face. After that, pictures with those people are automatically sorted so you can later search for pictures featuring specific people. Similarly, you can also set it to create "live albums," which automatically populate with photos of friends and family members. For those looking to backup their physical photo prints, you can quickly 'scan' those to have them uploaded by taking a quick pic using your phone or other Photos-friendly device. And for those who photograph paper documents, Google Photos also lets you highlight desired sections of text, and even crop out backgrounds to make it easier to do things like upload and expense a receipt from a work trip. Google Photos is a powerful and versatile tool that requires little effort to use to its fullest. And, given the fact that it provides free, unlimited storage without sacrificing too much on photo and video quality, it can be a solid option for backing up your media files.

How to delete all photos from Google Photos

If you're frustrated by Google Photos' frequent reminders about purchasing more storage, you're not alone. Deleting mass quantities of photos from Google Photos — or even deleting your entire Google Photos account — is a hotly discussed topic on tech forums.

If you opt to delete Google Photos, proceed with caution: deleting batches of photos from the Google Photos mobile app will also delete them off your phone entirely — even in external storage applications like iCloud. Before you try deleting anything, make sure you remove Google Photos' access to your mobile device and native photo gallery.

On an iPhone, that process will look like this:

• Go to Settings , and scroll down to Google Photos.
• Under the menu that says "ALLOW GOOGLE PHOTOS TO ACCESS," tap Photos , then select None.
• Then, open up your Google Photos app on your iPhone, and turn off Backup by going into Google Photos settings , then toggling Backup off.

Now, to actually delete your photos from Google Photos, you'll have to get a little creative. Google Photos doesn't make it easy to delete all your photos at once; there's no "select all" option to click.

Instead, you'll have to use a workaround — the easiest way is to open up Google Photos on your web browser:

• In your Google Photos gallery, click on the grey checkmark at the top left-hand corner of your most recent batch of photos. The checkmark will automatically select all the photos from that date.
• Scroll down to the very bottom of the gallery until you reach your very first photo. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, and click that first photo. You should now see all your photos selected (if you have a lot of photos, you may need to work with smaller batches, rather than deleting your whole photo gallery all at once).
• Click the trash can icon in the top right-hand corner of the window, which will open up a pop-up warning. Click Move to trash.
• You can always test this method out on a smaller batch before deleting your full Google Photos gallery.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

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New google leak reveals major google photos sharing changes.

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Google Photos could soon offer much-improved sharing capabilities and easier cloud storage ... [+] management

Google Photos could soon offer much-improved sharing capabilities and easier cloud storage management, according to a new report.

As discovered by long-time software leaker Assemble Debug , and revealed in the video clips below from Android Authority , Google has begun testing a new Sharing Activity page that updates and improves the user experience when sharing photo albums and memories with others. The new page replaces the current Sharing page with a social media-inspired timeline view that details any likes, comments, or newly shared pictures in the order they arrive.

New Google Photos Social Media-Style Sharing Feed

This change would significantly depart from the current Sharing page, which presents a list of ‘conversations,’ one for each person you’ve previously shared images with. The current version operates like a messenger app (but with mostly pictures instead of text), but the proposed new version appears more like a list of notifications you might receive on an app such as Instagram. This doesn’t mean Google Photos is becoming a social media app based on gaining followers and maximizing engagement, but it should help people who are already connected share content more effectively.

At this point, it's unclear how you could return to the conversation-based view if you want to view all of your interactions with a particular person rather than scrolling through a timeline of interactions from everyone.

New Help For Clearing Out Storage On Google Photos

Also under test is a new storage management tool that updates the current “Review and delete” section of the “Manage storage” page with a handy progress bar.

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To help you reduce the amount of Google One storage you’re using, Google Photos will suggest items taking up space that you might want to delete. These are divided into categories such as large photos and videos, blurry photos and screenshots. Next to each category, the total amount of space you could get back is displayed. However, you’ll have to add up all of these values yourself if you want to see the total amount you could recover if you delete everything.

The new tool adds a horizontal progress bar that shows the maximum amount of storage you could recover and your progress toward that goal as you select individual items to delete.

Known for his regular revelations of unreleased software features, Assemble Debug has once again delved into code of the latest Google Photos to reveal features under test that aren’t widely available to users. It’s likely, but not certain, that these features will eventually receive a wider release, perhaps after further changes and refinements. I’ll report on further changes as they appear.

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You can play 'Tic-Tac-Toe' with your face: 5 wild AI features coming to Gemini-powered Chromebooks

I magine my surprise when Google new Gemini-powered Chromebook laptops — and demoed an AI feature in which one can use their face, yes you read correctly, face to play Tic-Tac-Toe.

And that just scratches the surface.

With Gemini, a ChatGPT rival, running the show on these new ChromeOS laptops, Chromebooks are more appealing than ever. Last week, the search-engine giant hosted a press event to showcase Gemini's capabilities on these new Chromebook Plus laptops — here are the features that stood out to me the most.

'Right click' to summarize lengthy articles

The new Chromebook Plus line, similar to the Copilot+ laptops Microsoft debuted last week, lets you access AI features with a simple right click.

For example, in the demo, a Google rep pulled up a Wikipedia article about the solar eclipse. He right-clicked the article, which pulled up a menu that included a "Help me read this page" option.

He clicked it, and in seconds, Gemini summarized the article in a brief, easy-to-understand paragraph that appeared on the right side of the page.

Edit photos with Google's 'Magic Editor' tool

Using a photo with the popular green Android mascot on it, a Google rep selected the green character by clicking on it. After hitting the SHIFT and "+" keys simultaneously, she was able to increase its size on the photo with the Magic Editor tool.

In other words, with Google's cloud-based AI, you can select any subject in a photo — and make them as large and small as you want (while the background still remains intact).

Use it to help you write Yelp reviews

You can also use Google Gemini to help you stimulate your thought process. For example, during the demo, Google briefly showcased how one can use Gemini to help write a Yelp review.

You can right-click the empty field, give it a prompt (e.g., "Help me write a review of the incredible lamb borek and amazing service"), and it will write the review for you. Of course, you're free to add and remove any part of the draft to make it sound more like you.

Brainstorm titles for your YouTube videos

Anyone who's ever launched a YouTube channel has likely been stumped in coming up with a title for their videos. I watched a Google rep, while poised to upload a video on YouTube, simply put "5 facts about ghost peppers" as her title.

With a quick right-click, however, Google Gemini stepped in to offer more eye-catching titles after being prompted to suggest something grabbier. One of the recommendations was, "5 facts about ghost peppers that will make you sweat." Haha! You have to admit — that's a good one.

Play Tic-Tac-Toe with your face

Google is currently testing an AI-focused accessibility feature that allows users to move the cursor with their face. People with disabilities, for example, can benefit from this feature, allowing them to navigate their Chromebook's display without using their hands.

To showcase how this feature works, a Google rep showed Mashable that he can play Tic-Tac-Toe, and place the O's in the right spot, by simply moving his face.

Again, this accessibility feature is currently in the experimentation phase, but I was told users can play around with it by entering "chrome://flags/" in the Google Chrome address bar before typing in "facegaze."

Record gameplay with a video overlay of yourself

This isn't an AI feature, but I thought it was cool enough to add it to the list to help you get an understanding of the helpful suite of Chromebook Plus features.

If you've ever wanted to stream your gameplay with a video overlay of yourself, but you don't how how to do it, Google is making it easy for you.

On a Chromebook Plus laptop, while playing Honkai: Star Rail , a Google rep was able to screen record her gameplay while showing her reactions throughout the experience with a little camera bubble. Because you're already logged into your Google account, something that Chromebooks require, you can easily upload it to YouTube in a flash.

List of Chromebook Plus laptops

If this list got you pumped for Gemini-powered Chromebook Plus laptops, here's a list of them that are hitting the market:

• Acer Chromebook Plus 514
• Acer Chromebook Plus 516
• Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714
• Asus Plus Expertbook CX54

Google said that Chromebook Plus laptops come with 12 months of the Google One AI Premium plan at no additional cost, which includes Gemini Advanced, 2TB of storage, as well as Gemini integration in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more.

Mashable is set to review the Chromebook Plus Spin 714, which has an MSRP of $749.99. As of this writing, though, it's $699 at Best Buy.

Chromebook Plus laptops: Outlook

These new slate of AI features are rolling out today. (The summary feature, called "Help Me Read," is expected to enter into "preview" later this year.)

Keep in mind that the Gemini-powered Chromebook Plus laptops, unlike Microsoft's Copilot+ devices , do not have an NPU (a processor that is dedicated to running AI tasks). As such, most, if not all, of the aforementioned announced features run on the cloud.

With Microsoft and Google making big steps to integrate AI into their hardware, we wonder what Apple has in store for consumers. It's reportedly in talks with OpenAI to catch up with the AI race. Perhaps we'll hear more at WWDC .