For those who consider themselves crafty, we have some great ideas on how to make a boudoir book at home. I know and would prefer to take things into your own hands and DIY a boudoir book at home. I don?t recommend a DIY here unless you really love doing things yourself.
Of course, we recommend using our lab for creating boudoir books. The benefit of working with your photographer to design and purchase your album is that we have experience and understand how images and spreads go together.
If you are choosing the DIY route, make sure you can purchase the high-resolution files that you want.??
Here are some tips on how to make a boudoir book at home.
Choose your favorite boudoir photos.?
Add variety with a mix of both candid and posed pics, plus pics of the decor. Trust your gut when you do the first pass over your image.? I like to have four folders ready when clients come in for their reveal. Album, Wall Art, Maybe and Nope. Those should be self-explanatory.? On your first look put your absolute favorite into the album folder. Put any you don?t love in the Nope folder. No need to overthink it. How many portraits do you want to have in each outfit??
Design and Layout
Start by imagining that you are reading a book with little to no text – you have to tell the story in pictures. At first pass, you may have just picked the ones that had maximum impact.? But what about the other ones – the ones that might fill in the parts of the story between those showstoppers? The more quiet or gentle images.?
Remember that you are telling a story with pictures. You don?t have to keep them in the order that they were taken. Think like a storyteller.? Which images should start and end this album? What images would look good in sequence? Create sections – each page or spread should be one part of the story. Mix the mood. Of course, put your favorite images in there, but also make sure you include variety.? Capture the many sides of you -they should work altogether.?
Page layouts are next. You can make each image full page or smaller. I want to let each photograph stand on its own and not get too cluttered by squeezing a lot of images into one page – so we average laying out an album with 1-2 photographs per spread. Some pages and spreads will be big, or you can use the white space to give the eye rest. Lay out the images so that the sizing and eye lines feel right on each spread. Watch out for the centerfold of each page spread – is it cutting your face or your body in half in a weird way??
We like to include black and white and color images into an album, but rarely on the same page or spread.? Keeping the design of each spread consistent.
Don’t forget any detail images (like your wedding ring for example if this is a bridal boudoir session) that personalize the album. Coming in for a close-up and then moving back for a full length give the viewer variety and keeps them interested.???
Choose a boudoir book style
Difference between a photo album and a photo book.?
Album is a hand made and carefully bound with photographs printed directly on each page. Albums lay flat and usually have a wider variety of cover options. Photo books are printed on paper and are less expensive than creating albums. Album pages are created with? – more vibrancy and longer-lasting.?
Binding and cover – albums are bound with higher quality and assembled by hand and can be customized per order.??
Choose what size you want for your boudoir book.?
?If you want an album or boudoir book to be tucked away a bedside table, something smaller than 12? works well.? Of course, it depends on the size of your bedtime table drawers, I guess. If you want something bigger, and an impressive gift, the 10?10 or 12?12 are a great choice.? If you have a lot of vertical or portrait images, an 8.5?11 portrait size book may work best to prevent any cropping of your images. Most of our client albums and boudoir books are 8×12 with 20 spreads. The more images you want in your album, the more pages you will need in your book – it?s not worth cramming more images onto fewer pages, trust me. The most beautiful and elegant boudoir books let each image or You want the images to stand on their own without too much clutter. Figure on 3 ? 4? images per spread, knowing that some spreads will have more or less.
Customize your boudoir book with an inscription
The year, the date of your anniversary (if it?s a gift for another person), your initials, your favorite poem, your favorite song lyrics – all of these can work for an inscription.? If you are the kind of person who freezes when expected to write something – don?t worry. Your boudoir images will speak for themselves. A special message, quotes,?
Cropping margins
Full bleed (when your images go all the way to the edge of the page with no page margin) looks beautiful. If you know how to do it so that nothing important gets cropped.? Make sure you know how much your lab will trim each side so you don?t end up cropping out any of the important parts of the image.?
Album Companies
How to choose an album – so many things to consider! First and foremost for me is the feel.? Boudoir is about being tactile, being touched and feeling – the best quality album to display your beautiful images.? Spoiler alert – it?s not Shutterfly.??
Image surface ?- deep matte gives a velvety feel, luster or pearl is slightly shiny but still won?t be too shiny.? Glossy is obviously glossy.??
Cover material?
Leather and silk are the most popular for our albums.? We also offer velvet – and we are back to the feel and the tactile quality of what an album feels like when you hold it in your hands.? It should feel beautiful and luxurious and worthy of attention.??
Boudoir Photo Books
Nations Photo Lab
But wait, you aren?t into albums?
Why not nest prints in a beautiful custom box?
Or try a few matted prints in small frames for the bedside table?
Check out our guide on fun and sexy ideas to give boudoir photography as a gift.??
The modern muse boudoir philosophy
We hope you enjoyed our ideas on how to make a boudoir book at home. If interested in booking boudoir photography in Boston with Modern Muse, please be sure to contact us, or call (617) 942-1449.
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