Remember the 80's when we used to excitedly pore over post-vacation Kodak film photos? Ahh, the sheer joy of it all. Forward to the present time when we take gazillions of photos with our phones and digital cameras and these photos end up gathering dust in our SD cards. Thanks to album making services like Photobook, these photos can be creatively made into photobooks and other memorabilia. Photobooks will provide you lots of nostalgic memory trips when you are already in your golden years. Trust me on this one--travel and make photobooks while you are relatively young!

I've been a big fan of Photobook since I made my first ever travel book. With imagination, minimal design skills and patience, I was able to make travel books that I can relish over again...relieve joyful  memories over and over again.

Budget wise, I usually wait for Photobook promotions and discounts before buying my vouchers. I usually sync my voucher purchases with scheduled travels since these vouchers have an expiry date. While your travel memories are still fresh in your mind, it is best to buckle down immediately on your computer and start making page lay-outs. Selecting photos can be tedious but it is best to pick the ones that speak to you the loudest. Also, have a theme and color scheme in mind and choose your lay-outs, fonts and caption styles accordingly. I usually consult an online color scheme generator and online color picker to make the design process easier especially when selecting scrapbook color backgrounds and accents. Photobook has a limited menu of scrapbook elements and backgrounds so I suggest that you upload your own if you want your design to look more cohesive. 

Photobook covers are the trickiest to make! Choose a simple photo that has lots of negative space so you can create a stunning book title overlay with your chosen font. With a simple background, the beauty of your typography comes to life. 

Also, when taking travel photos, remember the Photobook goal in mind. Take photos like you would imagine them in a page lay-out. Make a shot list of photos with negative spaces, panoramas, macro, landscape and motion photos. A variety of photography styles will mutually enhance the type of page lay-out you will choose.

Use a font that will enhance the style of your lay-out. I used Tantinotes font, an easy breezy handwritten font that's perfect for a beach themed photobook.