How to Make a Vacation Photo Album

If you love to chronicle your vacations through photographs, keeping the images stored in boxes or developer's envelopes may prevent your family from enjoying them. Discover how to print, organize and incorporate the pictures into an album that you'll treasure for years to come. Our guide, How to Make a Vacation Photo Album, will also show you how to record the feelings and memorabilia that accompany the memories.
Vacation Album Tips
1. Be selective about the photos you print. Only output the images that best represent your vacation memories and back up the rest on compact disc.
2. Print images with a photo-quality printer, take your camera's memory device to a photo lab or upload photo files to an online developing service.
3. Buy an archival quality photo album that will accommodate the number of photos you've printed.
4. Write about additional vacation memories on acid-free cardstock to include with the photos.
5. Organize the photos and memorabilia you'd like to include in the album chronologically or into categories.
6. Add items to the album, leaving a few empty spots for additional photos.
7. Label the album spine and decorate the cover with stickers, stamps or a decorated tag, if desired.

Introduction
- Whether your last vacation was relaxing, adventurous, romantic or filled with family fun, you've probably amassed an assortment of photos that document the sights, sounds and experiences. Compile your pictures and even some memorabilia and written memories in an album that will let you relive your travels with every turn of the page.Money and Values: Free Souvenirs
Step 1: Preview Your Vacation Photos
- Select the images that best represent the memorable moments from your trip to avoid printing every image on your camera's memory card.
1. Download the contents of your camera's Compact Flash, Secure Digital card or memory stick onto your computer hard drive before you attempt to delete images from the card.Steve's Digicams: Types of Flash Memory Cards This way, you'll have a back up in case you accidentally delete a "keeper."
2. Study the images and delete any poor-quality shots. If the only shot you have of that once-in-a-lifetime vacation memory is dark, out of focus or overexposed, however, you may still want to keep it for posterity.
3. Keep only the images that best represent each memorable moment, sightseeing excursion or activity. If you have several shots of the same sight or event, delete the ones that are near duplicates.
4. Back up all of the images (particularly those that you're not printing) onto archival quality compact discs and use an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop to create an index print of the images.Delkin: Archival Storage DiscsePhotoZine: How to Make an Index Print Store the discs and index prints in a safe place away from your printed photos in the event of a computer malfunction, flood or fire. Consider keeping the discs in a fireproof safe, a safety deposit box or at a relative's house.
- Note: If you use a film camera instead of digital, find a photo lab that only requires you to pay for the images you want to keep since you can't "preview" a roll of film before it's developed. Ask for an index print of all the pictures in case you want to make additional prints from the negatives later.
Step 2: Print the Images
- Choose the most convenient and inexpensive method to output the vacation shots to include in your photo album.
Choose a Printer
1. Get instant results by buying a photo-quality printer for your home. A portable model will print 4 x 6 inch images to fit in standard photo sleeves and also allow you to preview and print them directly from your digital camera's memory card.Epson: Portable Picturemate Zoom Opt for a large-format printer if you'd like to print enlargements of group shots or picturesque vacation sights up to 13 x 19 inches.Canon: Pixma Large Format Photo Printer
2. Take your camera's memory device to a photo lab or chain store with a photo developing service like Target or Costco to print the images if you'd rather not buy a dedicated photo printer.Target: Find a Photo Center Costco: Photo Services
3. Upload your photo files to an online developing service like Shutterfly that will print the pictures and mail them to your home for added convenience. You can also use the site to share your vacation shots with family and friends.Shutterfly: Online Photo Processing
Aim for Longevity
1. Be sure you or the photo lab outputs your photos on archival quality paper that's fade resistant and compatible with the specific printer being used.HP: Choosing Photo Paper
2. Choose a matte or glossy photo finish. Although the colors on glossy photos seem to "pop" a little more, the shiny surface will also make fingerprints more prominent.
3. Ensure the ink you're using is compatible with the printer and photo paper if you're printing photos at home. Using ink cartridges recommended by the printer's manufacturer can prevent smudges and ensure you get true colors and the best possible images.
4. When printing at home, also follow your specific printer model's instructions to adjust the picture quality (such as its brightness, sharpness and saturation), choose decorative borders or crop the image, for example.
Step 3: Buy a Photo Album
- Purchase an archival safe photo album to organize, display and preserve your snapshots.
Select a Style
1. Choose an album that houses one photo per page or holds images in a 2-up format if you don't have many pictures and souvenirs to store.FindGift.com: Vacation Album for Single Photos ArchivalUSA: Spiral-bound 2-up Photo Album
2. Consider a 3-up expandable album that will allow you to add sleeves to accommodate the number of vacation photos you've printed.ArchivalUSA: Expandable 3-up Photo Album
3. Use an 8.5 by 11 inch 3-ring binder if you'd like to incorporate both 4 x 6 inch photos and enlargements, as well as big pieces of memorabilia like travel brochures, airline tickets, take out menus or panoramic postcards.American Crafts: Archival 3-ring Binders This will allow you to store both 8.5 x 11 inch page protectors and photo sheets in the same album to accommodate an assortment of items.ClearBags.com: 8.5 x 11 inch page protectors ClearBags.com: Photo Sheets for 4 x 6 inch photos
Consider Archival Safety
1. Whatever type of photo album you choose, ensure the materials are acid-free and archival quality to properly preserve the photos and slow their deterioration over time.Memories and Nostalgia: Importance of Archival Quality Materials
2. Buy polypropylene page protectors or photo sleeves that are PVC-free to protect the images. The proper storage materials and conditions can keep photos from fading and paper goods from turning yellow and brittle. Avoid using magnetic photo albums with harmful adhesive pages, for example.Ancestry.com: Proper Ways to Preserve Photos and Memorabilia
Step 4: Organize Pictures and Memorabilia
- Prevent endless rearranging by organizing your photos (and pairing them with any flat vacation souvenirs) before you start filling the album.
1. Gather all of your printed photos, along with any flat memorabilia you'd like to save like ticket stubs, receipts, pamphlets or business cards. (If you want to include bulky memorabilia, consider taking a picture of the objects to include in your album.)
2. Consider treating any paper goods like pamphlets, coasters or receipts with deacidification spray to preserve the items and prevent acid migration that can harm your photos over time.ArchivalUSA: Deacidification Spray Maine.gov: What Is Acid Migration?
3. Put your photos in an order that will tell the story of your vacation chronologically or divide the adventure into different categories. Try sections for meals, accommodations, activities and sightseeing, for example.
4. Record your thoughts about the vacation with a photo-safe pen on acid-free cardstock trimmed into 4 x 6 inch pieces to fit into the photo sleeves. Also hand the writing duties over to your family members to capture the memories that you didn't catch on film.Sakura: Archival Quality Pens CardstockHeadquarters.com Acid-free Cardstock
Step 5: Place Items in the Album
- Tell the story of your vacation by placing images, memorabilia and notes into album for your family to enjoy.
1. Begin the album with a dated photo (such as an image with your vacation location and dates carved in the sand) or a piece of cardstock with the information added with a photo-safe pen or rubber stamps and archival safe inks.Hero Arts: Alphabet Stamps Tsukineko: Archival Safe Ink Pads
2. Place photos, memorabilia and slips of journaling into the photo sleeves in the order you've previously chosen. Handle the photos by the edges to prevent fingerprints. If you're concerned that oils from your hands may transfer to the photos, consider wearing protective gloves as you work.USRecording: Photo and Document Handling Gloves
3. Leave spots open in each section if you plan to get additional vacation photos from family or friends. It's better to have extra sleeves that you can fill with additional tidbits or decorative accents than to have to repeatedly remove and rearrange existing photos.
Step 6: Add Embellishments
- Express your creativity by adding scrapbook-style accents to your pages if you'd like an extra decorative touch.
1. Label the spine of the album so you'll be able to easily spot it on a bookshelf. Consider using letter stickers to list the location and date. You can also try alphabet stamps or applying decorative rub-ons with a blunt stick.American Crafts: Decorative Rub-ons A labeled metal-rimmed tag affixed with double-stick tape or a colorful piece of ribbon is also effective.
2. Embellish the cover if desired. If you didn't purchase an album already adorned with a vacation theme, add a cluster of vacation-related accents or a decorated tag to the bottom-right corner.HelloTraveler.com: Vacation-themed Photo Albums Scrapbook.com: Vacation-themed Embellishments
3. Decorate the pieces of cardstock that feature your journaling with inks, stickers or small images clipped from brochures or the index prints from your vacation photos.
4. Add borders to the page protectors with rub-ons or images stamped with solvent ink that won't smear or harm the photos.Tsukineko: StazOn Solvent Ink Pads
Conclusion
- Creating a comprehensive photo album that showcases your vacation memories doesn't have to be a daunting task. With a little organization and the proper acid- and lignin-free album, photo sleeves, pens and embellishments, your family can enjoy your photos for generations to come.Scrapbook.com: Why Are Acid-Free and Lignin-Free Important?