Choosing Your Photographer

Choosing Your Albums

Taking Care of Your Albums

Choosing Your Albums

Your wedding is captured in a day, but your photographs need to last a lifetime. Professionally-crafted albums showcase and preserve your memories. Custom albums are available for every taste and budget, but making a good decision means understanding the options in terms of quality, construction, presentation and materials. A sure way to reduce the confusion is to enlist the services of a professional photographer. By using a pro you gain access to high-end albums sold directly to photographers.

[See: Tips for choosing your photographer ]

Here’s a brief guide to facilitate your decision making…

Invest in a Quality, Professional Album
Whichever choices you’re leaning toward, buy the highest quality you can afford. Professional albums come in a variety of shapes and sizes and accommodate a wide range of photo sizes. In a professional album the photos are mounted on the page; the cover, spine and back are a sturdy one-piece construction; and the pages are rigid with a protective coating unlike magazine-style or coffee-table style books.

Avoid acetate page coverings which can cause glare, discoloration and deterioration. Also stay away from “post-bound” or “pin hinge” page assembly in which the pages form the album spine.

A high-end album is not complete without a professional cover design and artistic page layouts. Make sure your photographer can provide the design expertise to create the album of your dreams.

There are three basic ways albums are built: Mounted Album, Photo Book and Assembly Album.

~ Mounted Albums – Panorama and Matted Styles ~

Higher quality albums feature permanently “mounted” photos. The photographer sends the digital files or photos to a professional album binding company like Zookbinders. The printed photos are individually adhered to their base pages. With mounted albums, you can then choose between Panorama (also called Flush) and Matted styles.

Panorama/ Flush-style albums feature photos that span both sides of the album (“panorama”) and extend to the edges of the pages (“flush”) with a narrow gutter in the center of the album. Zookbinders offers an award-winning album called the Zook Book®, which provides benefits coffee table books cannot. The Zook Book® is constructed with thick, durable lay-flat album pages featuring a tiny 1/16” gap that virtually eliminates the gutter for a seamless presentation across both pages. What’s more, the album has the look and feel of a traditional wedding album with rounded corners, gilded edges, leather cover and the option of full-cover imagery with our Reflectionz™ photo cover.

Matted albums feature photos that are individually mounted into recessed openings, giving a three-dimensional look to your pages. The framing effect of the Matted album lends a classic, elegant look to your photos.

~ Photo Books ~

Photo Books feature many of the qualities of mounted albums, but not all of the added features and are generally sold at a more attractive price tag. The PhotoBook by Zookbinders™ is distinguished by customized wraparound photo covers (not book jackets), lay-flat pages, and pocket sizes to fit in small spaces and small budgets. The PhotoBook makes an ideal purse book, parent book, engagement book, honeymoon book, or all-occasion memory book to complement the Zook Book or Matted Album, or stand on its own.

~ Assembly Albums ~

For assembly albums the photographer orders the album cover and pages and inserts the photographs while assembling the album. This method is less expensive; however, over time the seals can dry out and cause the album to come apart. Zookbinders does not produce assembly albums. However, we do offer the Zook Box® which makes it easy to view, change and store photos.

Special Features

Some of the special options for your album include cover designs, leather styles, and gilded edges.

Covers. The final touches to your album are what formulate the first impression when setting eyes on your album. Features for both contemporary and classic tastes include:

• Reflectionz™: Zookbinders offers a striking full-cover image with a unique reflective glow that makes your imagery pop off the album cover (available for larger size Zook Books).
• Cameos: This is a photo inset into your album cover that makes an inviting presentation.
• Cover imprinting: You can personalize your album with your names and wedding date imprinted on the cover. Zookbinders uses an italic font, and offers black, silver, gold or branded (blind embossed) imprinting.

Leathers. Sure, it says genuine leather—but don’t stop there. Leathers come in a variety of styles, colors and quality levels. Zookbinders’ standard leathers have a “pebbled” texture and offer the option to upgrade to one of the following:

• Glove: Soft, supple leather similar to that used in fine gloves
• Distressed: Luxurious top grain leather with a two-tone, burnished, old world appearance
• Napa: Softer leather with a “warm and fuzzy” feel

If your budget is stretched, there are some very nice looking simulated leathers on the market. Like genuine leathers, they are available in a variety of colors.

Gilding. You can choose to have your page edges finished with a decorative foil called gilding, which lends an elegant look to your album. Gilding is available in a choice of colors, typically black, silver and gold. At Zookbinders, the gilding is enhanced with hand-sanded, rounded page edges. When evaluating sample albums, be sure to look for pages with smoothly gilded edges.

Click here for a Catalog (pdf)