I Found the Easiest Way to Turn My Camera Roll Into Nice-Looking Albums
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Ever since I was a child, I have loved going through my parents’ and grandparents’ old picture albums. Creating the equivalent now from iPhone photos can feel impossible, though, because you’re often going through months or years of photos and then having to choose just the right shot from among a dozen that all look the same. I’ve found that the way to make this less of a hurdle is with Chatbooks’ subscription service. Having aphoto booksent to me regularly throughout the year gets me to streamline and actually enjoy my photos much more. It’s a bit like my monthly Reformer Pilates membership that guilts me into going frequently since I’ve already paid.
I’ve had the monthly mini-subscription for over a year. For $10 a month, I get a five-by-five-inch softcover book. It is incredibly easy to use, even for the least tech-inclined of us. You download the app and then just click and add the photos — up to 60 per mini-book — you want to print. You can rearrange the order, choose a cover photo, crop, and zoom into images to get it to your exact liking. I confess I don’t bother making any changes and do it in a haphazard way that requires no effort and ends up being more fun.
If a book a month sounds like too many books, Chatbooks also has options for getting a book bimonthly or quarterly, in slightly larger sizes (six inches by six inches, five by seven, and eight by eight). The app automatically stores your books if you need to reorder, and it also turns each month into a mini-movie you can save or send to family and friends.
The books are compact and great quality, with a glossy (but not tacky) finish and hold up well to lots of handling by my children and their friends. I love that my children slow down when looking through these books and stop and discuss the pictures and recall holidays and time spent with different people and in different places. I can imagine multiple other uses for these books — sending them along to school for a toddler dealing with separation for the first time, or to camp for a child who gets homesick; or making picturebooks with familiar faces as the characters for your kids.
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More ways to get your pictures out of your phone
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Engrave your favorite picture for a personalized keepsake.
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Best (less expensive) digital frame to see your memories.
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