3 Photo Book Mistakes (even professionals make)
I am not perfect. I am human. And when I make mistakes, I own them. At least in my business. And now, in my personal life too.
The other day, our 2024 Year in Review photo book arrived… and I opened it with much excitement. And then? Immediate disappointment.
Not a disaster in the grand scheme of life. But for me? It felt like a triple whammy.
Mistake #1: The Binding
I ordered the book with traditional binding instead of hinged lay-flat.
If you’ve ever printed a high page-count book, you know exactly what that means: the dreaded hump in the center. Photos disappear into the gutter and spreads don’t sit flat.
I specifically use lay-flat for this reason for all of my book. I truly HATE the hump! I’ve tested numerous printers and I’ve adjusted my margins and design settings to allow for a tighter inside margin and for photos to cross the inside seam. So, if a book doesn’t lay flat, content is lost in that dreaded gutter.
And yet, in a rush (no idea why I was rushing), I clicked the wrong button and the book was printed with traditional binding.
Cue the sinking feeling when I opened the book.
Mistake #2: The Crop
In one group photo of my daughter and her friends… I cropped her out.
Not entirely. I mean, her nose is showing! But three friends are fully visible and my daughter is reduced to just her left eye and her nose (it is a cute nose 😊).
In the grand scheme of things? The photo is fine. But still, how does a photo-book-mom crop out her own child?!
This book felt like a punch to the gut.
Three mistakes. One project.
Mistake #3: The Resolution
This one hurt.
I design in Adobe InDesign, and for another recent project, I had adjusted my export settings to compress my file so that I could email it to a few teammates. Unfortunately, I forgot to switch those settings back.
So I uploaded a low-resolution file to the printer without realizing it and then sent the book to print (let’s just say that the compressed file was ~17,000 kb, and full res was over 300,000 kb – BIG difference!).
When I received my book, the results weren’t pretty. Everything from the cover to all the interior pages were super pixelated and I couldn’t figure out why. Then, I had that ‘Oh crap - that’s right! Those darn settings didn’t get switched back!’
Handling the mistakes
All will be fixed (actually, by the time of this blog going live, the new book is already in hand), but not before I beat myself up a bit. But here’s the part that matters: I’ve designed and printed over 100 books in the last decade. So this is not new territory for me. And still, mistakes happen.
Why do these mistakes happen?
Well, because creative work has a thousand tiny decision points. 1,000 decisions that can make the difference between the perfect book and the disaster book. Because printing is technical. Because rushing, even slightly, breaks systems. Because we are human.
Imagine just wanting to do one photo book a year or just every once is a while
The emotional weight is heavier. The time investment feels enormous. And when something goes wrong, it can feel like confirmation of the story in your head:
“See? This is why I shouldn’t bother.”
“This is too much hassle. It’s not worth it.”
“I never want to do this again!”
Please don’t let that be the takeaway!
The value of these books is not in their technical perfection. It’s in their presence.
They get pulled off of shelves.
They live on our coffee tables.
They get flipped through on quiet Sunday afternoons.
They become part of the rhythm of a home.
Our kids, family, and friends will remember the year… the faces, the milestones and the ordinary Tuesday moments that would have otherwise disappeared into a camera roll.
Lesson Learned: Every single one of my mistakes traced back to the same thing: I rushed.
Yep - I was working quickly and for some unknown reason was rushing. Creative work doesn’t reward urgency. It rewards attention. These books hold a year of our lives. They deserve a clear head and an extra day.
The irony isn’t lost on me, I tell clients all the time not to rush design or production. Apparently I needed that reminder too.
So here are my words of wisdom, and maybe it’s something you can take away too:
Slow down at the final step.
Double check the settings.
Pause before clicking submit.
This work matters. Treat it like it does.
All fixed and sitting on my coffee table. Happy to have the patience and ability to take care of this - without too much stress. Now I have a, “what-not-to-do” example…
Do you have a disaster project you want to share? I’m all ears! We can support each other with our lessons learned. As long as you keep going with your creative projects and don’t give up!
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