Let your cell phone pics see the light of day — Shutterfly photo books are on sale!
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How many photos do you have stored on your phone’s camera roll, where they barely see the light of day? I have thousands. I’ve been traveling the world for five years, and I have so many beautiful shots that no one ever sees, including me. I’m sure anyone whose smartphone is their primary camera can relate — and that means practically everyone.
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to browse old family photo albums, flipping through plastic-protected pages to relive holiday celebrations and look into the eyes of relatives I never had the chance to meet. When we returned from a vacation, we’d have albums to hand to visitors instead of just stories about our trip.
None of that exists anymore. If someone asks about my world travels, I might have to give them the password to my iCloud account! (Just kidding — never do that.)
This is the year I’m finally getting all the best photos off my phone and into physical albums. Modern photo books, like the ones from Shutterfly, are all the incentive I need. These are not your mother’s sticky, five-pound monstrosities. Shutterfly produces the most elegant, custom-made photo books in which your digital images are printed directly onto thick pages in their original, high-resolution quality. There are tons of styles and formats to choose from! You just pick the photos and upload them from your phone to Shutterfly.com, and they do the rest. The book is in your hands in about a week!
Right now, Shutterfly is offering 20 percent off all photo book purchases until August 22 with code EXTRA20. And if you order from now till August 18, you can also add unlimited standard photo book pages for free by using code UNLIMITED at checkout.
Imagine filling your bookcases with photo albums of your family birthday parties, your summer vacations and all the life milestones that are hiding inside your mobile device. Here are just a few of the amazing photo book styles I’m considering from Shutterfly, and a few I think anyone would love for immortalizing everyday memories. Inspired? Make sure to order soon and save!
Travel Memories Photo Book
I’ve lived and worked in dozens of countries. Honestly, it will take several photo albums for me to really do my adventures justice. I particularly like the style of this book because the design looks so clean and modern: the pictures speak for themselves. Words and phrases like “Explore” and “Adventure” add pops of visual interest and color.
As with all Shutterfly photo books, the layout is completely customizable — in fact, everything about the album is. I can choose hard cover, soft cover or even a premium leather cover. Sizes vary from 8x8 to 12x12. Even the binding comes in one of three options: standard or two different options in which the pages lay more flat. It’s pretty incredible.
Shop it: Travel Memories Photo Book, starting at $15 (was $20), shutterfly.com
Family Favorites by Lure Design Photo Book
Looking for a modern-day family album? This is the one. The cover showcases two of your favorite family photos on a neutral background, and inside you can choose from a variety of graphics and hand-drawn embellishments and sentiments that are exclusive to this photo book style. You can even opt to pepper it with sweet phrases and captions.
A lot of my family’s old photos — a few dating back to the very early 1900s — are still in good condition but at risk of degrading because those dilapidated pages aren’t holding up. I love the idea of scanning all those precious photos into digital files, then uploading them to Shutterfly.com and making brand new photo albums with them! That way they’ll stay in great shape for generations to come without fading or discoloration. Then we can stash the originals in an airtight container.
Shop it: Family Favorites by Lure Design Photo Book, starting at $20 (was $26), shutterfly.com
Chic Celebrations by Float Paperie Photo Book
Shutterfly has photo books for all kinds of celebrations — weddings, birthdays, graduations and more — but I love this one because you can customize it to any celebration. It can capture a Thanksgiving dinner or a July 4th cookout or even your cat’s adoptaversary! And the pages are covered in a playful polka-dot theme.
Shutterfly albums include 70 to 111 paper pages, depending on the option you choose. Some styles come with double-thick satin finish pages. Others offer the option for rounded corners and gilded edges. And remember that you get unlimited free pages right now with checkout code UNLIMITED.
Shop it: Chic Celebrations by Float Paperie Photo Book, starting at $20 (was $26), shutterfly.com
Pet Lover Photo Album
We all have baby albums; why not our fur babies, too? Shutterfly makes this photo book exclusively for dogs and cats, and I give it four enthusiastic paws up! Emblazoned with cute phrases like “wet noses and wagging tails” and “time for a walk,” the album even has an “about me” section for your pet’s bio.
If you’re not the best at choosing a custom photo book layout, let the experts at Shutterfly do it for you. You always have the option of designing your own pages from the service’s templates, but the brand’s Make My Album service lets you upload all the photos you want in the album, and then a Shutterfly designer will make it for you. Feel free to include instructions or tips about what you like. You can even review and edit the album before it’s printed and shipped to you.
Shop it: Pet Lover Photo Album, starting at $15 (was $20), shutterfly.com
Watercolor Year in Review Photo Album
Got one year that particularly stands out? This photo book from Shutterfly gives you the opportunity to create a photo book of highlights from each year if it's easier to organize all your images that way. And the colorful layout is just so much fun. Add cute captions and quotes to this fully customizable album.
Shop it: Watercolor Year in Review Photo Album, starting at $15 (was $20), shutterfly.com
And these are just five of my favorite photo books — there are so many more to choose from at Shutterfly! Order yours and get 20 percent off right now. Then enjoy reliving your memories easily whenever you want with a photo album you can hold in your hands and pass through generations — just like it used to be, but better.
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