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A photographic album or photo album, is a series of photographic prints collected by an individual person or family in the form of a book. Some book-form photo albums have compartments which the photos may be slipped into; other albums have heavy paper with an abrasive surface covered with clear plastic sheets, on which surface photos can be put. Older style albums often were simply books of heavy
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
on which photos could be glued to or attached to with adhesive corners or pages.


History

The oldest photograph albums in the collection of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
in Washington, D.C. are from the 1850s. Early family photo albums were often displayed in the home. "Families who could only afford a couple of pictures would put them into an album, to which other family members would add theirs."


Coffee table books / photo-books

Coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and from which it can serve to inspire convers ...
s get their name from the intended purpose of being placed on a coffee table for the entertainment of guests.
Coffee table books A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hardcover, hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a coffee table, table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and from which it can ...
are
photo-book A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book. Early Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...
s, and come in various sizes from very small to very large. They are printed books with soft and thin pages like normal books. A coffee table book is typically larger and is bound in a hard cover, whereas a smaller photo book is normally bound in a soft cover. The print quality of photo books varies from photographic paper prints to inkjet prints on normal paper.


Digital photo books

Digital photo books have digitally printed pages as opposed to albums that consist of traditional photos. Both flush-mount albums as well as coffee table books are printed digitally. The photos of flush mount albums are printed on photographic paper, which is comparable to the quality of traditionally developed photos. Coffee table books, on the other hand, are printed with inkjet on ordinary paper and are therefore of a lower quality. Digital printing gives the album designer a vast number of design possibilities, for example magazine-style or montage albums are only possible with digital printing. Digital photo books are increasingly popular because they allow anyone with a digital camera to create coffee table books of their photos. Also, it is often considered easier to print photos onto pages directly, rather than position and secure individual prints onto the pages of a traditional album. Aesthetically, digital photo books seem neater and more professional than albums. This has led to their growing popularity among both professional and amateur photographers. Digital photo book printing companies have used the internet to make designing and producing photo books very easy for the general consumer.


Flush mount albums

Flush mount albums have hard covers with thick, unbending pages. They consist of photographic prints that were dry-mounted on cardboard. The covers are mostly made of leather, leatherette or glass. The photos lie completely flat and extend across the whole page. Flush mount albums are usually designed in magazine-style. They are most often used for special occasions such as weddings and anniversaries due to the fact that they are produced at a higher quality and are more expensive to produce than coffee table books.


Magazine-style albums / montage albums

The term magazine-style refers to the design style inspired by
fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
, but the style can differ greatly between albums dependent on the designer. The layout is usually referred to as digital montage, hence the alternative name montage albums. The layout is designed on the computer, utilizing custom- or template- generated images.


Storybook albums

Storybook albums narrate a story, like the story of a wedding day or a vacation from beginning to end. If they are digitally printed the designer can use images as well as text, graphics and color for the narration of the story.


Scrapbooking albums

Scrapbooking albums describe a history, like the history of a particular field or a digital console from beginning to end or present day. If they are digitally printed the designer can use images as well as text, graphics and color for the sequential theme of the history.


Homemade decorative albums

Homemade decorative albums can easily be made at home. The items needed to make this type of album may already be a part of the home office supplies. Items consist of: binder folders, clear
sheet protector A punched pocket (UK English), plastic wallet (UK English), poly pocket (UK English), slippery fish (Sussex, England), sheet protector (US English), plastic sleeves (AU English), or sometimes perforated document bag, is a flat, slit plastic bag w ...
s or picture sleeves, fabric of choice, and a hot glue gun. Some may choose to use stuffing to give a fluff to the album. This type of album is simple to make; and allows the crafter to explore their creative side, while adding a personal touch.


Matted album

Matted albums are albums with recessed frames, in which each photo is hand-mounted. The photos are digitally or traditionally printed and can also be changed also after completion of the album.


Self-mount album

Self-mount albums are the most common form of a traditional album. They contain manually mounted digital or traditional
photos A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...
that can be rearranged. Self-mount albums are easy to produce and can be used for any occasion.


Software

There are many
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
programs available to organize images in folders or albums. These programs generally allow for sorting and ordering of different images, tagging the images, and viewing them in
slideshow A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manu ...
s or printing them. These programs commonly allow the user to perform basic edits such as cropping, red-eye removal, and some basic "one touch" enhancements for color and lighting. Some online albums have introduced techniques of separating special effects from the original picture so that the picture is not edited - effects are applied when displayed without destroying the original picture. There are also many other, lay-up software programs available for making photo-books. These are generally offered free as a design tool but require the user to pay for the production of their printed photobook. These programs are generally not specifically designed for photo editing, more for the express purpose of creating a book that will eventually be printed and bound into a
photo-book A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book. Early Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...
. These programs are generally provided by the company that print and bind the photobooks. Therefore, the home printing function is generally not available.


See also

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Face book A face book or facebook is a common or web directory found at some American universities consisting of individuals' photographs and names. In particular, it denotes publications of this type distributed by university administrations at the start o ...
*
Image organizer An image organizer or image management application is application software focused on organising digital images. Image organizers represent one kind of desktop organizer software applications. Image organizer software is primarily focused on imp ...


References


External links

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Album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...