Photo Book Printing
Compile your photographs into a stunning, world-class photo book with our custom offset printing services
“Photography is the art of making memories tangible.”
—Destin Sparks, award-winning landscape photographer
Photographs are a kind of modern magic. Holiday snaps, photojournalism, photo-travelogues, art photography, portraiture, and documentary collections all conjure memories and evoke emotion through the alchemy of light captured on paper.
At QinPrinting we love elevating photography and photographers—amateur or professional—with stunning custom photo books. 25 years of success in the industry, an expert team, the latest technological wizardry, and unrivalled customer service — sustains our first-class reputation among self-published photographers around the globe.
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”
—Dorothea Lange, photojournalist
Custom Photo Book Printing Costs
At QinPrinting, we help self-published photographers to print photo books of striking quality every day. But we appreciate that not everyone has the budget of a Bailey or a Leibovitz. That’s why we work hard to deliver exceptional quality books at the most competitive prices you’ll find anywhere in the industry. Whether you’re a professional who wants to print a world-class portfolio or an everyday enthusiast collecting your memories for posterity, we put our expertise at your disposal at a price you can afford.
But don’t take our word for it. Look for yourself! You can get a snap-shot of how much it will cost to print your custom photo book by checking out our at-a-glance pricing charts. Unlike most offset book printing services — which have a minimum print order of 500 or even 1,000 books—we offer a minimum order quantity (MOQ) of just 100 copies and still with a competitive price tag. But as you’ll see from the charts, the more photo book copies you order in a single run, the less you pay per unit.
Paperback Photo Book Printing Price Chart (8.5” x 11”)
| Quantity | 100pcs | 500pcs | 1000pcs | 2000pcs | 5000pcs | 10000pcs |
| 72pp + 4pp | $634 | $999 | $1289 | $1896 | $4135 | $7817 |
| 96pp + 4pp | $789 | $1253 | $1622 | $2435 | $5234 | $10063 |
| 128pp + 4pp | $1007 | $1617 | $2098 | $3145 | $6788 | $13078 |
- Please note that all prices are EXW our facility and do not include shipping costs.
- Cover: 250 gsm / 92 lb coated cover paper with matte lamination outside,
- Interior: 128 gsm / 86 lb coated text paper, full color printing.
Hardcover Photo Book Printing Price Chart (8.5” x 11”)
| Quantity | 100pcs | 500pcs | 1000pcs | 2000pcs | 5000pcs | 10000pcs |
| 80pp + 4pp | $1180 | $1661 | $2443 | $4102 | $8753 | $16735 |
| 112pp + 4pp | $1476 | $2084 | $2985 | $4906 | $10283 | $19646 |
| 192pp + 4pp | $2215 | $3146 | $4340 | $6943 | $14095 | $26925 |
- Please note that all prices are EXW our facility and do not include shipping costs.
- Cover: 157 gsm / 58 lb coated cover paper with matte lamination wrapped on 2.5 mm thickness greybeard.
- End sheets: 140 gsm / 95 lb uncoated text paper, blank,
- Inner: 157 gsm / 106 lb coated text paper.
Popular Photo Book Sizes
The size of a photo book typically depends on your photographs, how many images you include, the layout and orientation. A landscape oriented professional portfolio of black-and-white art photography will be larger, for example; and a wedding album may have a large format original edition for the bride and groom and reduced “parent copies” for relatives. But to help you decide, here’s a list of the most popular sizes for different styles of photo books.
- Professional portfolio: 8.5″ x 11″, 11″ x 14″ and 12″ x 17″ are all good
- Family gift album: usually square, 8″ x8″, 10″ x10″ and 12″ ×12″ are popular choices
- Wedding photography: an 8″x 8″ square or 14″ x 11″ landscape orientation are traditional formats for wedding albums
- Travelogue: landscape-oriented photo books at 11” x 8.5”, 14” x 11” and 17” x 11” are ideal for most travelogues
- Portrait gallery: portrait-oriented books at 8.5” x 11”, 11” x 14” and 12” x 17” work well
Smaller sizes are practical if you need to mail out a lot of copies. Larger sizes make a stronger impression. You’re not limited to the suggestions above. At QinPrinting, we’re happy to create custom photo books in any size or format you wish. Only remember that extensive customization incurs higher costs and slower turnaround times because we need to do a lot more pre-press work and setup. But for certain projects, the added investment could be worthwhile. It’s your decision.
Photo Book Paper Options
Even if you include some text, the images are the focus of any photo book. So, we recommend printing on gloss or matte art paper to get the best results. Gloss and matte both have ideal surfaces for vibrant printing that will reproduce your photographs with faithful color, perfect contrast, and fine detail. Gloss paper is often best for books with full-color spreads and less text, whereas books with more text may benefit from matte paper. Matte paper will still give gorgeous color or black-and-white reproduction while making the text easier to read.
You’ll need at least two paper specifications for your photo book: one for the interior pages and one for the cover. You may also wish to include end papers, which may be the same paper as the interior, or you can choose something different; a heavier, colored or textured paper, for example.
Paper Stock for Photo Books
Sewn perfect binding—a style of paperback which can lay flat with the pages open without breaking the spine—is a popular choice for high-quality photo books. This binding style needs the spine to be at least 3 mm thick. Hardcover binding is another popular option, especially for a professional, high-end look and feel. We recommend a paper weight of 200 gsm / 135 lb gloss art paper for the interior pages in both cases. It’s beautiful to see and touch, faithfully reproduces your original photography, and has good durability.
Paperback Cover Paper
- 200 gsm / 74 lb gloss cover paper
- 250 gsm / 92 lb gloss cover paper
- 300 gsm / 111 lb gloss cover paper
- 350 gsm / 129 lb gloss cover paper
- 200 gsm / 74 lb matte cover paper
- 250 gsm / 92 lb matte cover paper
- 300 gsm / 111 lb matte cover paper
Hardcover Paper
- 157 gsm / 58 lb cover paper wrapped on 2mm grayboard
- 157 gsm / 58 lb cover paper wrapped on 2.5mm grayboard
- 157 gsm / 58 lb cover paper wrapped on 3mm grayboard
- Other paper, vinyl, or leatherette wrapped on grayboard
Interior Paper
- 128 gsm / 86 lb gloss text paper
- 157 gsm / 106 lb gloss text paper
- 200 gsm / 135 lb gloss text paper
- 128 gsm / 86 lb matte text paper
- 157 gsm / 106 lb matte text paper
- 200 gsm / 135 lb matte text paper
Bindings for Photo Books
While photo books come in all shapes and sizes, the choice of binding is very important for reasons of appearance, durability, and purpose. Let’s look at the three most common, professional-looking options. You can open all the following bindings flat.
We use this binding style for most photo books we print. We collate the interior pages into sets called signatures, which are then sewn together and fixed into a wrap-around cover made of heavier art paper or lightweight card stock. For photo books with a moderate page count, this is a great option.
In this binding, we organize the interior pages into signatures which are then printed, cut, and sewn, and glued into a hard casing covered by a printed sheet which forms the cover. This binding is the most durable and professional-looking, especially if you add a dust jacket, end papers, and a marker ribbon, for example.
This binding is another popular choice for photo books used as college portfolios or for presenting examples of work to potential clients, for its practicality and flexibility. We punch or drill holes into the pages down one side and then bind them with a plastic coil which spirals through the holes. We crimp the coil at both ends so the pages don’t come loose. You can turn the pages of a spiral-bound book through 360° and also lay the open book completely flat. We can laminate the pages to make them extra-resistant to UV light and we can make the covers from waterproof vinyl. This is a superb choice for a photo book with a job to do!
Whichever binding style you choose, we like to make it easy for you to design your photo book. So, you can use one of our ready-made design templates if you wish. And ask us for paper samples. We’ll be happy to drop them to you in the mail. The samples are free, so you need only pay the mailing charges.
Photo Book Design and Artwork Tips
Whether you’re preparing your own photo book design or commissioning a professional graphic designer, it’s important to understand how to prepare the files for printing. You’ll need to allow for bleed zones, safety areas, trim lines, and borders, for example, and make sure that the resolution and the color space are correct. With that in mind, here are a few useful tips to help you when you’re preparing your files for the printer.
Export your files as vectors in PDF format for the best results. Our recommended software options for photo book design are Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign. These will also allow you to convert your color space from RGB to CMYK which you will need to do for offset printing.
If you can’t deliver vectors — say, if you’re exporting bitmaps from Photoshop — then make sure the resolution is at least 300 DPI. With vectors, you needn’t worry about resolution, but all other images must have a high definition to tolerate resizing without becoming fuzzy and “pixilated”.
You’ll need to add a “bleed zone” of 3 mm around all your pages. A bleed is an extended zone at the periphery of your photo, which falls outside the area that your finished page will cover. Once we’ve printed your pages, we’ll cut them to the exact size needed for your photo book format. This “bit extra” gets cut off and makes sure that the finished image fills the page with none of it being lost. You should mark bleed zones as red lines.
Inside your bleed zone, don’t forget to mark the “trim lines”. These will define the final dimensions of the finished page. Make sure that any necessary elements of your images stop at least 10 mm short of the trim line.
If a photo crosses over two pages in a “spread” make sure that nothing essential—like the subject’s face or other important details—lie along the center crease.
For a spiral bound photo book, leave an added margin of at least 15 mm on the edge that we’ll bind the book to allow for the holes.
If you’re working with a professional designer to create your files, they should understand what’s needed to make everything “print ready”. But if you’re working with design software yourself for the first time, these are the vital tips to remember before you submit your files. The responsibility for sending “print ready” files is yours. But please don’t worry! We’ll be happy to “hold your hand” through the process, explain what’s needed, liaise with your designer, and manually check everything ourselves to make sure it all goes smoothly and you end up with a perfect print edition of your photo book.
To learn more about preparing your photographs, text, and layout for printing, please check out our Pre-press Artwork information page.
- Book Sizes
-
Popular Photo Book Sizes
The size of a photo book typically depends on your photographs, how many images you include, the layout and orientation. A landscape oriented professional portfolio of black-and-white art photography will be larger, for example; and a wedding album may have a large format original edition for the bride and groom and reduced “parent copies” for relatives. But to help you decide, here’s a list of the most popular sizes for different styles of photo books.
- Professional portfolio: 8.5″ x 11″, 11″ x 14″ and 12″ x 17″ are all good
- Family gift album: usually square, 8″ x8″, 10″ x10″ and 12″ ×12″ are popular choices
- Wedding photography: an 8″x 8″ square or 14″ x 11″ landscape orientation are traditional formats for wedding albums
- Travelogue: landscape-oriented photo books at 11” x 8.5”, 14” x 11” and 17” x 11” are ideal for most travelogues
- Portrait gallery: portrait-oriented books at 8.5” x 11”, 11” x 14” and 12” x 17” work well
Smaller sizes are practical if you need to mail out a lot of copies. Larger sizes make a stronger impression. You’re not limited to the suggestions above. At QinPrinting, we’re happy to create custom photo books in any size or format you wish. Only remember that extensive customization incurs higher costs and slower turnaround times because we need to do a lot more pre-press work and setup. But for certain projects, the added investment could be worthwhile. It’s your decision.
- Paper Options
-
Photo Book Paper Options
Even if you include some text, the images are the focus of any photo book. So, we recommend printing on gloss or matte art paper to get the best results. Gloss and matte both have ideal surfaces for vibrant printing that will reproduce your photographs with faithful color, perfect contrast, and fine detail. Gloss paper is often best for books with full-color spreads and less text, whereas books with more text may benefit from matte paper. Matte paper will still give gorgeous color or black-and-white reproduction while making the text easier to read.
You’ll need at least two paper specifications for your photo book: one for the interior pages and one for the cover. You may also wish to include end papers, which may be the same paper as the interior, or you can choose something different; a heavier, colored or textured paper, for example.
Paper Stock for Photo Books
Sewn perfect binding—a style of paperback which can lay flat with the pages open without breaking the spine—is a popular choice for high-quality photo books. This binding style needs the spine to be at least 3 mm thick. Hardcover binding is another popular option, especially for a professional, high-end look and feel. We recommend a paper weight of 200 gsm / 135 lb gloss art paper for the interior pages in both cases. It’s beautiful to see and touch, faithfully reproduces your original photography, and has good durability.
Paperback Cover Paper
- 200 gsm / 74 lb gloss cover paper
- 250 gsm / 92 lb gloss cover paper
- 300 gsm / 111 lb gloss cover paper
- 350 gsm / 129 lb gloss cover paper
- 200 gsm / 74 lb matte cover paper
- 250 gsm / 92 lb matte cover paper
- 300 gsm / 111 lb matte cover paper
Hardcover Paper
- 157 gsm / 58 lb cover paper wrapped on 2mm grayboard
- 157 gsm / 58 lb cover paper wrapped on 2.5mm grayboard
- 157 gsm / 58 lb cover paper wrapped on 3mm grayboard
- Other paper, vinyl, or leatherette wrapped on grayboard
Interior Paper
- 128 gsm / 86 lb gloss text paper
- 157 gsm / 106 lb gloss text paper
- 200 gsm / 135 lb gloss text paper
- 128 gsm / 86 lb matte text paper
- 157 gsm / 106 lb matte text paper
- 200 gsm / 135 lb matte text paper
- Book Bindings
-
Bindings for Photo Books
While photo books come in all shapes and sizes, the choice of binding is very important for reasons of appearance, durability, and purpose. Let’s look at the three most common, professional-looking options. You can open all the following bindings flat.
We use this binding style for most photo books we print. We collate the interior pages into sets called signatures, which are then sewn together and fixed into a wrap-around cover made of heavier art paper or lightweight card stock. For photo books with a moderate page count, this is a great option.
In this binding, we organize the interior pages into signatures which are then printed, cut, and sewn, and glued into a hard casing covered by a printed sheet which forms the cover. This binding is the most durable and professional-looking, especially if you add a dust jacket, end papers, and a marker ribbon, for example.
This binding is another popular choice for photo books used as college portfolios or for presenting examples of work to potential clients, for its practicality and flexibility. We punch or drill holes into the pages down one side and then bind them with a plastic coil which spirals through the holes. We crimp the coil at both ends so the pages don’t come loose. You can turn the pages of a spiral-bound book through 360° and also lay the open book completely flat. We can laminate the pages to make them extra-resistant to UV light and we can make the covers from waterproof vinyl. This is a superb choice for a photo book with a job to do!
Whichever binding style you choose, we like to make it easy for you to design your photo book. So, you can use one of our ready-made design templates if you wish. And ask us for paper samples. We’ll be happy to drop them to you in the mail. The samples are free, so you need only pay the mailing charges.
- Artwork Tips
-
Photo Book Design and Artwork Tips
Whether you’re preparing your own photo book design or commissioning a professional graphic designer, it’s important to understand how to prepare the files for printing. You’ll need to allow for bleed zones, safety areas, trim lines, and borders, for example, and make sure that the resolution and the color space are correct. With that in mind, here are a few useful tips to help you when you’re preparing your files for the printer.
Export your files as vectors in PDF format for the best results. Our recommended software options for photo book design are Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign. These will also allow you to convert your color space from RGB to CMYK which you will need to do for offset printing.
If you can’t deliver vectors — say, if you’re exporting bitmaps from Photoshop — then make sure the resolution is at least 300 DPI. With vectors, you needn’t worry about resolution, but all other images must have a high definition to tolerate resizing without becoming fuzzy and “pixilated”.
You’ll need to add a “bleed zone” of 3 mm around all your pages. A bleed is an extended zone at the periphery of your photo, which falls outside the area that your finished page will cover. Once we’ve printed your pages, we’ll cut them to the exact size needed for your photo book format. This “bit extra” gets cut off and makes sure that the finished image fills the page with none of it being lost. You should mark bleed zones as red lines.
Inside your bleed zone, don’t forget to mark the “trim lines”. These will define the final dimensions of the finished page. Make sure that any necessary elements of your images stop at least 10 mm short of the trim line.
If a photo crosses over two pages in a “spread” make sure that nothing essential—like the subject’s face or other important details—lie along the center crease.
For a spiral bound photo book, leave an added margin of at least 15 mm on the edge that we’ll bind the book to allow for the holes.
If you’re working with a professional designer to create your files, they should understand what’s needed to make everything “print ready”. But if you’re working with design software yourself for the first time, these are the vital tips to remember before you submit your files. The responsibility for sending “print ready” files is yours. But please don’t worry! We’ll be happy to “hold your hand” through the process, explain what’s needed, liaise with your designer, and manually check everything ourselves to make sure it all goes smoothly and you end up with a perfect print edition of your photo book.
To learn more about preparing your photographs, text, and layout for printing, please check out our Pre-press Artwork information page.
Talk to us!
If you’re a professional photographer, an indie author, or a private individual wanting to print a lavish photo book of unrivalled quality and at an unbeatable price, we should talk. Get in touch today to chat through your needs or to ask for a no-obligation quote. We can’t wait to help you make your next photo book the best!
