How many photos should a photo book have?
Plan on two to three photos per page on average. That makes a 20-page book about 40 to 60 photos, a 40-page book about 80 to 120, and an 80-page book about 160 to 240. Give your favourites a page to themselves and the count comes out lower.
The arithmetic
- 20 pages: about 40 to 60 photos
- 40 pages: about 80 to 120 photos
- 80 pages: about 160 to 240 photos
These assume a mix of pages: some with one big photo, most with two to four, a few with a grid.
One photo per page is not a waste
A full-page photo is what makes a book feel different from a screen. The more favourites you give a page of their own, the fewer photos the book holds, and the better it usually looks.
How many photos fit on one page?
Up to 25 in a tight grid, but small photos need to be simple ones. Past about six on a page, faces get small and the page reads as a pattern instead of as moments. Save the big grids for things that are fun in bulk: food, signs, the same view all day.
Start from the photos, not the page count
It is easier to choose photos and let the page count follow than to pick a page count and fill it. Decide what stays, mark the favourites, and add or remove pages at the end to fit the binding: 20 to 200 pages for hardcover and softcover, 10 to 100 for lay-flat, and 8 to 64 for a stapled booklet.
How Tadabook decides
Tadabook lays the book out from your photos: one chapter per day, favourites on the biggest spots, look-alike shots thinned out, and the page count padded to what the binding needs. You can change any page afterwards.