Best photo album books

The best photo album books make a wonderful personalised gift. We've tried and rated the services of seven popular online services, including Google Photos, Photobox and Vistaprint. 

Photography experts also examined the the picture quality and physical condition of each of the finished photo albums. 

Find out which services offer the best photo album books and are the easiest to use, plus discover which company impressed enough to earn our Best Buy recommendation.

The best photo album books

Only logged-in Which? members can view the photo book test results below. 

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The photo album books we tested

All the photo album books we tested are listed in alphabetical order below. 

Only logged-in Which? members can view the best photo album books from our tests.

Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendation below.

Asda Photo

Only available at Asda Photo From £6

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What we ordered Hardcover landscape 27 x 20cm (A4) photobook (matte paper) for £25.

What else can you order:

Available sizes  6 x 4in (15 x 10cm), 11 x 8in (27 x 20cm), 12 x 12in (30 x 30cm), 14 x 10in (35 x 25cm), 8 x 11in (20 x 27cm, A4), 8 x 6in (20 x 15cm, A5), 8 x 8in (20 x 20cm)

Available book types Ringbound, softcover, hardcover, hardcover layflat

Available shapes Landscape, square, portrait

Available paper finishes Gloss, matte

Google Photos

Only available at Google Photos From £15.99

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What we ordered 9 x 9in hardcover book for £25.99

What else can you order:

Available sizes 9 x 9in (22 x 22cm), 7 x 7in (17 x 17cm)

Available book types Hardcover, softcover

Available shapes Square

Available paper finishes Standard

Need to know Requires a Google account

Explore our pick of the best printers for top quality at home prints. 

Papier

Only available at Papier From £26

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What we ordered Medium hardback photobook for £37.40

What else can you order:

Available sizes Mini, medium and large

Available book types Hardback, softback

Available shapes Portrait, square, landscape

Available paper finishes 3mm thick with a 200gsm silk-paper finish

Photobox

Only available at Photobox From £9.99

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What we ordered A4 personalised photobook for £44.99

What else can you order:

Available sizes Little, A4 (8 x 11in; 20 x 27cm), A3 (15.5 x 11in; 39 x 27cm)

Available book types Softcover, hardcover, padded cover, premium hardcover, cut-out cover

Available shapes Landscape, portrait, square

Available paper finishes Standard (170gsm), premium (250gsm), pro (380gsm)

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Snapfish

Only available at Snapfish From £9.99

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What we ordered 11 x 8in (A4) landscape hardcover glossy page photobook for £34.99

What else can you order:

Available sizes 15.5 x 11in (39 x 27cm; A3), 14 x 11in (35 x 27cm), 12 x 12in (30 x 30cm), 8 x 11in (20 x 27cm; A4), 8 x 8in (20 x 20cm), 8 x 6in (20 x 15cm; A5), 6 x 4in (15 x 10cm)

Available book types Hardcover, hardcover matte, layflat, leather, linen, softcover

Available shapes Landscape, portrait, square

Available paper finishes Glossy, layflat extra-thick premium paper, metallic, satin

Vistaprint

Only available at Vistaprint From £10.19

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What we ordered 27 x 20cm landscape photobook with glossy paper and red linen cover for £30.72

What else can you order:

Available sizes 5 x 4in (13 x 10cm), 8 x 6in (20 x 15cm), 8 x 11in (20 x 27cm; A4), 15.5 x 15.5in (39 x 29cm), 5.5 x 5.5in (14 x 14cm), 8 x 8in (21 x 21cm), 11 x 11in (30 x 30cm)

Available book types Photo cover, regular cover

Available shapes Landscape, portrait, square

Available paper finishes Standard, high gloss

Add to your gift with our pick of the best prosecco and sparkling wines

How we test photo album books

We test website-based photo alum book services from companies offering similar photo printing options. 

We make and buy an A4 book, or the closest size the company offers. We go for the standard hardcover and the service's standard paper option.

Two groups of testers rate each of the photo album book services for us:

• The first go through the online process for ordering the photobooks
• The second examine the final products. 

We buy all the photo books we test. 

We regularly revisit the photo album books on sale to see if there are any more popular websites that need testing and when we find them we do. 

The online service

Seven volunteers who have never ordered photo album books before are asked to:

• Complete seven tasks as part of the ordering process
• Then rate how easy it is to create and order from each website. 

Photobook services that have simple instructions, lots of customisation options and user-friendly interfaces are ranked more highly.

The finished product

Three photography experts from our Which? design and picture team are asked to:

• Examine the picture quality and physical condition of each of the finished products 
• Keep their eyes peeled for any printing mistakes, smudges, signs of damage or poor construction.

The photobooks with the punchiest colours and the best handling of saturated images, contrast and tonal range, are rated more highly. 

Ring test

Following a tip off from one our photography experts that his photobook was easily scratched by a wedding ring, we test a page from every book by lightly dragging a finger with a ring on across the paper. 

The three  we found that easily scratch are highlighted in our reviews.

Photos we use

We use the same set of photos:

• Chosen by our photography experts to really challenge each manufacturer's printer
• Taken on smartphones and DSLR cameras
• Displaying a range of skin tones and people of different ages. 
• We choose highly saturated images, pictures with a huge colour range, black and white photos, low-light images, extreme close-ups and wide landscape pics. 

Find out more about how Which? is not influenced by product manufacturers or retailers and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.

Matte vs gloss, which photo finish is best?

With most photo album book services, you'll have a choice of the type of paper you want your pictures printed on. 

• Glossy paper Colours appear vibrant and photos are filled with depth and clarity.
• Matte paper Isn't as sharp as glossy, with softer colours. It's considered more forgiving for portraits, and is a more popular choice.
• Satin paper Somewhere between matte and glossy.

GSM

The weight of paper is measured in gsm (grams per square metre). Effectively, this is the thickness of the paper – the higher the gsm, the thicker the paper.