Writer Bonnie Way shares a look at Moleskine + MILK Books Photobooks. She was compensated for her time in writing this post but all opinions remain her own.
My 18-month old turns to me with what we call her “wrinkly-nose” smile, an adorable face with a wide grin and twinkling eyes and a bit of a wrinkle across her button nose, whenever I point my camera in her direction. It makes me think that perhaps I take too many pictures of my girls, but hey, they are too cute. On a recent hike with my mom, my oldest (age 6) stopped at every tree and log to pose for a picture, until my mom told her that her iPhone was full and she couldn’t take any more pictures.
However, the hundreds of pictures I take during a season often just remain on my computer. I love digital for my ability to take pictures and then delete the ones where the girls aren’t smiling or are moving too fast for my small camera to capture their movement. Yet often, once I’ve reviewed the pictures and downloaded them onto the computer, I don’t look at them again.
This is why I love photobooks. At the end of the year, or season, or for a special occasion, I can quickly browse through the pictures on my computer, arrange them into a digital scrapbook, then print the book and share all those adorable pictures.
Moleskine + MILK make this process particularly easy. Just pick the format of your book (portrait or landscape, size, etc), upload your pictures, arrange them on the pages and add captions if you want, then print and admire your memories. I’ve been doing an annual photobook for about five years now, so I’ve tried various companies and software programs, and I really liked the Moleskin + MILK website.
I wanted to create a small photobook of my daughters this summer for my grandparents. A friend of mine had captured some great pictures of the girls, so I included a few full-page photos of each great-granddaughter. We also made it back to Alberta to visit my grandparents this summer, so I filled one page with nine pictures of our visit. On other pages, I added captions to explain to my grandparents what was going on (especially because my grandma is very forgetful), like Lily’s fourth birthday or my graduation or our recent move.
One feature I loved while making my photobook was the ability to drag and drop photos. I had my photo file open on my computer to scan our summer memories, and when I found good pictures, I could simply drag them onto the website to upload into the book. Moleskine + MILKÂ also uploaded the photos in the background, so I could keep working on layout or adding captions while the pictures were being processed. The photo uploader organized pictures either by date or by whether they were used or not, so I could switch between those to select pictures.
One thing I didn’t like: I could only delete pages four at a time. Once I got to the end of the book, I flipped back through the pages and found a few pictures that I decided I didn’t like any more. However, I couldn’t just delete one page–the book would only add or delete pages four at a time. That made it harder to edit and rearrange the pictures.
When the photobook arrived in the mail, the girls were really excited. They love flipping through our family memories. I like the fact that the photo book is a nice size for them to hold and look at pictures, and I don’t have to worry about the pictures falling out like I do with my traditional picture-glued-to-page scrapbooks. I really liked the big picture on the front and showcased a family picture taken this summer, along with a title for the book. I can’t wait to send it to my grandparents.
Enter to win.
One winner will win a MILKÂ Medium Landscape with 60 Pages plus FREE shipping. Leave us a comment below telling us if you regularly make photo books or if you photos sit on your computer the majority of the time? Use the widget below to enter.
Congrats to Wendy H for her win!
These sound quite neat. Never heard of beofre
I don’t print all my digital prints but I like to take my favourite ones and put them in a photo book.
I wouldn’t say I “regularly” print them, but every once in a while.
We print digital photos about once a year. Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
Yes, we print them regularly
I don’t print any pictures 🙁
I print them in photo books. I put together a year at a time of my best photos and print them. Family yearbooks 🙂
Yes, I do print some digital photos frequently!!
I don’t print regularly. I used to make photo books, and I’d really like to get back into that again.
I dont print regularly but i do so occasionally
YES! I am constantly printing my photos!
I want to but haven’t printed photos in a long time.
No, I don’t print my digital photos too often.
I seldom print my own digital pictures.
thank you
I regularly print about 1/3 of my digital photos.
No, I don’t, and that is the sad part of digital, at least with film you had to print them.
Not anymore. But I do print some for my mom and friends.
I very rarely print digital photos. I love these photo books!
I don’t print any pictures 🙁
I only print a few of them
No, but I’d like to print more so my kids can look at them.
I print pictures a lot! I want my kids to have them when they get older!
I dont
I do print off a few, but now I am a new Nana so I will be printing off many pictures!
No I do not regularly print
i don’t but I should. I try to do a photo book yearly of my favourite pictures but didn’t do one last year. Need to get one done of the kids this year though, can’t forget!
NO i do not.
I do print all my pictures. I want my children to have the same experience as I did flipping through an old photo book
I try to on good memories or special pictures!
Yes, for myself and for others.
I tend to just sit on the pics, so this would be great for me!
Not really. I print ones that I really love and put them around my house. I try to switch out pictures every few months to keep them up to date.
No I don’t regularly, but from time to time I do.
My photos tend to stay on the laptop. I have years worth of pictures to print and photo books would be a great way to do that. I have baby photo books for my kids made and I love them.
I DO ALL THE TIME!! I LOVE MY PHOTO ALBUMS
I sometimes print my digital photos, although I really need to start doing it more!
No, I upload them to our digital frame, and save them also on a jump drive
Yes, I print my photos and also store them on DVD. Nothing gets erased from my memory card until this is done.
They all sit on my computer – or worse yet. . . iphone!
No I don’t usually print my digital photos
I have not printed photos in a while but need to do so soon!
Unfortunately, I usually just leave my pictures on the computer.
I try to print them every month.
I try to print them regularly.
I print my photos as often as I can
I print some of my digital pictures, but not real regularly, but I need to start doing it more though!
I try to print photos as often as i can and love giving photo items and gifts too
I hardly ever print my digital photos. I need to do that more often.
I would love to regularly print my photos but my printer is just not doing that great of a job! These books look beautiful!
Yes, at least bi-weekly – but there are just as many that go straight to the recycle bin on the computer!
I don’t print enough of them. Typically I just keep the files.
I have a few photos books but a lot of pictures are on my computer. Thanks.
partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com
most are saved on a cd but I do print ones that I want to share with family
I print many photos which I frame and have in photo albums.
Yes… well, I really try to keep up on it! That was actually my new years res… well & loose 5 million pounds) Lol! Thanks for the sweet chance!!
I do not print them, they just sit there on the computer.
i print them sometimes, but only when i need them for something specific, i should do it more.
No, I’m really bad about doing this. I keep the cards, jump drives and store a bunch online.
I print them from time to time. Mostly when I need them for a project.
no, I do not print them
I print some, but most stay on file.
I do print my digital photos quite frequently.