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Canva Photo Book Review (Quality, Price, & Photos of My Order)

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Founder of CanvaTemplates.com & Professional Graphic Designer

Jake Tucker

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Canva Print is a neat service offered by Canva where you can turn your digital graphic designs into physical printed products. I was one of the first to test this service, and used it both for my small business and to furnish my house. However, it can be tough to tell what a Canva print product will actually look like.

Of course, the online renderings generated by Canva look nice, but it that how the products really turn out? So I decided to order a bunch of test products from Canva, and share the photos of the products I received, and provide my overall review as a graphic designer.

This article will focus on my order of a Canva photo book. It includes my overall review of the product and photos from my test order. I hope you find this useful!

Canva Template Brand Elements Applied

To make it easier to compare multiple Canva print products, I ordered all the products using the same brand elements from my own website ( CanvaTemplates.com ):

Canva Paper Bag Review

I ordered a Canva photo book for this test. Specifically, I ordered a Canva photo book with the following specifications:

Canva Print Preview Images vs. Received Product

Below are the preview images Canva generated for my design:

And below are some photos I took of the Canva photo book once it arrived. While the lighting at home wasn’t perfect, I think it provides a useful look into the final delivered product:

Canva Photo Book Quality

I received my custom-printed white paper bags from Canva, and I was happy with the finished product. The pristine white background perfectly showcased the vibrant design, creating an elegant and eye-catching look. The quality of the printing exceeded my expectations, making every detail stand out with clarity. From the sturdy construction to the crisp imprint, this custom bag easily met my expectations.

While it was slightly annoying to have to purchase 5 of the paper bags (minimum order size), I would generally say that this was good purchase and use of Canva Print! The bags were light, yet sturdy, and the logo printed quite well on them! If you want to learn more about how to use Canva Print , be sure to check out our blog !

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Using Canva To Create Your Photo Book

When you first think about making a photo book for any occasion, it sounds like it could be fun and exciting! However, for many people, it can be overwhelming, especially if you only have basic knowledge of design and formatting book interiors. No need to fear, we got you covered.

Creating a photo book can now be fun and easy when using Canva. 

What Is Canva? 

Before I begin to discuss my process of making a photo book on Canva and uploading it to Lulu, let’s talk about what exactly Canva is. Canva is a graphic design platform that allows customers to edit and design images, graphics, covers, presentations, and all other visual content. They now offer design templates for photo books. It is the easiest way to create a beautifully designed photo book without the headache. Though, this platform is a bit different than let’s say other design software like Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, because of its ease of use. You do not have to have any prior experience in design to create aesthetically pleasing content that looks like it was done by a professional.

Canva offers a wide range of features for free and has a paid upgrade with additional features. But if we are strictly talking about creating a photo book, using the free version is the best option, because there are no additional features between the paid version and the free version. If you are really interested in knowing more about the paid upgrade, check out Canva’s plan comparison page . 

Why Should You Use Canva To Create Your Photo Book?

The question really should be “Why Wouldn’t You Use Canva To Create Your Photo Book?”

Canva has 75+ templates depending on which photo book size you choose. Each template has a different design to fit the genre that best suits your book. For example, if you are creating a photo book for a wedding you recently were involved in, they have a wedding photo book template. If your photo book is mainly being used to showcase your photography, they have a portfolio template. 

I mean really anything you can think of, they probably have it. Canva has really thought of every possible design and brought it to life to make the experience easier for users. Using their templates helps make sure your book fits into the genre that you want. Canva also offers a bunch of free stock images, if you need a few extra pages in your photo book. Being that you probably have all the photos you need to create the book, you might not need this feature. 

All in all, Canva is by far the easiest and cheapest platform to create a stunning photo book.  So if you’re asking yourself, should I use this platform? Will it be easy enough? Will it have what I need? The answer to all of these questions is YES. 

Things To Know Before You Start

Now that I’ve made my case and convinced you all to use Canva to create your photo book, here are some things that you should know before you begin that process: 

• Make sure that all the images you upload are between 200 ppi – 600 ppi (pixels per inch) for the best results. If your image resolution is higher than 600 ppi, then it won’t have the best quality when printing. If your image is less than 200 ppi, it may result in grainy or pixelated images when printed.
• The minimum amount of pages Lulu requires to create a photo book is 24. If it is lower than that, the file will not be accepted. So make sure you have plenty of photos before creating. 
• Before going to Canva, please visit our website and check out the sizes we offer . That way when you are in Canva you can select a photo book trim size that we offer. 
• Edit your photos before uploading and creating your photo book on Canva. Whether that’s in Adobe Photoshop or another photo-editing platform that you use. However, if you do not have another software you could use, that’s okay, just upload the photos onto Canva and edit it straight from there.
• We recommend the 80# premium paper for image-heavy material. The 60# standard paper will not be the best quality and the ink will bleed into the other pages. 80# paper is the way to go when creating a photo book. 
• Price out your photo book with our Pricing Calculator so you get a sense of what it can cost you before you start creating. 

How To Create Your Photo Book Using Canva 

To see what it was like using Canva I created my own photo book to share with you guys, to make it even easier when you give it a shot. I chose the sizing 11 × 8.5 in because we offer that on our website and it is a common choice all around for photo books. 

When you create your account and log in, it will automatically direct you to their homepage. In the center, you will see “Design anything.” Type in “Photo Book” and the sizes will appear. Just like in the image below. 

Once you choose your size it will give you all of the templates they have at that size. I specifically chose the “By The Beach” template, because my photo book contains all images that have to do with the beach and I personally loved the look of the template. 

But choose the best template that works for you. And if you don’t like any of the templates you can also choose a “Blank Template” and create your photo book from scratch. Whatever template you decide on, click on it and it will take you to the editor.

Using Canva’s Editor

From this picture, you can see the menu: uploads, photos, elements, texts, styles, etc. 

You are going to want to click “Uploads” first and upload all of your pictures onto Canva. Once your photos are uploaded you can drag and drop them into the template and Canva will automatically adjust it to fit the template. 

However, if the picture in the photo book is cutting off an aspect of the photo that you want in the book, you can double-click on that photo and move it, crop it, and push it back or forward to fit it best for you. You can also enhance your photos with filters and effects, and add text to personalize your photo book. There are so many different styling and typography options to choose from. 

This photo contains only a few options from the many you can choose from. 

Furthermore, you can take the template that you chose and switch it up if you want to. In the photo book I created, it had 6 pages of already-made templates, but I wanted to create some variance so I took one of the template pages and made it my own. Below is an example of this: 

As you can see, Canva sets you up for success and ease, but also allows you to customize, and still hold creative control. The possibilities are endless. 

Uploading Your Book To Lulu 

Once the photo book is completed on Canva you are going to want to download it and convert it to a PDF. Canva makes this easy by just a few clicks. On top, there will be three buttons. Share, preview, and that icon to download. Click the download button. (Please make sure you choose PDF Print for best results).

After the interior is done downloading, please log into your Lulu.com account to begin creating your photo book and upload the PDF. 

Cover 

When the interior PDF is uploaded, our system will ask you to upload your cover. You are more than welcome to create your cover on Lulu.com or on another software or platform. But if you are already using Canva to create your interior, you are also welcome to create your cover on there as well. Here is a great blog post that dives into making a cover on Canva .

Create Your Book

Use Lulu’s free templates to easily create and publish your book today.

Review 

After uploading both the interior and cover onto Lulu.com, our system will ask you to review the book using the preview tool. 

Above is an example of the photo book I created in the preview section of Lulu.com. The arrows are pointing to the margins of the book. Whatever is past that blue line will be cut off. Now for me, I’m okay with it being cut off because it’s taking a slight bit away from the sky and the ocean. 

However, let’s say your family member’s face was at the edge of this photo, their face would be cut off. This means you are going to want to keep text and important imagery 0.5″ from the edges. Now once you have reviewed the preview section, and you feel like your book is ready to go, just proceed through the remainder of the steps to complete your book!

Well, there you have it folks, a complete photo book, done in a few easy steps. Canva was a great option for me to create the photo book, and I hope it will now be an option for you. 

Anna-Marie M

– Archived Author – Anna-Marie is the Marketing Project Manager at Lulu.com . Her job is to make sure campaigns go out smoothly with no hiccups. When she’s not hassling people for deadlines you can find her on the couch watching reality TV with her cat Kobe-Bean.

– Archived Author – Anna-Marie is the Marketing Project Manager at Lulu. Her job is to make sure campaigns go out smoothly with no hiccups. When she’s not hassling people for deadlines you can find her on the couch watching reality TV with her cat Kobe-Bean.

I’ve downloaded your PDF templates for a 11×8.5 photography book. How do I load them into CANVA to use them?

Hi Michael, To use our template, you’ll need to start by creating a Custom design on Canva. From the Canva home screen (once you’ve logged in), click Create a design and select Custom size . Set the size to your full bleed page size (in this case, 11.25 x 8.75 inches). This will open a new tab with your blank canvas. You can upload the interior page template from your template bundle (use the PDF file). It should upload to the ‘Projects’ folder on Canva. Once it’s there, you can add it to your page! Just remember to remove it before you export your pages so you don’t create print-ready pages with the template.

Hi Paul, Thanks so much for the info on how to upload your interior page templates to create a book in Canva. I’m playing with a 9 x7 landscape (9.25 x 7.25 with full bleed page size) template for a childrens book in Canva. When I download as a flattened PDF for Print, Canva also asks you to chose between RGB and CMYK. Which color profile is best for your printers?

Also, I read in Lulu’s file preparation instructions that if you are submitting a landscape book PDF it must be set to portrait orientation to print properly. How do you do that once you have the Canva PDF downloaded? Is it something you can adjust once you upload it to Lulu? This article shows a landscape book created in Canva and only says to download as PDF for Print and then upload to Lulu.

Thanks so much for clarifying how to best use Canva and Lulu together. Appreciate your help!

For the flattened PDF, I would select CMYK for the color.

For the orientation, you won’t have to worry about the orientation in Canva. You should just be able to select a size for your pages (9.25 x 7.25) and the orientation will be correct. You’ll be able to see how the pages look in the preview tool.

Thanks so much for your response! I’m still a bit confused about the “portrait orientation” requirement Lulu has for uploading a landscape book for printing. Are you saying if I am using your 9.25 x 7.25 landscape template and download a flattened CMYK PDF from Canva, that I don’t need to worry about the landscape orientation when I upload to Lulu for printing? I’ve not gone thru the Lulu upload process to see the steps/choices, but the instructions Lulu gives about only uploading in a portrait orientation were confusing to me. The printer I used previously for a landscape book did not have that requirement. Many thanks!

The thing with page orientation is kind of confusing.

Basically, if you use a setting in Word or (I think) InDesign to make the page landscape, that becomes part of the files data and our system rejects that. The file needs to be in ‘portrait’ (if there is a setting for that) while the actual dimensions might be landscape.

I say that it shouldn’t matter for Canva because Canva (to the best of knowledge), doesn’t apply portrait/landscape and just uses the dimensions you enter.

The issue usually occurs when someone changes a setting in their page layout software that defines portrait/landscape. The correct way is to leave any orientation settings on portrait and adjust the page dimensions.

Hopefully that clarifies it a bit! You should be able to upload the file and see if you get an error or if the preview looks off. If you get that far and see issues, reach out to our support team . They might be able to look at the file and provide more guidance.

Thanks Paul! That totally makes sense now given the context. Great to hear that Canva actually makes the process a bit easier too. Really appreciate your knowledge and help!!

Keep Reading

One mom tried 5 digital photo book services: Here's how they compared

Remember photo albums -- books with clear plastic pockets that held your favorite photos to keep track of memories and memorialize a year of your life?

We don’t do that much anymore. When was the last time you even printed a picture?

But the joy of thumbing through a memory book of photos is still a thing, so services have sprung up online to turn your digital photos into bound books. While some have been around for decades, other newcomers have also come along. Prices and formats vary wildly, so how should you choose the right service for your images?

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"Good Morning America" asked mom Sheila Madrigal from Morgan Hill, California, to order photo books from 5 different services: Snapfish, Shutterfly, Mixbook, Amazon and Costco. She used the same 60 photos in all five books and tried to get the size and layouts of the books as similar as possible. The photos were taken with both her iPhone and DSLR camera.

After the books were created, ordered and arrived at Madrigal's house, we took them to Sam Hoffman of San Francisco’s Lightsource, a fine art print lab. While they don’t make print books at Lightsource, Hoffman evaluated the quality of the books.

Best Image Quality: Costco & Shutterfly

The primary factors Sam evaluated were contrast, warm skin tones, shadow detail, and saturation.

One of Madrigal’s photos showed her family in a field of yellow flowers, her husband Israel is tossing their daughter in the air. Both the Shutterfly and Costco books impressed him with how they handled the image.

In the Costco and Shutterfly books, the field had a rich golden color and skin tones were warm.

“I see the darkness of the blues. The separation of darkness and lighter colors,” said Hoffman.

He used that photo to judge two bottom performers in the image quality category, Snapfish and Amazon.

“There is a greyness in the flesh tones [Snapfish] and this one is the least vibrant of them all [Amazon],” he said.

Best Binding: Shutterfly

According to Hoffman, all the books used semi-matte paper, but the production from each company varied. In some books there was no cover page while others had sophisticated stamped paper in the cover and back page positions. Another difference was the binding. Some had a simple stitched binding that was visible between the pages, while others had stitched and glued binding that looked more sophisticated. Shutterfly’s book had a luxe cover page made of stamped paper, stitched and glued binding, as well as a back cover that was in a different color and design.

Ease of Creation: Snapfish

We let Sheila, who created the books, weigh in on this category. She said the Snapfish tool took her 20 minutes from start to finish to create the book. Uploads were fast, layout was simple and the user interface was intuitive. She ranked Mixbook, Shutterfly and Amazon slightly below Snapfish, but still easy to use.

She gave the Costco the lowest ranking in this category, complaining that the upload of her images took twice as long as some other sites. She said that when she used the Costco tool, it arbitrarily populated her book with the pictures she uploaded, but she had a specific order in mind and had to go back through the tool removing all the pictures then adding them back into the layout where she wanted them.

There was one more problem from the Costco book: it cut her baby's picture in half!

The online tool showed a picture of her three kids fitting on the page but when the printed book was inspected, the baby was only half visible. Sam explained that the image was placed too far into the center of the page, an area printers call the “gutter,” and the baby’s face was obscured. Sheila said it did not look like that in the online tool. Costco declined ABC News' request for comment.

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Least expensive: Amazon

The most expensive book was from Mixbook at $47.63. Shutterfly came in at $40.72 , Costco and Snapfish were a penny apart at $32.68 and $32.67, and Amazon had the least expensive book at $27.24.

One thing to consider with pricing is that many of these services offer outrageous deals on photobooks with special seasonal codes, sometimes 50 to 60% off.

Here’s a pro tip: keep a file of your favorite photos on your desktop, copy them in there as you take them each month, and when you see a killer deal come up, you’ll be able to create the book and nab a great keepsake at a fraction of the price.

Overall top pick: Shutterfly

Ranking ease of creation, image quality, price and the overall feel of the book’s production, Hoffman liked Shutterfly the best.

Our mom Sheila also liked Shutterfly the best, and resolved to make a memory book every year from now on.

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The best photo books in 2024: Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Snapfish and more tested

What service should you use to make the best photo books and photo albums? We reviewed and compared five of the most popular services to find out

The quick list

Best overall, best image quality, other services we tested, how we test photo book services, when is the best time to buy a photo book.

• How to choose

1. Best overall 2. Best image quality 3. Best value 4. Other services we tested 5. How we test 6. Photo book test scores 7. The best time to buy a photo book 8. How to choose

Whatever the occasion, a personalized photo book always makes a great gift. But where do you begin if you want to turn your photos of a summer trip to Spain or a surprise birthday weekend in the mountains into a beautiful present?

We’ve been testing the best photo book services for more than five years by doing what you would do: creating a photo book. In the process, we looked at which service was the easiest to use, which offered the most options for things like clip art and binding, which had the best image quality, and which offered the best value. 

This year, we tested Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Vistaprint. We've also included shipping information where available, as photo books take time to make — and will cost more the longer you wait to order. 

And be sure to check out our picks for the best photo calendars , and best photo cards , and discover 9 tips to make the best holiday cards .

Great features, excellent image quality, the easiest-to-use software, and even online chat support make this our top pick overall.

Read more below .

If image quality is your number-one criteria when choosing the best photo book service, go with Printique, which also has powerful design software.

Read more below.  

While not the flashiest of services, Vistaprint had good-enough quality and affordable prices to make this a solid value pick among photo books.

Read more below.

The best photo book services

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Mixbook was the best service overall for making photo books of the five we tested. Its combination of ease of use, top-notch image quality and good value should make it appealing to a broad range of users. Newbies will love Mixbook’s fun and easy-to-use software while more advanced users will appreciate the wide range of customization options to help you get creative. And the image quality of our 20-page, hardcover book came in a close second to Printique.

If you’re intimidated about designing a photo book, Mixbook takes out the stress with clear and fun-to-use software that helps make the process a breeze. At the same time, there are hundreds upon hundreds of ways to customize your book, including 644 design templates alone, if you want to take a deeper dive. Mixbook had among the best-looking and most user-friendly project editing software of the services we reviewed, matched only by Snapfish . The interface offers a myriad of options but isn’t cluttered and optimizes the space by providing a roomy preview of your project.

In terms of image quality, our finished book from Mixbook tied Printique for the best cover while coming in second place for its interior pages. For the photo books we created during testing, we used an image of a waterfall we shot at Yellowstone National Park. The photo was captured at sunset and Mixbook did a great job of reproducing detail in both the brighter light at the top of the waterfall and the shadow areas in the valley below. On the inside pages, Mixbook's default Everyday Semi-Gloss finish produced solid, pleasing contrast. Both light and dark skintones in our portraits were rendered true-to-life.

Other things we liked about Mixbook are its well-designed mobile app that lets you manage your projects on the site or create products from the photos on your phone. And finally, Mixbook’s handy 24/7 chat support is built right into the design interface, so it’s always available if you get stuck while making a book.

If you order a photo book from Mixbook, be sure to check out its shipping information and deadlines .

Read our full Mixbook review . 

2. Printique

If image quality is your main concern for photo books, Printique is the service for you. While some competing companies have caught up in other ways, Printique still makes the best-looking books around. Their overall stature, however, has slipped a bit, dropping them to second place behind Mixbook after being ranked first for books in years past. What’s changed? Printique’s software feels dated now and is a challenge to use, which could turn off less experienced users. Printique’s photo books are also significantly more expensive than the competition.

For serious photographers (including pros), though, the trade-offs may be worth it. The most distinctive thing about Printique’s books are their very thick, rigid pages, which are similar to what you’d find in a professional wedding photo album. Similarly, even the entry-level books come with a layflat binding that prevents a furrow in the seam between pages, making this design perfect for images that span spreads. The pages display really well with excellent color, skin tone, contrast and sharpness/detail. We also liked the results of a few black-and-white photos we included in our book, which looked dramatic without losing detail.

While Printique’s software offers the most control of the services we tested, we feel it’s better suited to the advanced user than newbies. Seasoned designers will appreciate the variety of rulers, gridlines, submenus, and toolbars offered in Printique’s feature-rich interface, but beginners might be intimidated. 

Another barrier for entry is price. Printique doesn’t really have an “entry-level” book that’s comparable to the other services since it only offers the premium layflat binding option with lavish, thick pages, which cost more. This level of quality doesn’t come cheap.

When ordering a photo book, be sure to check out Printique's shipping information and deadlines , so you know how long to expect before it arrives.

Read our full Printique review .

3. Vistaprint

If you think Vistaprint is only adept at making business cards and other marketing materials, think again. The company has expanded in recent years to include a wide range of personal print-on-demand services including photo books. While it’s difficult to find the book-making option on Vistaprint’s vast website, once you do, we think you’ll be pleased with the process and the results, as we were. Plus, the prices can’t be beat, making it the best value of all the services for books.

For testing purposes, we made hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. At $30, Vistaprint’s book was the cheapest of the five companies; $5 less than Shutterfly, which was the second cheapest, and a whopping $45 less than Printique, which was the most expensive. As an added bonus, Vistaprint’s entry-level books come standard at 24 pages, while all the competition’s books start at 20 pages.

Given the affordable price, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of our photo books from Vistaprint. Our wraparound matte cover shot of a waterfall had rich detail even in the highlight and shadow areas, showing good dynamic range. The white endpapers for the front and rear inside covers have a classy look and feel as does the well stitched binding. The image quality of the interior pages was inconsistent though, with some of our landscape and cityscape images looking vibrant and crisp, while portraits were flat and overexposed at times.

Vistaprint’s software isn’t snazzy, but it gets the job done. It may look basic and a bit dated but unlike Printique’s complicated and outmoded interface, Vistaprint’s rudimentary software provides a relatively stress-free experience for making photo books. Just don’t expect anything fancy or a vast assortment of editing tools and you won’t be disappointed.  

Read our full Vistaprint review .

4. Shutterfly

Shutterfly is an easy to use and reliable service that does a lot of things right. In particular, the paper quality was great overall, and it did a decent job with its photo printing. Mixbook remains the best photo book service overall for its higher quality and better software, but if you want a relatively stress-free experience in creating solid if not spectacular books from a seasoned brand, Shutterfly is the one for you. 

We thought Shutterfly’s software offered a good compromise between providing full control over a project and not overloading you with too much information. If you get stuck while making a product, just click the question mark icon in the lower left to bring up the help overlay. The only downside is we found the software somewhat slow to use; in particular, there was a noticeable lag of a few seconds before images displayed in a layout.

Despite its robust and intuitive software, the resulting photo books were a mixed bag. While the page quality was the best of all the photo books we reviewed, the color was just ok, with some pale skin tones in portraits getting washed out while darker skin appeared oversaturated with a loss of detail.

The default glossy hardcover was quite eye-catching though, and the color of our waterfall shot looked natural with ample detail. But the shiny cover surface is prone to glare. Inside, the pages have a good weight and the smooth matte finish produced minimal reflection. Some brighter images, however, appeared slightly washed out in print. We also weren’t so keen on the binding, which felt flimsy, and cut off the edges of the images in the center crease. So, while Shutterfly did a good job overall, there are enough misses to fall short of the top tier of Printique and Mixbook.

Before ordering, be sure to check out Shutterfly's shipping guidelines .

Read our full Shutterfly review .

5. Snapfish

With how easy and user-friendly Snapfish’s software was to use, we really wanted to like this service more than we did. The process of creating photo books, calendars, and cards with Snapfish was so pleasant, we expected the finished products to be equally satisfying. Unfortunately, its photo book came in last among the services we tested.

The bright glossy hardcover of our book didn’t look bad from a distance, but when inspected closer it lacked detail in the flowing waterfall shot. Not awful but not great either. The print quality of the inside pages is where Snapfish really stumbles. The floppy pages in our standard 8 x 11-inch book were the thinnest of all we created from the various companies. On the other hand, while the stitched perfect binding of the book looked cheap, the crease between pages cut off only a small portion of the images. Comparatively, most of the other books in our testing obscured noticeable portions of photos in the binding.     

We wish all of the photo printing brands would emulate Snapfish’s snazzy software. It’s not only simple to use and logically laid out, it turns the process of creating a photo book into a pleasure rather than like pulling teeth. When creating a book, you can scroll through an authentic looking visual representation of the entire book to see all of the pages more easily. Snapfish’s book builder also had the fastest load times of the various companies we tested, with virtually no lag when dragging and dropping images or scrolling through layouts. 

In the end, Snapfish is something of a conundrum. While we would recommend it for anyone who might be intimidated by the process of creating products, those with more discerning image quality taste for books should look elsewhere.

Read our full Snapfish review .

For testing purposes, we created similar custom-designed books from the five services in our evaluation, Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Vistaprint, which we deemed to be the top companies on the market. We made 20 to 24-page hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. The only major difference in the five books was the one created with Printique, which only offers a premium layflat binding and professional-quality, thick pages, even as an entry-level option. 

While creating our books, we picked layouts and designs that were similar across the five services as well. For photos, I used my own portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes, which were shot in both studio and natural light. For portraits, the subjects encompassed a variety of skin tones. The three main factors the services were judged on were software, image quality, and value. For the book-making software, we considered both the levels of customization offered and the ease-of-use. 

For image quality, we compared photos across the selection of books, as well as against the original digital images displayed on a MacBook Air retina display. Criteria for judging included cover quality, paper quality, color, skin tones, contrast, and sharpness/detail. For value, we took into account both the price of the photo books and the level of quality of the finished product. So, for instance, a good quality book that cost a low price would get a higher value score than a poor quality book at a similar price. The same value scale was used for more expensive books in our testing.

This year, we evaluated Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Vistaprint, and Snapfish. However, in years past, we've also tested a number of other services, none of whom made it into our top tier. If you'd like to read those older reviews, they're listed below. Just bear in mind that the quality of some of these services may have changed since we last reviewed them.

  Motif review | Artifact Uprising review | Amazon Prints review | Mpix review | Picaboo review | Blurb Bookify review | CVS Photo review | Walmart Photos review | Mimeo review

Procrastination is a natural human instinct, but it will cost you when it comes to photo books. In particular, if the book is a gift for the holidays or if you just want it quickly for yourself, you’re going to be paying more for rush delivery services, which can increase the cost greatly. And in our experience, fast delivery is the one thing that is seldom discounted by book companies. 

So, try to order you books as early as possible. Not only does it save you time, it gives you the chance to look over the book and order a reprint in case there are any errors. Another reason to order as early as possible is that many of the best photo book services offer big discounts throughout the year — up to 50% off in some cases, or with other extras thrown in. 

How to choose the best photo book service for you

Image quality The most important factor for most people is that their book should look good. But what does this mean exactly? In simple terms, it means the quality of the photos should be great — skin tones should be accurate, lighting should be correct, and details should be crisp. In the best photo books, you should have good contrast, deep blacks, and an overall evenness in color gradation. 

Book construction A photo book should also be built well. You shouldn't see pages coming free from the binding, the paper itself should have a substantial weight and feel, and images and text should be aligned properly.

Book-creation software If a company has poor software, you’re likely to either not be able to create the photo book you want or grow frustrated with the process and give up. While ease-of-use is a key factor, customization is also important too and our favorite brands offered a good combination of both with their software. You should be able to fully edit the book templates, easily find background art and more, and make fine adjustments to your photos, too.

Cost Price is also an important factor. With the exception of the most and least expensive options, you won't find too much variation between photo book printing services. However, some services offer options like better paper, different-size books, and things like lay-flat binding, which means you can open the book flat on a table, and not worry about breaking the spine.

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Dan Havlik has worked in the photo industry for over decades and is currently editor-in chief of Wild Eye ( www.wildeyemagazine.com ), a new magazine devoted to the celebration of nature, wildlife, and underwater photography. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Outdoor Photographer and Shutterbug magazines. He has been an editor and writer for a variety of other publications and websites including Photo District News (PDN), Rangefinder, Wired, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Consumer Reports, Maxim, Men’s Journal, Imaging Resource, and LAPTOP. Dan is also an avid runner with three marathons under his belt and has written fitness reviews, including guides to the best running shoes and GPS watches, for Business Insider.

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How to Create a Photo Book With Canva: A Step-by-Step Guide

With Canva, you can create digital and physical photo albums. We're going to show you how.

If you used to visit your grandparents on the regular, you're probably familiar with the following scenario: grandma points out how grown-up you are, and how much you look like your parents, then, out comes the old photo album to prove her point.

Since pictures are now mostly digital, people rarely have physical photo books in their homes. But if you miss that feeling of flipping through a photo album, or want your grandmother to have a new one, you can easily create one with Canva . And we're going to show you how.

1. Prepare Your Images

First, you should decide what the album is about. It can cover a certain period of time, showcase pictures of you and a friend or a partner, or be more like a memory scrapbook. Whatever you decide can help you later on with the design and layout.

Next, you should gather all of the images you’d like to include, preferably in one folder—this will save you time. Most importantly, make sure that the images are high resolution. If you want to print the album, 2048 x 1536 pixels or bigger is ideal.

If you plan on digitizing old photos , make sure you also scan in high resolution. Pictures taken on a good phone or with a digital camera will probably be fine as-is. However, if you have some small images you want to use, there are ways to enlarge an image without losing quality .

2. Start a New Project on Canva

Now we can get into the nitty-gritty. Canva Photobook Maker is a great tool to help you design unique and customized albums. You can add your pictures one at a time or as collages, with background and text to complement each memory.

If you haven't already signed up, start with that (don’t worry, the free version is more than enough). Then, on the homepage, click the Create a design button at the top, type in Photobook , and pick the size you want. You can also pick a Custom design if you want to use other dimensions.

3. Find the Perfect Template

One of Canva’s most appealing features is its templates. For people who don’t have any design experience, it can be hard to figure out which colors, fonts, and elements go well together. Since professional designers created the Canva templates, rest assured, you’ll get a great result.

You can see the photobook templates on the left side of your work screen (if you can’t, type "photobook" in the templates search bar). They're divided by category to simplify browsing through them, and each contains 22 pages, so you can get a different design on each page.

Double click the template you like and then click Apply all 22 pages to use it in your document. You can also apply it to just one or more individual pages. To do that, add more pages to your book with the plus icon ( + ) at the bottom of the screen, and click on a different template page for each one.

Some templates may have a watermark on them, meaning you’ll have to pay to use them. However, if only specific pictures are watermarked, you can always replace them with your own, or with the ones from Cava’s free library.

4. Upload Your Pictures

Now it’s time to insert your images into your pages and figure out the final look of the album. For that, you need to upload them onto the Canva cloud.

Go to the Uploads tab on the left side of the screen, and click Upload media . You can also just drag and drop from the folder on your computer.

To place them in the album, pick a page, and drag the image in. Drop it once it fills the frame.

5. Add Text

If there’s already text on the template, simply double-click it to change it. If you want to add text, go to the Text tab on the left-hand side and double-click the type you want. You can enlarge it, change the color, and change the font with the tools in the bar up top.

Note that the default font for a text box is Open Sans, but if you open the font window, the first one will be the font that the template uses. It’s best to stick to that one if you want to remain cohesive.

Another thing that can help you maintain consistency in the design is the color-picker. Usually, when you click it, you can see the colors that are present in the images. This will help you color-coordinate.

6. Make Some Tweaks

This is the part where you can get creative. While a template is helpful, it’s not always exactly what you want. Luckily, Canva allows you to customize it however you want. You can delete certain pages or move them around with the bar at the bottom of the screen.

You can delete the grids and frames and add new ones from the Elements tab. This tab also has stickers, lines, and shapes which will further help customize your album.

7. Finalize the Album

Want to get someone else’s opinion before you print the album? You can use the Share button at the top of the screen to email it to them. You can even share a link to edit the album if you want to collaborate with them.

Once you’re done, hit Preview at the top of the screen to see what it will look like. Then, you can save the album as a PDF file with the download icon (downwards arrow) at the top, or share it on social media.

Related: The Best Portable Photo Printers

If you've read all of this in the hopes of printing a real-life album, don't fret. For a reasonable fee, Canva will print a physical copy of your album.

It lets you pick the print size, hard or softcover, and a glossy or matt finish. Then, before you put in your payment and shipping details, it will let you overview the images to ensure that everything is how you want it and that nothing gets cut in the printing process.

Create an Album That Grandma Would Be Proud Of

There you have it! This guide will help you create a beautiful photo book that you can cherish for years to come. And if you print out a physical copy, you can even gift it to family and friends.

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The Best Photo Book Service

By Erin Roberts

We live in a digital world overflowing with images and screens. By creating a tangible photo book, you can reconnect with your images, as well as those moments in time. And photo books make sharing memories with family and friends so much easier.

After conducting more than 100 hours of research and testing (which included creating 23 photo books and consulting with a master printer on the results), we recommend Mixbook as the best online photo book service.

Everything we recommend

Easy-to-design photo books with vibrant colors

This service offers the best book-building experience, modern design options, color-accurate photo reproduction, great customer service, and a powerful app.

Buying Options

Budget pick.

Affordable photo books for gifts or small projects

If you want to print multiple copies of a photo book to give as gifts (or for projects that aren’t meant to be keepsakes), this service delivers good-enough books at an affordable price.

Creating photo albums is fun with Mixbook , which gathers images from your computer, social media profiles, online photo-storage accounts, and even your smartphone. In our testing, it offered the best book-building experience of the bunch, as well as some of the best themed layouts. Our finished album looked vibrant, with accurate colors, and had a high-quality feel.

If you just need a basic photo book, VistaPrint can get the job done at a cost significantly lower than our top pick. It offers some of the best album-creation software we tested, including a Smart Assistant option that made album design a snap. Although the cover photo wasn’t as color accurate as that of our top pick, the photos inside were almost indistinguishable, as was the paper quality.

The research

Why you should trust us, who this is for, how we picked and tested, our pick: mixbook, budget pick: vistaprint, tips for making your best photo book, the competition, frequently asked questions.

To discover which features are important in a photo book service, we’ve researched more than 50 companies and created 23 albums since the first iteration of this guide. We’ve compiled a mixture of images from high-resolution DSLR cameras and iPhones, selecting specific examples for both color and resolution testing, and used them to directly compare the image quality of different albums.

When updating this guide, we’ve consulted several experts, including Taylor McAtee, printing expert and owner of Stretch and Staple , a print shop in Seattle. We also crowdsourced input from friends who enjoy making albums with their family photos.

If you want to create an album of your digital photos, a photo book service is absolutely the way to go. Today’s digital photo books look much sleeker and more elegant than the scrapbooks of old. They’re also much easier to replace if an original gets damaged.

Digital photo books can be customized to fit any purpose, such as for a baby book, a family trip album, or even a school yearbook. They also make great gifts for grandparents and family. And if you’re a photographer, photo books are a wonderful way to curate your work in something that can be reproduced for distribution.

If you want to make a fancier book to document a special event, such as a wedding, consider upgrading to a layflat book, which has a unique type of binding that allows two-page spreads to lie completely flat, with no crease in the middle. You could also consider choosing a more luxurious cover, such as leather or crushed silk, to match the occasion.

If you have a collection of vintage photo albums or boxes of family photos sitting around, you might want to scan those photos and upgrade to a digital photo book.

In researching online photo book services, we looked for those that allow you to create a customizable book with captions and multiple photos on one page. We eliminated services that don’t let you at least arrange and reorder photos. And, on the flipside, we dismissed any that looked too technical or complex for people with no design experience.

Many photo-printing services offer frequent, deep discounts and promotions throughout the year, so it can be difficult to make an accurate pricing comparison—but holidays and annual shopping events are a great time to finally click the albums you have waiting in your cart. Otherwise, we can’t say for sure whether one service will be cheaper than another at any given time, so we prioritized services that offered basic, 20-page, approximately 8-by-11-inch books for under $50.

In general, these are the key features we considered:

• Customization options: The best photo book services strike a fine balance between offering a creative, diverse range of editing options and overwhelming people with a dizzying range. The service should work for photo junkies and for people who just want to quickly make a wedding album.
• Intuitive photo book software: The editing tools should be easy to grasp, even at an amateur level. Ideally, they should include all of the basics, such as a black-and-white filter, shadows, brightness, contrast, and saturation, plus the ability to rotate, resize, and reorder images.
• Elegant, ready-made layouts: You should be able to choose from a wide range of photo layouts that can suit any number of photos in a variety of orientations. You should never feel the need to create your own design.
• Flexibility in design: For more-ambitious people, a good photo book service allows you to design a layout from scratch.
• Print quality that’s true to the source files: The photo book shouldn’t make your high-resolution photos look blurry, grainy, or oversaturated. It should capture the resolution and colors as accurately as possible, even if you mostly use photos from Instagram.
• Variety of cover and binding options: The cover is the first thing people see when they look at a photo book. We preferred services with a range of options that look nice and can withstand years of handling.
• High-quality paper choices: We looked for paper that is durable, of high quality, and resistant to tearing. Photo book services should offer a variety of paper types, such as gloss, semigloss, and pearlescent.
• Easy to reprint and revisit: Unlike traditional, scrapbook-like photo albums, digital photo books can be reproduced at any time. Therefore, the service you use should save your photos, layouts, and projects so you can return to print or edit them whenever you want.
• Flexible upload options: A good service should at least be able to receive photos from your computer, as well as from online platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
• Layflat spreads: These spreads allow you to depict one picture across two pages without the center crease of a traditional bound book. Though this sounds fancy, it’s a common offering from photo book services and a worthwhile upgrade in photography or wedding books. We didn’t make this option a requirement, but we gave extra points if a service offered it.

To test these services, we made 20-page photo books using DSLR shots taken by professional photographers, as well as iPhone snaps taken during my honeymoon trip to Tahiti. We specifically selected images that can be harder to print to see how each service performed when tasked with HDR (high dynamic range) images, tricky colors, black-and-white photos, and even dimly lit iPhone snapshots.

We laid out each book in the same order, using the service’s most basic, white template. We also used each service’s default font for captions, sticking with whichever typeface and size were assigned to the theme we chose. All of the companies allow you to change fonts, but that can be a hassle, and we decided the default font would look nice enough. For each book, we also used the default cover and paper options (which are the cheapest or second-cheapest available).

Over the years and several rounds of testing, we’ve asked printing expert Taylor McAtee to compare and contrast print and page quality. We’ve asked friends who enjoy making family photo albums to examine the photo books, and they’ve provided helpful, real-world observations, such as which paper finish might hold up best in the grubby hands of a 5-year-old.

Mixbook has easy-to-use and intuitive design software, vibrant and accurate colors, and modern layouts that make it our pick for the best photo book service for most people. It is one of the few services that offers a dedicated mobile app in case you prefer designing from your phone, and you can invite collaborators to help with or review a project before it goes to print.

Versatile image-uploading options makes it easy to find the photos you want. If most of your iPhone photos end up trapped inside your phone (like ours do), you’ll likely find that adding mobile images directly to Mixbook makes the design process much more efficient.

Using a QR code on your computer screen, Mixbook guides you in selecting and loading pictures from your phone. After you refresh your screen, voilà—your iPhone snaps are now available for you to add to your current project. You can also upload directly from a computer, your social media (Facebook and Instagram), and photo storage accounts (Google and SmugMug).

Its book-building software is the easiest to use. The Auto-Create option feels like magic: after you’ve uploaded your images, a single click of a button builds your book using “only the best images.” It’s an efficient way to get a solid first draft, and it’s easy to customize from that point.

Unlike some of its competitors, Mixbook offers a swap button to swiftly replace one image for another. You can quickly change layouts too: The software displays recommended layouts using your images and may be filtered by number of images per design.

It offers helpful tips to make sure you never feel lost. Mixbook’s guidance boxes were the most helpful resource of any service we tested. These pop-ups, which you can close as needed, provide tips as you start to build a book.

Its photo-editing tools are simple and efficient. These include the same basic options offered by most other services: brightness, saturation, contrast, and opacity. You can crop and zoom in and out of photos easily, though the free-rotation tool was tricky (to fix your horizon lines, you have to click and hold down the arrow in the circle).

Six filters can give your printed photos an Instagram feel; you can also play with shadows and borders or even make a heart-shaped image. Text was easy to insert, and Mixbook offers a plethora of font choices and controls.

Thoughtful little touches make a big difference. When you’re pulling from an available image library in Mixbook, you simply have to hover over a photo to make it bigger. We really liked this feature, since it can be tough to choose your next image based on a tiny thumbnail. (When we used other services, we sometimes had to add the actual photo just to determine if it was the one we’d meant to include in the first place.)

It offers more templates than the competition. Each well-designed template can be kept as is or modified.

Mixbook offers 138 “everyday” album templates, from the simple Minimal White design (which we chose) to birthday, wedding, and seasonal themes. Plus, the themed layouts show actual photo examples, a truly useful feature when envisioning what you’ll create.

Photo reproductions are vibrant and color-accurate. As in previous testing, our 20-page, 11-by-8.5-inch Mixbook photo book was one of the most vibrant among all of the books we created, and the colors most-closely matched those in our original photographs.

Mixbook did a good job of correcting a tricky photo of me about to board a helicopter for the first time: I’m a too-dark, shadowy subject in front of the sunny landing platform where a helicopter and pilot wait. Mixbook struck a better balance of the contrast, picking up more detail in my face while retaining the vibrant background colors.

We reached out to Mixbook to ask about its color-correction practices. CEO and co-founder Andrew Laffoon confirmed that Mixbook automatically applies “very minimal” autocorrection, and that the feature can’t be turned off.

Mixbook uses high-quality paper. Of the six books we created in our most recent round of testing, Mixbook’s simplest album option came with the second-thickest pages—akin to the pages of a coffee-table book. The pages felt durable enough to stand up to the grubby paws of a small child, and they had enough sheen that we also thought they could endure a small mess and be wiped clean.

Its pricing is on a par with that of competitors. Mixbook albums cost about as much as or slightly more than other comparable albums in this category. But it’s always worth seeking out a discount, since the service usually offers an active 50%-off coupon .

If you don’t see a coupon at checkout, you can always make the book and then wait to purchase it until you can get a discount. This is especially handy if you opt for upgrades, like layflat pages, which can nearly double the price of an album.

Mixbook doesn’t spam you with email ads. Unlike Snapfish , which took our order as an invitation to send promotional emails daily, Mixbook didn’t automatically inundate our inboxes with promos once we created an account. We actually had to go into account settings to sign up for Mixbook’s email offers (and you can unsubscribe just as easily).

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Other photo book services offer more photo editing tools. We worked with Mixbook’s available brightness, saturation, and contrast sliders to boost a cloudy day photo. Though the results looked a bit better on screen, the printed version still appeared dark. Of course, you could use an external image-editing program, but we often found we needed to make another small tweak or two once we placed images on the page; editing that image elsewhere and then reimporting it to use in our design felt like a time-consuming chore. A more robust editing suite within Mixbook’s interface would mean we could make any necessary edits seamlessly while creating a photo book.

For a basic photo book at a lower price than our top pick, VistaPrint gets the job done, even if the cover photo was a little oversaturated and the design process wasn’t quite as smooth.

It lacks our top pick’s cute design templates. When you start creating your VistaPrint photo book, you can only select from seven size options, and it doesn’t have any design templates to start from. You can add some 1990s clip art or masks within the editor, but that’s not nearly as attractive or easy as selecting from one of the hundreds of templates Mixbook offers.

Adding photos is easy, yet limited. Unlike our top pick, VistaPrint only allows uploads from your computer and doesn’t allow for HEIC files, which is how iPhones and iPads save images by default.

You can change your device’s camera settings to shoot JPEG, and it’s not difficult to convert HEIC files to JPEG after the fact, but it is one more hurdle that can get in the way when you’re itching to start designing. You could opt to create a book via VistaPrint’s mobile site, which works fine with HEIC files, but that platform isn’t as easy to use as the desktop site.

Photo-editing tools are few, but print quality was nearly perfect. VistaPrint’s editor offers even fewer photo-editing tools than our top pick, and it doesn’t offer a way to fix an imperfect horizon line—a photographer’s pet peeve. By default, VistaPrint will “enhance” all photos automatically; a pop-up window bears this warning as you begin to create your photo book.

We left the auto-enhancement option on, and the results were as good as our top pick, with accurate color reproduction and impressive corrections on our tricky test images. Only the cover image appeared oversaturated, and VistaPrint had two tries at this, since the first copy arrived with a slight wrinkle in the corner of the cover.

Customer service is responsive, too. VistaPrint was responsive to our complaint; it requested images of the damage and then sent us a new copy for free. The new book arrived in just a few days. The cover was unwrinkled but still a bit oversaturated, which made skin tones appear too pink.

It’s a great book and good value. If you just need a simple book, perhaps at a price that makes multiple copies possible, VistaPrint is a solid option. The final result was a very close second to our top pick in terms of color accuracy and page quality, with just a few flaws noticed during the creation process and a not-quite color-accurate cover.

Printing expert Taylor McAtee said you should trust the experts at whichever photo book service you choose. “Just pick the photos you like,” McAtee said, explaining that because your home computer likely doesn’t have a color-calibrated monitor, the on-screen edits you make could look much different when printed.

He also offered two additional tips for selecting photos for a printed book: Avoid washed-out, intentionally very bright (aka high-key) images, which often don’t look as good in print as they might on a glowing digital screen. And don’t apply Instagram filters or use other editing apps that may compress your iPhone files, since doing so can result in a low-resolution photo when it’s printed.

Snapfish was about the same price as our top pick but, as in past years, delivered a book with dull and muted photos and some of the thinnest pages we saw in testing. Snapfish also sent us the most promotional emails following our order—at an annoying pace of about one every other day.

The photo book we built with Pikto looked a lot like the results from our budget pick, VistaPrint, but the service cost a bit more, and its software was clunkier, with no swap button. It was also difficult to connect with its customer service: No one ever answered our calls during business hours, no chat help was available, and the back-and-forth email assistance we did receive was slow.

Walmart Photo is a past budget pick, but the album we created this year wasn’t as good as in previous years. The cover image was oversaturated, making skin tones appear pink and not true to life. Color accuracy was also off throughout the thin pages, appearing dull compared with the competition.

Though Shutterfly was previously a top pick, the last time we physically tested the service, its image quality was a letdown. We took a fresh look for this update but found for its price, about $10 more than our top pick, other photo book services offer better editing tools.

Though we love the minimalist look of Artifact Uprising ’s designs, the books we ordered were both oversaturated. We tested the Hardcover Photo Book and the Photo-Wrapped Hardcover Book, the two most-expensive options we tested. In each book our photos were oversaturated, but especially so for the Photo-Wrapped Hardcover Book. This made my skin look especially reddish-pink in many photos, as though I had a significant sunburn throughout my trip (I didn’t). While turning up the vibrancy can make an image really pop, the downside can be inaccurate skin tones.

Google Photo’s photo books are the path of least resistance for people who already use Google Photos. Although it’s a fast and brainless solution, the automated process allows for little control or creativity. Photos are autofilled in chronological order, and it’s a hassle to move images around if you’d like a different format. If all of your photos aren’t already stored with Google, that adds another step in the process. Layout and design options are limited, and it doesn’t have image-editing tools.

We also checked out Amazon Photos . As with the Google option, creation is a breeze as long as you’re already using it to store your photos. The online software allows for slightly more control over image placement, but it doesn’t have image-editing tools or enough design options overall.

Apple also allows you to create a photo book right from Photos, using the Motif app. But just like the Google Photo and Amazon Photo, this option is very specific to the platform, and you have very little control over design or photo editing.

We made two books with Blurb —one with its web-based software, Bookify, and another with its downloadable software, BookWright.

We were disappointed with the options available in Bookify; it had very few layouts, and they had too much white space for our liking. We also experienced major glitches with captions.

BookWright, meanwhile, offers a huge range of design options, including layouts and fonts, with very little glitching. It reminded us a great deal of Photoshop or InDesign, so if you’ve used those programs before, you may be familiar with the added controls. We also liked that Blurb allows you to upload a PDF to create your book, and that it offers plug-ins for Adobe InDesign and Lightroom. BookWright could be a good choice for amateur photographers or anyone looking to print a series of books.

Nations Photo Lab , our pick for the best online photo printing service , continues to disappoint us with photo book software that offers almost no photo editing and only basic layouts, at a more expensive price than our top pick.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.

Where can I get a same-day photo book?

Our previous budget pick, Walmart Photo , offers same-day pickup. And the site, which has some of the best photo-editing tools available, makes designing and customizing an album easy. Other services, like CVS and Walgreens , offer same-day pickup, but we haven’t tested them.

Which photo book services offer apps?

Several photo book services have a mobile app. Our top pick, Mixbook , has an app for iPhone owners . Though our budget pick, VistaPrint, doesn’t offer a dedicated app, the mobile version of the website is okay.

Which service has the best-quality photo books?

Among the 17 books we tested, Mixbook had some of the most vibrant color pages, and the colors most closely matched the colors in our original photographs. Mixbook also had more user-friendly software than most of the other services we looked at.

Meet your guide

Erin Roberts

Erin Roberts is a freelance writer reporting on cameras and camera accessories at Wirecutter. She started her career as a photojournalist working in newspapers—shooting film—and was the mobile-imaging editor at DPReview. She is also a professional photographer who has made her living photographing everything from rock stars to humpback whales.

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Looking for gifts for a tech-obsessed loved one? We have Wirecutter-tested picks, including headphones, speakers, camera tripods, and more.

The Best Online Photo Printing Service

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We’ve tested dozens of online photo printing services, and we’ve consistently found that Nations Photo Lab is the best place to get prints.

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The 12 Best Travel Photo Book Makers of 2024

Create a forever keepsake and preserve your precious vacation memories with a photo book.

In This Article

• Our Top Picks

You Might Also Want

• Tips for Choosing
• Why Trust T+L

Travel + Leisure / Alli Waataja

The old cliché dictates that a picture is worth a thousand words, and certainly photos are one of the best souvenirs you can bring home when you travel. But, let’s be honest: how often do you really scroll back through your phone reel or revisit those online albums? A photo book is a much more tangible, attractive way to keep those memories safe and accessible forever. 

There are many photo book makers out there, all with slightly different offerings. Some specialize in simple, budget-friendly books that you can make for every trip while others excel at luxurious coffee table art books meant to commemorate once-in-a-lifetime adventures . We’ve researched the best options to help you choose the right photo book maker for your next vacation — and beyond.

Best Overall

Artifact Uprising

The gorgeous, high-quality products come in a range of styles and materials to suit all tastes and budgets. 

You won’t find themed layouts or same-day production here. 

Whether you’re looking for a budget-friendly softcover photo book to add to your travel collection or a premium layflat coffee table book to commemorate your destination wedding, Artifact Uprising has you covered. The company offers a full range of photo book sizes, shapes, and layouts including some more unusual options (board books for babies, for example, or Insta-friendly books designed especially for square images). Each book promises exceptional print quality and durable construction. 

You can customize every aspect of your photo book, although options vary depending on the product you choose. Examples include cover color and material (with possibilities including softcover, hardcover, linen, and leather), foil stamping, paper finish, the layout of your photos and text, and the page count. Most templates include 20 pages with an additional fee for each page thereafter. You won’t find colorful themes here; all products print on white paper for a clean, uncluttered look that puts your images front and center. 

For the most professional result possible, consider paying extra to collaborate with one of the company’s in-house design specialists. Production times vary from three to eight days depending on the complexity of your project. There are also four shipping options that range from standard to rush.

Best Budget

Their full range of customizable templates and colored backgrounds makes it easy to get the look you want. 

Expect additional fees for any project over 20 pages, upgraded paper, and finish choices. 

Although Snapfish also offers costlier products, their classic photo books are some of the most affordable out there. If you opt for a 7x5 or 6x8 softcover or hardcover book and stick to the included 20-page limit, you can easily spend under $20. Affordable upgrades include premium gloss pages and/or a matte cover; but bear in mind that extra pages can quickly add up. Making your photo book is simple. Choose the size and orientation, then design your own from scratch or use one of many premade templates.

Travel-themed templates include roadtrip, destination stamps, and tropical beach escape . After personalizing them with your photos and text. you can change the background color and add embellishments to each page. Optional layflat binding is worth the extra cost for seamless double-page spreads. If you find yourself with extra room in the budget, you can upgrade to a linen or leather cover. Production times vary, with the quickest delivery taking around three days with rushed shipping, but there are four total shipping options to cater to every budget.

Easiest to Use

Shutterfly’s in-house designers can create a photo book for you in 24 hours; all you have to do is provide your images. 

If you’re in a hurry, bear in mind that rush production and delivery is only available for certain products.

Most photo book makers require you to upload your images and then manually build each page or use an auto-uploader to add the pictures to a premade template. The first option is time consuming and the second often results in images being cropped or grouped in strange ways. Shutterfly offers a third option: upload your photos, then let an in-house designer create your book for you in 24 hours. Upon reviewing their design, you can order as-is or tweak it to suit your specifications. 

Best of all? This design service is offered free of charge. You can even use the Shutterfly app to upload photos directly from your phone. If you don’t want to use this service, no problem. You can still create photo books manually or use the faster autofill option. There are plenty of templates to choose from, with six square and rectangular size options and four cover types (softcover, matte or glossy hardcover, or premium leather). Production and delivery can take between one and 10 business days depending on the product and shipping option selected.

Best Themed Templates

Mixbook photo book.

With more than 700 themed templates to choose from, there’s an option for every kind of vacation. 

Not all templates offer the same number of free pages, so be sure to check before deciding. 

Mixbook photo books are divided into three main types: hardcover, softcover, and layflat for those seamless double-page spreads. Whichever you go for, there are more than 700 templates to choose from. These can be browsed by category with categories like year in review, seasonal, and, of course, templates for every major life event from weddings to baby’s first year. Travel-specific templates include options for photos only, or photos and text in a dizzying array of different layouts. 

Some are customizable to any trip while others are specific to certain adventures with themed graphics, text, and embellishments. There’s one for Disney trips , another for Royal Caribbean cruises, and another for national park adventures. You can also start with a completely blank canvas. Books can be landscape, portrait, or square and there are different paper and cover finishes to choose from. Production typically takes one to two business days with four shipping options available.

Best for Complex Designs

Canva photo books.

More than just a photo book maker, Canva lets you edit your photos and share your design with a team of collaborators. 

Some templates and features are only available with a paid Canva Pro account. 

For full creative freedom, choose Canva. Decide on a landscape or square book, then choose a hard or softcover. Next, browse thousands of templates (including a category dedicated to travel) and upload images from your phone, tablet, or desktop. All templates are fully customizable, which means you can change the font, the colors, and add icons and graphics. You can also edit your photos as you go with options to crop and rotate, adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation, and enhance with different filters and frames. 

All layouts can be adjusted to suit the number of photos you want on each page. If you upgrade to Canva Pro, you can remove backgrounds with a single click (kind of like cutting and pasting elements of real photos for a traditional scrapbook.) Canva autosaves as you go and creates an editing link that you can share to ask for input from friends and family. Recycled packaging and free standard shipping round out this company’s benefits.

Best for Simple Designs

Chatbooks is affordable and easy to use with the option to subscribe for repeat orders. 

Customization options are limited.  

If your photo book goals are a little less ambitious, opt for stackable, collectible designs from Chatbooks. The company’s classic photo books offer high quality printing at a price tag that’s reasonable enough to justify regular creations (if you like, you can even sign up for a monthly subscription.) How do they do this? By keeping things simple. You won’t find fancy templates or colored backgrounds, or an endless array of customizable graphics and fonts.

Instead, upload photos from your desktop or phone. Then, decide how many you want to appear on each page. If the answer is just one, choose whether you want it to cover the full page or have a white border around it. You can leave the layout text-free or add a simple location tag and/or caption. Other design choices include the book’s size, whether it has a hard or softcover, the color of the spine, and the cover. Books are made in the U.S. and include a generous 30 pages, with the option to buy more up to a total of 366. Standard shipping is free.

Best for Fast Printing

Walmart photo.

Walmart lets you design, order, and collect your photo book in-store, all on the same day. 

Most photo books must be no more than 40 pages to be eligible for same-day pickup. 

Walmart offers a solution for anyone who’s designing a photo book on a deadline, with more than 80 layouts that can be created online and then picked up in-store on the same day. You can choose from a variety of square and rectangular sizes in several different styles including softcover, matte and glossy hardcover; layflat; and premium layflat (with extra thick pages and a matte finish). Alternatively, upgrade to a linen or leather cover, or opt for a die-cut style that showcases your favorite image through a window. 

There are many themed templates to choose from, though most of them are fairly basic (don’t expect Canva-level creative flair.) Most templates include 20 pages with the option to buy more, but be aware that there’s usually a 40-page limit if you want to pick your book up the same day. If you have a little more time to work with and want extra pages, you can also opt for home delivery with free shipping on orders over $35.

Best Coffee Table Books

Once upon photo books.

Once Upon focuses on simple layouts that can be shared with and edited by multiple people. 

Designs may be a little too basic for fans of complex templates and embellishments. 

Once Upon offers three options for simple yet visually striking coffee table books. These include large and medium hardcover photo books with a sturdy build and a title of your choice printed on the spine, and medium softcover books for a flexible, lightweight feel that’s reminiscent of a luxury magazine. Choose whether you want silk matte or glossy pages, then create your book by uploading pictures directly from your phone, tablet, or desktop. 

Layouts are simple, with no themed templates, background colors, or fancy fonts. Instead, choose the number of photos you want featured on each page and let Once Upon create a collage automatically on the white background. You can edit the order in which they appear and add simple captions or separate text pages. Want to collaborate with your co-travelers? Share the editing link or QR code to get their input. The first 20 pages are included with a maximum of 200 available. Expect delivery in six to 12 business days.

Best Board Books

Pinhole Press

From their wipeable pages to their easy-turn binding, board books from Pinhole Press are designed especially with little kids in mind. 

The number of included pages varies from one template to the next, and not all templates allow you to add more. 

If you love the idea of making a photo book for the baby or toddler in your life but want it to last more than a few hours, check out Pinhole Press. Their board books are made especially for little people with rigid, high-gloss pages that can be wiped clean of errant crumbs or juice drops. A spiral binding makes for seamless page turning, while the 5.25 x 5.25 inch size is ideal for tiny hands. We love the clear, bright photos and just-right text size. 

There are lots of different templates to choose from, including a story board book that’s perfect for commemorating baby’s first vacation. The company also offers educational templates (think ABCs, colors, emotions, count with me, and my first cookbook options). Some have space for a fixed number of pages and photos while others let you pay to add more. For slightly older kids, consider Pinhole’s Itty Bitty books (miniature sized for long journeys) or their All About books with space for 10 photos alongside fill-in prompts your child can write on.

Best Mini Books

Nations photo lab albums.

Nations Photo Lab

Buzz Books are cost-effective and require minimal storage space, making them the perfect collector’s item.

Beyond choosing which photo appears on each page, customization options are very limited. 

Nations Photo Lab offers a full range of photo book products including templates for everything from travel to weddings and boudoir photography. Depending which one you choose, you can customize the binding, cover material, page thickness, and more. We particularly like their Buzz Books for those in search of something simple. At 6 x 6 inches, they’re both small enough and affordable enough to justify purchasing one for every trip. 

There are more than 120 pre-designed, soft-touch covers to choose from (you can also create your own) but the inside of each Buzz Book is the same: 40 pages, with one photo per page. The photos are printed on professional-quality Mohawk Matte paper against a white background for full visual effect. There are multiple shipping options available, including USPS First Class which delivers in two to six business days.

Best Sustainable

Paper Culture

Paper Culture photo books are made with recycled paper and every order placed equals a tree planted.  

Shipping rates are relatively expensive. 

Paper Culture is a certified Green Business that offsets its carbon footprint and has been recognized by the EPA as a Top 10 climate leader. All photo books use 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and with a tree planted for every order, you can feel good about your purchase on multiple levels. Books are 8 x 8 or 8 x 10 inches and you can choose a hardcover, a layflat hardcover, or a layflat with a foil-embossed Kraft cover and personalized dust jacket. 

There are multiple templates divided into categories such as travel, holiday, or wedding. Whichever you go for, you’ll be able to create an end result that’s entirely unique since all elements are customizable. Choose the layout and order of your photos, add text in different fonts and colors, and change the background color of each page. Templates include 20 pages with the possibility of purchasing more. Shipping options range from standard to next-day express.

Best Video Books

Heirloom lets you add up to one hour of video to a physical book that plays original audio with crystal clear quality. 

Video books can show vertical or horizontal footage, but not both. 

For a slightly different approach to preserving your travel memories, consider Heirloom which adds your videos to a physical book so that they can be looked at and enjoyed over and over again. Each book includes a five-inch HD screen. You can choose for yours to be oriented horizontally or vertically (more appropriate for those that typically shoot footage on their phone.) There are three options: up to 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or one hour. 

Here’s how it works: purchase your video book online, then receive an email with instructions on how to add video using the online builder. Your book will then be created and mailed to you. You don’t have to limit yourself to video. The books can also display photos as a slideshow and even mix photos and videos together. Add a personal message. Then, choose from 16 premade covers or pay extra for a custom cover printed with your own design. All video books include a charger and expedited delivery is a possibility.

If you're looking for creative ways to display and share your travel photos, you aren't limited to photo books. There are a few other options when it comes to memorializing your trip.

Aura Carver Digital Picture Frame : A digital picture frame is a great way to display a lot of pictures without spending a fortune on paper. Simply upload photos from your phone or computer directly to the frame and watch your snapshots cycle through on the high-resolution screen.

Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 Smartphone Printer : Print individual photos on the go with this smartphone printer that's travel-sized and easy to use. After connecting to your phone via Bluetooth, it only takes about 15 seconds to print out a 2-by-3-inch photo.

Tips for Choosing a Photo Book Website

Consider turnaround time.

If you need your photo book in a hurry, make sure to take production and delivery times into consideration when choosing which company to use. A handful — usually more budget-friendly ones — offer same-day production and the option to collect in-store, which is ideal for last-minute gifts . Others take several days to produce your book, but then offer expedited or rushed shipping to cut delivery time down to a minimum. Others can take two or more weeks to deliver. Check product descriptions carefully, since turnaround times can differ within the same company depending on the size and complexity of the photo book you choose. 

Look closely at the templates offered

Think about your desired photo book aesthetic and then look for a company with templates to match. These can vary from the simplistic (your photos and perhaps some text on a plain white background) to the complex (different background colors and designs, optional filters and frames, the ability to create collages and add text bubbles or other graphics.) Some companies offer templates that have been pre-designed to suit a specific theme, whether that’s travel in general or a Disney trip, tropical cruise, or camping adventure . 

Prioritize ease of use

If you have a background in design or count scrapbooking among your hobbies, you may relish in the challenge of building a photo book from scratch. But if you’re pressed for time or simply don’t want to spend hours choosing which photos go where and how to make them look their best, look for a photo book maker that does the hard work for you. This can either be through an autofill service that arranges your photos on the page (usually, you can tweak this afterwards) or through a collaboration over email or live chat with one of the company’s in-house designers. The latter service often costs extra but sometimes, as with Shutterfly, is offered free of charge. 

Image quality is key

The most important thing when making a photo book is ensuring that the photos look as good as possible. This means choosing a professional, well-reviewed company that uses quality paper and printing methods. It also means submitting photos that are good quality . Most photo book companies will have guidelines for optimum image size and resolution, and others will come up with a warning message if the image you’ve selected is not of a sufficiently high quality. You can usually choose to use it anyway, but be prepared for it to look a little grainy or pixelated. Top tip: use your lowest resolution photos for the smallest spaces on collage pages. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, most photo book makers can be used on your tablet or smartphone, either via a mobile-friendly website or with a special app. Just bear in mind that complicated layouts or photo books with lots of collage pages are often much easier to view and organize on a larger screen. 

The cost of a photo book varies hugely from under $20 to over $200. The price depends on which company you use but also on the size of the photo book, how many pages you want, and the materials you choose. Most templates include some pages in their starting price (20-25 on average), with a per-page fee for longer books. Softcover books are typically the cheapest, followed by hardcover and then linen and leather options. Traditional binding is cheaper than layflat, but layflat looks much better if you’re planning on having photos extend across a double page spread. Other factors that could increase cost include custom covers, premium paper finishes, design assistance, and expedited shipping. 

You want to find a company that prints photos that look as close as possible to the original, whether it was taken on a professional DSLR camera or downloaded from Facebook or Instagram. Images shouldn’t look grainy, blurry, or over- or undersaturated. Choose a photo book maker that uses professional printers and high-quality paper, and be sure to check customer reviews for the best insight into the kind of results you can expect. Don’t forget, though, pictures can only ever look as good as they were to begin with. So choose the crispest, best resolution images you have and use a light hand when editing them for a natural look. 

Why Trust Travel + Leisure

Jessica Macdonald is a published photographer with a passion for finding new ways to preserve and display her travel photos. For this article, she drew on her own experience with photo book makers and also spent several hours researching the best options online. She compared services, prices, and reviews before choosing her category winners.

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Related Articles

Can I Make a Photo Book on Canva?

Photo books are a fantastic way to showcase your cherished memories and create a lasting keepsake. If you're wondering whether you can make a photo book on Canva, the answer is a resounding yes! Canva is not only known for its incredible design capabilities but also offers a user-friendly platform to create stunning photo books with ease.

Why Choose Canva for Your Photo Book?

Design Capabilities:

Canva provides an extensive range of design tools and templates that enable you to unleash your creativity and personalize your photo book. With features like drag-and-drop functionality, customizable layouts, and a vast library of elements such as stickers, frames, and backgrounds, you can design a unique photo book that reflects your style and vision.

User-Friendly Interface:

Whether you're a design novice or an experienced user, Canva's intuitive interface makes the photo book creation process seamless. The simple navigation allows you to easily add photos, text, and other elements to your pages. You can also rearrange the layout effortlessly by dragging and dropping elements until you achieve the desired arrangement.

Creating Your Photo Book on Canva

Selecting a Template:

To get started on creating your photo book, log in to Canva and click on the "Create a design" button. In the search bar at the top of the page, type "photo book" to browse through the available templates designed specifically for creating stunning photo books.

Note: Canva's template library offers both free and premium options. While free templates are excellent choices, premium templates provide additional customization options.

Add Photos:

The heart of any photo book is, of course, the photos themselves. Canva allows you to upload your own images or choose from their extensive collection of stock photos. To add your pictures, simply click on the "Uploads" tab and select the desired images from your computer. You can then drag and drop them onto the template pages.

Customize Layout and Design:

Once your photos are in place, it's time to unleash your creativity. Experiment with different layouts, frames, and backgrounds to complement your pictures and create a visually stunning photo book. Canva's drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to resize and reposition elements until you achieve the perfect arrangement.

Add Text and Captions:

To enhance the storytelling aspect of your photo book, consider adding text or captions. Canva offers a variety of fonts, colors, and styles to choose from. You can use text boxes to insert personal messages or captions beneath each photo.

Review and Finalize:

Before completing your photo book, take a moment to review each page for any necessary adjustments or edits. Ensure that all photos are aligned correctly, text is legible, and layouts are visually appealing. Once you're satisfied with the final result, save your project.

In Conclusion

Canva empowers you with its user-friendly interface and vast design capabilities to create beautiful photo books that capture treasured moments in a visually engaging way. Whether you're creating a memory-filled album for yourself or crafting a heartfelt gift for someone special, Canva provides all the tools you need to bring your vision to life.

If you haven't tried making a photo book on Canva yet, I highly recommend giving it a go! So gather those cherished memories and let Canva help you create a stunning photo book that will be treasured for years to come.

About the author:

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Canva review

We put canva to the test and ask if it’s worth upgrading from the free version..

Our Verdict

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use program where you can make designs that look professional and are on-brand, you’ll love Canva, and you might even want to pay for Canva Pro. On the flipside, if you’re a graphic designer, you’ll have no need for it – it’s aimed squarely at those needing to look like design pros, not those who genuinely are.

• Cohesive look across designs
• One click Background Eraser and Animate tools
• Super-simple to set up and use
• Needs internet connection

Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

Canva is an online design tool that aims to make creating graphics quick and easy. I've been a user of Canva’s free version – on both mobile and desktop – for a few years now. So, I’ll start by saying that I find the app handy for quick design tasks, such as creating personalised thank you notes. I also recently used it to create a quick but cute birthday party invite for my son (see below). I’ve always found the app version to be identical to the desktop version and I’ve used them side-by-side without any issues. 

In this review, I'll outline the key things the free version has to offer. Bearing in mind we already rate Canva free as one of the best logo designers and best online poster makers , I wanted to try out the Pro version and see how that measures up. In the company’s own words, Canva Pro "has been designed to make you look like a pro". But does the Pro version have anything to offer the actual pros? 

To test the app, I've been using the Pro version for the past few weeks, and have used it to create social media posts for some clients I do social media marketing for, to make a presentation complete with animation and to rework my CV. For a comparison of Canva and its main rival, VistaCreate (formerly Crello), see our Canva vs VistaCreate piece.

Canva free: features

The free version of Canva really is quick and easy to use. I have recommended it to lots of friends with small businesses who need to create quick but sleek social media posts, banners, cover photos etc. With the free version of Canva, you just select a template to work with – a FaceBook cover image for example – and then add your own elements, via drag and drop, to a pre-done and pre-sized design. It's quick, easy and handy. 

The free version of Canva enables you to work with thousands of templates which cover everything from cards to social media cover photos and presentations, but it's restricted in that you can't create bespoke designs. And as I mentioned previously, I do think it’s super for quick creations to send to friends and family. 

The main gripe I have with the free version of Canva, and I seriously doubt I’m alone here, is when you’ve scrolling through designs to use for something and all the ones you like (i.e. the best ones) are always paid for / free on the Pro plan. 

So, while the free version of Canva is worth a look for on the hop designs for friends, as well as marketeers, blogger and the like, it’s far too basic and restrictive for creative professionals. Although in fairness, it's likely that creative professionals are already going to be using other software. Canva Pro, then is aimed at the middle market. Those who need more than the free version, but aren't confident creating their own designs in more serious graphic design software .

Canva Pro: features

Let’s start by saying that Canva Pro really does have you covered for all your digital creations – from presentations, video (from YouTube options, Insta reels and LinkedIn Ads to video messages) to every type of social media post and marketing products (from flyers and business cards to stickers and tickets). There’s an 'Office' tab too, where you’ll find templates for everything from CVs to reports and invoices. 

Now, on to look at the standout features. To compare to the templates offered by the free version, you're looking at approximately 400,000 as opposed to 25,000, as well as all the additional features mentioned below.

Canva Pro: Brand Kit

Canva Pro’s Brand Kit feature allows you to create a cohesive brand identity, which will enable users with a company to stay on-brand with every design they create with the software. Building your own brand kit is made super simple and once set users, and their teams, can access pre-set brand fonts, brand logos, brand colours and pre-designed templates. For new and expanding businesses looking to establish brand consistency across every touchpoint, this is a standout feature. 

Canva Pro: Photos Unlimited

With the Pro version of Canva you have access to what seems like endless photos, graphics, videos, audio and fonts – Canva says the number is in excess of ten million. The photos available for Pro users are a real highlight with a distinctly premium feel, you’re effectively getting an image library included with your membership. If you’re a regular image library user, you may well find that you could forgo buying images outside of Canva (see the best stock photo libraries for your other options). 

Canva Pro: Background Remover tool

Canva Pro’s Background Remover tool works like a dream and in a single click, I was able to create what would have usually taken me personally about ten minutes in Photoshop . I can see this being a really great feature for anyone who promotes products using their own photography. The brightness, contrast and saturation are super-simple to use too and although they don’t provide as much control as you can get via Photoshop, they would be fine for pretty much everyone bar pro photographers. See the best photo editing software for more options. 

Canva Pro: Magic Resize 

Users of Canva Pro aren’t likely to be professional designers, so the chances are re-doing a design for another use is likely to be time consuming. Not with the Magic Resize tool, another feature we really rate, which works on everything you’ve created within the software – simply add your dimensions and it sorts the rest! 

Canva Pro: Animation creator

Another feature not seen in the free version of Canva is animation creator, which quite simply allows users to animate their designs with a single click. All you need to go is press the animate button on any design – from social media posts to work presentations – click once to animate, then download as a GIF or video format. There are 14 animation styles to choose from, which gives a nice amount of choice to your style, too. It's very easy to use, though obviously not as complex as the best animation software .

More Canva Pro features

There’s a lot to fit into this review as Canva Pro really is feature laden. Other points that we can’t conclude without mentioning include: more than 3,000 included fonts, easy to use direct print feature, the ability to plan and schedule content direct from Canva Pro (great for social media creatives) and Version History that enables users to see what’s changed and restore versions of designs. Canva Pro also has all the publish options modern creatives need (including logos with transparent backgrounds), 100GB of storage and lastly, the ability to use Canva Pro across all your devices. 

Canva plans and prices 

The free version of Canva gets you 250,000 free templates, over 100 design types and some free photos and graphics, you also get 5GB of cloud storage. This will be more than enough for casual users.

With Canva Pro you get all that plus the features we've mentioned above. Canva Pro costs $119.99 / £99.99 per year, or $12.99 / £10.99 per month for up to five people, and a 30-day free trial is available. 

To compare, the premium version of Adobe's Creative Cloud Express , which offers similar features to Canva (and seems to have been created to compete with Canva and other similar software), costs $9.99 / £10.10 a month per person, and offers a 30-day free trial – there's a free version available, too. Photoshop or another single app from Adobe , such as Illustrator , costs you $9.99 / £9.98 per month, although with these apps, the learning curve is a lot steeper.

Serif's apps are cheaper, and arguably easier to get to grips with than Adobe's offerings. The likes of Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer will set you back $54.99 / £47.99, but that's a one-off fee.

We feel Canva Pro is good value for a single person if you're going to be using it a lot, but if you do work with a team of five, it’s an absolute steal. There’s only one Pro Plan but bigger businesses should look at the Enterprise plan too, which costs $30 / £24 per month, per person and has everything the Pro plan has along with a host of benefits centred around team working, including built-in workflows, template locking, unlimited storage and 24/7 support. 

Should I use Canva?

Canva is super simple to set up and use, so you've got nothing to lose by giving it a try. You don't even need to download the app if you don't want to, just create an account online and you're ready to go. It's particularly handy for creating quick graphics to share on social media, or a poster or invite for an event. 

Should I buy Canva Pro? 

We were very impressed with Canva Pro and certainly found it to be significantly better than the free version. But should you get it? Ultimately, that depends on what type of a creative you are and how advanced your graphic design skills are. 

Someone working as a graphic designer will have little need for the shortcuts like the background remover tool offered in Canva Pro and won’t struggle to make their own designs for the plethora of things offered by Canva Pro, without the template element. However, someone like a print maker looking to expand their business without having to get to grips with complicated software will be elated with the results they can get from Canva Pro. Its brand specific and encompassing every design and marketing need we can imagine. In a nutshell: if you’re a design pro: you don’t need it, if you’re a creative and need to look like a design pro: you should get it. 

Read more: The best infographic makers

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Rachael is a British journalist with 18 years' experience in the publishing industry. Since working on Creative Bloq's sister site, Digital Camera World, she’s been freelancing, and contributing to some of the world’s best-loved websites and magazines including T3.com and TechRadar.com. She has also had a book, iPad for Photographers, published. Rachael is passionate about art, design and contemporary crafts and enjoys photography, macramé and upcycling. 

Are Canva Photo Books Good?

Last updated on September 28, 2022 @ 12:19 am

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to create a photo book, Canva is a great option. With its simple drag-and-drop interface, you can create a professional-looking photo book in minutes, even if you’ve never designed anything before.

There are some drawbacks to using Canva, though. First, you can only use images that are stored on your computer; you can’t pull from Facebook, Instagram, or other online sources.

This can be a bit of a pain if you have a lot of photos stored online and want to include them in your photo book.

Second, while the drag-and-drop interface is easy to use, it can also be limiting. If you want to do anything more than simply add text and images to your photo book, you’ll need to use another program.

Canva doesn’t offer much in the way of customization or advanced features.

4 Related Question Answers Found

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Devops woman in trade, tech explorer and problem navigator.

Canva review

Canva offers a free online graphic design app that excels in providing simple, accessible tools.

TechRadar Verdict

Canva is a really impressive suite of graphic design tools available on the web as well as Android and iOS. You can use it to create a whole host of different types of products, from newsletters to social media posts, and it's particularly friendly towards beginners.

Huge number of templates and graphics

Can create any kind of visual project

Intuitive interface that's easy to navigate

The best features require a subscription

Advanced users will want more options

Doesn't work when you're offline

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

• Pricing & plans
• Stock asset libraries
• Using stock assets
• Docs and ChatGPT
• Final verdict

With demand for visual content on the rise, businesses found they needed a tool for quickly producing design assets with professional results - whether they had access to an experienced designer or not. 

It’s in this space that Canva effortlessly sits, serving up a free, online design app for your browser. 

Hailed by marketing teams as one of the best graphic design software , the the drag-and-drop tool continues to grow its user-base in part because of its streamlined interface (anyone can create a masterpiece here). And partly because it boosted its offerings with everything from the Canva PDF Editor to Canva Video , the company’s basic and free video editing software .

The web-based digital art tool comes packed with an impressive number of features too, whether you need to add text and stickers to your social media photos or totally revamp your printed assets. But will it hit your creative spot?  

• You can sign up for Canva here

Canva: Pricing & plans

Canva may be subscription based, but its lowest tier is free, which is definitely cause for celebration. With it, you get access to their media editor, over 250,000 templates, 5GB of online storage, and what we’re most interested in for the purposes of this review: over a million photos and graphics.

Should you wish to upgrade to ‘Canva Pro’, you’ll get premium templates, and stock media as a bonus, a crucially useful resize tool (which includes resizing your canvas), and 1TB of online storage, among many other features. This would cost you $120 per year.

If you work with colleagues, you can opt for ‘Canva for Teams’. This would give you all the advantages of Pro, but with the addition of collaborative tools, among others. It’s $150 per year for the first five people you add to your account, and your ‘Pro’ subscription will be automatically upgraded the moment the second person joins your team.

Canva does offer you to try out the Pro version free for 30 days, or use the ‘Free’ tier to test most features out.

Canva: Features

Canva is a versatile graphic design tool that runs in your browser and as an app on Android and iOS: it lets you create brochures, flyers, posters, social media graphics, invitations, calendars, videos, presentations, cards, logos, infographics, labels, letterheads, resumes, menus and more. You can start off with a template or a completely blank slate, and build your design up however you want.

The platform includes an impressive number of editing and layout tools as well – covering everything from image cropping to blur effects to background removal. Objects can be easily arranged and layered in a project, and it's straightforward to add extras like text captions or fun stickers on top of whatever you're doing.

Canva prides itself on being simple to use for anyone, with or without graphic design experience, and it's certainly true that the templates and intuitive tools mean you can create something very professional-looking very quickly. However, it's not just a suite of apps for beginners – seasoned design professionals can also get plenty of use out of Canva, as long as they don't want too much detailed control over what's on the page.

We'll explain the pricing plans a little later on, but free and paying users alike get access to thousands of different templates across more than 100 categories to get designs started, while those who are paying a subscription can also get at millions of stock photos, videos and design elements to play around with.

From tweaking your pet photos to putting together a full social media campaign, Canva can turn its hand to almost anything in the world of image editing and graphic design. With no software to install on Windows, macOS or Linux you can just jump straight in and start using it.

Canva: Interface

Canva's ease-of-use is one of its most appealing features, and everything really is well laid out and organized. Just tell Canva what it is you're trying to design, and you'll be met with a wealth of different templates and layout options – one of the strengths of Canva is the number of templates you can work from, which run into the thousands even before you start paying up for a monthly subscription.

Once you have a template or a blank page in front of you, getting elements together is very straightforward. You can change the entire theme of a design – colors, fonts, background images – with a couple of clicks, so it won't take you long to start personalizing the basic template so that it fits with your brand image or whatever you're looking for.

When it comes to layouts, Canva is a little more restrictive than the top-tier professional applications – you can take full control over where everything is in a design, but there's not quite the same level of depth in terms of pixel-by-pixel tweaking. Still, Canva does a great job of keeping everything simple for beginners while also packing in plenty of features to cater for more ambitious designers.

As you move elements around the page, helpful guides appear to enable you to keep everything aligned and looking consistent, while swapping out parts of a design (such as a photograph) can be done with a couple of mouse clicks. Whatever you want to do, whether it's dropping in a new background or embedding a video, Canva makes the process stress-free and intuitive.

The same approach is evident in the mobile apps as well: obviously it's not quite as easy to manage and adapt designs on a smartphone screen, but the Android and iOS apps are as user-friendly as the main web portal. You might be surprised of the quality of work you can get done on your mobile, which again is testament to how well put together and powerful Canva actually is.

Canva: Stock content library

Looking for Canva's free stock photo , video, and graphics library? By default, the sidebar is focused on the project’s Templates, but click on ‘Elements; instead, and scroll down until you see thumbnails for Photos and one row down, Videos. 

This is where Canva’s stock libraries were hiding. As you scroll down, you’ll see other libraries, for Audio, Charts, Frames, and more. Click on ‘See All’ for any of them to replace the sidebar with a larger view of what Canva has to offer for each of these categories.

Take Photos as an example. The sidebar will now show you trending thumbnails in an endless scroll format. Top of the sidebar is a search field, which allows you to find more specific images. 

The concept is as simple as you’d expect it to be: type in some keywords, and Canva will return a bunch of results. Notice that some thumbnails have a little gold crown to their lower right. This indicates those photos are premium ones. All those without the crown can be used for free.

Mouse over a thumbnail to reveal a circle with three dots inside it, top right. Click on that to get more information about the image, like it, add it to a folder, or see other media taken by the same photographer.

Canva : Using stock assets

To use a chosen piece of media, simply click on it, and it’s instantly added to your project. You’ll find handles on the corners and sides of the image, so you can crop and resize it to your liking. You can add as much media as you’d like into your project, and reposition them at will - you’ll notice magnetic guides will help you snap to the centre or edges of the canvas, or any other media already added to your project. All of this applies to photos, graphics, and videos Canva showcases.

You can of course use them with any template for anything Canva caters for, or should you fill your canvas with just the media you chose, you’ll be able to download it straight to your computer, via the ‘Share’ button, top right of the interface.

Select ‘Download’ from that dropdown menu, choose the correct file type you’re after, and download your media.

If that’s all you’re after, there is a much easier way: as we mentioned earlier, there’s a button top right of each thumbnail granting you access to information about it. One such data happens to be where it comes from. It seems most free ones originate from Pexels or Pixabay, while the premium ones can be found in Getty Images. Maybe it would be easier to grab them directly from the source?

As it stands, although Canva offers a stock media library, and you can browse and extract samples for your own use elsewhere, it’s not really ideally suited for use outside of its own templates. Although it can be done, there are easier ways to achieve the same goal, like grabbing them from the original libraries they came from.

Canva: Docs and ChatGPT

In recent months, the company has continued to add new tools and features to the platform. In a move away from pure graphic design, Canva Docs is the latest.

Since the dawn of the word processor , tools like Microsoft Word and Google Docs have had a fundamental problem. It’s nigh-on impossible to design smart-looking documents. A sentence with just one word too many can send everything off-kilter. Text boxes spiral off onto new pages. Images create yawning chasms of negative space no matter how many times you resize them. 

Canva Docs solves this challenge. It effectively bridges the gap between word processor and page layout designer - a sort of simplified DTP software . And it works in a similar fashion to the excellent Canva PDF Editor (and, to be fair, the platform as a whole, with its intuitive design consistency). Notably, you can take these pages and transform them into a PowerPoint -style document using the Docs to Deck function. 

Docs also features a really useful Magic Write tool. Drawing on the power of chatGPT AI , you can quickly get writing prompts and text by clicking the plus and typing what you want from the bot. In our tests, this worked really well to produce content fast - although it’s always best to give these things a good proofread.  

Canva: Final verdict

When you weigh Canva up against something like Adobe Creative Cloud , there's nowhere near the level of complexity or number of features, but then not everyone is looking for what Adobe CC has to offer – some people will prefer a simpler, more intuitive option that takes seconds to learn and get into, and that's exactly what Canva is. In fact, it's arguably a cleaner, more intuitive than its closest competitor, Adobe Express .

While advanced users are going to want more in terms of functionality and flexibility, there's no arguing with the quality of the results that Canva can come up with – the app is capable of producing some really professional-looking designs, with less effort on your part than you might think.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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Best photo books 2024

The very best photo books you can create from your own photos and order online

Easy to use, with plenty of designs to choose from and a high-quality finish, Mixbook is our top choice for photo books.

The best photo books can be the visual equivalent of a mixtape - curated with love and care, they are capable of evoking feelings and bringing back memories. And unlike a battered C90 in the tape deck of your car, they are only enhanced by the fact we all carry a smartphone in our pocket these days.

As a thoughtful gift for a loved one or family member, a photo book is hard to beat. Spend some time collecting images from special occasions, and you can guarantee a long-lasting, treasured reminder of happy days. They’re a versatile gift, endlessly adaptable to weddings, vacations, celebrations and more besides.

Any of the services we’ve collected here can create such a book for you, so we’ve tried and tested the best photo books, scoring them in terms of how good their print quality is, what the layout options for the pages were, and how quickly they could be printed and delivered. The image quality delivered by the finished article was the most important criterion, followed shortly by how versatile the book was. 

Mixbook comes in at the top of our rankings, but we didn’t find a digital photo book that was actually bad - they are all highly rated and your choice comes down to the one that best fits your needs.

Books aren’t the only digital printing options we’ve looked into. We have guides to the best photo cards , for when you want to send a special message with only one image attached, as well as the best greeting card software , for you to create your own.

1. Mixbook: Best photo book overall

Why you can trust Top Ten Reviews Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

Mixbook Photo Book

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Mixbook scored solidly across all of our testing categories. The photo books we received were of a high standard, with sharp pictures, accurate colours and quality paper. More importantly, the company has also got a really watertight guarantee, which allows you to return your product for a full refund if it doesn’t come up to scratch in any way.

Another reason we really like Mixbook is that it makes the whole process of creating a photo book feel fun. When we were reviewing services, we found that it takes roughly three hours to create and finish an album. But thanks to Mixbook’s brilliant array of designs, and its ability to easily pull pictures from multiple social media streams and computer drives, the whole activity felt like a breeze.

In addition to the thousands of backgrounds and stickers available, Mixbook also regularly releases new designs and has a genuinely engaging blog that’s populated with interesting tips. There are some Martha Stewart designs on there at the moment, along with posts detailing the best way to go about making a family recipe book. Of course, you can also start designing your book from an entirely blank canvas, too. 

When it comes to printing, Mixbook gives you eight book sizes and five cover materials to choose from. Handily, the site will give you a warning if your photos are too small and at risk of looking pixelated. You’ll also get a discount if you order a large number of photobooks and you can even rush shipping for an extra fee. 

• Read our Mixbook Photo Books review

2. Shutterfly: Best value photo books

This is a great budget option, with plenty of regular sales appearing on site and a base price that’s very reasonable, too. The compact 6 x 6 photo book option can cost as little as $19.98 and lets you print images across 20 pages. We found that the company delivered high quality goods. When we used the service to print our own book, it had great crisp images and excellent color reproduction. 

Like Mixbook, Shutterfly allows you to pull in images from your social media feeds, and you can also rush shipping if you need it printed in a hurry. However, do be aware that the refund isn’t quite as watertight as the one offered by Mixbook. Shutterfly will only refund you if the product is faulty - if you make a mistake, you’ll have to take the financial hit. 

The site doesn’t offer quite as many customization options as our top-rated photo book printing service, either. Although it has recently overhauled its book building experience, offering customers the chance to whizz through the process in a smaller amount of time. 

• Read our ShutterFly Photo Books review

3. Artifact Uprising: Best for high quality prints and gifts

Artifact Uprising

This definitely isn’t the cheapest option, but in our tests it scored the highest in terms of quality. Also of note is that this is the only service we tested that has a focus on sustainability, giving you the option to pick recycled paper for your prints.

You can produce some really beautiful hardcover books on this site, including vacation mementos and baby albums. A lot of the books come with the option of adding linen covers, which is a nice touch, and while it doesn’t have the widest selection of designs, the ones it does offer are really sleek, modern creations.

It also offers a bespoke service, where someone curates images and designs your layout for you. This can cost in excess of $100, though, so it’s not a service that everyone will want to use. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, Artifact Uprising also offers a softcover book starting from $15. But for this price, you could also get a more customizable product from somewhere like Shutterfly.

In general, we’d recommend Artifact Uprising for when you really want to go all out on an expensive, high quality product, as this is where the company excels.

4. Printique: Ideal for special occasions

This company is well known for its high standards. When we tested it out, it was miles ahead in terms of printing quality, yielding the best photo clarity and color accuracy of all the services we tested. However, that luxury comes at a cost – a 20 page, hardcover book will cost you $49.99 at minimum.

That’s why we recommend this option for when you really want to commemorate a special event. It’s perfect for wedding pictures, for example. You can choose between several different types of paper, including glossy, luster and deep matte varieties. So while $49.99 might sound like a lot, you really are getting the best quality out there. And like a lot of the other services in this guide, there are regular discounts available to bring down that price. 

There are thousands of design and layout choices to pick from, and it’s easy to pull in photos from places like Facebook, Google Photos, Flickr, Instagram, Dropbox and Amazon. It has a slightly complicated design process compared to other platforms, so it may take you a little longer to build something you're satisfied with (although if you’re committed to making the best photo book you can, we recommend you put aside a couple of hours for each project regardless.)

Printique offers 15 photo book sizes, whether landscape, portrait, square or horizontal-spine. It’s worth noting, though, that the book sizes are slightly unusual: for example, it sells an 8 x 12, 8 x 10 and 12 x 15 instead of the typical 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 14 options. 

5. Meijer Photo: Great for customer service

Meijer Photo

Meijer Photo is a US institution, and it is generally well loved by its satisfied customers. If you're buying a photo book from here you have the comfort of knowing that this is an established and trusted provider, and you can even visit a brick and mortar store if you want to collect quickly, or you have a problem with your order. While we didn't see any kind of money back guarantee with Meijer, we're fairly sure that most issues can be resolved quickly and easily in store.

Meijer has good print quality too, and its range of photo books - while limited - are good quality. You'll pay a low price for all photo products from here too, and if it wasn't for the frequent promotions run by sites like Mixbook and Shutterfly, this would rank as our cheapest provider overall.

The site is easy enough to use, but what Meijer really lacks is a wide variety of options when it comes to photo books. This is a pretty vanilla printing business, so lacks the range and features of more specialized providers. If you want to shop here because you know and trust Meijer, you'll get a good photo book, but there are better options out there.

6. Photobook: Best for versatility

If you want to get really creative with your photo book, then you'll need some software with a great range of tools. Photobook impresses in this area, the Malaysia-founded website providing an extensive palette with which you can design your masterpiece. Whether you're looking to expand, crop, rotate or put frames around your images, Photobook enables you to do it with ease. And if you do get stuck during the process, there are a bunch of 'how to' videos, along with a live chat service, to help you.

Our experts found that the images came out a little dark or grainy at times, but on the whole were satisfactory. Should you be disappointed with your final product, Photobook offers a 100% quality guarantee that enables customers to get a full refund if they're not entirely happy.

The other thing to say about Photobook is that it offers a huge range of other picture-based products, from calendars to kitchen aprons. There are also a number of branded items from your favorite high-street stores, which can be personalized with the name of your loved one for a gift that they're sure to cherish.

7. Snapfish: Best for extra photo gifts

Snapfish and Shutterfly have now technically been merged, but the companies remain distinct in terms of the services they offer. Snapfish is certainly still one of the largest photo printing services in the world - but this comes with advantages and disadvantages.

On the positive side of things, the company offers some great prices if you’re looking to bulk buy printed gifts. In addition to photo books, it also offers custom mugs, keyrings, pillows and face masks. Discounts regularly appear on site, so you can get some genuinely good offers here, especially if you need products printed for corporate events.

However, in our tests, the quality of the printing wasn’t quite as good as some of the company’s main competitors (like Mixbook.) Moreover, the experience of creating the photo book wasn’t as enjoyable. The site is a nightmare to navigate, with various pop-ups appearing on screen as you try to reach the checkout, pushing extra features and products. The designs aren’t as inspiring as competitors, either, as they’re all very basic. 

It’s a good option if you have simple needs, and want to prioritise saving money, but other services provide better quality.

8. Amazon Prints: A cheap service

Amazon Prints

Amazon Prints is a good option if you're looking to create a stylish and affordable photo book, as long as you’re not looking for the level of customisation offered by the services above. Our test photo book had a high print quality and was well built – despite it being the cheapest in our guide.

You can manually choose your backgrounds, stickers and the placement of your photos. The interface gives you the freedom to create your own layouts, and lets you crop and zoom into photos as you please. It also warns you if your photos are too low-res and will print blurry, which is helpful. The process, however, is very complicated and you may struggle to use it.

If you need to make a photo book in a hurry, you can choose from among the 13 pre-designed photo books and use the autofill feature. This photo book service also enables you to share images with other Amazon users to create collaborative photo projects.

It’s good to know that any purchases over $15 automatically receive free standard shipping. This can cost between $5 and $13 with other photo book services, so it’s a significant saving. Amazon Prints also offers a strong money-back guarantee. 

9. Walmart Photo Books: Very fast creation

Walmart Photo

If you need a photo book in a hurry, Walmart Photo is probably the best option for you. While the print quality isn’t as good as the other services, it's possible to create a book online or in-store and pick it up just an hour later. 

Walmart Photo is also one of the cheapest photo book services online. But, as you’d expect, the lower cost means lower quality and fewer options. You don’t get as much control or creative freedom as the other photo book creators in this guide, and the design tool is harder to use. For example, we couldn’t fit the cover image to the design window and so some of the people were cropped out and the photo became distorted. Nevertheless, if you need a photo book now , Walmart Photo is your best bet.

How much does a photo book cost?

The price of photobooks varies by service, as you might expect. But to get a good idea prices for a 20-page 8.5 x 11-inch book usually start at around the $30 mark and hit $46 at the top end.

The other factor to take into consideration with price is shipping, which is usually charged as extra. This can be as much as $10 so it's worth shopping around on this factor too. On top of that there can be tax added too, with as much as $8 added in our testing. All this varies by the number you order, how close you live to the printer and the state you live in.

Is it worth using a photo book printing service?

Despite all the costs mentioned, this is a service that pays for itself when you see the end result. No matter how good your home printer and arts-and-crafts skills might be, you'll struggle to match the quality of the end results that these professional services offer. 

So even if you have the best graphic design software and high quality printers available to you, a photo book printing service is easier and can offer better results.

How long does it take to design a photo book?

How long you want to spend perfecting your photo book is up to you but generally speaking most top end options have easy to use software. As such you can whip up a winning photo book in as little as 30 minutes. These can pull in photos from social media or your device, making that otherwise tough part, simple.

It's best to take your time over your photo book though, spending a few hours to get it just right. This means a better end result. Of course if you need to digitize photos too, add that time on.

What are express photo books? 

If you're in a real hurry to get your photo book, perhaps as a gift, then express photo books may be helpful. These are same-day photo printing services which allow you to pick up your photo book from a physical store. Some places where you can take advantage of this are Walmart Photo, CVS Photo or Walgreens Photo. Each of these offers an impressive one-hour pick-up time.

By comparison most other online services are going to take a few days, or even a week, to have your book printed and delivered to you. While these can mean you save money over express services, it does mean you need to plan ahead.

What are bespoke photo books?

If all this sounds like too much effort, there are bespoke photo book services that take even more of the work out of it for you. Services like Artifact Uprising offer professional designers who will do the legwork for you, for an additional fee of course.

All you need to do is get them the photos, tell them the sizes you want for the end result and have them go to work. You can then review and adjust before deciding on the final outcome.

How do photo book subscriptions work?

If that automation idea sounds good to you then a subscription service could be ideal. Photo subscriptions from the likes of Chatbooks, mean you'll be sent a photo book each month based on the photos from your smartphone, Instagram, Facebook and Google Photos.

Charged at $10 per softcover, or $15 for hardcovers, these books are shipped for free and are created for every 60 new photos. 

Photo book options

When you are buying a photo book, there are many things to consider outside of the cover design. It can be tempting to pick the prettiest cover, but measurements of size, layout options, and paper quality matter too. 

If you are new to buying a photo book, here are some important things to keep in mind before adding one to your cart. 

Size, shape and orientation

Most photo books are available in the 8.5 x 11-inch size, ideal for landscape photos. This is great for you if you have tons of average-sized horizontal photos. You can also get bigger, 14 x 11-inch photo books for larger-than-average snaps. 

While this works great for landscape photography, it may not be the best option for you if you are a fan of portrait photos. Selfie lovers should opt for vertical-oriented photo books that perfectly accommodate tall and narrow photos. 

Paper Quality

Paper quality might seem like an afterthought for photo books, but the right paper quality can actually change the whole look of your photo book. The most popular paper qualities include a glossy, matte, or luster finish, all of which look great depending on the theme of your photos. 

If you have vibrant photos with vivid colors, it’s best to opt for glossy paper, while a matte finish is ideal for a neutral or serious vibe. A luster finish is a good option if you want something bright but not super glossy. 

If you are looking for premium quality, opt for Lay Flat, which a fine paper made of extra thick cardstock for firmness and shape retention. This is best if you want your photos to lay flat in the book (instead of the curved shape most photo books offer). 

Cover and binding

 Now comes the best part: choosing the cover. This is one of the first things people consider when buying an album. 

Along with a great design, the “feel” of a photo album can also add to the nostalgic experience. Most popular cover options include leather and velvet as they offer a premium look for special photos. 

When choosing a cover, also look at the binding. Is it strong and durable to sustain regular use? Or is it pretty but delicate, making it suitable for rare use?

A good layout can make or break your photo book. The layout defines how your photos are arranged in the book. Here are some great questions to ask yourself to find the right layout:

Are all photos horizontal or is it a mix of landscape and portrait orientation? Is there space for taking notes and marketing dates? Can you change the layout or is it fixed?

Use photo books for online photo album storage

Lots of photo book services are happy for you to use their server space to store your photos. That means you can upload all your pictures as you take them for online backup with unlimited space. Not only does this mean your photos are secure but it's also easier than ever to create photo books, photo cards, canvas prints, photo paper prints, iPhone cases, gift mugs and more.

Some services, like Amazon Photo with Amazon Prints, will even recognise faces allowing you to create people specific albums more automatically. These also let you organize photos but to do this really well it's worth looking at good quality photo organizing software . 

Digitizing photos for your album

If you’ve been in the photography scene for a while, chances are you have analog photos you’d like to feature in a photo book. But to do so, you need to digitize them. 

The easiest way to do this is with a scanner, often found on an all-in-one printer . However, if you don’t have a scanner, time or the inclination to digitize your photos yourself, we recommend using a  photo scanning service .

If you have old slides you’d like to include in your photo books, you'll also need to convert them to digital media. As stated previously, you can always use a photo scanning service. But if you want to save some money and do the conversions yourself, we recommend investing in a slide to digital image converter . Keep in mind that this process, while not difficult, does take an investment of time if you have a lot of slides to get through, and it isn’t the most exciting work.

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Andy was the previous Editor-in-Chief of Top Ten Reviews. With over 18 years experience in both online and print journalism, Andy has worked for a host of world-leading tech and gaming brands, including PC Gamer and GamesRadar. He specializes in photography, technology and smart home, and has provided expert comment for sites like The Guardian. In his spare time Andy is an amateur photographer, and teaches at the National Film and TV School.

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Canva 101: How to Use Canva as a Book Influencer

To help NetGalley members create strong platforms for sharing their book reviews, we’ve rounded up tips for starting a blog , Bookstagram , Booktube , and BookTok channel. Most of these posts mention the free resource Canva as an option for creating images, and members have been wanting to know more about how to best use Canva. Here we’ll go over some ways that you can use Canva to share book reviews, create templates for other readers, and brighten up your social media feeds. (Psst: This post isn’t sponsored by Canva, we’re just fans of the tool and want to share the love!)

What is Canva?

Canva is a graphic design platform. You can sign up with a free account, and they also have a paid program that offers even more tools and assets. For book influencers, I’d recommend the free account!

When you log onto the Canva homepage, you’ll find options for creating new projects with pre-set dimensions, such as an Instagram story or a X header. Use these to ensure that anything you design is the perfect fit for the platform you’re uploading it to.

You can watch their Tutorials and Courses to learn even more about using Canva!

Adding book covers to device images In the past, I shared tips on how to add book covers to ereaders . A few members wanted a closer look at the process I use in Canva, so let’s dive in! From the Canva homepage, I click the Instagram Post option under the Recommended tab—or find it by typing Instagram into the search bar. 

To make your picture look more seamless and natural, it’s best to mimic how a cover actually looks on your ereader. On my device there’s a black bar at the top and bottom of the cover. 

Whenever possible, I screenshot the cover on my iPhone to ensure that the dimensions are a perfect fit when I transfer them to my ereader. Not everyone is able to screenshot covers on their reading device, so I’ll show you here how I add covers that I didn’t screenshot.

In the Canva design you’ve started, drag and drop your photo so that it fills the entire square. Then add the book cover. 

To create the illusion of the cover being on an ereader, go to the elements tab in the sidebar and type the word ‘rectangle’ into the search bar. Add the first search result to your design. Yours will be black, but I’ll make mine purple so it’s easier to see.

Start by fitting the rectangle onto your ereader. You can adjust the height, width, and rotate until you’re happy with its placement. 

Then straighten the rectangle so its parallel to the book cover. Place the book cover over the rectangle (you may need to click Position in the menu bar and move the book cover to the front) and resize until it fits within the width. The top and bottom of the rectangle should be visible and equal in size. I’ve made the design larger here for you to see.

Use your mouse to select both the book cover and the rectangle behind it. In the menu bar, hit Group. This allows you to move, rotate, and resize them together. From there, move the images to your ereader screen and adjust until you’re happy with the result!

Download your image and upload to social media!

Instagram Photos Bookstagrammers are using tools like Canva to create sharable eye-catching recommendation lists such as talk_about_swoon’s pairing of movies with romance novels and Bookstagramrepresent’s post of diverse debut novels .

You can create your own design from scratch or use Canva’s pre-made templates to get you started. I used one of Canva’s Instagram templates to inspire this scrapbook-style design featuring some of our team’s most recent staff reads.

You can use this style of post to roundup books that you recommend, or to showcase books you’ve included in a longer article that’s linked in your profile.

Instagram Stories Your Instagram posts aren’t the only places to share book reviews. You can also use Canva to create your own custom review templates. Here’s one I made for NetGalley reviews that includes a space for a short review, star rating, GIF reaction, book cover, and a place to thank the publisher for the ARC! Feel free to use it:

Canva also has excellent templates to help you create Instagram stories that encourage engagement with your fellow readers. Here’s one I put together for NetGalley members to share GIF reactions of their NetGalley habits:

Thumbnails Canva is a great tool for Booktubers looking to make thumbnails, which are the images viewers see when scrolling through YouTube for something to watch. 

Current trends in Booktube thumbnails include: eye-catching colors, text that hooks viewers, and a picture of the Booktuber. Using Canva’s YouTube Thumbnail design specs, I added a library background from their Photos catalog. Then I clicked Effects in the top menu and used Duotone to create the color I wanted. From there I added the text that I wanted, playing around with different fonts and font effects until I was happy.

My last step was to add a picture of myself! In the paid version of Canva, you can remove the background from photos after you upload them to your Canva library, which is what I did here. But there are also free websites that offer the same feature! 

Banners As you can see from the examples above, Canva makes it easy to design any number of graphics that can be used on book blogs. You can create artwork for blog posts, or even a banner for the top of your blog like I did here:

Using a macaron cookie outline I found in the Elements tab on the sidebar, and Effects for a font that I liked, I was able to create a simple but clear header for my (imaginary) blog. I kept things simple with the blog’s title and a subheader to further explain the blog’s theme. You could also add a picture of yourself or more design elements!

Find more bookish social media tips here!

Kelly Gallucci

Kelly Gallucci is the Executive Editor of We Are Bookish, where she oversees the editorial content, offers book recommendations, and interviews authors and NetGalley members. When she's not working, Kelly can be found color coordinating her bookshelves, eating Chipotle, and watching way too many baking shows.

I am quite inept when it comes to social media so these tips will be very helpful in stepping up my Instagram game. Thanks for sharing this helpful info!

Great post. I’ve been considering getting some high school students to help me get started. Can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks!

This is incredibly helpful, thanks so much! 😀

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I absolutely LOVE canva!

I absolutely LOVE canva! I'm horrible at anything artistic but canva makes it as though you have years of experience! There is a huge range of templates for anything you may need: invitations, weekly planners, bridesmaid proposals etc. Definitely recommend

Date of experience : May 30, 2024

Poor customer support only from bots…

Poor customer support only from bots that do not have the anwers and do not help no humans, Major problems that blocked my program and can't be resolved

Date of experience : May 29, 2024

This company is a huge scammer(…

This company is a huge scammer(… This company is a huge scammer( https://www. capcut.com/ ). These gays do not clear the payments after doing their work. kindly do not work with sure companies, avoid them. They haven't paid me anything for this link! live link: https:// www.val9ja. com/.../ revolutionizing-language.../

Date of experience : May 25, 2024

Graphics gone pro?

Look, the website is great, but it used to be better. I've used this for 3 years now and suddenly every single graphic has turned into pro? I don't want to pay for the website because i don't see a point in buying pro just for those stupid graphics. But come on, at least a year ago most of the graphics were still free. Why is this?

Date of experience : May 28, 2024

I've used Canva for several years and…

I've used Canva for several years and love it for social media posts, love that you can resize posts too for each platform.

Date of experience : May 27, 2024

Be careful if you like to have access…

Be careful if you like to have access to free music for commercial videos. Canva have a list of music where they stress that it's frre to use for commercial porposes. However, the other day Vimeo suddenly takes down a lot of videos with the music used from Canva's "free" library. After I have forwarded all relevant material to Canva they agree that the music is free, but in stead of solving the issues with the copyright company, Canva ask me to contact the copyright company, despite it's Canva that have entered into the copyright contract on behalf of their customers. Now I do not dare to select music from Canva anymoore.

Date of experience : May 16, 2024

Hands down the best subscription I ever bought

Hands down, the best monthly subscription I ever subscribed for. I am a business owner and have a team of designers who works under me. But since started using canva, I am not depending on them anymore. Its easy to use, provides templates, and allowing to import royalty free photos in real time. My ads, reels, social media posts, landing page, you name it. All are being done through canva.

Date of experience : May 13, 2024

Ruined my kid's field trip - Don't use for print on demand.

Ruined my kid's field trip. He was so excited to create and print his own tee shirts for his group. They totally messed up the order and didn't ship all the tee shirts I ordered. No customer support. Absolutely ridiculous.

Date of experience : May 20, 2024

I ordered what I thought was a card…

I ordered what I thought was a card design paid $8 + postage expecting a card and it's flimsy printer paper disappointed horrible quality of paper. And I could of printed this out at home for free. I only purchased this as thought it would be quality material. AVOID this site!!!!!!

I did the trial period and tried for 2…

I did the trial period and tried for 2 weeks to cancel before they charged me $300, of course with no luck. They have no customer service numbers or personnel. I talked to AI, said they refunded me, sent me a receipt with no refund in my account. Do not trust this site.

Date of experience : April 30, 2024

The product is not bad

The product is not bad, but the customer service is BELOW avarage.

Date of experience : February 13, 2024

The absolute worst customer service

The absolute worst customer service I’ve had half a dozen different people reply to me and they don’t understand what I’m saying. I keep having to repeat myself over and over ‘My uploaded fonts have disappeared please help’ Is that so hard to understand? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Date of experience : May 09, 2024

Terrible service

Terrible service. They use stolen media and violate copyright. Support doesn't respond. Be careful when using this crap service

Date of experience : May 21, 2024

Customer service is sorely lacking

I love using Canva- but the customer service is beyond awful. Expect that you will get a canned email response with no resolution available and no one is available by phone.

Date of experience : May 15, 2024

The Canva product is okay

The Canva product is okay, but their customer service really needs an upgrade. There are definitely better options out there, like Kittl. Be prepared to to go it alone without Canva helping.

Date of experience : May 07, 2024

Absolutely superb tool

Absolutely superb tool! It's a life changing website for graphics, video, audio and so much more for novice and amateur creators. I hope they add an image warping tool soon!

I highly recommend this

I was really surprised when I saw that the average rating was below 4 stars. I personally really enjoy using this app, and it had a range of things on there. You can make social media posts, make posters, etc. There is a load of everything in there (for the stickers and pictures, etc) for all different types of styles. However, even though I have rated this five star, I think that it is asking for your money too much. For example, I found a picture that matched exactly what I was looking for, but realised that it was premium only. If you’ve gotten to the end of this review, then thanks so much, I hope it’s helpful!

Date of experience : May 02, 2024

Absolute MUST for marketers

“Search no more” this is what I tell to fellow marketers, hearing about their design ops needs. Canva is super easy to get on board, everything is super intuitive. Million of templates make my (and my team’s) life JUST SO MUCH EASIER. ! Also I want to highlight how amazingly helpful and responsive Canva’s support team is. Every request is handled with a real care, that is felt. I use Canva for years and I am thrilled to see they’re adding AI features. I didn’t try it yet, but I already feel this tool will stay with me for lots of years ahead, as they are open for progress and product development.

Date of experience : May 03, 2024

Canva, oh Canva. Where do I even begin with this hot mess of a design tool? Let's start with the fact that it's as dense as a brick wall. Sure, the operation is smooth enough, but good luck trying to navigate through all the clutter and unnecessary features. And don't even get me started on the Magic eraser. What a joke. It can't even draw a decent outfit to save its life. Wrong style, wrong colors, incomplete outfits - it's like a toddler playing dress-up. And let's talk about proportions. Canva still struggles with getting things in the right size and scale. If you can't even get the basics right, what's the point? Might as well do it yourself and save yourself the headache. There are plenty of better options out there, folks. Canva may be popular, but popularity doesn't always equal quality. I mean, I have a fairly high IQ (at least 144, no big deal) and I can see right through this mess. Canva would probably score a 72 on a good day. So do yourself a favor and steer clear of Canva. Save yourself the frustration and opt for something that actually knows what it's doing. Trust me, your designs will thank you.

Date of experience : January 05, 2024

Canva has good but also bads 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

Canva has all the tools you need! You can add all sorts of charts and there are different types of presentations. It's like Google Slides, Google Docs, and Google Sheets in ONE! The AI tool is a great help to my projects and Canva is always helping you with templates. Also, its aesthetics are colorful and vibrant while also being professional. But as always there are also disadvantages of Canva.😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 There should be some sort of warning saying you have this much credit left and what credit is. I didn't know and I thought it was some sort of lag, I get to use Canva Pro for free!!! No I don't I was using all my credit unecessarily for the fun of it to explore and there I'm doing a project, thought I could use the rewrite tool and, 0 CREDITS REMAINING. In addition, they should really add a customizable min and max on charts and graphs. I'm doing a really important presentation right now and I NEED to do that. And no I can't do it on a different spreadsheet like google sheets because the way Canva displays the graphs is good-looking. P.S The graph situation was why I decided to write a review Thank you, Hope you can improve Canva, would appreciate

Canva Review (2024) — All the Pros and Cons

Our content is impartial, but funded in part by affiliate commissions (at no extra cost to our readers). Learn more .

Written by Chris Singleton | Researched and reviewed by Matt Walsh

In this Canva review, we take a look at an increasingly popular browser-based design tool that aims to let users without graphic design skills create professional-looking visual assets. Is it right for for your business, or are you better off using a more established solution like Photoshop?

Let’s start our deep dive into the platform with a key question…

What is Canva?

Canva is a graphic design app that aims to let you design visual materials without needing extensive graphic design experience. It can be used to create social media graphics, simple videos, presentations, slides, posters and other visual assets — and a wide range of customizable templates, royalty free images and AI features is provided to help users do so easily.

Unlike traditional graphic design tools like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, Canva’s learning curve is designed to be extremely gentle. This means that its feature set is considerably more basic that these sorts of ‘pro’ solutions — but its pricing is a lot lower than them too.

Launched in 2013 by technology entrepreneur Melanie Perkins , Canva is now a hugely popular solution for creating designs, boasting over 175 million monthly active users (MAUs) in over 190 countries .

Over 20 billion designs have been created with the tool and 4,000 staff members now work for the company.

But how does it actually work?

How does Canva work?

Canva can be used either in a web browser or as a downloadable app (for Mac, PC, Chromebook , iOS or Android).

It gives you four key things to help you create your design:

• templates — pre-designed layouts that you can use for a wide range of applications (for example to create presentations, videos, adverts, business cards , infographics or charts)
• ‘ elements ‘ — royalty free photos, videos and graphics that you can add to your Canva templates
• AI tools — AI features that let you create new content for your projects (or manipulate existing designs in interesting ways)
• a drag and drop editor that lets you move elements around a template.

Additionally, Canva provides controls for editing the typefaces and colours used on a template; it lets you create custom templates too.

The idea is that you simply pick a template, drop some content into it, make a few edits and then export your design for use online or as a printed item.

But how easy is this in practice?

Ease of use

When you log into Canva, you are presented with a question: ‘What will you design?’

You can answer this question by entering design ideas in the search bar provided, or clicking the icons underneath it. Doing so will give you access to suggested layouts for presentations, social media posts, videos, printed products and more.

Either way, you’ll end up with a wide range of templates to choose from. You can pick one of these as the starting point for your design.

From there, it’s a case of editing the template so that it meets your requirements. You can do this by clicking on one of the design’s elements (text, visuals etc.) and using the controls that appear above it to change that element.

Alternatively, you can replace the placeholder content with your own images or text (or add additional pictures and copy).

To add an image to a template, you can either search for an element from Canva’s ‘elements’ library (hundreds of thousands of these are available, and I’ve yet to come across a search phrase that isn’t adequately catered for).

You just click on an element to add it to your design, and you can resize it easily to suit your purposes.

Where changing text is concerned, it’s simply a case of overwriting the existing copy, or using the ‘text’ tool (pictured below) to add new headings or body text.

Ultimately, the process involved in creating a design in Canva is simple and its interface is extremely user-friendly — anyone who’s used a word processor or a simple graphics tool won’t face much of a learning curve.

And this learning curve has been made even more gentle recently with the addition of a new feature: the ‘Canva Assistant’ , a chatbot-style tool that sits in the bottom-right corner of the design interface.

You can use the assistant to quickly search for design assets or Canva features that you wish to use in your current design (see screenshot below for an example of my search for ‘trees’.)

It’s also worth pointing out that the fact that Canva’s interface is available in over 130 languages helps matters from an ease-of-use point of view too.

So all in all, it’s fair to say that Canva meets its goal of making graphic design extremely accessible to non-designers.

Using AI to create or manipulate content in Canva

Canva has recently launched several AI features and bundled them into a new ‘Magic Studio’ feature set. This comprises a total of 14 AI tools, with key ones including:

• Magic Eraser — a tool that lets you remove elements from images easily
• Magic Switch — a tool that automatically repurposes or translates existing designs for other platforms / markets
• Magic Morph — a tool that lets you transform the appearance of images and text based on instructions provided by the user
• Magic Grab — a feature that lets you separate the subject of a photo from its background
• Magic Expand — a ‘picture expander’ that lets you generate a bigger background for an image (for example, an awkwardly framed one)
• Magic Animate — a tool that lets you animate aspects of your designs (or add movement to them)
• Magic Write — a copywriting tool that uses ChatGPT-style prompts to create text
• Magic Media — a text-to-image generator that creates graphics or photos based on the prompts you give it.

You can view a quick demonstration of these new features in the video below.

In terms of how well these new AI features work, when testing them, I was pretty impressed overall — particularly so with the ‘Magic Expand’ and ‘Magic Eraser’ features, which I felt worked as well as equivalent features found in high-end graphic design software like Adobe Photoshop. I found the ‘Magic Write’ and ‘Magic Media’ tools to be less satisfactory, however. Like all generative text and image AI tools, how good a result you’ll get from them will depend on the nature of your prompts — but even so, I feel the output provided by them could have been considerably higher in quality.

What about adding your own assets to Canva?

Although a key aim of Canva is to give you everything you need to create designs all in one place — photos, videos, typefaces, templates etc. — it also lets you import your own assets too.

This can be done via its ‘uploads’ section, which allows you to import images, documents, videos, audio and fonts to your Canva account. Accepted formats include AI (Illustrator), HEIC, HEIF, JPG, MP3, MP4, PNG, SVG and WebP. Microsoft formats like DOCX and PPT can also be imported, and OTF, TTF and WOFF fonts can be uploaded too (more on fonts in a moment).

Another way of importing content is by recording a video of yourself — this will reside in the uploads section too.

Once you’ve imported an asset, you can simply grab it from the ‘images,’ ‘videos’ and ‘audio’ tabs provided and insert it into your projects.

Photo editing options in Canva

Once you’ve added a photo to a design, you can tweak it easily using Canva’s photo editing tool .

To access this, you just click on a photo contained in one of your projects, and then on the ‘edit image’ button.

This gives you access to a set of simple controls that let you alter that image’s appearance in various ways. Sliders to adjust brightness, contrast, highlights and saturation are provided (along with several others), and you can also make use of Instagram-style filters.

You can apply changes to your whole image, its background, or the foregrounded object (see screenshot below for an example of Canva controls being used to make some extreme changes to the background of a picture).

If you like, you can also edit images via Canva’s ‘modal photo editor’ (pictured below). This is a new, ‘standalone’ image editor that allows you to crop images, apply filters to them, remove their backgrounds or adjust color settings before adding them to a design.

You can also make use of an ‘auto-adjust’ option for correcting image colors.

I touched on Canva’s ‘background remover’ feature briefly above. This is a handy tool that, as its name suggests, lets you remove or replace the background from photographs . It works well and is particularly useful for creating headshot photos for websites or email signatures and thumbnails for YouTube videos .

Another photo-editing tool worth mentioning is Canva’s new ‘Photo Colors’ feature (pictured below). This automatically extracts the main colors from a photo into a palette, allowing you to incorporate them into other parts of your design — text, shapes, graphics etc.

Ultimately, it’s fair to say that Canva’s image editing tools are of a ‘cut-down’ nature. But they are nonetheless powerful and easy to use, and they give you access to the features that are arguably the most relevant to effective graphic design work.

Editing videos in Canva

In addition to letting you create ‘static’ designs, Canva lets you create videos too. The process for video creation works in a broadly similar way to designing static content — you pick a template, tweak it, and add clips to your video as necessary.

Clips can either be imported to the uploads section, or you can add them to your video timeline using Canva’s extensive library of stock videos (which you’ll find in its ‘Elements’ section). Alternatively, you can use your webcam to record video directly into Canva.

The clips themselves can be manipulated in various ways — for example, you can crop, flip or animate them. However, during my tests, I found that when I added animations to videos in Canva, they did not always export successfully — there may be a bug to address here.

One particular editing feature that’s worth singling out as being particularly impressive is Canva’s new video background removal feature (pictured below).

Although this is just available in BETA mode for now, and only works with videos that are 90 seconds or less in length, it’s very effective at stripping out busy backgrounds behind speakers — and just as easy to use as Canva’s background removal tool for static images.

Another nifty (and recently introduced) feature that helps simplify video editing is Canva’s automated ‘beat sync’ tool. This automatically matches your clips, footage, and accompanying animations to the tempo of the background music you’re using in your video.

Once you’ve got your video clips in place, a timeline lets you drag and drop them into place, trim them and create your final edit.

You can also add audio to your video from a royalty-free library of over 500,000 pieces of music / sound effects . I have had some user feedback indicating that these sometimes cause issues when used in YouTube, however — and in fact a video I uploaded to YouTube myself featuring Canva-sourced music was flagged as breaching copyright.

So, you may still be safer using a separate royalty-free music library to source audio for video projects created in Canva.

Ultimately, it’s fair to say that the video creation functionality on offer from Canva is nowhere near as extensive as that which you’d find in a dedicated video editing application — you won’t be able to play with a wide range of transitions, or professionally grade your video content, for example.

But overall, it’s extremely useful and usable, and the built-in library of stock videos brings with it the potential to save users a lot of money.

How to access a 30-day free trial of Canva Pro

For a limited time, you can access a 30-day free trial of Canva Pro here . This gives you access to all Canva’s premium design tools, along with a huge library of stock images, graphics, video and audio. Note that in order to access the trial, you will need to enter credit card details — but you will be given the opportunity to cancel your trial before moving on to a paid plan.

(You can learn more about the Canva free trial in general here ).

Creating presentations in Canva

A key use of Canva is as an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint.

Now, it doesn’t give you all the bells and whistles that PowerPoint does (there are no 3D models or equation features to play with, for example, and the types of graphs you can create are more basic than those you can make with PowerPoint).

However, the range of tools on offer is still decent and the interface for designing presentations is extremely easy to use — in my view, a lot easier than PowerPoint’s.

The template range is much bigger than PowerPoint’s too: Canva gives you around 25,000 templates to choose from, which come in 3 formats (16:9, 4:3 and ‘mobile first’). By contrast, PowerPoint gives you just 50 out of the box.

(You can read our full Canva vs PowerPoint comparison here .)

Recording a presentation in Canva is simple too; you can use your computer’s webcam and built-in microphone to record a video of yourself as you present the content (a circular video of you appears in the bottom left corner of the presentation when you do so — see highlighted section in screengrab below).

And Canva does a very good job of exporting to PowerPoint format: when testing the feature, I was pleased to see that the exported version looked exactly how it did in Canva (see screenshot below).

If you like, you can import PowerPoint files to Canva for editing too. My experience of this was less positive — when I imported PowerPoint files into Canva, a lot of them ended up quite garbled.

Some of this was down to my font selection (not all the typefaces installed locally will be available in Canva), but my other design elements didn’t import exactly as hoped for either.

Importing files into Canva

On the subject of importing files, Canva has launched a feature that lets you import a wider range of files into the platform. Up until recently, you were limited to importing static image and video files, but you can now import and edit PDF (Adobe Acrobat) and PSD (Adobe Photoshop) files too.

I tested this import feature out with a PSD file and it worked superbly — all the image layers were imported fine, and were easily editable.

You can also import a wide range of audio file types into Canva: supported formats include M4A, MP3, OGC, WAV and WEBM.

Creating documents with Canva

Canva has been traditionally associated with the creation of visual assets — but thanks to the addition of its ‘Canva Docs’ feature, it now facilitates more text-based content creation.

As its name suggests, Canva Docs lets you create documents and can, if desired, be used as a simple alternative to desktop publishing apps like Microsoft Word.

Canva Docs lets you use all of Canva’s design tools, templates, brand kits and stock visuals when creating a document, giving you a quick way to create attractive, on-brand content that ‘pops’ off the page or screen.

There are around 860 Canva templates available that are specifically for creating documents with — these include project proposal, press release, style guide and student journal templates.

Note : The content you create with Canva Docs can be exported to Word or PDF format; however, if you choose to export to Word, you’ll need to be careful with font selection — any fonts you use in a Canva doc will need to be installed locally on your machine for your document to display correctly.

Although you could technically create similar documents using tools like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, the process for doing so would arguably take a lot longer, and you’d need to source all the imagery for your documents outside of the applications themselves.

That said, Canva Docs is not yet a substitute for a professional desktop publishing app — try inserting a table of contents, advanced markup or page numbers into a Canva document and you’ll find out why!

But Canva Docs does offer something that you won’t always find in traditional desktop publishing apps: a new ‘Magic Write’ tool . This is an ‘AI-powered’ text generator that Canva claims can automatically create the content for your document — you give it an article or paragraph title and let it come up with the copy for you.

You can think of this as a ChatGPT -style content generating tool, albeit a more basic one.

In my tests, I found that the copy that Magic Write provided wasn’t terrible — but there were definitely problems with accuracy.

For example, when I asked Magic Write to give me a summary of The Beatles’ history, it gave me a grammatically-sound and broadly correct paragraph about the band’s early years — but also a weird section about their ‘final era’ which apparently ‘lasted from 1970 until their break up in 1970.’

I found Magic Write to be of most use for getting ideas for document structures . As a test, I asked it to give me an outline for a blog post comparing two ecommerce platforms we write about a lot, Wix and Shopify — and I was pretty impressed with the content headings it suggested (see screenshot below for the test results). The headings provided definitely reflected the type of sections we typically use in our ecommerce comparisons.

Ultimately the Magic Write feature has a bit of a way to go before it can create copy that doesn’t require editing before publication. But it is good at generating ideas that can inform how you go about creating text-based content.

Update : recently Canva rolled ‘Magic Write’ out to all its tools, meaning that you can use its AI content-creation features in any design type.

You should note however that limits apply to how many times each month the Magic Write tool can be used. On Canva’s free plan, 50 uses in total are permitted; this rises to 500 on its premium plans.

Creating charts and data visualizations in Canva

Although Canva is often thought of primarily as a tool for creating social media graphics and marketing material, it also gives you some really useful (and often overlooked) features for creating charts and graphs .

You can create up to 19 different types of chart using Canva, including bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, histograms and more.

The feature is extraordinarily easy to use — you simply enter your data into a table on the left hand side of the Canva interface, which Canva then automatically turns into a chart or graph (see screenshot below).

These can be exported to a variety of file formats, or embedded on websites via a code snippet (the latter method of presentation giving you a way to update your data in Canva and show the most up to date graphs on your site automatically).

If that’s not enough for you, you can also make use of a new data visualization feature in Canva — an integration with the ‘Flourish’ platform, which is used by thousands of organizations worldwide to create interactive data visualizations.

We’ve used Flourish in the past and it is capable of generating truly stunning results, so its integration into Canva is an exciting development.

As things stand, you can only produce two types of data visualizations via the Flourish integration, a hierarchical treemap and packed circle charts, but even these formats give you fantastic ways to present your information.

For me, Canva’s charting capabilities and the Flourish integration represent standout features of the tool that give you really simple ways to present statistics and data in an extremely attractive, on-brand way.

You can learn more about creating charts with Canva here .

Exporting your projects

Once you’ve created your design or video in Canva , you can export it to a variety of formats, namely:

• PDF (low-res and print quality)

To be honest, by comparison to professional design tools (or even similar ‘prosumer’ tools like Adobe Express), this is quite a small range of output formats, and represents one of the key disadvantages of using Canva.

If you use a professional graphics or video editing package, you’ll be able to export your content into just about any format going — but Canva really limits your options here.

Significantly, you can’t export to Adobe Photoshop’s PSD format , meaning that if you want to start a design off in Canva and then send it to a professional graphic designer for enhancement, you’re out of luck.

(Workarounds for addressing this situation exist — involving converting files to PDF and using third-party tools to separate layers out — but they’re clunky).

And only one video export format is provided: MP4 (with no options provided to adjust its size or quality).

Now, to be fair, Canva does cover the basics with its output formats, and a lot of its users won’t really need a bunch of additional ones; the key aim of the product is to let people create quickly, and export simply. For most applications, the range of export formats provided will be fine (especially if you’re using Canva to create content that’s destined to be consumed online).

But some users will miss the flexibility to output their work to a format of their own choosing.

And speaking of flexibility…

Canva’s Magic Switch tool

A particularly useful feature of Canva is its ‘Magic Switch’ tool (formerly known as ‘Magic Resize’), which lets you repurpose existing designs for different platforms really easily.

This tool lets you automatically reformat an existing design to suit different applications or social platforms.

For example, you can use Magic Switch to turn a blog post banner into a Facebook post image or a YouTube video thumbnail, just by clicking the appropriate option.

Not only this, but Magic Switch lets you repurpose your designs by automatically translating your content into other languages too; and, thanks to generative AI features, it can even turn an image-based design into a document, email or — remarkably — a song.

(How well this works will depend heavily on the source material, however — and expect to do some editing on the output!)

Embedding Canva projects

It’s important to note that you don’t always have to export your Canva project to a file format. If displaying a design digitally, you can also embed it.

To do this, you simply grab a snippet of code from Canva and add it to your website. Doing so will display your project — but crucially, reflect any changes that you make to it in Canva automatically.

Ensuring brand consistency with Canva

As we’ve seen above, Canva provides users with a lot of tools and content to create marketing materials with — templates, graphics, stock photos, videos etc. In theory, you could use all these to design your assets, without needing to resort to anything else.

You could even use Canva to create an entire brand identity — i.e., create a logo in Canva ; define a color palette; and choose fonts for your brand from the extensive range provided within the platform.

In fact, ‘suggested’ brand identities are available from Canva — color palettes and typefaces.

But in practice, most businesses will need to configure Canva so that they can create designs that reflect an existing brand identity.

To this end, Canva provides you with the option to create a ‘brand hub.’

This lets you:

• add a brand logo
• define a color palette
• upload your own font
• upload your own images
• add regularly-used graphics
• upload your own icons.

On paid-for plans, you can create multiple brand kits (100 on the ‘Canva Pro’ plan, and 300 on ‘Canva for Teams’).

Once your brand kit is in place, whenever you’re creating in Canva , you can apply or add any of these brand assets to your design.

On the ‘Canva for Teams’ plan, you also get a couple of other features to help you maintain brand consistency across your designs:

• a ‘ brand templates ‘ section, where you can create and store reusable on-brand templates
• a ‘ brand controls ‘ section (pictured below), where you can restrict your team members’ ability to use colors or fonts that are not part of your official brand guidelines.

Organizing work and collaborating in Canva

Organizing your work in Canva is pretty straightforward. A simple folder structure lets you create folders that house your designs.

If you’re on a ‘Canva for Teams’ plan, these folders can be shared with other team members, who can then edit any designs that they contain. This works in a similar way to Dropbox and other sharing services — you simply share a folder with a team member by entering their email address into the folder’s settings.

One thing you’ll need to note here is that to share a folder with a team member, you have to create a ‘team’ in Canva first.

(More details on Canva Teams and Canva pricing in a moment!).

Can you back up a Canva project?

Although Canva uses a traditional files and folder based approach to organizing your design, it’s important to note that there isn’t really a way to back up your projects using the platform.

You can recover deleted files for a set period — after deleting a design, it’s kept in a trash folder for 30 days before being permanently deleted (if you delete a team, that team and its content can be recovered for up to 14 days).

While these grace periods are welcome, they’re no substitute for being able to back up your projects to a device and reimport them in the event of accidental deletion of a project (or loss of access to a Canva account).

Yes, you can export your files to PNGs, JPGs etc. — but these will flatten all the layers in your design, meaning that when you re-import them to Canva, they’re no longer editable.

Building a website with Canva

In addition to being able to create visual assets with Canva, you can technically use it to build websites too.

It has to be said however that only very simple websites can be created with the platform — you can build a one-page site ‘brochure’ site with Canva, but that’s about it. The sites that you can make with Canva look very professional and on-brand, but you can forget about incorporating things like a complex navigation structure or ecommerce into them.

Simply put, although you can create a simple online presence with Canva (and a lot of people have: over 2 million, according to the comapny), it doesn’t give you the sort of professional website building features that site builders like Shopify and Squarespace do.

The site designer might be appropriate for some users’ needs, however — if all you need is a basic resume site with some copy and a few pictures, it’ll do the job fine. Over 1,080 web design templates are available that you can populate with website content easily.

When you’ve created your site, you can publish it in three ways:

• via a free Canva site address (yoursitename.my.canva.site)
• by purchasing a new domain for it through Canva (using the desktop version only)
• by mapping it to a domain you already own.

Making products with Canva

Another interesting aspect of Canva is the fact that you can actually manufacture physical products using the platform .

To do this, you go to its ‘Print products’ section, where a wide range of items can be designed (45 different products in total) and purchased.

These include:

• greeting cards
• stationery (notebooks, brochures, diaries etc.)
• photo gifts (books, mugs, prints etc.)
• marketing printables including yard signs and retractable banners.

In a nice ‘ethical’ touch, Canva runs an ecological scheme to offset the environmental impact of manufacturing a product through the platform: for every order made, Canva plants one tree.

Ultimately though, I’d view Canva’s product manufacturing option as a ‘nice to have’ feature rather than a core one.

First, all the products available are quite expensive, meaning that you can’t really make something, mark up on it, and sell it to somebody else. The cost price of a t-shirt is around $25, for example.

Second, the number you can order at once is capped — when testing the feature, any item I tried to manufacture was limited to 50 copies. This makes the option unsuitable for anyone wishing to mass produce items — such users would be better off using a dedicated print on demand solution like Printful or SPOD instead.

Finally, it’s worth noting that printed products created with this feature can’t be shipped to all countries yet (this is a particular problem where African nations are concerned).

Have you seen our Canva vs Adobe Express comparison?

Canva free trial details | Adobe free trial details

Additionally, you need to be careful regarding using stock imagery on items that you print from Canva — various licensing restrictions apply. The below video explains some of the issues involved.

Apps and integrations

Like a lot of other SaaS (software as a service) products, Canva provides a range of apps and integrations that add functionality or help it integrate more neatly with other popular services.

At time of writing, nearly 260 are available , which you’ll find in its ‘app directory,’ pictured below.

The apps on offer are generally to do with adding special effects to your images, or retouching them; but an increasing number of AI image generation apps are now on offer too, including Google’s photorealistic ‘Imagen’ generator, Open AI’s ‘Dall-E’ image generator and Murf AI’s voiceover creation tool.

The integrations available typically help you import images or videos from other apps into Canva. For example, you can connect your Canva account to services like Google Photos, Google Maps, YouTube and Facebook and bring content in from them (which you can then incorporate into your designs).

For me, one of the most useful of these is the ‘ Mockups ‘ one (previously ‘Smartmockups’). This lets you see how your design will look in context in the ‘real world’ — for example on a book cover, in a picture frame, in a smartphone etc.; it can serve as a built-in alternative to the similar ‘PlaceIt’ mockup generator.

If you’re in search of original imagery to use in your designs, you might be interested in Canva’s new ‘Magic Media’ image generator app .

This app lets you enter a phrase that, thanks to the magic of AI, is automatically converted into a new image for you. 25 styles are currently available, presented in three categories: photography, digital art and fine art.

I tried this app out by entering the phrase ‘David Bowie eating cheese’ into Canva, and I got the below result for its ‘colorful’ digital art setting.

Another app I found particularly useful while testing Canva was ‘Typecraft,’ which lets you bend, warp and twist text in lots of interesting ways.

Oddly however, I couldn’t find any Canva apps for popular website builders, like WordPress, Wix and Squarespace . These are all services that could definitely benefit from an integration with Canva, because it is so good for producing web graphics, product mockups and blog banners.

A new Canva app has been made available for the popular Shopify ecommerce platform , however — ‘Shopify Sync.’ This lets you add images from Shopify to your Canva designs (unfortunately however, when we went to test it, it was suffering from a connection error and wasn’t working properly).

Email marketing services and CRM tools are fairly well catered for — integrations are available for popular tools like Mailchimp, Hubspot, Constant Contact and MailerLite.

But if the apps on offer aren’t enough for you, you could always consider building your own — a developer’s platform for Canva provides access to the platform’s API and lets you create your own ‘content extensions’ that let you integrate Canva with other tools in various ways.

(Obviously you’ll need development skills to do this.)

Using Canva on mobile phones

As you’ll have noticed from the screenshots on this post, I’ve largely based this Canva review on the browser-based version of the app (for the record, the desktop versions for Mac OS and Windows are very similar to to this).

You can however also use Canva on a mobile device , thanks to iOS and Android apps that are available for the platform.

The app scores exceptionally highly on the Google Play app store, gaining 4.8 out of 5 stars from reviewers; iOS users seem a bit less impressed however, awarding it 3.6 out of 5 stars.

In my own test of the mobile app, I found that it was really easy to use, providing an interface that was very similar in nature to the desktop version (albeit squashed down a bit!).

And we are not talking about a cut-down version of the platform here; you can do fairly serious work with Canva on a smartphone.

That said, I’d still be inclined to use the browser or desktop-based version of Canva wherever possible: editing photos and videos on a phone is rather fiddly and I don’t enjoy doing that much!

But for people who are on the move and want to put together a slick-looking video for social media platforms really quickly, Canva’s mobile apps are nonetheless an excellent option for doing so.

Customer support

There are two ways to avail of customer support from Canva.

First, there’s the Canva help center, which contains a searchable archive of help resources and how-to guides.

There’s also email support. The form for this is easy to access; with some other online apps, you don’t get to see contact details until you’ve searched a help center for a solution to your problem first, but Canva makes the them very easy to find (googling ‘contact Canva support’ should sort you out pretty quickly).

In terms of turnaround times for support queries, these vary according to plan:

• Canva Pro – within 24 hours
• Canva for Teams – priority support within 24 hours
• Print — within 24 hours
• Canva for Nonprofits and Canva for Education – within 48 hours
• Canva Free – 1 week

It’s a shame that phone or live support isn’t available, but the fact that users of the Canva free plan get support is commendable, and given the low pricing point of Canva, it’s fairly understandable that customer service is email-only.

And speaking of pricing…

Pricing and value for money

So far, we’ve looked at all the key features of Canva; but not its pricing. Let’s dive into that now.

Canva pricing plans

There are three main versions of Canva to consider:

• Canva Free — $0 per month
• Canva Pro — $15 per month (for one user)
• Canva for Teams — $10 per month per user (with a minimum of three users being required to access this plan)

If you pay for your Canva plan on an annual basis, a discount of 16% is applied.

Subject to a vetting process, free or discounted plans are provided to educational organizations (via the company’s ‘Canva for Education’ and ‘Canva for Districts’ plans). Similarly, and again subject to eligibility checks, non-profits can use Canva for free too (via the ‘Canva for Nonprofits’ plan).

In terms of the differences between these three plans, the key things to watch out for are as follows:

• Seats — the number of users varies by plan, with the free plan and Canva Pro both providing just one user account, and the ‘Canva for Teams’ plan letting you purchase multiple seats.
• AI features — the premium plans give you full access to all of Canva’s AI design tools (Magic Switch, Magic Eraser, Magic Morph etc.) and more generous allowances to use on the AI tools that are available on both the paid-for and free plans. (For example, Canva Free limits you to 5-50 lifetime uses on its translation, text to image and content generation tools, but premium Canva plans give you access to 50-500 uses of these tools per month).
• Templates — the paid-for plans give you considerably more templates than the free one.
• Images and videos — the paid-for plans give you access to nearly 10 million stock photos, videos and graphics; the free plan gives you access to a large range of photos and graphics (‘hundreds of thousands,’ according to Canva), but no videos.
• Brand hubs – if you want to use your own brand colors and fonts easily in Canva, you’ll need to be on a paid-for plan. On the ‘Pro’ plan, you can create up to 100 brand kits; on the ‘Canva for Teams’ plan, the limit is 300.
• Storage space — the free plan gives you 5GB of cloud storage; the ‘Pro’ plan provides 1TB; and on the ‘Canva for Teams’ plan, you get 1TB per user.
• Transparent backgrounds — if you want to output a design with a transparent background, you’ll need to be on a premium plan.
• User controls – only the ‘Canva for Teams’ plan provides controls over what can be uploaded to or edited in Canva.
• Support — as discussed above, response times are quicker if you’re on a pro version of Canva (with turnaround time for queries being considerably quicker on the ‘Canva for Teams’ plan).

(Note: our Canva Pro vs Free comparison spells some of these feature differences out in more detail).

Value for money

There’s no doubt about it: Canva offers you a lot of bang for your buck.

For a relatively small monthly fee , you can enjoy access to a wide range of design tools and visual assets that let you create extremely professional results, extremely quickly.

And, when you consider that Canva’s per-user monthly fee is typically less than what you’d pay for just one stock photo from Getty or iStock, but gives you access to millions of stock images and videos, this sense of value for money becomes even more pronounced.

It’s worth pointing out Canva is not quite as good value as it used to be, however. Until recently, you could purchase a $29-per-month ‘Teams’ plan for Canva that included 5 seats.

Even with this increase in pricing, you need to remember that many business apps requiring a monthly subscription typically cost a lot more than Canva — the SEO apps we review , for example, typically range from $99 to $400 per month in price, and come with extremely small seat counts. So despite the hike in price, I’m still struggling to think of any product that we’ve reviewed to date that offers quite so much functionality for such a low price.

Canva Free vs Pro video comparison

Canva review conclusion.

Overall, Canva is a really solid, easy-to-use app that is packed with features that make designing visual assets simple. Whilst not always a substitute for a professional graphic design tool or video editing application, it is considerably easier to use than such tools, and in many contexts will do the job just as well as them (and more cheaply, too).

The main downsides of Canva are the fact that it’s output formats are limited; there’s no way to back up projects; and support is email-only. Of those three flaws, the output formats issue is the most significant, as it limits your ability to start a design in Canva and have it finished off by a professional designer in another app. But given how cheap Canva is, it’s hard to feel too annoyed by these omissions.

I’ll leave you with a summary of the key pros and cons of Canva, and you’ll also find some information on some alternative tools below. Do leave a comment if you have any queries about this review or the Canva platform in general.

Key pros and cons of Canva

Pros of using canva.

• It’s extremely good value — for a very small monthly fee you can get access to a host of design tools and millions of bundled graphics, photos and videos.
• The Canva features are extremely easy to use, even if you don’t have any graphic design skills.
• The new ‘Magic Studio’ feature set provides users with an impressive array of AI tools at an extremely low price point.
• The free plan is very usable , and even comes with support .
• Its brand kit option and the way it lets you upload your own photos and typefaces make it easy to ensure brand consistency across designs produced in Canva.
• It provides a fantastic way not just to create promotional material, but, thanks to its graphic features, statistics too.
• If you’re on a ‘Canva for Teams’ plan, you’ll find that Canva makes it extremely easy to collaborate on designs .
• Its ‘Magic Switch tool’ makes it extremely easy to create lots of visual assets at once (in different languages too).
• Canva’s mobile app is extremely functional and is particularly good for creating ‘on-the-go’ visuals for social media marketing.
• It provides an easy way to produce one-off printed items .

Cons of using Canva

• The formats you can output your visuals to are quite limited, with the lack of an ‘export to PSD’ option being a particular concern.
• Canva is an online graphic design tool — so if you don’t have Internet access, you won’t be able to work on any of your designs.
• There’s no obvious way to back up your projects .
• There’s no phone support .
• The range of apps and integrations provided is fairly limited.
• The free version, while generally very useful, doesn’t let you export images with transparent backgrounds.
• The new ‘Magic Write’ feature, while useful for generating content ideas, is not yet suitable for generating professional copy.

Alternatives to Canva

There are quite a few alternatives to Canva available.

Browser-based alternatives

In terms of browser-based apps, key alternatives include Visme , Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly Adobe Spark) and VistaCreate (formerly Crello). These are similarly affordable graphic design tools that let non-professional designers create visual material easily.

(If you’re interested in learning more about these tools, we have Visme vs Canva , Adobe Express vs Canva and Canva vs VistaCreate comparisons available.)

Canva vs Visme video comparison

See also: What is Canva?

It’s tempting to think of desktop Adobe applications like Photoshop , Illustrator and Premiere (and other tools you get in an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription) as direct alternatives to Canva. But they are actually quite different beasts.

While Canva comes with a built-in library of graphics, stock photos and videos, when using the Adobe apps, you often have to source assets ‘outside’ of them. But they are nonetheless great tools for putting visual assets together with, and at the end of the day, considerably more functional than Canva.

(You can learn more about the differences between Adobe Photoshop and Canva in our in-depth comparison of Canva and Photoshop .)

Canva vs Photoshop — video comparison

Canva Extended Free Trial | Photoshop Free Trial

Web design tools

Although Canva can technically be used as a web design tool, the truth is that there significantly better platforms available for building websites — just a few examples include WordPress, Squarespace , Webflow , Wix and Shopify .

Print-on-demand tools

If a key aim of using Canva is to create printed materials or physical items with it, you might also want to investigate dedicated print-on-demand apps like Printful or Printify . These tend to come with larger and cheaper product ranges, and facilitate the production of greater number of items in one go.

You can learn more about Printful in our ‘What is Printful?’ guide and our in-depth review of the platform .

You can find out more about Printify in our Printify review .

Canva review FAQ

What are the advantages of canva.

The main advantages of Canva are that it’s easy to use, cheap, and feature packed — not only can you design visual content with it, you can also use the tool to create videos, presentations, digital art and even websites.

What are the disadvantages of Canva?

The main disadvantage of Canva is that its range of output formats is quite limited, meaning that the projects you export from the platform can’t be easily edited by professional graphic designers in other tools. Other disadvantages include the fact that no phone support is available for the tool and its options for backing up your work are limited.

Is Canva good for beginners?

Canva is extremely easy to use. You won’t need any graphic design skills to create projects with the tool (although an eye for design will of course help).

Can I use Canva for free?

Yes. A cut-down free version is available, or alternatively you can make use of a 30-day free trial of the ‘Canva Pro’ version .

How we tested this product — and why you can trust this review

We tested this product via independent research and, more importantly, hands-on experience of it.

We use Canva for creating our own visual assets and videos and have extensive knowledge of how the tool works. So this Canva review is based on creating many designs and videos from scratch; editing existing ones; and using Canva apps in conjunction with the tool.

And finally, we have a strict honesty policy — while we do make use of affiliate advertising to fund our research and testing, we strive to be 100% impartial in all conclusions.

Now…over to you

Got any thoughts on our Canva review? Our any questions you’d like to ask about the tool? Leave them in the comments section below.

About the author

Chris Singleton

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Chris Singleton is the Editor of Style Factory.

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, he is now London-based.

Since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1999, Chris has advised many businesses on how to grow their operations via a strong online presence, and now he shares his experience and expertise through his articles on the Style Factory website.

Chris started his career as a data analyst for Irish marketing company Precision Marketing Information; since then he has worked on digital projects for a wide range of well-known organizations including Cancer Research UK, Hackney Council, Data Ireland and Prescription PR. He founded Style Factory in 2009 as a way to share his expertise with a wider audience.

He is also the author of a book on SEO for beginners, “Super Simple SEO.”

You can connect personally with Chris via Twitter (X) or LinkedIn .

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I’ve been using Canva for about a year — 95% for videos.

There is one real negative to Canva and it has to do with their music supplier and how they give rights for use of the videos. It is so, so easy to get a copyright claim on a video and then its a real pain to get it removed. Out of about 325 videos, I’ve had about 45 copyright claims.

Thanks for the insights – we experienced a similar problem once too with an audio clip used in a Canva video. I will look into this in more depth before the next update of this review with a view to providing some more information on the issue you raise. Cheers!

One of the best designing sites there is. If you are not using Canva for your business, wedding invitations, baby on the way announcements, really what are you doing with your life? Canva is so user friendly and easily accessible. I use it for just about everything when it comes to my social media posts and my businesses. Thank you Canva!!!

I have tried printing products twice and both times was disappointed and frankly surprised at the poor quality of the items (postcards and card with envelope respectively). Additionally, Canva has no customer service phone support, which is very frustrating. I would only recommend using it for digital designs.

Thanks for your insights — great to get some first-hand user feedback on the quality of the printed items available from Canva.

Shutterfly vs. Mixbook: Comparing 2 Great Photo Books

Several months ago, we compared the biggest and best printers available for on-demand photo books .

And although there are plenty of excellent options out there with different advantages and disadvantages, two, in particular, stand out from the pack.

On one end of the spectrum stands Mixbook , an impressive newcomer. Recently, the on-demand bookbinders have made waves among photographers for the quality of their products. On the other end is Shutterfly , an early undisputed giant with a more mainstream following.

When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. We evaluate products independently . Commissions do not affect our evaluations.

Mixbook vs. Shutterfly

For those new to the world of photo books, both are incredibly appealing options to collaborate with.

In most ways, the two companies are neck and neck with one another. They offer similar prices and products, making it hard to determine the differences between the services.

However, our goal at PhotoWorkout is to clear things up for our readers so that they may make the decisions best for them. So, today we’ll be dissecting the two front runners, comparing Mixbook vs. Shutterfly piece by piece.

Related Post: Mixbook Photo Book vs. Blurb

MIXBOOK OVERVIEW

In short, here was my final verdict on their books:

Going into the review, I had high expectations of Mixbook based on what others had to say. The online press did not disappoint. From the moment I went on the website to the minute I finished flipping through my book, it was hard for me to find faults. That’s not to say that the Mixbook photo book is perfect. While it is affordable, it’s not the cheapest option around. The internal editor could always offer additional tools and capabilities. More sizing and binding options certainly couldn’t hurt things. However, to gripe on these points feels a lot like nitpicking.

Mixbook isn’t without its flaws, but it has garnered positive attention across the photo community for good reason. They offer a professional-looking final product well within most artists’ budgets. But does it hold up when examined head to head with a long-time industry leader?

SHUTTERFLY OVERVIEW

Shutterfly has been printing since 1999. It is a flagship printer shipping products in formats and on a variety of mediums. In the past, we have done several reviews about them, e.g.:

• a Shutterfly photo books review and
• we also reviewed the Shutterfly canvas prints as part of our discovery of the overall best canvas prints .

With years of experience under their belts, they have a few advantages that other smaller competitors can’t compete with.

Related Post:  Walgreens Photo Book Review

Offering seven different sizes and a variety of available materials, they have one of the most extensive photo book lines on the market. What’s more, Shutterfly is able to churn out finished products within three business days. Pricing starts as low as $16 per book (although add-ons can quickly increase the base cost). Make sure to check ongoing promotions  for steep discounts of up to 50%.

The site isn’t perfect – in particular, UI is a bit clumsy and cluttered at times. But thanks to the company’s resources, they’re able to offer solutions to get around some of their shortcomings.

For instance, Shutterfly offers a “Make my Book” service , in which trained professionals will design an album using whatever content you choose. Of course, if you want to keep the design work in your own hands, there are also simply drag-and-drop templates that the site has to offer.

A few weeks ago, I decided to print a mock-up for a personal photo project to see for myself if Shutterfly photo books lived up to their reputation.

There were a few minor differences between my Shutterfly product and my previous Mixbook order, but in most matters the two were comparable.

The matte finishes looked almost identical, as did the materials used to bind the cover. As far as print quality goes, I was impressed by the rich tonality and contrast Shutterfly’s finished project provided. Despite being a much larger corporation, Shutterfly adds just as much TLC into its books as Mixbook.

Before trying out Shutterfly, I assumed that their business revolved around making almost scrapbook-esque family albums and instant prints. Shutterfly can, in fact, accomplish those tasks. However, they also prove to be a viable contender for fine artists looking for higher-quality products.

Head-to-Head Comparison

So which service is best for you? Here’s our take based on a few of the categories that matter most to potential buyers.

Our choice: Mixbook

On the surface, Shutterfly seems to be the more affordable print service. After all, the company loves to tote around the fact that they offer photo books under $20. Furthermore, they frequently have sales going on that may take a nice chunk of change out of your final fee. However, there are some added fees that will likely catch you off-guard at checkout.

As with most sites, Shutterfly has a number of add-ons that can be applied to an order to enhance the final product. Unlike most websites, however, Shutterfly customers will almost certainly have to tack on add-ons, as base books are pretty bare bones. For instance, each book order only includes 20 pages – beyond that, customers must buy by the page. Larger volumes charge over $2 to add just one page to a volume. Combined with a $10 fee to remove Shutterfly logos as well as shipping and tax fees, it’s easy to see how many users wind up spending more than they intend on even simple book projects.

That being said, Mixbook’s prices aren’t far off Shutterfly’s. In fact, their base prices are almost identical (although Mixbook’s larger photo books are  slightly less expensive). However, we’re giving Mixbook the edge in this round because they’re a little bit more straightforward with pricing than their competitor.

Print Quality & Binding

Our choice: Tie (Both Mixbook and Shutterfly do an excellent job)

Shutterfly’s prints were absolutely beautiful, far surpassing my expectations. The tones were rich, and the paper complimented my black and white images especially well.

Unfortunately, there was one minor print error that I ran into (the edge of one of my images bled off the top side of the page whereas my other shots had a white border all the way around). However, despite the misprint, I was happy enough that I would use their services again.

I was also pleased with what I received from Mixbook. They did an excellent job with color management, and my end product looked exactly as it did on my online preview. My one little gripe, in retrospect, is that I think the printers may have added a little bit of extra sharpening between my submission and the print.

Honestly, it was too difficult to choose a winner in this category simply because they both do an excellent job. Their few weaknesses balance one another out, making it hard to identify a clear-cut winner.

I was a little bit more impressed with Shutterfly’s prints as a whole. However, I liked Mixbook’s standard binding a bit more. While Shutterfly’s pages need to be held down to stay in place, Mixbook’s default bind lays much flatter.

Options & Support

Our choice: Shutterfly

In this field, Mixbook, unfortunately, doesn’t stand a chance. The small company employs under 100 individuals. Shutterfly, on the other hand, has a workforce of nearly 2,000 employees.

For first-time users, Shutterfly is an easy choice because they simply have more resources to guide customers through the bookmaking process.

In fact, Shutterfly has a “ Make my Photo Book ” Service in which you can forward photographs and the folks behind the scenes will design the perfect book for you. They also offer a variety of presets and templates that are easy enough for beginners to use, but still, offer some control over the finished product.

That’s not to say that Mixbook is especially difficult to use or that their staff is in any way unhelpful. They too have templates and social media shortcuts that can make the process of building a photo book easier. But, because they are a smaller company, they can’t go above and beyond the way Shutterfly can.

The Verdict

Both services have earned their spots at the top of the food chain and provide comparable quality. If you’re not computer/design savvy and don’t want to go through the arduous process, Shutterfly may be the right option for you.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you have a large project and want to cut prices where you can, Mixbook may be able to cut prices without cutting quality.

In short, the printer you choose depends on where your priorities lie. Our final verdict is this: it’s difficult to go wrong with either of these heavy hitters.

Meghan is an artist and writer based out of Boston, MA. With an interest in everything from instant film to experimental videography, her work has been featured internationally in a variety of photographic exhibitions and publications. You can connect with Meghan on Instagram .

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18 thoughts on “Shutterfly vs. Mixbook: Comparing 2 Great Photo Books”

I did a Shutterfly book a few years ago and struggled with trying to go outside the pre-formatted boundaries with a custom book. Support helped me with non-intuitive work-arounds. My daughter gave me a Mixbook photo book of our family vacation to Japan together which I thought was great. For a gift today on Valentine’s day, I made a photo book for a friend. I went with Shutterfly’s “Create Your Own” option, partially because they keep your projects if you order every 18 months. The new flexibility was pretty easy. I was also swayed by the support issue in this review. A book was delivered on time, but it was not mine! Someone else’s nice Jewish wedding. Support over the weekend said a new book would be rushed to me today, but the site says that it is still being created and expected by 19th. The mature organization with support certainly fell short this time. I’ll certainly try Mixbook next time.

Unless you want to stick with the offered layouts without variation Shutterfly is just this side of hell. No visible grid to aid alignment from page to page, no “undo” action available, no “copy format” or “copy layout” to use on another page so you have to recreate it again on each page. Two solid days for something I could have done in photoshop in a few hours.

My order of 8 photo books all arrived with a white border on the right edge of the cover, something not shown on any view I had. The chat representative said it was my fault but they could generously reprint them (with an error I can’t fix because I can’t see it), paying just tax and shipping – $100!

It got resolved when a manager called me the next day (upon my request) – she acknowledged it was a printer error. Fortunately, I allowed plenty of time before they were needed – new ones arrive next week.

I will never use them again.

There is an undo action, but yes, otherwise correct. I find Shutterfly’s *custom* editor clunky and error prone.

And I also get printing errors where backgrounds don’t cover the entire printed area. They have always reprinted but I would much rather they just get it right first time

Can they do pearls finish for photo book?

This was very helpful! Thank you so much!

How many pages can be in a book

I checked with Shutterfly, they said you can have up to 111 pages in a book. When I checked with Mixbook, they said you could put up to 399 pages in a book. 99 pages in the flat page books.

There’s actually one BIG difference skipped out here. Mixbook doesnt allow the thick pages TOGETHER with a hard leather cover. You can get a thick soft cover that allows you to even put a photo there, but Shutterfly allows the thick pages and ALSO the beautiful leather cover that Mixbook won’t offer.

For some people working on wedding album, that can make a huge difference.

You CANNOT DOWNLOAD YOUR PHOTOS back to your desktop from Mixbook. So if you quickly want to get your picture back for another project you’re out of luck. Also made me wonder what they do with MY photos.

You CAN DOWLOAD the photos back from SHUTTERFLY.

That is not true. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD YOUR PHOTOS BACK TO YOUR DESKTOP FROM MIXBOOK! It’s easy. The photos are stored safely in Mixbook just as other photo processors.

I am not tech savvy, I had never created a photo book before, and I knew nothing about the various companies who offer such services. Our 50th anniversary was coming up, and I wanted a photo book that commemorated these 50 years. It was an all-consuming project, yet with Mixbook’s immense help, I completed this 121-page project and gave each of our children a book. I was thrilled at the quality of the book and the clarity of many old photos. Thanks Mixbook for answering my many questions and for providing the services you do. This senior citizen could never have finished such a project without your patience and helping hands!

Katherine, This was very helpful as I’m doing a “My Mommy and Daddy” book for my Son’s first baby which has also turned into an all-consuming project! I’ve never created a photo book before either, and since I’m scanning some old pre-digital photos I was worried about the clarity. I hope I’m as pleased as you with the finished project. Thanks from another senior citizen!

I’ve been using Mixbook for several years and have never been disappointed. My last project I decided to choose their metallic paper. When I received the book, I found the paper did not work as well as the standard gloss for some pics. My fault but when asked in follow up (they almost always do ask) I mentioned it and said I was not complaining because it was my choice. They absolutely insisted on reprinting it on regular paper for me. I told them no need but they insisted. That is customer service from a smaller company.

Vicki Did you get an answer to your question? I am doing research to find a photo book company that take my photos in Apple Photos ? Mb

I had two questions which were not answered. Which service is easier to use if all your photos are in Apple Photos? Which book allows for full paragraphs of text (I have family stories to include with my photos). Vicki

Mixbook will allow you to put in full paragraphs. I have done it with a couple of projects i have done. I made family books for my parents with stories of their life.

Shutterfly also allows you to write full paragraphs. I have used it for years. One of my books was family stories with pages of text and few pictures.

There were two differences I noted 7 years back which made me a returning Mixbook customer. It was much easier to use special characters in Mixbook. I think it was the lowercase u with an accent mark (for Spanish) which would not work in Shutterfly. But what kept me at Mixbook was the increased options for editing elements on the page. I enjoy the process, and I have more control at Mixbook.

The 7 best restaurants in Durham, according to Yelp reviews

Posted: May 27, 2024 | Last updated: May 27, 2024

Highest-rated restaurants in Durham by diners

Humans are creatures of habit. We tend to stick to our morning routines, rewatch movies we've seen time and time again, and hit up the same tried-and-true restaurants when going out for a meal. In fact, 35% of Americans said they rarely, if ever, try a new restaurant they haven't been to before, and 5% say they never do, according to a survey of more than 2,600 diners from TouchBistro.

But those numbers look quite different when you focus on younger generations—56% of Gen Zers and 47% of millennials in the U.S. say they visit new restaurants once a month or more. When it comes to deciding which new restaurant to try, younger generations are also more likely to rely on online reviews, through sites like Yelp or Google or from social media. The TouchBistro survey found that 71% of Gen Zers and 72% of millennials have opted to try a new restaurant solely because of favorable reviews online.

Some of the best restaurants in your neck of the woods might be those established spots that customers have been visiting for decades, but some may be brand new. More than 10,000 new restaurants opened in 2023 , up 5.7% from 2022, according to a report from BentoBox. The states that saw the most new restaurants open up in 2023 were Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, but new locales are popping up all over the U.S.

To help you determine which spots—both new and long-standing—to try out, Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated restaurants in Durham, according to Yelp reviews from diners as of January 2024. Only restaurants with at least 20 reviews were considered. Read on to find some inspiration for the next time you dine out.

Note: The photos in this article are stock images and do not necessarily reflect each restaurant listed.

#7. Omie's Coffee Shop and Roastery

- Rating: 4.5/5 (24 reviews) - Price level: $ - Address: 2300 North Roxboro St. Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Coffee & Tea, Cafes, Coffee Roasteries - Read more on Yelp

#6. KoKyu Na'Mean

- Rating: 4.5/5 (772 reviews) - Price level: $$ - Address: 245 East NC 54 Ste 105 Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Sandwiches, Vietnamese - Read more on Yelp

#5. Szechuan Mansion Hotpot

- Rating: 5.0/5 (45 reviews) - Address: 746 9th St. Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Hot Pot, Szechuan - Read more on Yelp

#4. Rofhiwa Book Café

- Rating: 5.0/5 (20 reviews) - Price level: $ - Address: 406 South Driver St. Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Bookstores, Themed Cafes - Read more on Yelp

#3. Pure Soul

- Rating: 5.0/5 (162 reviews) - Price level: $$ - Address: 4125 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. Ste 1 Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Fast food, Soul Food, Vegan - Read more on Yelp

#2. Ideal's Sandwich and Groceries

- Rating: 5.0/5 (80 reviews) - Price level: $$ - Address: 2108 Angier Ave. Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Sandwiches, Grocery - Read more on Yelp

#1. Banu Vegan

- Rating: 5.0/5 (28 reviews) - Price level: $ - Address: 2534 South Roxboro St. Durham, North Carolina - Categories: Vegan, Burgers, Sandwiches - Read more on Yelp

This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 331 metros.

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