What's new

Splitting the year into two books?

jmgriffith

jmgriffith

Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
149
I am currently creating a PL style book for my daughter's first year. I am at 77 pages and only through her 6 month birthday. Should I continue and put the entire year in this one book or should I split it into two books? My other books that I've printed (I've used both Blurb and Shutterfly) don't have more than 80 pages, so I'm just not sure if having probably 140ish pages will be too many. Have any of you printed a very large book like that? Or do you suggest splitting into two?
 
How cool that you've gotten that many pages done!

I personally split years into multiple books. The past two years it was two books, this year will be three. I think it's a personal preference thing. I started with two books a year just because a whole year felt too long to wait to see my printed pages :-) I'm printing three this year because my book for the second half of 2014 was 109 pages (one away from the Shutterfly max). First off, I don't want to worry about my page count. Secondly, at 12x12, 109 pages just seemed really bulky when looking through it (totally just my opinion). I like the feel of my books in the 60-80ish page count range best. Third, I get to see my printed pages even faster!

Again, it really comes down to personal preference. You can't go wrong either way!
 
I agree with what Tracie has said above. It is totally a personal preference.
My preference is to split our year into smaller books, generally a book per quarter. I have chosen this option for several reasons. One being that we get the books much sooner and more often and are able to enjoy them sooner. I also chose to go to smaller books after completing their very hefty first year albums in traditional paper style. Those books are quite bulky and heavy, which is hard for little hands to handle.
 
I'm not solely a PLer, but I still split my years up... not actually by six months at a time, but I just keep scrapping until I hit about 100 pages and then I print the next book. Sometimes that's 6 months, sometimes it's close to a year. For a first year type of project I do think I would split it into the first six months and the second six months though. Even it the page count isn't exactly the same. Just seems like a tidy way to do it for referencing back on it later.

Congratulations for getting so many pages done already! :)
 
Thanks everyone. I already feel like 12x12 is slightly awkward and too big, so I definitely think I should keep the page count lower. The good news is, I can make a final run-through on my pages this week and send the first book off to the printer! I find that a printed book is great motivation to keep creating pages, so maybe I'll be caught up by her 2nd birthday! :)
 
Don't feel like you're married to the 12x12 format.. You can always print 8x8 or some places even do 10x10 I think, and you just upload your regular 12x12 files and they do all the shrinking for you.
 
I use blurb and my 2013 family yearbook was 320 pages (12x12) and 2014 was 420 (12x12). I like it all in one book.
 
Wow.... I've not created that many pages all together, in all my scrapping. Lol
 
I always split my year into 2 books. I find it's more manageable for my kids to get them out and look at them as they aren't as heavy.
 
I split mine up as well. Some years I've even done books for the quarters of the year. Makes for a more manageable project for me
 
You know, I had always just assumed I'd want to keep my whole year together because I'm a freak and having them separate would bother me.. I'm going to have to re-think things now, though... Based on my current scrapping stats and adjusting for more photos during the summer vacation months, I'm guessing I'll have around 150-160 pages.. and the plan ATM is to print 8x8 so I don't think that will be too hefty.. IDK.. ugh - I'm so indecisive - this is why I never commit to long-term projects! :dizzy
 
Amber, I have that same problem!! I can never really commit to a format or whatever, so I end up getting a little ways into something and never seeing it through to the end.

I've used the same PL format for a few years...I figure if it's working, don't mess with it! :) I used to think the same as you, too, that I would HAVE to have my full year in one book. But when I started printing my albums as bound books, it was super easy to transition away from 'one book' mentality. Now I just label the spine of the album... 2015 Jan-Mar... and line them up in order on the shelf as I print them. :)
 
My suggestion would be to print in a few different size formats to see what you like. Especially when it comes to size. My first time around, when I was on the fence about what to do, I created a fairly simple book and had it printed in different sizes. Having the different sizes in your hand to review and compare really helps.

In my comparison process I found what I liked and didn't like right away. The 12x12 size is just too big for me. Which is odd since I was a traditional scrapbooker first. The 12x12 books are still large and bulky similar to 12x12 albums. The 6x6 size is just too small for my needs. The 10x10 size is my favorite size, but not as easily available. So the 8x8 size works best for me. What did I do with all of those extra books? I gifted them to family members. :giggle

PS - My dad loves the books and shares them with everyone willing to look/listen.


sm_amber said:
You know, I had always just assumed I'd want to keep my whole year together because I'm a freak and having them separate would bother me.. I'm going to have to re-think things now, though... Based on my current scrapping stats and adjusting for more photos during the summer vacation months, I'm guessing I'll have around 150-160 pages.. and the plan ATM is to print 8x8 so I don't think that will be too hefty.. IDK.. ugh - I'm so indecisive - this is why I never commit to long-term projects! :dizzy
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Shutterfly does 10x10 and nearly everyone does 8x8. There's no reason to print 12x12 unless you love it!

Also, if you are doing a bound book, each publisher has a max number of pages, so that may make the decision for you.
 
Last edited:
I have printed 8x8 and 6x6 before and just feel like they are too small, so I've always stuck with 12x12 size even though it's so large. And I do love having the photos nice and large with that size as well. I have a few vacations that need to be scrapped and printed, so I think I might try 10x10 on one of those and maybe that will be a happy medium for me. I'm just too indecisive for these types of things! Haha.

I have a 12x12 book already printed of all of her professional photo sessions during the first year that is strictly photos and no special papers or embellishments (I wanted the photos to be the focus because they are just amazing) and that book is about 70 pages, so I think adding two more 70ish page books in that size will work out well for this year. Next year, maybe I'll go to one book....who knows! I really do appreciate everyone's input though.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top