Photo Album Size, Cover and Binding Guide: What to Choose

Photo-book websites offer a bewildering menu: mini, small, medium, large, XL; square, portrait, landscape; softcover, hardcover, layflat; matte, silk, gloss. Most of these choices matter far less than the sales pages suggest. Here's what actually makes a difference.

Format: square, landscape or portrait?

Square is the most forgiving choice for phone photos. Phones shoot in both portrait and landscape, and a square page frames either without awkward empty space. Square books also sit nicely on shelves and coffee tables.

Landscape suits scenery and wide holiday shots, but portrait photos — most phone photos of people — end up small on the page.

Portrait works for people-heavy albums, but wide shots shrink.

If you're printing from a phone, square is the safe bet.

Size: small, medium or large?

Size	Typical dimensions	Best for
Small	~14×14 cm	Pocket gifts, small collections
Medium	~20×20 cm	Holidays, family albums, gifts — the all-rounder
Large	~30×30 cm	Coffee-table books, weddings

Medium (around 20×20 cm) hits the sweet spot: photos are big enough to enjoy, the book is easy to hold on your lap, and it costs considerably less than large formats. Large books look impressive but are heavier, pricier and harder to store.

Cover: hardcover vs softcover

Softcover is cheaper and lighter. It's fine for a casual book that won't be handled much, but corners bend and the cover creases over time.

Hardcover protects the pages, stands upright on a shelf and survives years of being passed around a dinner table. If the album is a keepsake or a gift, hardcover is worth it.

Binding: what lasts longest?

• Stapled (saddle-stitched): common for thin softcover booklets. Fine for a few dozen pages, but not built for decades.
• Glued (perfect) binding: the standard for photo books. With a hardcover, it's durable for everyday use.
• Layflat: pages open completely flat, so photos can run across the spread without disappearing into the gutter. Beautiful, and the most expensive option.

For most people, a hardcover with a quality bound spine gives the best balance of durability and price.

Paper finish

• Matte: no glare, elegant, but colours look softer.
• Silk (semi-gloss): rich colour with less glare than gloss — a popular middle ground.
• Gloss: the most vivid colour, but shows fingerprints and reflections.

How many pages?

That depends on how many photos you have and whether each gets its own page. See how many photos to put in a photo album.

What Foreva uses, and why

Foreva makes one format, chosen for phone photos: a 20×20 cm square hardcover with premium silk pages, one photo per page, from 30 to 100 pages. Offering one well-chosen format means no decisions for you, and a book that suits holidays, families and gifts alike.

If your album arrives damaged or misprinted, reply in the same chat with a photo of the issue within 7 days and it's reprinted and reshipped free.

The bottom line

For phone photos, choose a square format around 20×20 cm with a hardcover. Everything else — layflat, paper finish, extra size — is a nice-to-have, not a must.

Read how to make a photo album that lasts, or see how Foreva works.