How To Produce a Photo Book. A Simple 12-Step Guide

I started designing with photographs and text, in the 1980s. I started designing books of photographs for photographers, in the 1990s. I have been doing this for some time. Therefore, what I am about to suggest to you is based on some knowledge and experience. My degree is in Graphic Design and I continue to work with photographs in design as a consultant, mentor and lecturer. I mention this not from a place of ego, but to provide some context to what I am about to say.

You may agree or disagree with this simple step-by-step guide, but I know that objectively it will work, as this is the advice I have given to many and implemented myself. Good luck and most importantly have fun.

Print out all of the photographs you are considering. Do not try and construct your image order (the pagination) on a screen. Print them out, as large as you can afford, on cheap paper and lay them out on the floor in lines. You may need to find a large room to do this.
Consider the book as having a narrative arc (a beginning, a middle and an end). Order your images on this basis. You may want to group images together at this point and create informal chapters to help build a narrative structure. Identify the images you want to start and end the book with at this stage. How do you want to introduce your reader to the story and how do you want them to feel at the end? These are important questions to ask and answer.
Listening to the photographs (there is a link below to help you with this) and allow them to lead you in your decision making. Question your initial decisions, confirming format (vertical or horizontal), size, paper size, weight, finish and final pagination (page count). Are they correct and appropriate for the work and potential audience?
Do not be afraid of design or confined by your images. There is no problem with running images across the middle of the book (the gutter), or allowing them to meet the edge of the page (to bleed-off the page). You can place images on both the left and right hand page, if the images are complimentary or connect as part of a narrative. Allow yourself to respond to the images and construct the narrative without feeling you have to conform to a template. All photo books do not have to only feature images on the right-hand page, with a white border and a blank left-hand page. There are no rules.
Once you have your sequence of images, take your prints and put them into book form. This can be taped, or stapled together. It can be rough in construction, however, you need to be able to turn from page to page, to experience the book as a physical artefact. Inevitably, this will lead you to make changes in the image order. This should not be seen as a problem, just an important stage in the process. A process that may need to be repeated more than once.
You will now be fully immersed in the work, but your audience will not be. They will also not have you standing next to them to explain it. So, this is the point to consider if your images need captions, or if the book requires text. An introduction, foreword, interview or combination of approaches to text. All possibilities should be considered. These could be written by yourself, an expert on the subject or on photography. It’s your choice, but make sure that whatever you choose is appropriate to the book.
Now, it is time to consider the design of the book. This includes the front and back covers, the endpapers, the spine and the typesetting. There is a reason why designers study design. To understand it and be good at it! Photographers are not designers and if you can’t afford to pay for one to work with on your book, I have a simple solution. Find a book that aligns in format, subject and approach to yours and be informed by it. Don’t copy it, but use it to inform the typefaces and design structure you use.
If possible use Adobe InDesign, to design your book. It is easy to use and it is the professional software designers use. It will be part of your Adobe Creative Suite and there are lots of easy to follow ‘how-to’ films on the Adobe website. Don’t not be afraid of it!
After you design your pages, you must print them out, the same size as you will want to print the book. Check type sizes, line breaks and word spacing. Ensure that you get someone with a good understanding of grammar, spelling and punctuation to check any text. NEVER go straight from the screen to print.
Choose your printer carefully. Speak with them and ask any questions you have. A good printer will always be willing to help concerning appropriate binding, paper stock and cover stock. If possible meet them in person and take a tour of the print shop or works before you commit.
Don’t forget that all images must be 300dpi to be printed and I always recommend 8 BIT TIFFS for maximum file quality. Commercial printing is made up of only four colours CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key, which is black), therefore pushing any colour in post-production past 100% will be unprintable on paper. You must also supply your images as CMYK conversations , not RGB files within your final print ready PDF. Be aware that your back-lit images on screen will not look the same on front-lit paper, so you need to take all of this into consideration when preparing your files for print. If you are planning to print on uncoated paper, this is particularly important, as the paper will soak-up the ink and produce darker, denser, less detailed images. Photographers are invaraibly dissapointed when they see their work printed if they are uninformed and unrealistic about what is achievable. They immediately blame the printer, when actually they may be to blame.
Finally, consider how many books you want to print. Few photo books, even successful ones, sell more than 1,000 copies. If you have a strong following on social media 500 sales is achievable. If you don’t, then 100 may be ample. Don’t forget that selling books takes time and effort. Bookshops and galleries will see little reason to stock independently published books. Therefore, you will have to sell through your website, or give them away for free, as a form of marketing your practice. Additionally, packaging and postage is expensive and that needs to be taken into account when budgeting your print costs. As does storing the books you don’t sell!

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020) and Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, (Orphans Publishing 2024). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

2 responses to “How To Produce a Photo Book. A Simple 12-Step Guide”

jagtar semplay

August 31, 2026 at 11:18 am

An excellent guide for anyone like myself who is considering publishing images as a book. It is very clear, succinct and logical so I am very happy to have seen it.

Loading…

1. gscott2012
  
  August 31, 2026 at 11:18 am
  
  Pleasure and good luck
  
  Loading…