Wedding Albums

Because I give you all the images on disc, you can choose how you display your photos. By putting your photos in to an album yourself you can save huge amounts of money.

There is a wide variety of wedding albums available these days. The purpose of this page is to give a few useful pointers for choosing the right one for you. It also gives tips for long term storage and protection.

Types of album

Planning the layout of your Album

Tips for long term storage

Digital storage

Manufactures and Suppliers

Types of album

Dry Mount Albums             

Dry mount albums consist of strong paper pages with interleaves of tissue paper (or glassine). These acid-free albums are probably the safest way to protect your photos.

They are less expensive per page than the matted style due to their simplicity.
They are also a better choice if you want to include a large number of images from your wedding as there are no mattes to add excess bulk to the album.

Attaching the photos to the page
There are three main methods;

a). Photo corners (can be opaque or transparent).
b). Photo tabs are hidden behind the photo, once the image is attached to the page it is difficult to remove.
c). Photo adhesive will allow you to reposition the images before settling on a final layout.

Note: Only use high quality acid-free products designed for the job.

Matted Albums

A Matted album is made up of the following parts:

Album Cover
An album cover consists of a front and a back. It can be made of a wide range of materials including leather, imitation leather and fabric.
There are basically two kinds of album covers: Hinge (pin) style and Book bound style.
The hinge type has an open binding in which the number of pages can be increased.
The bound style looks and feels more like a book though the number of pages generally can not be increased.

Inserts
The insert is the body of the page and it is attached to the binding of the cover by pins, hinges, clips and stitching.

Mats
A mat holds your picture to the inserts, it surrounds the photo, enhances its appearance and adds depth.

An album page is made of one insert and two mats(one for each side).
So therefore a 20 page album consists of 10 inserts and 20 mats.

If you go for a matted album it will come as separate parts: cover, inserts and the mats (pre-cut to your instructions).

Layout for matted pages
If you choose an album that uses matted pages then all of the "windows" will need to be cut to size. This means that you will have to carefully decide upon the final layout and then have enlargements made to fit that layout.
This style of album is best suited to a relatively small number of photographs say 50 to 100 and perhaps for a more formal style. It is not ideal for coverage that shows all the little details of the day.

Magazine Style Albums

You may have used the photo booths in photo-labs and camera stores for printing your digital photos. There are now machines that will let you combine a number of different images on to a page. Sizes, backgrounds and other elements can be changed. The pages are then printed in the lab in an hour or so and then bound to form a book.

Tips for long term storage

The Risk Factors

Acid; Always use acid-free pages and mounting products. Never use so called "magnetic pages" (where photos are held down by PVC sheets). Acid leaches from PVC and will destroy your photographs.

Light especially UV will cause photos to fade.

Humidity causes mildew, mould and fungus.

Heat; avoid hot places especially for extended periods.

Grease and skin acids from fingerprints are hard to remove so avoid direct contact where possible. Cotton gloves are cheap to buy.

Other chemical reactants including sticky tapes and ink.

Pollutants in the atmosphere can cause chemical reactions with the colour dyes used in Photographs.

So the best place to store your wedding photos is a dry, cool, dark and ventilated location.

Digital Storage

With the advance in technology you can have your photos placed on CD or DVD. This is a great back up. Your images will not fade. You can even have duplicates stored at a different location.

Be aware that the quality of media varies considerably so use the highest quality available. Some cheaper brands can become unreadable in as little as 2 years!

Where to buy your Album

Manufactures and Suppliers of Albums

Henzo Dry mount albums
Dutch manufacturer of acid-free albums and mounting products. Available from many outlets throughout Australia.
www.henzo.nl/

Jorgensen Albums
Australian company specialising in hand crafted wedding albums since 1981.
www.jorgensen.com.au

Albox Storage Solutions
Albox album covers and protector pages have all passed the Photographic Activity Test of the Image Permanence Institute of USA, Rochester and National Archives of Australia.
www.albox.com.au

The Photo Album Shop
A major Australian supplier offering an extensive selection of elegant, customised, professional-quality wedding albums.
www.photoalbumshop.com.au

Album Supplies
Uk based company shipping albums around the world.
www.albumsupplies.com

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