How to Get Your Photos Off Your Phone and Into Books

While I am not particularly skilled at taking pictures, I absolutely adore having them. However, in this era of digital photography, our precious memories often remain trapped within the confines of our phones. Determined to find a solution that would allow my family to enjoy these photos beyond the digital realm, I embarked on a quest. I longed for a hassle-free method to curate and create photo books, without the need for painstakingly selecting each picture and designing intricate layouts (perhaps someday I will find the time for that).

And that’s when I discovered Amazon Photos.

Amazon offers a wonderful service called Amazon Photos, which not only enables you to store your photos securely off your phone but also provides an easy way to create photo books. These photo books feature one photo per page, making the process incredibly simple. All I had to do was choose the photos, and voila! They would be arranged in chronological order, each occupying its own page. Let me walk you through the exact process I follow every month and year to create my photo books!

One-Time Step | Install Amazon Photos

First, install the Amazon Photos app on your phone. Both you and your spouse (and your kids, if they’re old enough) should use the same Amazon account and upload your photos to the app. You only need to install the app once!

Monthly Step | Upload and Declutter Photos

At the beginning of each month, take some time to upload and declutter the photos from the previous month. Choose a specific day or time that works best for you, and set a reminder on your phone or calendar to ensure you complete this step regularly.

Trust me, if you skip a few months, it will take much longer to catch up! Personally, I find that dedicating 10 to 20 minutes to this task, depending on how long it takes for photos to load, is sufficient when done consistently.

Open the Amazon Photos app on your phone and allow all your photos to load. Once they have loaded, delete the photos from your phone to free up storage space. Encourage your spouse and kids to do the same.

Next, access Amazon Photos on your computer. While you can perform this step on your phone, I find it easier to do on a computer. Identify and delete any duplicate photos or ones you no longer like. Use the heart icon to mark your favorites for later reference.

Yearly Step | Create and Order Photo Books

If you’ve been diligent with organizing your photos each month, this step will take less than 30 minutes. However, if you need to sort through an entire year’s worth of photos, allocate a couple of hours for this task.

Proceed to checkout. If you have young kids or concerns about the durability of the photo book, consider increasing the quantity to 2. I do this for my own children. They have a book they can explore, which may get torn or damaged, while I keep a second copy safe in my office. This way, I don’t have to worry when they handle their own copy.

Repeat until you have completed the entire year’s photo book. By following these steps, you will have a collection of photo books for your family to cherish.

I personally store copies for my children alongside their other books. This way, they can easily access them during reading time or play sessions.

When I first began this process, I had several years’ worth of photos I wanted to compile. I decided to start with my eldest child’s birth since that was when I began capturing countless moments (we hadn’t been married for long when we found out we were expecting). You can also create a single book for the period before having kids if you have photos from that time. Customize the process to suit your needs!

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