If a shiver runs down your spine just thinking about sifting through 12 months worth of photos, don’t panic – organising a photo book is actually a great way to slow down and take a look back at all your fondest memories as you start dreaming of the new ones to come.

Whether you’re a photo book beginner or seasoned professional, we’re here to reveal our organisation methods to help you share your story in a way that suits your year best.

By month

A classic chronological format from January to December can help share your memories from the year in a way that’s both easy for you to organise and easy for your guests to flick through.

To get started, we recommend sorting your photos into sub-folders on your computer with all the months of the year to drag and drop your photos into. This will help you dig out any duplicates or skips, and it will also make it easier to view your chosen photos when you go to lay them out. If that sounds a bit too tedious for your liking, you can also use the automatic chronological feature in our Editor, which will lay out all your photos in the book in order for you.

If you find yourself with a lot of photos to feature, the A4 Personalised Photo Book is the one for you, with a customisable design that lets you tell your endless stories as you wish. If you’d rather just add the highlights, a more concise 24-page Little Moments Photo Book is perfect for showcasing the best two photos of each month.

By season

To create your photo book in a simple and aesthetically-pleasing way, why not organise your book by season. Having each time of the year as its own chapter makes for an easy way to take a look back over all the memories you made, from cosy winter nights to those unforgettable summer bank holidays.

Organising by season also makes for a nice and simple way for you to prepare your photos and put your book together – four seasons means only four folders to sort and drop your images into, and four chapters to create and design when you go to put your book together.

A photo book organised by seasonal colours calls for a book with a customisable bold front cover – take a look at the A4 Classic Photo Book which has eight colours to choose from. You can also unleash your creative flair when you’re designing your book with backgrounds and stickers to match each seasonal vibe.

By groups of loved ones

Those that surround us are truly what give our memories that warm fuzzy feeling – from friends new and old, to family members we cherish, to colleagues that brighten our 9-5, to pets that fill our camera rolls (they’re just the *cutest*). Organising your photo book by all the different groups in your life is a great way of giving everyone a spotlight – a little way to say thanks for making the year special.

For this style, you might want to opt for the A4 Classic Collage Photo Book, where you can put the very best nine photos of everyone together on the cover, before opening the pages where your loved ones have their own dedicated chapters. You can also add captions to your photos to show everyone’s names, or maybe a ‘had to be there’ inside joke of the group.

By theme

From outings with the kids to unforgettable birthday bashes, sorting your photos by different themes or events can help give your book that *extra* personal touch.

Start by having a browse through your camera roll and see if there are any key moments that could help you bundle your snaps together. Remember in our creative studio you can always change up the layout of your photos on the pages.

You might want to organise your book by theme with the A4 Year Photo Book, which features a cut-out of the year number on the front to let everyone know this is the book of your year. You could even begin the story with a contents page before diving into each unique chapter.

Still can’t decide?

No worries – we’ve got you covered with Photobox Easy Create – just answer some simple questions, select your photos, and we’ll make a first draft for you to add your finishing touches.

No matter what way you choose to organise the story of your year, find it at Photobox and check out our wide collection of photo books to start creating.