I am often asked which format is the ‘best’ …. square, vertical or horizontal – so much so that I think I’ll write a little something on my blog about it. 😀
Of all the albums that I design – I’d say in order of popularity:
1. square
2. vertical
3. horizontal
Square being about 65%, Vertical being about 30%, Horizontal being 5%. The most popular square sizes are 1. 10×10 2. 12×12. For vertical albums the most popular sizes are 1. 11×14 2.8×12 3. 10×15. Likewise for horizontal.
For guest signing books I see 90% as horizontal, 10% square.
Pros and Cons of SQUARE:
🙂 PROS:
– easily resizable for parent albums (for most albums with the exception of Asuka Books)
– available from every manufacturer – if you decide to switch album manufacturers after or during the design phase, won’t matter (with the exception of Graphistudio and Asuka Book)
– brides perceive it as a unique size from the average book at the bookstore – even though it’s an extremely common wedding album format
– easily held in your hands – balanced in feel
– is a balanced format that allows for equal presentation of images whether vertical, horizontal or square. Square being the best fitting obviously.
– 3/4 to full panos are easy with a square format.
– easy to incorporate horizontal group shots
🙁 CONS:
– so common that most photographers carry it
– to feature a full bleed killer vertical or horizontal image will result in either cropping it or having extra space around the image
Pros and Cons of VERTICAL:
🙂 PROS:
– easily scaled for parent albums depending on which ratio you pick
– if you lean towards shooting vertical images over horizontal – a vertical book can feature a full bleed image perfectly IF you pick the right ratio*
– commonly available from manufacturers
– brides may like it because it’s feels like a ‘book’ in proportion
– easily held in your hands
– 3/4 to full panos are easy with a vertical format, but some cropping of orig image may be required
🙁 CONS:
– if you pick an 11×14 ratio is more work to resize down for parent albums*
– not ALL manufacturers offer a vertical format
– if you lean towards shooting horizontally, to feature a favorite image as big as possible without cropping means that you will either have to size it way down resulting in extra negative space above and below the image or doing an across the centerline 3/4 pano which isn’t always appropriate
– if you have a lot of formal group people shots a vertical can be a pain to get them to fit well. Typically they end up getting smaller in size, making the people in the shots a lot smaller obviously if you want to have multiple groups on a page side by side. Unless you do no more than say 2 on a side, no more than 3. To do 4+ will mean small group shots. If you have a bride who adores her group shots and doesn’t want them to be small – you’ll have to sell more page sides. 🙂 Which could I suppose be good for upselling. 😉
– design can sometimes feel tight widthwise if you have a lot of images to put per page side. Say if you have a few horizontal images AND a vertical feature image for one page side, typically the horizontals will have to get smaller and the vertical will likely have to get cropped or span over the centerline to suit.
Pros and Cons of HORIZONTAL:
🙂 PROS:
– easily scaled for parent albums depending on which ratio you pick
– if you lean towards shooting horizontal images over vertical – a horizontal book can feature a full bleed image perfectly IF you pick the right ratio*
– is often considered to be ‘unique’ by brides and can be an advantage when they’re shopping around for photographers, they might remember the different format in their minds after seeing a see of square albums
– panoramic proportioned albums are hot right now, they are often album of the year winners because they stand out from the crowd
– horizontal is a great guest-signing book format. Opens up and allows for easy writing around images.
– incorporating horizontal group shots is easier than with a vertical format album
– horizontal formats seem to allow for more images in an album per page side. You can feature a big, bold image in the center of the album across the centerline and still have plenty of room on the left and right to have decent sized vertical or horizontal images.
🙁 CONS:
– if you pick an 14×11 ratio is more work to resize down for parent albums*
– not ALL manufacturers offer a horizontal format; if you want a really panoramic format it can mean a custom binding $$$
– if you lean towards shooting vertically, to feature a favorite image as big as possible without cropping means that you will either have to size it way down resulting in extra negative space to the side(s) of the image. If you’re doing a guest book – this can be an advantage.
– large horizontal books can be a bit more awkward to hand hold and turn pages. Takes up more lap room. Better on a table ;). A 15×10 album when open is 30″wide 😉
– while horizontal books can be sexy sample albums, from what I have heard they aren’t hot sellers with brides who will usually opt for square or vertical. However, if you get booked with your sexy horizontal album – and your clients want to buy a different format album … no worries!
* Tip for Vertical and Horizontal formats
I have found that most photographers lean towards the 11×14 size. However, from the images that I see, the true non-cropped out of camera image fits the 10×15 ratio perfectly. I think photographers pick 11×14 because it’s a common figure that everyone thinks of. Yet, 10×15 allows for non-cropping of an in-camera composed perfect shot for those that like to shoot that way vs. relying on post-processing cropping after the fact. I have some passionate anti-cropping clients and for them I always recommend the 10×15. Plus …. the 10×15 sizes down effortlessly to the 8×12 and 4×6. The 11×14 to resize down for a parent sized album will need to be sized down and cropped.
