A photo book should look crisp and colorful, not blurry or oversaturated. It should have pages that lay flat when opened, making it comfortable to view images across two page spreads and making it easy to read text. It should also have a durable binding and paper that feels substantial and can hold up to repeated use.

We found a few services that make it easy to create high-quality, hardcover photo books at a decent price. These include Google Photos, Amazon Prints, and Apple’s Photos app, which allows you to create a photo book within your album by simply choosing a theme. However, these solutions are limited in terms of design options and the quality of the finished product is inconsistent.

Mixbook has a broader selection of layout designs and themes, including seasonal templates. The company’s layouts also show actual photo examples, which we found useful when envisioning what your finished book will look like. The software is easy to use and includes unique features like font suggestions based on the type of document you’re working with and color palette recommendations.

Another feature we looked for in a good photo book service was the ability to edit photos within the app. Ideally, the app should allow users to rotate and flip photos, adjust the contrast and brightness, and add borders and shadows. It should also offer a few basic photo-editing tools, such as a black-and-white filter and the ability to crop and resize photos.