How to make your Nostalo photo book

Make a photo book, step by step

A complete walkthrough of a 9.25 × 9.25 in Blank Canvas book: uploading photos, layouts, backgrounds, clip art, captions, adding pages and ordering.

Choose your book

1. Open nostalo.com and click Photo Books. You'll see every occasion, from baby to wedding to travel.
2. Explore All shows every design. Use the tabs to filter by occasion.
3. Scroll down to browse ready-made themes. Each one already has a cover and page designs.
4. For a plain book you design yourself, choose Blank Canvas, then click Start Creating.

Get to know the editor

1. Your cover is in the middle, and all your pages are in the strip below.
2. On the left: Upload for your photos, and Clipart for stickers and lettering.
3. Along the top: undo and redo, then buttons to add a QR code, a shape, a text box or an extra photo box.
4. On the right, four icons: Images, Text, Layouts and Background. Each one opens its settings.
5. Top right: Save, Preview, and the cart button showing your price.

Upload your photos

1. Click Upload images, then Select Photos to pick photos from your computer.
2. Photos on your phone? Scan the QR code shown and upload straight from your mobile.
3. Your photos appear on the left. Drag one onto the cover photo box.
4. With the photo selected, use Fill or Fit, and the Zoom slider, to crop it just right.

Add a title

1. Double-click the text on the cover, type your title and press OK.
2. On the right, you can change the font, the size and the colour.

Choose a layout

1. Go to the next pages and click Layouts. They're grouped by how many photos you want on the page.
2. Pick an arrangement. Empty boxes appear, ready for your photos.
3. Drag a photo into each box. It fills in instantly.
4. Changed your mind? Click another layout and your photos move into the new design.

Resize a photo

1. Click a photo to select it. White squares appear around it.
2. Drag any white square to make the box bigger or smaller. The red bin deletes it.
3. A yellow note means part of the photo is near the edge and may be trimmed in print.

Background, clip art and captions

1. Click Background and pick a shade to change the page colour.
2. Open Clipart for lettering, flowers, festive and travel art. Drag a piece onto your page and resize it with the corners.
3. For a caption, click the Add text button, drag the new text box under a photo, double-click and type. Keep captions short so they fit on one line.

Add more pages

1. Click Organize pages to see your whole book, then click add page. Pages are added two at a time.
2. You can also rearrange or delete pages here. The price updates right away.

Preview, save and order

1. Click Preview to flip through your book, spread by spread, and check every page.
2. Click Save anytime. Save and Continue keeps your work so you can carry on later.
3. When you're happy, click the cart button, apply a coupon if you have one, and check out.

Photo books with captions: the Akshar Collection

The Akshar Collection (Yaadein, Katha and Kahani) is made for books with words. Its layouts already include a caption line for every photo.

Choose Akshar

1. Open Photo Books and choose the Akshar Collection: Yaadein, Katha or Kahani.
2. In Yaadein, every photo gets a few words. Choose your size, then click Design Now.

Cover and title page

1. Upload your photos from your computer or your phone, and drag one onto the cover.
2. Double-click Book title and type your title.
3. Page one is your title page, with a title, a short line and the year. Double-click each line and add your own words. Zooming in with the slider at the top makes small text easier to edit.

Photos with captions

1. Inside, every photo box has its own caption line that says Add a caption.
2. Drag your photos into the boxes, then double-click a caption and write a line about the moment.

Akshar layouts

1. Click Layouts to change a page. Akshar layouts already include caption lines.
2. The Yaadein group has extra layouts made for Yaadein books.
3. Want a different look? Select a caption and choose another font.

Preview and order

1. Preview shows how your captions will look in print. Flip through every page to check the spelling.
2. Save your project, then click the cart button to order.

One photo on every page

Want a clean book with a single photo on each page and the same layout throughout? This one-minute video shows how.

More short tips are on our YouTube channel. Still stuck? Contact us and we'll help, or our designers can make the book for you.