| Here’s a quick guide to help make your album
decision easier provided by our premier album vender, Zookbinders.
Whichever choices you’re leaning toward, buy the highest quality you
can afford. Avoid acetate coverings, which create glare and can
cause deterioration. Non-acetate books are sometimes described as
“open viewing.” Also stay away from “post-bound” or “piano hinge”
page assembly. Higher end professional studios like Ric Farrah
Photographs offer only “bound” albums with one-piece covers.
Mounted or assembly? There are two basic ways albums are built.
For “assembly” albums the photographer orders the album cover and
pages and inserts the photographs while assembling the album. This
method is less expensive; however, over time, the seals can dry out,
causing the album to start to come apart.
Higher quality albums use the “mounted” method. RFP sends the
photos to a professional album binding company (like Zookbinders).
The photos are individually adhered to their base pages. With
mounted albums, you can then choose between Matted or Zook Book™ .
Mattedor Zook Book™? In a matted album, the photos are
individually mounted into recessed openings, giving a dimensional
look to your pages. In a flush album, one or more images are
arranged in a layout, printed and mounted so that the photo
“becomes” the page. Matted albums lend a classic, elegant look to
your photos, while flush layouts offer the flexibility of almost
unlimited arrangements of photos on the page.
If you decide on a flush album, there are some additional
choices. “Coffee table” albums are a relatively new option. These
are just what they sound like—a photo album with thinner pages, laid
out with a style similar to art or photography coffee table volumes
and bound like a book. Some people like the way the story unfolds in
these albums, and the ability for panorama shots to span a two-page
spread.
Zookbinders offers an innovative twist on the flush album that
provides benefits coffee table books cannot. The Zook Book™ is
constructed with thick, durable album pages, but has just a tiny
1/16” gap in the center for a seamless presentation of photos that
span both pages. What’s more, the album has the look and feel of a
wedding album with gilded edges and leather cover.
Leathers Sure, it says genuine leather—but don’t stop there.
Leathers come in a variety of styles, colors and quality levels.
Zookbinders offers “standard” leathers, which have a “pebbled”
texture, with the option to upgrade to one of the following:
• Distressed: Luxurious top grain leather with a two-tone,
burnished, old world appearance • Napa: Softer leather with a “warm
and fuzzy” feel • Glove: Soft, supple leather similar to that used
in fine gloves
If your budget is stretched, there are some very nice looking
imitation leathers on the market these days. Like genuine leathers,
they are available in a variety of colors.
Cover options • Cameos: This is a photo inset into your album
cover that make an inviting presentation. • Cover imprinting: You
can personalize your album with your names and wedding date
imprinted on the cover.
Zookbinders uses an italic font, and offers black, white, silver,
gold or branded (blind embossed).
Gilding You can choose to have your page edges finished with a
decorative foil called gilding, which lends an elegant look to your
album. Gilding is available in a choice of colors, typically black,
white, silver and gold. At Zookbinders, the gilding is enhanced with
hand-sanded, rounded page edges. When evaluating sample albums, be
sure to look for pages with smoothly gilded edges.
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RFP
is Ric Farrah Photographs. We provide Fine Art and Black and White
Photography, Wall Portraits, and digital imaging.