Year in Review Photo Book Ideas

Create a memorable year in review photo book to share with family and friends by highlighting special occasions, heartstring-tugging moments and everyday events - it's a gift everyone will love. Check out these tips to get inspired:

Put together a month-by-month collection
Use a template
Highlight special events
Add your personal take to each page
Include a "Top 10" list at the end of the book

Here's a closer look at each.

1. Put together a month-by-month collection

Gather all the photos you'd like to use - and then some. Save them all in folders on your computer. Later, you can go through them and weed out images that don't quite "fit" your photobook. Ask your family and friends to contribute, too; in many cases, that's the only way to make sure you're in at least a few of the pictures.

You can also create a seasonal collection. Rather than separating your photos month-by-month, you can divide them into winter, spring, summer and fall (and then back to winter to round out the entire year).

Pro tip: Create separate folders for each month or season. That way, you can zero in on the right placement for each photo.

2. Use a template

You don't have to start from scratch (although you can certainly create your own photo book design if you have an eye for it). Choose a template for your year in review photo book - and remember, you can change the pages' orders, add your own collages and write your own text throughout the book. You can also add stickers and graphics, as well as backgrounds you like.

Check out these templates or browse all year in review photo book templates:

• Modern Black Year in Review

• Monthly Year in Review by 1canoe2

• Modern White Year in Review

• Rustic Wooden Year in Review

• Mod Year In Review By The House That Lars Built

3. Highlight special events

Special events may need a few extra pages, so plan accordingly. Birthdays, holidays and graduations are huge picture-taking occasions, so you'll probably have several to add from each celebration. You can use full-page layouts for your most exceptional photos - just don't forget to add captions or titles.

Pro tip: Scroll through your social media accounts for a quick refresher on the year's most meaningful events. You might discover something special that slipped through the cracks.

4. Add your personal take to each page

Include quotes from people in your photos, a description of each event, or the location and date on each page. That way, everyone who's lucky enough to flip through the book can get a good sense of what you've done for the past year. You can even ask your friends and family members to help you out with the captions so everyone has a part in the book.

5. Include a "Top 10" list at the end of the book

On the last page of the book, create a "Top 10" list. Choose a theme, like funny moments, kids' milestones, special events or day trips, so you can write out the biggest highlights of the year. You might include things like adding a pet to your family, taking a vacation, or your little one learning to walk, for example, or you might include the cutest things your kids said or did throughout the last 12 months.

Have You Created a Year in Review Photo Book?

If you've put together a year in review photo book - either for this year or a previous year - we'd love to hear the tips and tricks you picked up along the way. Share them in the comments below, and share your favorite pages with us on Instagram (we're @Mixbook) so you can inspire others to create their own memorable books.