Confession: I loath building my albums. Loath it.

You may be thinking, isn’t that what you teach mom how to do in Mom Photography School? Don’t you work all year with your moms to build the family album? The answer is YES. But that doesn’t mean that I enjoy making the album. I enjoy taking the photos and I really enjoy the album once it arrives. But the actual creation of the album, not a fan. It’s really awful if you don’t have your photos organized a ready- but don’t worry, I can help you with that. I  made you a free guide to help you get your family photos organized in 5 easy steps.

Creating an album time-consuming and I overthink every single photo I put in there. “Oh, I love this photo! This one will go great here. Nevermind. I like this one better. Oh, no. It doesn’t look good by that one.” UGH. The internal dialog can go on for hours. In the past, I’ve always designed my own album and ordered it from my pro lab. Since only professional photographers have access to the pro lab I use, I decided to use a lab opened to the public so that I could do exactly what my moms were doing in Mom Photography School.

After much research (a Google search and talked to some friends) I decided to use Artifact Uprising for my personal family album. In today’s post, I am going to tell you my initial reaction to my 2020 family album and give a little Artifact Uprising review.

See inside of my album and how I design it here on my YouTube Channel!

Building the Album

I’ve already confessed that I do not enjoy building the album. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Artifact Uprising’s creator. The learning curve and ease of use were fantastic. It took me all of 5 minutes to feel comfortable building my album.

Importing the Photos

One of the biggest issues in building an annual album is the “annual” part. I’m having to gather up from the past 12 months… and if you aren’t super organized, it can be an overwhelming and daunting task. I’ve been there, which is why I am intentional all year long to keep my images organized all year long. You can read how I organize my family photos in 5 steps here. I store all my images on Dropbox and I was pleasantly surprised that Artifact Uprising is integrated with Dropbox- meaning I could load my images without having to leave Artifact Uprisings album builder. GAME CHANGER.

Album Quality

I have to preface with this, I am writing this right I have received my first album from Artifact Uprising. The biggest test for albums is time. Does it look beautiful and is the quality fantastic? Yes, but most albums are right out of the box. Here’s a good example of the “test of time.” Years ago I ordered a sample album from a professional lab. Even though it was a sample it still cost me hundreds of dollars. It was a gorgeous lien album with gold embossing on the from. Fast forward 4 years and the gold embossing is peeling off. But the day opened it, it was perfect. Time will tell all- especially album quality.

Pros

I chose their annual photo book and it cost me upwards of $100. This album is very beautifully printed. The color is gorgeous. The grey lien cover is absolutely perfect.

Cons

But as of today, I am overall happy with the album with one exeption. I got the particle dustcover. Y’all, it’s a hot mess. The print quality is beautiful but the dust cover will not stay on. I was thinking it might be because it was just a partial cover and not a full cover. After looking at a few of their full covers, they don’t look to be snug either. It’s like the album is wearing pants that are just one size too large. It needs to be a little more fitted so that it won’t fall off maybe? I am not going to act like I know how to solve this problem, I just know I will not be ordering an album with a dust cover on it from Artifact Uprising.

So there you have it, my 2020 Family Album and Artifact Uprising review for my first album. The album is very great for the price. All of my issues with this album can be solved simply by ordering one of their higher quality albums over a “book.”

I  made you a free guide to help you get your family photos organized in 5 easy steps. Game-changer.

Want to have REALLY great photos to organize? Learn to use your fancy camera TODAY! Join me in Mom Photography school for only $35! Click here to read all about how much moms all over the country have gotten amazing results with MPS.