How to make a Year in Review Photo Book

Between family, work, holidays and milestones, so much happens and changes over the course of 12 months. Creating a Year in Review Photo Book is a beautiful way to tell that story, allowing you to look back and reflect on these moments in the future – but how do you make one?

Although the idea of turning a year of your camera roll into a physical narrative can seem daunting, the Popsa app makes it easy. From choosing photos to generating layouts, it’s a seamless process that sparks fun and sentimental memories along the way: seeing that new haircut for the first time again, surprising Grandad on his birthday, trying exotic foods abroad. Other moments might be slightly more sad or emotional, but an opportunity to revisit them and see how far you’ve come can feel very poignant.

Another wonderful thing about Year in Review books is they can serve many purposes. They could become part of an annual tradition to form a personal collection, or a thoughtful gift for loved ones they can flick through and find themselves in along the way.

In this guide, we’ll take you through the steps of how to make a beautiful Year in Review Photo Book with Popsa. From finding your best photos to writing clever captions, you’ll be able to turn the last 12 months into a meaningful archive.

How to create your Year in Review Photo Book

Upload your photos

The first step for creating a Photo Book is to choose the images. Having a theme can help with a big project like this, so as it’s a Year in Review you might like to arrange your book chronologically. You could even separate it into sections like “Selfies”, “Holidays” and “Birthdays”; or start with everyday memories and end with big milestones? Whichever you choose, simply upload your photos to the Popsa app directly from your camera roll or social media, making sure to share full access to get the best of the in-app features.

Choose a name and a layout

Next you’ll need to give your Year in Review a name. Something simple like the date it reflects works well – ”My 2025” – but you can also get creative. Perhaps it’s “The year I turned 30” or “The year we became a family of four”. 

Photo layout options can be found in the window-shaped Templates icon above any page. If you’re telling the story chronologically, something clean and minimal will work nicely, but if you’d prefer an immersive experience why not try a collage?

Edit with ease

Your camera roll will be filled with family, food, candid shots, great views, silly selfies and much more. All of these moments are what makes the year unique to you – so include them! Mixing up the images and the order you show them will make flicking through your Photo Book in the future all the more enjoyable. As you explore your layout in the Popsa app, effortlessly drag and drop photos around, swap images from your camera roll instantly or save them for later by moving them out of your layout.

Add a touch of colour

Tap the themes panel at the bottom of the screen. The background options automatically adjust to the colours in your photos, so you can elevate your design with a simple click. From muted tones to vibrant hues, whichever style you choose will bring your book to life. You can also select different themes for different pages, which is especially useful for splitting your year into sections. 

Use captions to describe and remind

To add a little more to your memories, you can write captions throughout your Photo Book. You can simply date and define your images (“Ankor Wat, 13 June”), or include paragraph intros for each section, sprinkle quotes to generate humour and highlight emotions with a few thoughtful words. If you’re not sure what to write, our AI captions can make suggestions for you. Choose captions from five different tones of voice, so you can find the words that feel just right.

Get a final feel for your Photo Book

Now all that’s left to do is check your finished design. Tap Options at the bottom of your screen, then press Preview in 3D to reveal how your book will look in print. Flick through the pages to see if it tells the story of your year the way you imagined, and if it doesn’t, jump back into the design to shuffle things around again. You can even try the AR preview to see how your keepsake will look on the coffee table when it arrives. 

It’s over to you. Open up the Popsa app today to start creating your very own Year in Review Photo Book.