If graduation is close then investing in one of the best yearbooks is a great way to make sure you capture all those unique moments to enjoy in the future. While you may have looked at the best photo books out there, you're right in hunting for yearbooks specifically. There are features that cater for those needs and this guide lays them out below.
What all the services here offer is the ability to take photos, direct from your smartphone, tablet or computer, and arrange them into a high quality yearbook album for you to have printed off. The software will guide you through the process, offering helpful design templates or leave you to work from a blank canvas. Once you're happy it will then it can be professionally printed and sent in the mail to you, or to a lucky gift receiver.
But which one to pick? You'll need to decide what you want. How premium do you want the finish of the book versus what are you willing to pay? Do you want a very simple and quick process with heavily guided software or do you want to do a lot of creative personalization yourself? And are you in need of lots of options to finish the photo book, like leather binding or a square format finish, for example?
We've laid out only the very best yearbook options below, each with their special skill stated front and center, to make finding your ideal option easy.
The best yearbook service provider for you in {2022}
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Mixbook is the leading light overall in the best photo books stakes, which extends nicely into its place here topping the best yearbooks. This is thanks to its excellent balance of quality, price and service overall.
Immediately, you can pick from a selection of yearbook specific templates. That means a range that includes sports, class projects, school-wide and even business (class) focused yearbooks.
Once you get started you'll find that the software is very easy to use, although the menus can be a little busy at times. That said, it's simple to navigate, offers enough customization and can take bulk photo uploads for even more ease.
The all-important print quality is of a high standard. That means you can expect rich color with contrast that is balanced but punchy – all of which makes for vibrant photos.
Pricing is reasonable for what you're getting here and with discounts pretty much available all year around for new customers, it's well worth a go if you've not used the service before.
- Head to Mixbook's website to see its full range of yearbooks
Snapfish is a massive player in the world of photo books and that makes it a great option for yearbooks. Not only does it have a really wide selection of choices but it also offers the option to pick-up, fast, in store thanks to partnerships with CVS and Walgreens.
So while the delivery times might not be the fastest, the option to pick-up in person makes this a great option for anyone who wants their yearbook in a hurry – or without paying delivery costs.
Talking of costs, Snapfish uses its size as a big provider to offer you very affordable prints, especially if you're buying in bulk. So if your alumni-group was considering making a yearbook to print for everyone, this could be an ideal pick to make a saving.
There are lots of finishes including a premium leather bound book and you can even add in stock art which can make personalizing your yearbook, in a fun way, a great option.
Photo quality is decent but may be a bit saturated for some, so just be sure not to add even more color to pictures before sending them over, if you don't want faces to come out orange.
- Head to Snapfish's website to see its full range of yearbooks
Shutterfly is good yearbook option for anyone that wants to have a lot of fun with the finish. This is thanks to an impressive clipart library that lets you personalize the book in your way. That's combined with a deep level of editing options that combine to make this a very creative option.
The end photo print result won't be the best yearbook finish out there, with the two other options above offering slightly better results. That said it's still a good photo finish and when you consider the price, and regular discounts, this does get you a lot for your dollar.
While you can personalize the yearbooks there is also a selection of useful templates to make the process simple. Pick from the likes of Classic yearbook, Go Sports!, School Days, Colorful Elementary and more to capture your experience in the perfect way.
- Head to Shutterfly's website to see its full range of yearbooks
Artifact Uprising is a premium yearbook option for anyone that wants to capture those graduation memories at the highest quality. That not only means a top-class print finish but also a selection of quality templates which give a pro-feel to the design.
Of course all that means this is one of the more expensive services out there, but you do get what you pay for here. Options are kept to a minimum which makes it very easy to use in terms of template selection and building your yearbook with easy guidance. Of course this could be a downside for anyone that wants more options and customization.
There are even bespoke options on this website, showing the level of design focus that you can expect. Just don't hope to get this in a hurry as the shipping isn't the fastest. But as they say, you can't hurry quality and that's what this site focuses on over all other features.
- Head to Artifact Uprising's website to see its full range of yearbooks
Picaboo is a yearbook service which is backed by some fantastic software which makes it a very easy to use system. One feature that jumps out is the search engine which allows you to find content within the site to add to your yearbook – a great tool for fast and easy customization. Want to find a grass background for those sports pics? Just type in grass and you'll be led right there. That said, it doesn't have clipart so there is a limitation there compared to some of the competition.
Another area this falls down on, compared to the best picks on this list, is quality of finish. The images leave something to be desired in terms of quality and the book binding was also not the best we've seen.
The templates are deeply customizable which is ideal for those that want to make changes like adding auto borders, drop shadows or using double page spreads as needed. Even the clipart itself is editable in this software setup, making for some potentially great fun finishes to your yearbook.
- Head to Picaboo's website to see its full range of yearbooks
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