We’re very pro-photo book around here. Actually, we support any service or app that helps us get all the digital pics we snap off of our devices and on display for all to enjoy. And with Father’s Day and graduation season officially underway, here are two, new photo book apps for iPhone to consider if you want to give a special dad or grad something lovely, personal, special, and definitely worth a thousand words.
Related: Tips and apps to help you finally clean up your photo library
Cleen photo app
This app’s primary focus is helping you de-clutter your iPhone Photos — a function the Cool Mom Tech team is always looking for. Just swipe up to keep the photo, swipe down to delete, and if you’re unsure, swipe sideways to decide later.
Then — and this is where the app earns extra cool points — you can create a photo book from the pics that are keepers. It’s such a smart two birds-one stone deal, and the final product is a gorgeous, lay-flat, hardcover book with premium matte paper. I had one made and was really impressed. Plus, those swipe gestures also come in handy when it comes to easily changing the photo layout within the app itself.
You can have your book done and ordered in under a minute, which means I can totally see this app coming in handy for birthday gifts, baby showers, or a very cool What I Did On My Summer Vacay keepsake.
(Cleen app is free on iTunes. The photo books cost $29.99 and are currently only shipped within the U.S. Special discount for CMT readers: Get 40 percent off your order by using promo code Cleen4Mom through June 15, 2015.)
Related: Gift books from your kids’ artwork, right from an app
Nowvel photo app
This is another easy way to make a photo book, because Nowvel does most of the work for you. The new app uses a special software that gathers your iPhone and Facebook and then groups them into events or nowvels (a mashup of novels and now, I guess?) with titles like Weekend Memories, spanning different time periods, or Instagram, featuring pics you recently shared on IG. Those nowvels are automatically divvied up into photo albums that you can either print as a photo book or share the whole collection online.
Of course, you can edit the book, swap out pics, add new ones or move things around. You can also delete a book altogether and start from scratch with another collection.
The photo book is rather unique looking. It’s comprised of 8-by-8-inch photos printed on thick, stiff paper stock that lays flat when open. But when closed, the Nowvel photo book resembles a travel guide or a Zagat’s restaurant survey book.
(Nowvel photo book app for iPhone is a free download on iTunes, and books cost $20 — no charge for extra pages. But you can try it out now and get your first photo book for free.)
