How to make a recipe book in 8 easy steps
Your signature stew. Grandma’s world-famous lasagna. Oooh, those chocolate cookies the kids couldn’t get enough of.
You’ve collected *loads* of delicious recipes over the years, so now you want to create a recipe book filled with all your favourites. Hey, you definitely don’t wanna lose track of all your secret ingredients.
Since you’ll want your cookbook to be totally perfect, here are some top tips on how to make a recipe book using our high-quality photo books.
1. Gather and organise all your best recipes
Some recipes have been passed down through generations, some were found on Google or social media, while others are recipes you’ve concocted all by yourself (well, you at least try to pass them off as your own!).
You’ve collected recipes from friends, family, blogs and loads of other places, so you’ll need to gather them all together, pick out your favourites and then arrange them into a logical order. For example, you could categorize recipes by meal type, cuisine, diet, cooking method or even cooking time.
To add them to your recipe book online, all your recipes will need to be made digital. This could involve scanning physical recipe cards, transcribing cooking videos or images, or simply pasting recipes from a website into a document.
2. Take photos of your favourite dishes
Let’s face it, the best recipe books include photos of the ingredients and completed dishes. Since you’ve likely made these recipes in the past, the first thing you should do is dig around in your camera roll to check if you’ve already got some food photos saved somewhere.
If not, we recommend cooking up all the recipes going in your book (obviously not at the same), and capturing some fresh new photos. Ideally, you should take photos of the ingredients beforehand, parts of the cooking process, and the completed dish, just to make absolutely sure you’ve got everything you need for your recipe book.
How you photograph your food is entirely up to you, but recipe books always look better with consistent imagery. Whether you’re carefully staging shots or keeping things messier and more authentic, it’s always a good idea to snap your dishes with the same angle, lighting and tone.
3. Choose a photo book
Your recipe book might be filled with seasonal classics, tasty sweet treats, Italian comfort food or simply a collection of all your favourites. Whatever it is, you’ll want to choose a photo book that perfectly matches your theme.
To give you as much creative freedom as possible, we recommend choosing our blank photo book theme to start your recipe book. This photo book offers a completely blank slate, so you can customise everything from the page layouts to the illustrations, backgrounds and colours.
You’ll also need to choose between hardcover photo books, which offer a premium protective cover, and softcover photo books, which are lighter and more flexible (so easier to flick through quickly!). Hardcover books are typically the most popular, since they offer a higher page count and let you cram in more recipes!
4. Select a book title and cover image
Ah yes, every great recipe book needs a perfect front cover. Whether you’re keeping things warm and homely or going for a cleaner, more professional feel, your recipe book cover should match the tone and theme of the pages inside.
The first you need to do is decide on a title, and there’s nothing wrong with keeping things simple here. Titles like “Taylor Family Recipes” and “A Taste of Home” are absolutely fine, but your title can be as clever, funny and witty as you like (this is your book, after all!).
Once you’ve settled on a title, it’s time to choose a cover image. This could be anything from a collage of your favourite dishes to a funny photo of the family making a mess in the kitchen!
5. Write a short introduction
A little introductory note is a really nice way to start your recipe book. This is the perfect place for the creator of the book (probably you) to say a little something about the recipes in the book, thank any contributors or even dedicate their recipe book to someone special.
Your introduction doesn’t have to be long, this is just a really nice way to add a little context to your recipe book and make it all feel a little more personal. You never know, this recipe book could be handed down through generations, so adding an intro is your chance to say a few words to any future readers!
6. Plan the layout of your pages
Now it’s time to lay it all out and think about the format of your pages. There are tons of creative possibilities here, but the layout of your pages usually depends on how much imagery you have for each recipe.
When a recipe doesn’t have a photo, you can usually fit this onto a single page, but we recommend using a full-page spread for any recipes that do have a photo (1 page for your instructions, another for your photos).
However, the best thing about photo books is that they give you the creative freedom to make a recipe book however you like. You can add cute animations, write fun scribbled notes, play around with fonts, and ultimately decide exactly how you want your pages to look.
While you might be mentally planning your recipe book, we recommend adding reminders and placeholder text to each page, as this makes it much easier to visualise your completed book.
7. Add your recipes and images
Right then, so you’ve organised your recipes, chosen a photo book, and planned out all your pages. You’ve done all the hard work, so now it’s time to put it all together!
Since you’ve already digitised your recipes in Step 1, this should be a simple case of either adding a scanned image of your recipe instructions or pasting typed instructions directly into a text box. You might want to play around with font styles, sizes and formatting, but this shouldn’t take too long at all.
When all the recipe instructions have been added, simply drag and drop any recipe photos into the spaces you’ve left for them!
8. Print and share your recipe book!
Once you’ve crafted the perfect recipe book, you can finally bring it all to life. Recipe books are perfect for sharing with friends and family, so consider printing a few copies and handing them out as surprise gifts. Nothing brings people together quite like food, so just imagine how happy they’ll be when tucking into your yummy recipes!
You’ll obviously want to print a recipe book for your own home too, since this could become a huge part of your cooking routine and will help you cook your favourite dishes all over again.
Explore our helpful guide on how to make a photo book online for more tips, tricks and advice.
Other ways to print your recipe book
Photo album
If you think you might one day expand and add in more delicious dishes, why not create your recipe photo book in a photo album, instead? Here, you will need to print each page individually into A sized photo prints and place them into the plastic sleeves inside the photo album.
Don’t have a photo album on hand? Instead, use a ring binder and plastic wallets - though it may not give the same visual appeal.
Scrapbook
Looking to completely customise your recipe photo book? Create it by making a DIY scrapbook with photo prints. With this option, you will need to order and glue in photo prints of each individual dish, and hand write the recipe instructions beside it - using your digital design as a guide on how you’d like to lay it out.
You can then further customise the scrapbook with any other decorative pieces or memorabilia that match with the theme or story of the recipe. However, remember that this recipe book will be used in the kitchen, so avoid using any toxic materials or small bits that may fall into the food whilst you’re cooking!
How to preserve and share your recipe photo book
Now that your DIY recipe photo book is complete, you want to not only make sure that it stands the test of time, but that you can share it with others too!
Preserving your recipe photo book
Since your recipe photo book will be almost exclusively used in the kitchen, you need to ensure it doesn’t get damaged. When using the recipe book, try to keep it away from heat, steam and water - as well as any sauce splashes! When not in use, store the recipe photo book away in a cool, dark space, away from accidental damage and grubby fingers.
Sharing your recipe photo book
Reprinting photo books couldn’t be easier! If you want to create additional copies of your recipe book to share with friends and family, you can simply re-order your photo book on the Max Spielmann website or app.
Frequently asked questions about recipe photo books
Can I use stock photos in my cookbook?
While using your own images is usually best for your DIY recipe photo book, you can use also stock photos to make life easier. You can find a wide variety of stock images online, on websites such as Shutterstock.
How do I make my photo book look professional?
That depends on how you define ‘professional’. However, we think the best way to make your photo book look professional is by having clear, bright images and having your book printed professionally by a reputable retailer.
Can you use other people's recipes in a cookbook?
Of course you can - but only for personal use. If you and your family love a recipe that you found online, or through a known chef, you’re more than welcome to add it to your own recipe book. However, you cannot add other people’s recipes to your own recipe book if you’re planning on selling it.
How many recipes should a recipe book have?
This is completely up to you! A standard recipe book, that you can purchase, usually has around 70-100 recipes inside, but you can add in as many recipes as you’d like to.
Looking for more personalised gift inspiration? Explore our wide range of DIY gift ideas over on the Max Spielmann blog, or ask one of our helpful colleagues in-store for their advice and guidance.
