Editing and layout for sports photobooks

Make the first pass without designing. On the second pass, label the role of each photograph — place, action, reaction, portrait, detail, transition. On the third, build sequence. Only then give images size on the page. That order keeps the design from deciding the story before the edit is finished.

Captions and name checks belong beside layout, not on the night before print. Before a full run, inspect a physical proof. A screen cannot show exactly how the gutter changes a face, how small a caption feels in the hand or whether shadow detail survives on the chosen paper.