Photo Books

[snowfalldesigns]

Does anyone have a good resource for photo books? Since I don't do prints, I've decided to offer a book as part of some of my sessions (senior and wedding for right now) and I've found a few websites but was interested in hearing from those of you who have used a particular company that you are (or aren't!) happy with.
For the wedding I did this weekend, I will probably do something from snapfish or mypublisher (at about $30 for a 20 pg book) because I did the wedding (my first!) for really really cheap and I'm already not going to break even so I'm not going to spend a lot on a photo book that they aren't expecting.

[NicoleScraps]

I have done lots and lots of photobooks for my personal use so I can give you plenty of recommendations.
1. Snapfish is horrible. I wanted to burn the book that I got from them. All of my photos were grainy.
2. mypictales. Great color, nice clarity. they have a weird bleed process so make sure you follow their specifications for creating the book, otherwise you will have a white border around the pages.
3. shutterfly, great wonderful quality, a bit pricey
4. Artscow-prints slightly dark. Good quality for the price. You can always find a coupon for them. They are in Hong Kong (I think) so it takes a while for shipping.
5. Inkubook- my personal favorite. Great prices, great quality, rocking customer service, they always have a valid coupon.
Now that I have tried all of these out, I always go back to inkubook.
hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. I can link you up to lots of reviews to photobook companies.

[NicoleScraps]

Oh and one more thing, I would personally recommend going with an 8x8 or 8.5x11 as opposed to a 12x12 book. Those are huge. They do not fit on the standard book shelf and they are a bit awkward (how do you spell that word) to hold in your hands.
Plus the smaller books are cheaper.

[snowfalldesigns]

Awesome!
Thank you - I was worried about snapfish because my mom had ordered prints from them and sometimes the colors were off or the crop was strange and not what what previewed.

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by snowfalldesigns

Does anyone have a good resource for photo books?

I had my book printed at Blurb last year, and it came out absolutely gorgeous. Their book design software was easy to use as well.

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by snowfalldesigns

Awesome!
Thank you - I was worried about snapfish because my mom had ordered prints from them and sometimes the colors were off or the crop was strange and not what what previewed.

I will say that I ordered that book about two years ago. So they may have improved since then, but I cannot be sure.
I don't plan on taking my chances with them again though.

[Michael_2010]

Any thoughts on Kodak? Not long ago I bought a little 90 dollar Kodak point & shoot that is small enough to keep in my pocket. The software that came with it has a book feature, so I started playing around with it. I have not made the order yet, but now after reading this thread I am wondering if it might be a waste of money.

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by Michael_2010

Any thoughts on Kodak? Not long ago I bought a little 90 dollar Kodak point & shoot that is small enough to keep in my pocket. The software that came with it has a book feature, so I started playing around with it. I have not made the order yet, but now after reading this thread I am wondering if it might be a waste of money.

I have never used them so I can't say. I am really picky about my photobooks and I never use the company's provided software. I prefer to create my pages from scratch in photoshop using their print specifications as a guideline so that I don't get unnecessary and unwanted cropping. With most of the softwares, you have to use their premade template to drop your photos in. I personally don't like that and prefer to do it myself.

[Niresangwa]

Blurb. Great creation system, prices, customer service.

[Michael_2010]

Originally Posted by NicoleScraps

I have never used them so I can't say. I am really picky about my photobooks and I never use the company's provided software. I prefer to create my pages from scratch in photoshop using their print specifications as a guideline so that I don't get unnecessary and unwanted cropping. With most of the softwares, you have to use their premade template to drop your photos in. I personally don't like that and prefer to do it myself.

The cropping thing was bugging me with some of the shots I dropped in my test book. I didn't realize this was such a popular thing with so many options. Thanks for filling me in on this stuff.