iPhoto book, mixed feelings

[slipper]

I printed a couple books for business using iPhoto. For the most part im satisfied however the print quality is ok at best and i was not expecting the last page to read "made on a mac" with the apple logo. I feel that it should at least be disclosed somewhere in the buying process. Just ranting.

 

[Applespider]

The discussion boards at Apple suggest that you need to up the dpi resolution to get the best results from the Photobooks. It appears that Apple sets the resolution to 150 to keep the file size relatively small for those on dial-up etc - and I suspect that most of those who receive them wouldn't notice any different.

You can use a little app called 'Pref Setter' to go into your plist for iPhoto and update the book resolutions to 300dpi where the results should be a little better. Anyone I've shown it to has been really impressed by it; but I guess it depends what quality level you are used to looking at. Some of my prints in mine are a little 'soft' which I see since working with catalogue production I can spot since it wouldn't be acceptable at the price we're paying for photography/repro!

The 'Made on a Mac' should be disclosed upfront. You can make your iPhoto book, save the PDF and send it off to one of the other online photobook producing sites who will print/bind it without the 'Made on a Mac' page.

 

[nomad01]

The discussion boards at Apple suggest that you need to up the dpi resolution to get the best results from the Photobooks.

It's a pity they don't make this an easy option.

I spotted this on the discussion boards before I made my first book and was dreading the results but have to say I was SO impressed when it arrived.

I'd taken some panoramic shots and layed them out as full size pictures side by side and I wasn't sure how they'd look in print but WOW.

Everyone that sees the book is impressed and I've seen worse print/repro in professional book so I really can't fault it. My only gripe is that I'd like more control over the page designs but I suspect we may see that in the next release. I say I suspect it's coming because I've had a bug happen a couple of times that's allowed me to free rotate a photo in the iPhoto book design. Seems more like a disabled feature than a bug.

 

[slipper]

Huh! I had no clue about the PDF thing, ill definately do that and save a few bucks. I think the poor picture quality is due to both the 150dpi and poor printing. Thanks for the info.

 

[katie ta achoo]

Huh! I had no clue about the PDF thing, ill definately do that and save a few bucks. I think the poor picture quality is due to both the 150dpi and poor printing. Thanks for the info.

I've made a few, saved them as PDF and given them to my friends. They love them! It's so easy to do...

 

[kgarner]

I don't think they were ever really intended as a professional tool. Although, if you reset the prefs it should yield better results. I was very satisfied with the one I ordered. It was just a small one to give to the grandmas (of the kids of course) and they both loved them. I even got asked by several of my in-laws friends how I made them. "On a Mac" was my response.

 

[devilot]

You can make your iPhoto book, save the PDF and send it off to one of the other online photobook producing sites who will print/bind it without the 'Made on a Mac' page.

Do you know generally how much that would cost? I'm curious... I'm also lazy, could somebody post how much an 'avg' (do they base it on size?) iPhoto book costs? Thanks.

 

[Danksi]

I'm in the process of sorting my Photo's ready to make a couple of different books for various reli's in the UK. I didn't realise the "Made by a Mac" bit though.

I'm not at my Mac at the moment, how do you save to PDF, is it a save function, or a print to PDF function?

As for Pref Setter - do you mean this one?
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/prefsetter.html

 

[Danksi]

Do you know generally how much that would cost? I'm curious... I'm also lazy, could somebody post how much an 'avg' (do they base it on size?) iPhoto book costs? Thanks.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/books/ - prices on right hand column in US$

 

[devilot]

http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/books/ - prices on right hand column in US$

Thanks!

 

[nomad01]

I'm in the process of sorting my Photo's ready to make a couple of different books for various reli's in the UK. I didn't realise the "Made by a Mac" bit though.

If it's for a relative, I wouldn't be too worried. It must be fairly subtle as I don't even recall it!

They have their limits but I was just very, very impressed and I'd consider myself a bit of a picky b*gger.

 

[Danksi]

If it's for a relative, I wouldn't be too worried. It must be fairly subtle as I don't even recall it!

They have their limits but I was just very, very impressed and I'd consider myself a bit of a picky b*gger.

They can be picky b*ggers too, but we're hoping they'll be well chuffed to see the pics...

 

[Applespider]

I'm in the process of sorting my Photo's ready to make a couple of different books for various reli's in the UK. I didn't realise the "Made by a Mac" bit though.

It's probably not that bad unless you're doing it for business reasons. It's on the facing page to the last picture in a pale grey across the page.

I'm not at my Mac at the moment, how do you save to PDF, is it a save function, or a print to PDF function?

As for Pref Setter - do you mean this one?
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/prefsetter.html

That's the Pref Setter and yeah, print to PDF is the way to do it.

 

[Danksi]

It's probably not that bad unless you're doing it for business reasons. It's on the facing page to the last picture in a pale grey across the page. That's the Pref Setter and yeah, print to PDF is the way to do it.

Thanks. I'll check that lot out when I get back to the Mac.

 

[nomad01]

It's probably not that bad unless you're doing it for business reasons. It's on the facing page to the last picture in a pale grey across the page.

Yes just looking now... I don't think it's intrusive at all but if I was using it for a business reason I'd be more concerned.

 

[Stampyhead]

I heard that Aperture has a book feature that creates higher quality printed books than those that come from iPhoto. If you are using this for business and it's something you will do often you might want to look into it.

 

[slipper]

Thanks Danski.

Im in Pref Setter right now. To increase the DPI... do i change BookTargetImageDPI, BookTargetMediumImageDPI, and BookTargetSmallImageDPI?