photo album/book publisher - iphoto, blurb, mypublisher..?

[jmrnavydoc]

I'm in the market to get a photo album printed for engagement/wedding photos, wanting it to be good quality, large format (great than 8x10), hardcover, sturdy and long lasting and relatively easy to put together. I'm currently deciding between iphoto, blurb and mypublisher but i've heard differing opinions re: each one. There are also a ton more out there that i've found since doing some research. So, i wanted to post a thread and see what the MR opinions were. Anyone have first hand experience with any of these or another that they would swear by? Book should be less than 40 pages and hoping to get it under $100. Thanks all.

 

[puckhead193]

i too would like to know. i discovered mypublisher and a nice discount, but how is using the iphoto plugin

 

[Aperture]

i too would like to know. i discovered mypublisher and a nice discount, but how is using the iphoto plugin

I've made two using it and they turned out great. On some of the shots you could see it was a little pixely, but that could be my lack of providing them high res photos. Other than that, I was really happy.

 

[jmrnavydoc]

I've made two using it and they turned out great. On some of the shots you could see it was a little pixely, but that could be my lack of providing them high res photos. Other than that, I was really happy.

@aperture: if you don't mind, could you take some pics of your mypublisher books and either post or PM them to me to see the quality of the book and the pixely pics? do you remember what size pics you sent in?

Reviews have said blurb comes out posterized and from .5-1 stop darker on most pictures while iphoto is much crisper and more accurate at colors. Mypublisher looks good, especially with the larger hardcovers, but haven't heard much else. Others seem to like Picaboo, sharedink, etc.. Anyone else out there with any info?

 

[Aperture]

@aperture: if you don't mind, could you take some pics of your mypublisher books and either post or PM them to me to see the quality of the book and the pixely pics? do you remember what size pics you sent in?

Reviews have said blurb comes out posterized and from .5-1 stop darker on most pictures while iphoto is much crisper and more accurate at colors. Mypublisher looks good, especially with the larger hardcovers, but haven't heard much else. Others seem to like Picaboo, sharedink, etc.. Anyone else out there with any info?

Sorry, I didn't catch this thread till now. I'll try and take some pics tomorrow. I can't remember the exact size, it was a few months ago but I do remember it was a heavily cropped picture that came out pixely.

 

[yaroldb]

In January I made a hard cover book with Blurb. The pages were black and it was mostly images with some text. I have to say I was blown away on the quality. Some pictures were taken with my Olympus E-500 and they came out great. Older images did not have that high of a quality but I keep them smaller. The book was about 30 pages and if I am not mistaken it cost me less than $45. The only downside is the time frame. It took something like 12 days from the time I finished it (using the Blurb software) to the time I got it. I also paid for rush delivery. Overall it was incredible and I would use them again in a heart beat.

Hope that helps.

 

[macgfxdesigner]

Great photo book printers

http://www.mpix.com/ I used them for all my photo prints for my show, the quality, customer service and speed of print is very good!

http://www.lulu.com/products/books/photobook.php another fun idea, to do your own layout, then PDF it and send it to, it can be hard back, soft cover, full color, its pretty cool company!

iphoto books - never been happy with them! They come out pixellated and purplish hue over to all photos.

IMO - I would say use mpix for all your photography printing needs!

 

[Aperture]

I'll take the pics in a bit but I wanted to add if I were to do it again, I would try using a professional printing service such as MPix or WHCC.

 

[krissenbee]

I'll take the pics in a bit but I wanted to add if I were to do it again, I would try using a professional printing service such as MPix or WHCC.

I agree with Aperture about using WHCC. AMAZING company... The prints come out fantastic and the staff is wonderful. I know that they do proof books, but I'm not clear on all the details.

white house custom color

 

[terriyaki]

My brother recently had a 150+ page hard cover book made by blurb as a gift for his girlfriend to publish the pictures she took on their trip to Europe. Everyone in our family has been amazed at the print quality as well as the overall quality of the book itself. Most of the pictures published in the book were taken with a Powershot SD450, too. The limited number of templates start to get a little boring with larger books, though. That seems to be the only downside to an extremely well made product.

 

[melloinaz]

I made several books with booksmart from blurb when I was using a pc, but the first attempt with mac was less than rewarding. I have many pictures on my computer and when I installed booksmart it downloaded 21,511 photos, some duplicates and some triplicates. I could not find a way to only load a few photos into the tray on the left side of the work area and I had to go through every picture to find the ones I WANTED. The filter did not give me the choice to pick events in iphoto. Blurb says they are working on it and large photo collections give blurb indigestion.

In the mean time I am using My publisher which is easier to use --- but more expensive -- supposedly better quality, but I don't know yet.

 

[jwt]

I'm in the market to get a photo album printed for engagement/wedding photos, wanting it to be good quality, large format (great than 8x10), hardcover, sturdy and long lasting and relatively easy to put together. I'm currently deciding between iphoto, blurb and mypublisher but i've heard differing opinions re: each one. There are also a ton more out there that i've found since doing some research. So, i wanted to post a thread and see what the MR opinions were. Anyone have first hand experience with any of these or another that they would swear by? Book should be less than 40 pages and hoping to get it under $100. Thanks all.

Blurb is the best of what you mentioned. Their BookSmart program is easy to use and quite good, IMHO. It's also the only one that will let you use your own layout. If you have InDesign, you can also have them publish the pdf, and they have templates to help you with the size guidelines. Also, you might want to try WHCC. I use them for my prints, but they also have book publishing capabilities. With WHCC, though, you must have your own layout software.

 

[lgbowe]

http://www.mpix.com/ I used them for all my photo prints for my show, the quality, customer service and speed of print is very good!

http://www.lulu.com/products/books/photobook.php another fun idea, to do your own layout, then PDF it and send it to, it can be hard back, soft cover, full color, its pretty cool company!

iphoto books - never been happy with them! They come out pixellated and purplish hue over to all photos.

IMO - I would say use mpix for all your photography printing needs!

Mpix seems a bit expensive. Lulu far less. I cannot figure out to use Lulu from my Mac. Any advice?

 

[photobookgirl]

Photo book Suggestions

I know this is an old thread, but I see some folks still posting to it more recently. You can find a ton of info on photo book printers etc. on my blog. I have a database of 27 photo book companies and counting and full detailed reviews with photos as well in the blog. If anyone has any specific questions I would be happy to answer them. If the original poster were still looking for a response which I doubt I would suggest this company I used for my recent DIY wedding photo book. What's great is that there is no logo and no branding by the company.

Since this is a Mac forum, I also have a review of my Apple Aperture 3 photo book. I really liked the program and the ability to design custom layouts. The fact that you can print the books with companies other than Apple is a big plus too.

 

[NathanCH]

It's strange, I was looking to make one last night.

I found an excellent review series comparing 12 of the top photobook making companies. Video reviews and ratings. I'd highly recommend watching them

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thoughtsmediaEXTRAS

Review Series:
http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/...up-review-who-makes-the-best-photo-books.html

Personally, I've decided to go with Blurb because it's the least expensive. Although, PhotoBook Canada has a 45% off deal right now.