Good sources for making photo books?
Dec 1, 2013 09:13:56 #
BobT
Loc: southern Minnesota
I'd like to attempt to make a nice photo book. Must be able to have pictures on both sides of each page. And MUST be easy to put together. My techno abilities are very limited. No, you don't understand. VERY limited. So what sources do you recommend for a book-newbie; where I can get a good product relatively easily. Thanks.
Dec 1, 2013 09:28:07 #
http://www.adoramapix.com/app/products/books
Review it and you may want to try it. They are quick and reasonable.
Review it and you may want to try it. They are quick and reasonable.
Dec 1, 2013 09:29:08 #
Apple books, if on MAC. Blurb, also books can be made from Lightroom That's a few
Dec 1, 2013 09:57:35 #
traveler90712 wrote:
http://www.adoramapix.com/app/products/books
Review it and you may want to try it. They are quick and reasonable.
Review it and you may want to try it. They are quick and reasonable.
I made several books with them. Excellent quality.
https://thedailydigi.com/12-different-photobook-printer-reviews
Dec 1, 2013 09:58:41 #
I've used MyPublisher, Shutterfly, and Blurb. All were good and should do what you want. I didn't like the cover material on the Blurb book as well as what I got with MyPublisher, but I may have selected something wrong. I would and will use all three again.
Dec 1, 2013 10:12:32 #
I use Blurb. However for top quality photographs be sure and use their premium paper.
Dec 1, 2013 16:11:53 #
I have done 7 photo books and tried several different places. I like Blurb better than any other. They offer good quality and about the best price. They also offer several "add-ons" that I don't think others do. For example, they will do your book as a extra as a pdf file for $5. You can give this file to anyone you want. They also can make your book into an ebook for about $9. I think their software is the best I have tried. I did not like My Publisher software as it is not very precise for photo placement. I have 2 more books in the works and they will go to Blurb. Be sure to check for specials. Once you register with them they will send you specials. I just used a special of 35% off for one family history book.
Dec 1, 2013 17:43:25 #
BobT
Loc: southern Minnesota
I will certainly look into Blurb. I have seen a couple books by MyPublisher, and thought they were superb. But just how involved is the process from my end? I am not very computer savvy, and feel a bit intimidated with things like this. Seems like if a mistake can be made, or a given two decisions, I always make the wrong one. Do you still think Blurb is best for me?
Dec 1, 2013 17:54:40 #
BobT
My vote is for Blurb, too. I can't get over how goofy their name sounds, but their free publishing software and free webinars are wonderful. And there are endless books that have been published through that are there on their website for you to look at to get ideas on how you would like to design your own book.
I'm like you, if there is a way of screwing something up I bit I'll find it. I've been playing with photo layouts on Blurb for my first book and really enjoy the process. Lots of books samples to get ideas from.
My vote is for Blurb, too. I can't get over how goofy their name sounds, but their free publishing software and free webinars are wonderful. And there are endless books that have been published through that are there on their website for you to look at to get ideas on how you would like to design your own book.
I'm like you, if there is a way of screwing something up I bit I'll find it. I've been playing with photo layouts on Blurb for my first book and really enjoy the process. Lots of books samples to get ideas from.
Dec 1, 2013 18:36:49 #
I'll tell you what a friend told me when I made my first book and was afraid of making a mistake: Make mainly a picture book of some of the bird pictures for your grand children, they won't know if you make a mistake. So that is what I did, mostly pictures and a few words, 7x7, 20 pages, soft cover, cheap. They loved it and so did I because it was just fun. If you can "drag and drop", you can make a good picture book. The hardest part for me is deciding what I want to include, too many pictures to choose from.Blurb has a tutorial they offer you on how to use their software, last 37 minutes which is a long time, but you learn a lot. Blurb has more tutorials than any other, 84 well done videos, all for different kinds of books. The link for these is here: http://vimeo.com/blurbbooks/videos/page:1/sort:date
Dec 2, 2013 07:10:01 #
I use MyPublisher and find it extremely easy with a lot of nice options available.
Dec 2, 2013 07:57:25 #
hj
Loc: Florida
I, too, give extremely high ratings to My Publisher though I have not used Blurb which some others prefer. My Publisher allows you to customize your book with many options, various covers, various papers, "lay-flat" pages etc, but if you want something really simple they have an option where their free software does the job for you and then you can make minor adjustments. They always have special discounts running so email them and ask. Once you are in their system, they will send you frequent special offers if you so choose. The high gloss paper is worth the extra price and is sometimes offered as a freebie.
Dec 2, 2013 07:57:54 #
We have been using Shutterfly for a couple years. Do it yourself or they will do it. Secret is to do it and wait for a special. Just had them do our Christmas cards. Also can share your book online for free. Very reasonable.
Dec 2, 2013 07:59:38 #
Dec 2, 2013 08:09:28 #
BobT wrote:
I'd like to attempt to make a nice photo book. Must be able to have pictures on both sides of each page. And MUST be easy to put together. My techno abilities are very limited. No, you don't understand. VERY limited. So what sources do you recommend for a book-newbie; where I can get a good product relatively easily. Thanks.
The easiest is to use Word and then convert it to a PDF file. Word 2013 is a great page layout program and has a Share option under File Save to create a PDF. I have found that Word's PDF files are smaller than Adobe's PDF files and Word creates them almost instantaneously, regardless of how big the Word file actually is. Neither I nor any of my Clients have had a probelm reading Word's PDF files.
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