LennyP4868 Loc: NJ

Go to scan Cafe website

lwerthe1mer Loc: Birmingham, Alabama

I have always been happy with Shutterfly. The program is intuitive to me. Last year I created a book with My Publisher and nearly pulled my hair out trying to work with the program. Also, Shutterfly, and I'm sure every book publisher, runs specials all the time. I just ordered 3 copies of a 33 page photo book this morning at a 50% discount, with free shipping.

jefren Loc: Montgomery, Alabama

I have made several books with Shutterfly. The quality is very good, but I hate using Shutterfly. Kodak Easy Share, which Shutterfly bought, was much easier. Making the book like I want it to be is very difficult, and finding the help I need on-line is also difficult. I have two books (lots of $$) almost ready to complete, if I can figure out how to make some needed changes. Furthermore, the Shutterfly website is so cluttered with advertisements,that it's hard to find what you want. I suggest that you use a supplier that another respondent uses; I plan to. Thanks for your question.

jefren Loc: Montgomery, Alabama

Your post, and the frustration that I expressed above, prompted me to do a little internet search. This Washington Post article from August may be helpful: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2014/08/13/here-are-the-best-photo-books-for-all-those-pictures-languishing-in-your-computer-and-phone/

rleonetti Loc: Portland, Oregon

Try Blurb.com. Lots of layout control, good quality with choices and quick.

pixelcene Loc: Texan in New Hope, PA

I use Lightroom and have used Shutterfly (early on) but since then, I have use Blurb exclusively. What I like MOST is that I can compose my book directly in Lightroom and upload what I have designed (within LR's Blurb feature) with builtin plugin. The layout software will alert you if your photos have issues that will affect the quality of the final book, which allowed me to correct any issues. Since all of my photos are in LR, I use its features to assemble the photos to be included and there are many layout options in the Blurb Book options within LR.

Clem8a Loc: Ohio

At the risk of not buying American I have used ArtsCow.com. I have also used LR and Blurb but I have found less flexibility with blurb in regard to layout.

ArtsCow is based in Kowloon somewhere. It seems to be marketed towards the scrap booking crowd as it has a lot of background patterns and other "clip Art" which I don't use (the clip art stuff). I started using them for travel books and they had some travel themed background art for the cover which I liked and keep using to be consistent. Blurb seemed to be more restrictive in terms of layout. ArtsCow allows free size and placement of photos and text. It's not perfect but more flexible. My 2 cents worth :-D I haven't used ShutterFly.

http://www.artscow.com/gallery/book/anniversary-trip-09-dx5jian9z2za

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Last year, I created a photobook Christmas present using Snapfish. Since that time, I switched over to Lightroom, so I tried Blurb, this year.

Last year, I had finished my book in time to order one test copy, and I was glad I did, because I made a few changes to it, before the final run. This year, I wasn't finished in time, so I had to order my final copies without benefit of seeing a test run. The book is nicely done, but I wish I would have had time for a test copy. Things came out just a bit on the dark side. Not ruined, but not perfect, either. When I do my post processing, I always pay attention to the histogram, to make sure that my monitor isn't lying to me. I'm not really sure what I could have, or should have done, to ensure that the results were not too dark. I suspect that some of the problem had to do with the fact that I chose a black background. This might be playing tricks on my eyes.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

I make my own. I set up the book using tables in WordPerfect. You could also use the same thing in Word. I do any editing that I want and save it as a JPEG file because WordPerfect won't accept RAW or TIFF formats.

I made 2 columns and 6 rows. The pictures are 4" x 6". I insert the photos into each cell, size them if necessary and add a caption. The caption includes name; location; date taken. (Barn; City, State; December 1, 2014).

I then print them on a Canon Pixma Pro-1 printer using presentation paper (glossy or matte finish) which is made to be printed on each side. I'm sure Epson printers or another Canon printer would also do a good job.

Depending on the thickness of the book (the number of pages), I use a large, heavy-duty stapler to staple the book together after I've made a cover out of heavier paper. You could probably also take your completed pages to a local Office Depot, Office Max, Kinko's, etc. and have them put it together for you if you have a large book.

Another way would be to purchase a machine that punches multiple holes in the paper and cover for use with plastic or wire binding.

I've looked up how to do hand book binding and want to try that method the next time I do a book.

Kristoes

Hi Jerry,
I saw you had weighed in on this photo book making, and I had to ask a bit more, because you always have well researched responses!

Did you make a few of your photo books, or just one of each type?
How many pages did you make them, to be enough to feel worthy of making a book, yet at an affordable price?
Thanks, Kristoes :thumbup: