Where to print a book

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RichardN

RichardN

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Hello all! I am planning to create about a dozen copies of a photobook, probably around 70 photos. Years ago I did this through Apple but they apparently don't do that anymore so - where do you go for something like this? Not looking to go very expensive...Thanks
Richard
 
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RichardN said:
Hello all! I am planning to create about a dozen copies of a photobook, probably around 70 photos. Years ago I did this through Apple but they apparently don't do that anymore so - where do you go for something like this? Not looking to go very expensive...Thanks
Richard
Click to expand...
There are lots of options available but it’s a question of what quality you’re after versus how much you’re willing to spend. Most of the big photo retailers (Shutterfly, Snapfish, Mpix, Mixbook, Walmart, etc.) will make a photo book for you but of course the quality will vary considerably. Personally I don’t care for Shutterfly or Snapfish, but have had pretty good luck printing notecards at Mpix. They’re not the cheapest game around but they’re not too expensive and they’ve done decent quality work for me, although I’ve never printed a photo book. Whoever you choose, you might consider having them do just a few prints on good card stock to see if you’d be satisfied with their work, before placing the order for the book.

Best of luck!
 
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RichardN said:
Hello all! I am planning to create about a dozen copies of a photobook, probably around 70 photos. Years ago I did this through Apple but they apparently don't do that anymore so - where do you go for something like this? Not looking to go very expensive...Thanks
Richard
Click to expand...
I've used Blurb in the past and have enjoyed the end results. https://www.blurb.com/ The software is easy to use and there are a number of options for page layouts. Hope this helps.
Hatch
 
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Abinoone said:
There are lots of options available but it’s a question of what quality you’re after versus how much you’re willing to spend. Most of the big photo retailers (Shutterfly, Snapfish, Mpix, Mixbook, Walmart, etc.) will make a photo book for you but of course the quality will vary considerably. Personally I don’t care for Shutterfly or Snapfish, but have had pretty good luck printing notecards at Mpix. They’re not the cheapest game around but they’re not too expensive and they’ve done decent quality work for me, although I’ve never printed a photo book. Whoever you choose, you might consider having them do just a few prints on good card stock to see if you’d be satisfied with their work, before placing the order for the book.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...
I‘ve been using Shutterfly. I’ve found that their basic book is more than adequate. If you’re a costco member, register you member ID and you‘ll get 50% off on your purchase. I tried their higher quality paper once and I thought it wasn’t nearly as good. They will try to get you to upgrade, don’t.
 
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I’ve used Shutterfly the last 2 years for small 8”x8” Xmas photo books. I made 12 softcover as gifts and 1 hardcover for me. The quality was excellent, photos had the right colors, and it was easy to add captions and titles.
 
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I usually use Shutterfly. Books are good quality and CS is good. I also printed some blankets, metal luggage tags and ornaments from my African trip for presents. Very pleased.
 
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When I do a Europe trip I create a personal photo book through Picaboo. It looks fine, but it's not a super high quality photo presentation (of the type you would get from a high gloss coffee table book). To do that would be prohibitively expensive.
 
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I've used Blurb in the past and been happy with the product. Recently I've been using Saal Digital for calendars , cards and high end books. They are not too expensive if you use one of their always available discount codes, quality and customer service is excellent.
 
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In the past, I used Shutterfly to make my photo books. For the last few years, I have been making yearly photo books for my grandkids using lay-flat thick paper similar to children's books. The only place I found that could do this type of work is Mixbook. In a few years when they are older, I will switch to the typical photo book format.
 
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Drew said:
In the past, I used Shutterfly to make my photo books. For the last few years, I have been making yearly photo books for my grandkids using lay-flat thick paper similar to children's books. The only place I found that could do this type of work is Mixbook. In a few years when they are older, I will switch to the typical photo book format.
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That's an interesting concept, is the thick paper a CMYK process or is it photo paper with ink?
 
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I started with Shutterfly, then tried Nation's Photo Lab and have never looked back. Top quality books, I always order the lay-flat books. Don't get me wrong- Shutterfly is fne, but I just like the finish of the product from Nation's better. Both have pretty good sales going almost constantly.
 
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I used My Publisher until they went under years ago, then became a loyal Costco photobook customer - cheap, good, reliable, and awesome return policy. Unfortunately, they closed down their photo operation this past spring, and offer discounts to refugees of their service to transfer to Shutterfly. Tried Shutterfly and was very disappointed - higher price, lower quality than Costco. Ugh.

I now settled on Printique (an Adorama photobook company). The most expensive option, but fabulous quality, and periodic sales to soften the cost. Given the hours I put into crafting a good photobook, I rationalize it through my valuing my time in creating the book. I highly recommend them if you can justify their cost.
 
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We have been using Blurb for many years and created at least 40 books and have found the quality and support service excellent. We work within the LR Book module and then upload to Blurb. Wide range of templates, text, customization and much more. If you want to see a sample let me know and I will be happy to send you a link to one of my books.
 
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While I haven’t used them for books, I’ve been using bayphoto.com for every other type of print. While not relevant here, their metal prints are amazing. Their customer service is top-notch too. Anyway, looking at their book options, they seem to have some pretty nice options: https://bayphoto.com/books/baybooks/

I have no affiliation with them, just a happy customer.
 
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McKenna Pro has a wide range of papers, finishes and styles. I just saw some of their newest that a pro just had done and they were great. I use McKenna for prints on metal but have not done any books.
 
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RichardN said:
Hello all! I am planning to create about a dozen copies of a photobook, probably around 70 photos. Years ago I did this through Apple but they apparently don't do that anymore so - where do you go for something like this? Not looking to go very expensive...Thanks
Richard
Click to expand...
You can still do your books through Apple but they have outsourced to Mimeo Photos which you can still get through Photos on your computer (if it’s a Mac). I use them every year for my Best of xxxx in Photos album and find the results good. I tried Blurb one year but preferred the quality of Mimeo
 
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herjak said:
We have been using Blurb for many years and created at least 40 books and have found the quality and support service excellent. We work within the LR Book module and then upload to Blurb. Wide range of templates, text, customization and much more. If you want to see a sample let me know and I will be happy to send you a link to one of my books.
Click to expand...
I would love to see at sample, I'm about to start working on a book.
 
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The last book I made was several years ago. I used Blurb and was quite happy with the quality. I strongly recommend to put the book together, then wait until they offer a nice discount......
 
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Here's another vote for printique. I've printed 3 books there and the quality has been outstanding for all. The first two I build using their book builder, which is reasonably full featured, though it took more effort than I'd have liked to get precise alignment and spacing and the text handling was difficult (it's easy enough to type in, but there is no spell check; then you can copy text out, but not paste it in in order to get a spell check). For the 4th I ended up purchasing Affinity Publisher and building the book in it. It didn't ' have some of the built-in graphics, but I had absolute control over the layout and text. Once I had it built, I exported the individual pages as jpgs, uploaded them and built the book in the book builder with complete pages. This is what I'll do henceforth as I like the additional precision and control it gives, and it's far easier to ensure I don't have spelling mistakes in my text.
 
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