Update #26: Talk to me about photobooks....

[AnnieW625]

Who did you use?

How big was your book?

Was the website easy to use?

How much did you pay?

Would you use the website again?

How fast was shipping?

(FWIW: I have ordered one from Snapfish (2008), and one from Shutterfly (2009) and both were okay for the price I paid, but I am not sure I want to use them again, both were just sort of ho hum. I used Picaboo.com for my Christmas cards and liked the way they turned out, plus I already have about 300 photos from the past year on their website I uploaded, but I am not sure their pricing right now is the best)

poll coming

[new_mommy25]

I really like Shutterfly because of their amazing prices. They send out codes for free photo books and 50%, free ship off all the time. My first few books were kind of clumsy and time consuming, but now that I've got the software done, they are super easy to create. I also love that I can upload photos directly from iphoto. I've made 12 books so far. Shipping is pretty fast too, and comes Fedex, usually.

I do 8x8 books for events. I have 8x8 books for things like our vacations or kids' birthday parties where we took a lot of pictures. I do 12x12 books for the entire year. Usually I can get all the pictures in one year but at times I've had to print two books for the year (Jan-June, July-Dec). The 12x12 are $$$ and large. They're hard to fit on the shelf! If I could do it again I would do 8x11 books for the years. The price is much more reasonable and the size is generous . I did an 8x11 book of a photo shoot DD did and I loved the size. Unfortunately I had already done several 12x12 and since I want to remain consistent, I am sticking with that size.

[BabbyO]

I just did one in Oct for a director's gift for a play I was in at Walgreens. I think I had 22 pgs. This is great for someone looking to do something quick and easy. I got great compliments. The website is super easy to use and I always find coupons for 25-40% off.

Since I always find coupons I often get the leather cover. I ordered about 10 (some cast members wanted them too) and they were ready later that day in my local Walgreens.

I think the quality is decent. I've done a few for the family as well and had luck. They usually start at about $20/book, but I don't think I've ever paid more than $13/book with coupons.

My only gripe is that while they have lots of backgrounds and layouts, you can't customize your layout....say move a text box or photo here or there. You have to work within the layouts they have...but they have many. For what I do it works great.

I also love that I don't have to wait or pay for shipping when I have them printed to the store.

ETA:
I've also used Walgreens for photo calendars with much luck.
I use Sam's club for our Photo Christmas cards every year and did one small photo book through them once.

[SkyrMommy]

Who did you use? Shutterfly since 2009, for five different books.

How big was your book? 8x8", hardcovers.

Was the website easy to use? The website has gotten more features to make it easier to customize the books. Much more like putting together a scrapbook with good templates to start from and now more backgrounds and page elements to add.

How much did you pay? Usually around $25+ depending on their deals and the number of extra pages I add in.

Would you use the website again? Yes, 2 Christmas books for DS & DD are ini the works.

How fast was shipping? Quick, even with basic shipping, usually within three/four days from finish to door.

[AnnieW625]

thanks for the input so far!

[mackmama]

I like Tiny Prints with the stay-flat pages. Hard cover. It is durable and beautiful. I usually pay about $150 per book for a book with close to 80 pages that is 8x11. Website was super easy. I also like Shutterfly's quality. Not happy with the color quality of some others I've used before.

[m448]

I've done Costco which is my publisher and been very pleased.

[AnnieW625]

I've done Costco which is my publisher and been very pleased.

thanks, I was thinking they were too. I checked the Mypublisher site and signed up for their emails and got a code for a free second book so I think we might end up doing that, but thanks for letting me know about Costco. That is always a good option, except I don't like because I can't get their advanced photo uploader to work right with Iphoto.

[wellyes]

8x11 at MyPublisher, it turns out beautifully.
I'm making one right now, it's 40 pages, $50ish.
I need 3, they have 50% off purchases over $100. So, 3 books for $75.

I tried to use Snapfish and hated their controls.

[wellyes]

I've done Costco which is my publisher and been very pleased.

Costco is MyPulisher, or Costco is your publisher? I'm fuzzy brained at the moment, sorry.

[AnnieW625]

Costco is MyPulisher, or Costco is your publisher? I'm fuzzy brained at the moment, sorry.

I think what she meant was if you are ordering a book through Costco they are the same printer as My Publisher.

[m448]

Yes, sorry. Costco uses MyPublisher to print their photo books.

[specialp]

I have used shutterfly, snapfish, and another (costco or sams maybe - long time ago) and much prefer shutterfly. My books get better every year so there is a learning curve, but for basics it is easy.

I have done a tone and do 8x11 for yearly books and I add way more pages so the cost depends on the length of that particular book, but I finish it and leave it until I get a coupon code + free shipping. I have done an 8x8 book for special occassions (memory book, WDW trip, etc.) but 8x11 is my standard. They stay either on my coffee table.

[acmom]

I've used Shutterfly and been very happy with my books. Most of my good pics are there anyway bc I use one of their share sites to provide current pics to family and I have gotten good deal on their books.

I have done 8.5x11 books - I debated a while between that and 12x12 but am so glad I went with 8.5x11 bc they fit on shelves easily, are easier to handle to look at (especially for kids), but are big enough to put multiple pics on a page.

I do a custom boom but I always use the "storyboard" feature which makes it much easier for me to arrange the pics in layouts quickly. After my first book which was trial and error, I now find the site really easy to use. I also downloaded the "uploaded express" thing to my Mac which makes it much quicker to upload new pics.

I usually pay between $25-40, depending on the deals and the pages I add.

I will definitely keep using them....I do my cards, calendars, books and website through shutterfly. I like having it all in one place bc it is a lot less uploading.

Shipping is usually good, almost always get it before scheduled date. The one time I didn't, there was mixup and it hadn't been sent and they refunded me the money and have me a credit.

[redhookmom]

I use Picaboo and enjoy using their program to create books. I can customize the pages in anyway I like which is what brought me to Picaboo. I think I used Shutterfly before Picaboo and did not like that I had to go with one of their layouts, but I have no recent experience with them.

I order a yearly hardcover book in their largest size. It usually has about 100 pages and I wait until I can get it fifty percent off with free shipping and is usually around $70.00.

[redhookmom]

http://photo-book-review.toptenreviews.com/

Lots of good info!

[zukeypur]

I had no idea you could get decent ones at Walgreens. We get an additional discount, so I just might be doing photo books soon!

[acmom]

[QUOTE=redhookmom; I think I used Shutterfly before Picaboo and did not like that I had to go with one of their layouts, but I have no recent experience with them.
[/QUOTE]

I did one book with Shutterfly a while back and it was like this, but the recent books I have done have been totally customizable. You pick a general style, but then can customize page layout, color, text box, stickers, etc.

[larig]

Who did you use?
Blurb
How big was your book?
120-150 pages
Was the website easy to use?
I used their downloadable & free app for my mac (they also have for PC)--it works seamlessly with iphoto, sucks in the pictures from your library.
How much did you pay?
~$60 per book, I don't buy unless they're 20-25% off, and I always upgrade the paper. I haven't found a place that could do a book as large as mine that allowed me to incorporate a lot of text and have TOTAL freedom to layout a page as I want that can do the books for that price. (I take a LOT of pictures)
Would you use the website again?
I have used it for 3 annual books. so, yeah. Next time I will likely do image wrap and not get the dust jacket.
How fast was shipping?
I ordered 12/3 it shipped today--12/10!! I ordered 3 copies of the same book this year.

Also, Blurb can do Facebook books...where it slurps (their term) in your facebooks pictures and comments and sets up a book for you. I haven't done it, but it seems kind of cool. I did something similar with my blog the first year DS was around (when I was actively maintaining a blog.)

You should check out photobookgirl.com She has great reviews, coupon tracking and a wizard that will help you pick the best option given the kind of book you want, how many pages, orientation, etc.

ETA: AND, you can get a PDF version of your blurb book as well. I did this year and shared it with DS's aunts and uncles (whose kids were also in the book), they were pleased and I didn't have to pay to have books made for them, which would be cost prohibitive.

ETA2: here's photobookgirl's review of blurb books. (http://www.photobookgirl.com/Blurb-reviews/)

[BabbyO]

I had no idea you could get decent ones at Walgreens. We get an additional discount, so I just might be doing photo books soon!

I've been happy with ours so far...and at $12-15 ea (with coupons) you can't beat it. I always just google "Walgreens Photo book promo code" and usually come up with at least 25% off...the last two times they have been 40% off.

I just did calendars and got 8 for $84.xx (includes tax) and I ordered them Sat morning about 9 am and they were done by 1 pm (would have been sooner but the photo counter was really backed up because of Christmas card and photo orders).

I did 8-10 photo books in Oct. and they were done in about 2 hrs.

[joonbug]

Who did you use? Shutterfly

How big was your book? 8x11

Was the website easy to use?somewhat

How much did you pay?34.99 but had 50% off deal so paid less than 80 for 4 books (added 2 pages) plus shipping

Would you use the website again?yes

How fast was shipping?

I just ordered 4 books from Shutterfly last weekend. Loved the designs and the website was easy to use, had some issues uploading more pictures while in the middle of compiling the book but figured it out. Hope the books will get here soon so I can send them out!

[kcimato]

I used to use Kodak Gallery then made the switch to Shutterfly. However, I recently took a photography course and the recommended Adorama Pix

www.adoramapix.com

I was not unhappy with Shutterfly until I used Adorama. A lot of professional photographers use them for their wedding books. If you go to their forums and scroll down to Community Chat then announcements , they have online classes for making the books. It's not that it is difficult but their is so much you can do with it.

The book lays flat when you open it and the paper is very high quality photo paper. Very often they have discounts for their books.

I'll never go back to any other.

[american_mama]

I've done three photobooks, one on Mixbook and two with Creative Memories. My advice is to not worry too much about pricing. You won't think about it after the album is done, and sometimes just getting the album done is a big hurdle to overcome.

I liked Mixbook very much and reviewed it briefly here. I used it for a vacation album, and liked that I could have a common theme throughout with very little effort, that the site allowed a lot of customization or just a drag and drop (I did both). I customize almost every other page in my album, plus add a lot of captioning and journaling, so I need a lot of control and flexibility in the album design software.

Creative Memories offers tons and tons of customization, sometimes too much, and I do get a tad overwhelmed using it sometimes. But it's easy software. You essentially have to get the albums printed at Creative Memories, which isn't cheap and offers only occasional sales, so that's a downer.

I would like to try My Publisher, as people seem to rave about it. But sicne I customize my pages so much, I don't want to devote much time to learning a third software, so i might not even start in that direction.

[njk07]

I used to use Kodak Gallery then made the switch to Shutterfly. However, I recently took a photography course and the recommended Adorama Pix

www.adoramapix.com

I was not unhappy with Shutterfly until I used Adorama. A lot of professional photographers use them for their wedding books. If you go to their forums and scroll down to Community Chat then announcements , they have online classes for making the books. It's not that it is difficult but their is so much you can do with it.

The book lays flat when you open it and the paper is very high quality photo paper. Very often they have discounts for their books.

I'll never go back to any other.

How much more expensive are they compared to shutterfly? I would love to try them but at the same time, it's hard to beat the shutterfly deals. I don't know how many free books I have gotten from them already.

[Neatfreak]

Who did you use? MyPublisher - I think I'm making Book #8 right now.

How big was your book? They've all been 100 pages.

Was the website easy to use? Yes, but you do download their software to your computer (so can work off-line).

How much did you pay? I usually order two copies (one for each kid to have in the future), upgrade my paper/finish, wait for a coupon of at least 50% off, and it's about $100 all told.

Would you use the website again? Definitely. I am so much happier with the finished products than I have been with the books I made with Shutterfly and Blurb.

How fast was shipping? I can't remember exactly, but it's less than two weeks.

(I might go check out Adorama now ...)

[AnnieW625]

I ended up using Costco Photo Center because I can pick it up at the warehouse and I chose to have it sent to the warehouse near my patents house, plus that was a free option and we will be giving it to the people we will be seeing there while we are there.

I wish I could have had a little more flexibility, but I got a 55 page book for $35. I think I might have been able to save some money had I known about the Shutterfly 50% off promo, plus there was an additional 20% off code out there, but I had already started the Costco one and didn't want to have to re upload all of the photos. Plus if I end up hating it and the print quality is crap then I can always return it to Costco!

Prior to trying Costco I poked around My Publisher and I felt like I would have had to spend a lot of time figuring out the idiosyncrasies of it at this time, but I haven't ruled it out for the future.

[wellyes]

I got my 3 photobooks from MyPublisher this week and they are truly gorgeous. I couldn't be happier with them. Well, free shipping would have been nice. But I ordered at midnight Tuesday, they were printed and shipped and were on my doorstep Friday morning. Pretty amazing. Three 50 page 8.5x11 custom-back-and-front hardcovers for $100 including shipping.

I am glad to know Costco uses the MyPublisher printer, I'll consider them in the future.

[lhafer]

I have 3 photobooks and now just did my second year of photo calendars with My Publisher. I found it SOOO easy to work with - and I'm pretty computer inept! I dabbled around on Shutterfly and another site, but I couldn't figure out how to get my pictures to load straight from Picasa - which is where all my pictures are stored.

Unless they do something to royally screw up my orders, I will continue to use My Publisher. Plus they had a quick delivery time because i mail most of my packages out to family members.

[m448]

MyPublisher did a wonderful job with my Costco books and the cost was way less too when I only needed to buy one book.