new to photobooks

[Sweetum]

I never looked into photobooks till sometime ago and see that a lot of people here order them. I'd love to know more about them. what type of occassions you choose to buy books for, do you need to be good at design, what sites are the best for photobooks. and anything else you can tell me. and how much should I expect to pay per book?

[ckso]

I'm a big fan of shutterfly because i find their standard layouts very easy to use but very customizable as you become more advance/comfortable. They always have promotions with free books offer and $20 off codes so price is very affordable. Quality is good and their customer service is great.

Usually, I'll get end spending about $15-$20 for a book of about 50ish pages. I have also done some where I end up only paying shipping ($7.99). Makes a great gift

[Neatfreak]

I don't make photobooks for any specific occasion, but I've been making them annually since 2007 for all of my fave photos from the year. I've tried out Shutterfly and Blurb, but I'm now dedicated to using My Publisher. My Publisher is generally more expensive than either Shutterfly or Blurb, but I am much happier with the quality of the final product.

With their book creation software, you don't have to have design skills at all - you drag and drop the photos into templates and you can add text via text boxes. I think that their basic pricing starts at $20, but my books usually end up much higher because I add more pages and select higher-end finishes for the pages and cover. I just ordered two copies of my 2013 book and my order came to about $120 with a 60% coupon code. My Publisher always has some sort of coupon code - I usually wait for the 60% or a BOGO or there is one that offers a low price on the basic book plus a bunch of free extra pages and a premium page finish.

[Sweetum]

Thank you both for the information. what sizes and what finishes are good but not too expensive? for example, is it better to get a hard cover vs a soft cover? or is the soft cover a good quality too? and what sizes? I noticed that walgreens and walmart's books don't have the option to add text. I think it's nicer to do text...haven't checked blurb or my publisher...

[specialp]

Like Laura, I have made them annually for years. I do 8 x 11 size and I have always done leather cover because they are on display in my living room. I have done one hard cover w/ a picture and it turned out fine. My MIL does the soft cover as she uses it like a brag book to carry in her purse. Depends on how you plan to use/store them. The size is a matter of preference. the 12x12 size holds more pictures, but the 8x11 is a perfect lap size and people do always grab one and flip through it. Mine aren't on a bookshelf, but if you plan to put them on one make sure the size will work with your shelves if you are getting the 12x12. I have used shutterfly for 10 years but may try some others mentioned. The only others I can compare it to are snapfish and Sam's club and the shutter fly books are better than those. My books cover the full year and I do need text and are $$ because they are 100 pages (or max allowed, it might be 99) + leather. For me the best deal is 40% off everything + free shipping because it takes 40% off those 70+ extra pages vs. a free book coupon which would give me 20 free page, but charge me full price for the extra pages. If you don't do as large of a book or exceed 20 pages, I think the free book coupon is better.

[ckso]

Thank you both for the information. what sizes and what finishes are good but not too expensive? for example, is it better to get a hard cover vs a soft cover? or is the soft cover a good quality too? and what sizes? I noticed that walgreens and walmart's books don't have the option to add text. I think it's nicer to do text...haven't checked blurb or my publisher...

I usually do the 8x8 hardcover ones as those seem to be the "free" ones offered most by shutterfly and for consistency purposes I like to keep them at 8x8. I stopped printing 4x6 and does only photobooks now. I have toddlers and take LOTS of pictures so I did a book for DD's first birthday party, another book dedicated to Halloween, etc. And photobooks if you don't have a code can get really expensive so shutterfly is a nice compromise of ease of use, and price (promos)

If you want to try and think you can get it done by 4/30, I have a free shutterfly book code you can have if you want to try it out. It gives you 20 pages included and just pay shipping. Many times they'll have codes that stack for say additional percentage off which is usually want I do to get additional pages.

PM me if you're interested.

[lyt202]

I do the 8x11 hardcover ones from Shutterfly every year. I do them at the beginning of December and the grandparents get the books as part of their Christmas presents. Each book starts with Christmas the year before and ends with putting up the tree and other early holiday activities. I use the layouts as a starting point and will work on them for a few weeks. I usually order with a 40% or more discount code combined with vouchers I buy from the deal sites (Gilt, Zulily, etc). I spend $80-$100 after discounts for 4 photo books.

[Neatfreak]

I also do the 8x11 hardcover - it is a great size to leaf through! The first ones I made had a linen cover, and they're very nice. I've chosen the photo wrap covers for the last five years because I like having an awesome photo highlighted.

[jennilynn]

I use Shutterfly and make 8x8 books each year, plus I did a birth book and 1st year book for each of my babies. After DS finishes Pre-k I'm going to make one with all his art (take pictures of the art.) I've also done soft cover books after a vacation, though I often include some of those shots in the end of year book. I've never added pages and find 20 plenty sufficient. My husband has only a couple photos of his childhood so I think of it as something my kids will look through and appreciate as they get older. I rarely get actual prints of photos anymore

[lalasmama]

I do Shutterfly, as I get coupons all the time for a free 20-page 8x8 book, so it's like $8 for shipping. We're at 5 books now, and working on a 6th one. I like to do them for specific reasons/events/memories. We have: "Best Friends" (BFF, BFF's DD, my DD, and me), my wedding, a lifestory type one I made about my late mom, a book about family members for DD from when she was younger, and a Disneyland trip. The 6th one I'm working on is from DD's first 10 years.

I really like the 8x8 size. It's easy for DD to carry around (and, now, for her to show the grandbabies). They are all a uniform size.

Shutterfly has an "easy" path, and a "custom" path. You download your pictures, and it's all drag-n-drop and adding your text. Fairly easy peasy! 20 pages has always been a fair size for us--just long enough for DD to pull out and look through, and, again, I like the uniformity that all the books are the same size/thickness. You can do anywhere from all text and no pictures, to something like 15 or 20 pictures on one page.

[lhafer]

Another My Publisher fan here. I have done 3 photo books with them so far and love them. I also do calendars every year with them, but they just paired up with shutterfly for those, and I was a little disappointed with the picture quality/color of the calendar. But I adore my photo books (8x11 hard cover with pictures on the front and back covers). I usually wait for discounts on extra pages if I know it will be a big book (like our Disney trip), or wait for a BOGO free offer if I plan on sending them to grandparents, etc.

[pomegranate]

I like the layouts on Shutterfly, although I do think MyPublisher is better quality for the photos. I've done both 8x8 and 8x11, always hardcover. One thing I like to do is order an extra book for DS so that when he grows up he can take his own copies with him (since of course, I don't want to give mine up!). Like others, we usually order extras as gifts for each set if grandparents too. Have fun, OP!

[Momit]

I've done a bunch of photo books, mostly with Shutterfly. I always say that I'm going to have a few saved and ready so when I get a free book code I'm not scrambling. I haven't gotten that far ahead yet but I still hope to sometime.

I did one every 3 months when DS was a baby. Now I do mainly vacations, holidays/family visits etc.

By far the most time consuming thing for me is sorting though my pictures and ending up with a manageable number to import and work with in the book. I often have hundreds of pictures from a single weekend trip between 2 iPhones, a DSLR and a point and shoot. That's a lot to look through and organize. I like the books to be chronological or close to it. Adding text and captions is nice but also time consuming.

It's a lot of work but totally worth it. DS once asked me if he could take the books when he moves away and lives on his own. :)

[rlu]

I use Shutterfly. I used Walgreens once and it was bad, never again. I do make vacation books, usually if a grand went with us and then I give a copy to them.

We make the free 8x8 books as yearbooks for our cub den. We put them out during recruitment so people can see pictures of the kids doing the various activities. I also "share" these photobooks on our den's shutterfly website so the parents can order their own if they'd like, or just page through them online.

For calendars I've used shutterfly and snapfish and the quality seemed about the same. I just usually get a better deal through shutterfly.

[Sweetum]

Thank you all for the opinions and information.
Ckso, also, thank you for the offer of the coupon. Unfortunately something came up and I couldn't spend much time doing it and now it's expired. but thank you for the coupon offer.

I think I'll do a 20page photo book of DS recent birthday and see how that goes. I love the idea of giving these as gifts to grandparents. It's also easier for them to show to their friends.

[mackmama]

I prefer shutterfly. Get a hard cover for durability. A soft cover will get bent over the years. I make photobooks once a year as a memory book, and I also make occasional photo books after a big trip or something.

[zag95]

I have used Picaboo for my first book- was really pleased with how it came out.

[kristac]

I'm currently using picaboo for our Disney album. I've used them before and been very pleased with the results.