How to create a proffesional photo book via lightroom?

J

jonneymendoza

Suspended / Banned
Messages
8,530
Edit My Images
No
Hi all.

i have a couple of projects i want to finish off really where the finishing touches are producing a proffesional photo book that upon request, could be printed and made by a third party and me shipping it to potential buyers.

I know that loxy colour provides some of this and they do create some really nice quality prints, however, i have to go and create the photo album and its layout using there god awful desktop app.

Seeing how all my photos gets organised and edited on lightroom, i am wondering if i can use lightrooms "Book" mode i believe it has to create the photo book(with some text as well, not just images) and generate a pdf that i can then upload to loxley or similar to then go ahead and create that book for me based on what paper quality and cover i want.

Or is there a company like loxley that has a lightroom plugini so it can all be intergrated and "ordered" directly from Lightroom?
 
I have found text in the Book Module to be an exercise in frustration. If it's very simple boxes of text, then you should be ok. Same for simplistic picture layouts. However if you want wrapping text, or complex picture layouts I would strongly suggest a desktop publishing tool like Affinity Publisher or whatever the Adobe equivalent is.

Blurbs BookSmart software is also very good (and free) but of course it's bespoke to their publishing arm and you can't output pdfs. But I've made some very good books with text using it. I find Blurb's boks to be acceptably good for my home use. Not sure they're good enough for selling, but that depends on your perception of quality.
 
Lightroom links to Blurb. I produced a large hard backed coffee table book using LR and Blurb, However, I understand you can save in .pdf format and use a different print service if you wish. I suspect by choosing the blurb rout it may not have been the cheapest but everyone who sees the book is very impressed. My layout was picture with some text and it was fairly easy. I have been told by a regular that using the Blurb S/W is easier.

Dave
 
Harlequin565 said:
I have found text in the Book Module to be an exercise in frustration. If it's very simple boxes of text, then you should be ok. Same for simplistic picture layouts. However if you want wrapping text, or complex picture layouts I would strongly suggest a desktop publishing tool like Affinity Publisher or whatever the Adobe equivalent is.

Blurbs BookSmart software is also very good (and free) but of course it's bespoke to their publishing arm and you can't output pdfs. But I've made some very good books with text using it. I find Blurb's boks to be acceptably good for my home use. Not sure they're good enough for selling, but that depends on your perception of quality.
Click to expand...
What's Adobe one called? I have the full Adobe creative suite
 
InDesign?
 
viewfromthenorth said:
Anyone used Blurb in 2021? They normally ship from Holland so I’m wondering what the shipping costs are now, they were already pretty pricey before Brexit.
Click to expand...
Still pricey for delivery. I tend to hunt around on various sites for deals as there are usually a few 10-20% off codes kicking about. Just checking for dates and I see they are doing 30% off with free shipping at the moment with IHEART30

Very quick turnaround though. I ordered my last book on 30th December and it was with me on 6th Jan (with a bank holiday in the middle).

[Edit - I see what you are getting at now about Brexit... I gues my order was put through beforehand :)]
 
Last edited:
Besides Blurb , what other services provide photo book prints from a pdf generated and created from indesign/affinitty/LR??
 
Harlequin565 said:
Still pricey for delivery. I tend to hunt around on various sites for deals as there are usually a few 10-20% off codes kicking about. Just checking for dates and I see they are doing 30% off with free shipping at the moment with IHEART30

Very quick turnaround though. I ordered my last book on 30th December and it was with me on 6th Jan (with a bank holiday in the middle).

[Edit - I see what you are getting at now about Brexit... I gues my order was put through beforehand :)]
Click to expand...

Yes, I ordered 3 in December and they came through fine. But I always put together a large book of the previous year’s photographs in January, ie now, and even with a 30-40% discount it’s still the best part of £60-75 with shipping. I can see that increasing somewhat now.

jonneymendoza said:
Besides Blurb , what other services provide photo book prints from a pdf generated and created from indesign/affinitty/LR??
Click to expand...

I think most print companies that do print on demand will print from PDF and probably charge you less than Blurb as well. But they may be less forgiving of any issues in the PDF that Blurb would sort out through being integrated with Lightroom.

On the other hand, most dedicated photo / photo book companies seem to want you to use their software, presumably for the same reason i.e. the output from it it will integrate with their systems.

Might be worth asking on the Printing and Presentation forum?
 
jonneymendoza said:
Besides Blurb , what other services provide photo book prints from a pdf generated and created from indesign/affinitty/LR??
Click to expand...
Google "photobook print from pdf" and you'll find plenty.

Be aware that creating a print ready PDF can have a steep learning curve, and different print services might have different requirements.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top