Yet another photo book topic!

[Amy B]

In advance, im sorry for yet another photobook topic! My Grandma is unable to come on holiday with us anymore as she is getting too old, she has come with us for as long as I can remember and I thought it would be nice to have a book made up with a selection of photos from all of the holidays we have been on together for her Christmas present. One trouble is they date back to 1992 and I have about 15 holidays to include, even if there are only 10 photos per holiday (they could be more on others and less on some) thats 150 photos!

I was thinking about using blurb as I have never used a photo book printing company before and their software looks pretty idiot proof! Would you say it is worth paying slightly more for the premium paper? Also, with having different holidays, I would like them to be seperated into chapters, is this possible with blurb?

I have also heard rumors that photos printed by blurb can often be slightly dark, would you recommend lightening pictures slightly before adding them to the book?

Last question, I promise! What is the difference between the softcover, dust jacket and image wrap? And is it worth paying more to have an image wrap?

Many thanks

Amy

 

[jonnypb]

Last question, I promise! What is the difference between the softcover, dust jacket and image wrap? And is it worth paying more to have an image wrap?

Many thanks

Amy

Blurb seem to get good reviews. I'm in the process of using them.

Softcover

All our bookstore-quality Softcover books are professionally printed with durable perfect binding, and a 4-color, 10 pt. cover with overlaminate. There are no cover flaps.

About Hardcover, Dust Jacket

All our bookstore-quality Hardcover, Dust Jacket books are professionally printed with durable library binding and 8 pt. black linen hardcover cases with laminated 4-color dust jackets with front and back flaps and printing on the spine.

Hardcover, Imagewrap

All our bookstore-quality Hardcover, ImageWrap books are professionally printed by placing the cover image directly on the front and back of the hardcover, creating a smooth, sophisticated effect. ImageWrap covers feature a durable matte finish and library binding. There are no cover flaps.

Click here for more info from blurb

 

[Amy B]

Ahhh ok thank you for that!

What options would you say are best then for the covers or is it just down to personal preference? Does anyone have any pictures of the 3 covers so I can see what they will look like?

 

[Amy B]

Has anyone else got any opinions of the above please?

 

[J H B]

My Blurb photobook had the Imagewrap cover and I was very happy with it. It was a present for someone so sorry I can't take a picture of it for you. There's not much to add to Blurb's description of Imagewrap posted above, except to say that it is accurate. I will be having my next photobook from Blurb as another Imagewrap, and it will be from them as I am very happy with their service.

I thought the pictures inside were on the whole excellent, but if I have any criticism it was that they did seem very slightly dark. However since I have an uncalibrated monitor that could have been my fault.

Haven't tried any of the other covers so can't comment. Re premium paper, I think this reduces the number of pages that can be in the book, and since I had loads of photos to include it wasn't an option for me. I was very happy with the non-premium paper though.

All in all I was delighted with the book, the software and the general service. The book arrived on time and was very well packaged. I have since made a couple of text only books through them (also Imagewrap covers with my own photos on them) and they were excellent too.

Hope this helps.

 

[redhed17]

I got the Premium paper option when I got my photobook from Blurb, and was very happy with it.

If it is something to be treasured, get the quality paper. Whether you can get enough pictures/pages is another thing.

My book printed out a bit dark as well, but again, I have an uncalibrated monitor. :bang:

I'm going to get a larger book printed soon, so will see how that turns out.

 

[TheBigYin]

My last Blurb Photobook (done as a way of putting my photo-365 from 2009 to bed) was printed on the premium quality paper - it's really worth the money - came out fantastic. I also had the Hardcover with Dust-jacket option and again I'm very happy with it. Book really does look like some posh coffee-table book, and I can't believe I made it

As far as the images go - well - theres over 365 shots in there, and I think there's 2 of them that are a bit dark, as a result of my importing a file with the wrong colour profile in. As long as you stick to the recommendations they give, you should be fine.

You could certainly break the flow of pictures into separate chapters, the layout is very flexible, and if you're really pickey (like I am) you can even design your own layouts, or even layout the book in external software that can create a .pdf file and import it into the blurb book.

 

[Photo Plod]

I'm a big fan of Blurb, having used them successfully in the past, but I've just ordered my first ever photo book from Photobox (looking to make a couple of economies), and I have to say that they did a very good job - a bit cheaper than Blurb, and I won't pretend that the printing is quite as good, but it's still excellent and well worth a shot.

 

[debrito]

yes i used them 4 times now and have got another due any day '
top marks from me !although i have not tried any one else id say a bit dark but better that way then blown !