Which Photo Book Publisher to Use?

bwcolor

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I haven't made a family album in years. I use to use Shutterfly and tried Costco's My Publisher, but had bad results with M.P.. I also tried searching this forum for current info and could not find any.

I want to give my wife a family picture album for Christmas and would appreciate your suggestions as to who does a good job. I will be able to color manage on this end and would like to get decent results in print. The ability to do two page layouts would be great but not a must.

Last question: If I were to do a second book in B&W only, which service would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.
 
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I used Blurb for my wedding photo albums, with good results. They have since started accepting files made with InDesign and other professional DTP packages, which only increases the versatility of their service.
 
We used Blurb when the UK Olympus Photo Safari Group did a group show combined with a book of the work, and the result was very good., very professional looking.


Steve
 
How about B&W

How about B&W

I signed up for Blurb.

How well do they deal with B&W?

Any Blurb specific recommendations regarding B&W, or best use other vendors?
 
BW, I just recently did a book through Adorama. What interested me is that each double page layout is an actual centerfold. It's hard to explain. Have a look at the online version here, I can assure you what you see is pretty much what you get with the actual book. They print on actual photo paper (lustre). I will do a mini review of the book soon and will include a video so the special binding can be seen and understood.

Adorama also let's you sell your books through their service. You pick your price and they keep 10% as transaction fee.
 
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Hi rbiemer,
I saw your gallery. Good collection of photos. I like mostly bad paint and Fourth of July 09.It is awesome.
Thanks
 
I received my album from Blurb and gave it to my wife for Christmas at a gathering of her friends. Everyone loved the album, so I haven't any real complaints.

The quality of the paper, hardcover and stitching were excellent. The front and back cover photos added a high quality look to the album. B&W pages more than met expectations, but the color pages were somewhat disappointing. I was distracted by the obvious dot pattern. Stepping back from the book remedied this complaint, so other aspect of color images were well done. Unfortunately, my arms aren't that long.

I used their software and found it easy to use and fairly flexible. I would love to be able to do a two page image, but I suspect that page assembly tolerances would not allow. It was not offered.
Overall, I think this was a good recommendation. Thanks again..
 
>bwcolor, that was pretty quick! I'd have guessed that it was too late to be sure of Xmas delivery, glad I waswrong and you got it in time!
There are a couple of things about their software that I fight with but over all it works well, I think.
There probably are better quality printers but not at the price for Blurb, and for situations like yours (and mine), I don't think any one you give a gift like this to will notice the things that you or I as the photographer would.

>jackmood, thanks.
Rob
 
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