which company has the best quality photo books?

[aagee]

I'm going to make a photo book of our WDW vacation this year. There are so many choices of where to make one. Which is the best? I made one on Snapfish for a family member this year, & I wasn't very impressed. The pictures weren't very crisp. That was the first photo book I've ever done, so am I just expecting too much?

Obviously, I want a good deal. But I'm most concerned with picture quality. I don't want to spend money on a photo book & wish I'd just printed the pictures...

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Cedarmom]

The creative memories ones are *beautiful*. Like, head and shoulders above any of the others I've had done. You can download their basic software for free and do a book thru them or you can get their expanded software and really make it super nice. The book quality is amazing, though. They are pricey, but oh so worth it from what I have seen.

My winkflash books are okay, if you are looking for decent enough.

 

[uk_wildcat]

I love Shutterfly. I have used them for several years now and always do a book of my kids for the grandparents. They have all turned out really well. They have lots of backgrounds and themes to choose from also.

 

[agentpleakley]

I always use Kodak Gallery. I've never been disappointed except for DDs daughter when I bought the paperback. -- I've started doing the books for every trip and they are just wonderful!! Good luck!

 

[bumbershoot]

Recently I've enjoyed what Shutterfly does, but Photoworks is my standby.

Though inkubooks made a book of my "arty" photos that's just incredible.

 

[cjnix29]

Have to agree with the creative memories vote. I have done kodak, shutterfly, snapfish, and photoworks. Nothing compares to creative memories. ONly problem is that they are more expensive, and no discount codes like you can get on the other sites.

 

[floridascgirl]

Have to agree with the creative memories vote. I have done kodak, shutterfly, snapfish, and photoworks. Nothing compares to creative memories. ONly problem is that they are more expensive, and no discount codes like you can get on the other sites.

How do you get a discount code?

 

[Vacation Lover]

Creative Memories is a little more expensive, but worth it, in my opinion! Great quality.

 

[daisyduck123]

My class gave me one from Creative Memories & it is BEAUTIFUL.

We did one on Shutterfly this month & while the pictures look fine on the inside...I am not crazyy about the cover. For some reason, it looks "cheap quality" to me.

 

[IDoDis]

Creative Memories would probably be the best book, but will cost quite a bit more than the others. Your next best option is Photoworks. The website is slow to upload and switch pages, but the books are fabulous!

Here are some good photoworks coupon codes but they expire very soon:
http://www.momsview.com/photoworks.shtml

 

[floridascgirl]

Has anyone ever used Blurb?

 

[Goofyzgurl]

I haven't tried Creative Memories, but I think I might order a book there. I've tried Shutterfly and Photoworks. Like pp said, Photoworks is sllllooooowwww to upload. I prefer shutterfly b/c it's got fast upload and it's so easy. With the coupons that I find, it's not that expensive sometimes.

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

I got the photoworks because of the coupon I got $25 off still cost me almost $20 but so worth it for the quality. Mine is a linen bound hardback book and the photos are outstanding.

My DH said it was his favorite Christmas gift.

 

[scootch]

I love Shutterfly. They have sales all the time... so I work on the book and then just wait till they are on sale(which usually isn't long to order it) If you want to see one of mine from there, pm me and I will send you a link.

 

[v.t.]

Has anyone ever used Blurb?

Just ordered one for Christmas from Blurb. I ordered a soft cover and I am happy with it, but not thrilled. The paper quality did not seem as thick as other companies, but I only ordered the basic. As for picture quality, some were very crisp, other a bit blurry. I made all my layouts with a digital scrapbook program so the picture quality may be due to that. But the price was great for what I ordered.

 

[design_mom]

Has anyone ever used Blurb?

We do an "our year in pictures" book every year (usually 150+ pages). Since 2006, we've been ordering from Blurb. I have been happy with them. We usually get the premium paper and I have been happy with the print quality. We've always ordered the hardcover. We used to get the printed dust jacket (very nice). For the last several years, we've been getting the printed wrap-around cover. I don't think the printing quality is quite as high on the printed cover, but it's very durable.

We have never ordered from Creative Memories, but I have ordered smaller photobooks from snapfish, shutterfly, kodakgallery and from Apple... and I think Blurb's quality is as good or better than those and, especially if you want a lot of pages, you can't beat the price. (Actually, the print quality on the Apple books was a *little* bit nicer... but when you compare the price, it wasn't that big of a difference.)

 

[lucigo]

I usually either use Picaboo or Shutterfly. For our year of Disney in 2008 did a 12 x 12 shutterfly book and used photoshop to create the pages, but for drop-in templates I like Picaboo. The program is a little slow, but I love that you can use your own pictures as backgrounds for any of the templates, and the books always look very nice. I make books for each of our cruises. Shutterfly is a little less expensive than Picaboo, but both have sales, and I think the quality is equal.

 

[aagee]

Thanks for suggestions!

Good grief, I didn't even know about some of these companies!!

So, have you guys used Snapfish? Do you agree about the picture quality I was talking about? I've used them for prints & a photo book, & both had a "muddy" quality. And it's not my pictures, because I had some of them reprinted at Walgreens, & the pictures were crisp.

 

[BuzzLiteyear]

Has anyone ever used Blurb?

I made 3 through Blurb and was very happy with the outcome. The quality was great and picture quality was excellent (of course I took the pictures, so of course they were great )

 

[disneyfan2]

i know shutterfly has 12x12 but do all the others also do 12x12. as PP mentioned i do mine in photoshop as 12x12 pages and thought shutterfly is my only option for that size(besides CM which is too expensive)