Best place for photo books...without breaking the bank!

[Jenny-momof3]

I need to make about 10 photo books. I used to scrapbook...but with 4 kids I just can't find the time! I love the crisp clean look of the photobooks and how quickly I can get them done. I've used Shutterfly in the past...but am wanting to see what else is out there. Suggestions? TIA!

 

[Snappy in OK]

I have tried several companies for photo books. I agree that they can get to be expensive.

I have ordered a few from Winkflash in the past and have been quite happy with them. They are typically comparable to Shutterfly & Snapfish - BUT, they offer flat rate books from time to time. They currently have an offer right now that is supposed to expire on 2/3. Basically you pick a book, but you can add as many pages (up to the max for that size) at no additional cost. I saved close to $70 on the last book I ordered!!

My suggestion is to start working on the books so that they are ready to go when they offer a special.

PS - They also do a great job on printing pics - and they have some great specials on that as well - as low as 4 cents from time to time!!

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I agree with PP although winkflash doesn't have as many options in backgrounds, layouts and such, but you can't beat their flat rate book sale! The code for 2/3 is ILOVEFLATRATE. Last week they had them also with a facebook code.

Shutterfly makes great books, but they are so expensive. I use my discover card rewards to get shutterfly gift cards, you can get a $50 card for $40 through there.

Artscow is the next cheapest site I think. They are always giving away books, and they are only .50 a page for additional pages. You can do so much with theirs, make them like any other site or do them like digital scrap booking, adding embellishments and all kinds of stuff.

I'm trying to get pages scrapped ( I do the digital scrapping). If I can have stuff ready all I will have to do is upload those pages into whatever site is has the best deal at the time I want/need to order.

 

[Alesia]

I love blurb.com, especially for larger books. I made an 80 page book for less than $45 - including shipping. The quality is amazing, too!

 

[ksloane]

I have used artscow for my last few...I just watch for their promotions. I have gotten almost everything for them for either super cheap with free shipping or free and pay shipping...

 

[virginiamama]

I have been really happy with the books I have done through mypublisher.com. There are usually coupon codes available. People always ask what company I used because the books are so nice. For Christmas this year I made two books for gifts and I paid $15 for one and $16 for the other (free shipping). They were 11.75"x8.25" fabric covered books with a window in the front. They were very well received.

 

[3boymthr]

Do you do My coke rewards or Disney movie rewards? If yes, you can trade points to get codes for free books from snapfish.

I've done snapfish, shutterfly, picaboo, photoworks, winkflash and kodakgallery. The only one I HATED was winkflash (mind you this was when they first started in business). The quality of the paper and photos was okay, but the service well....some pages were randomly placed in the book upside down and/or the pictures were cut off of the edge of the page, after scouring their website for several hours to find a contact e-mail and only finding their sales e-mail, it took a month to get a response via e-mail and I was given a phone number to call and then after an hour on hold on the phone they agreed to mail me a return label which would be issued within 2 to 3 weeks and a replacement book would be sent within a month of them receiving it back and verifying that the problem was what I said . This was to be a christmas gift for my MIL so I just gave up and went with snapfish - I had the book in a couple of days and away it went. I've also started using and given up on smilebooks and the one sponsored by fuji as the programs were just such a PITA to use. Photoworks was also slow, but the book was absolutely beautiful. Picaboo was gorgeous but expensive.

 

[scootch]

I've done snapfish, shutterfly, picaboo, photoworks, winkflash and kodakgallery.

I too have tried these, IMO shutterfly is still the best. I just wait till a 30% off sale plus free shipping before I order them. The quality is just so much better.

 

[lisalis]

Shutterfly has the best options IMO, and they are on sale right now. I have also used Walmart Photo online, which has quite a few designs, but not many layout options. The books seem to run about $5 cheaper than Shutterfly and have free shipping, but you do pay sales tax.

 

[erin327]

I love picaboo. I like their layout choices and they have tons of background options. They run a but 1 get 1 free deal several times per year.

 

[bicker]

Shutterfly has the best options IMO, and they are on sale right now.

I'm not sure if things are still as good as they were back then, but I was blown away by Shutterfly in 2006:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1098719

 

[Pooh2]

I have done a few from Shutterfly with good coupons but prefer Blurb for the quality.

 

[tink576]

I need to make about 10 photo books. I used to scrapbook...but with 4 kids I just can't find the time! I love the crisp clean look of the photobooks and how quickly I can get them done. I've used Shutterfly in the past...but am wanting to see what else is out there. Suggestions? TIA!

I too have tried these, IMO shutterfly is still the best. I just wait till a 30% off sale plus free shipping before I order them. The quality is just so much better.

I love Shutterfly for their quality at least in comparison to the other books that I have made. I also make tons of books especially on trips (make one and print a copy for all the kids). I make the book then as the pp said I wait until one of the good % off's come out. What I also do is go on Ebay and purchase gift cards for $X and pay $20 for a $35 card or whatever cheeper card I can purchase. I then use those towards my purchases. It's a way to save at least couple $ when ordering that many.

 

[3boymthr]

Here's another thought. When you enter a review at trip advisor they will send you a code for a free 8x8 hardcover photobook from shutterfly. I'm not sure what the limit is per account as I've only done it once. It was very easy though - I just went in and in 10 minutes rated a place we'd stayed in gettysburg last summer and only took a little while (less than a day) to get the code. I like shutterfly too. I did my Disney book with them, two books for my mom and MIL for christmas and a book for DS' cub scout leader just this weekend.

 

[bluemoon1070]

Take a look at Groupon.com. If you haven't used it before it is a really neat service. in the past I have seen $120 work of services for only $25. You can search by area of different services.

 

[Kirby]

I have been really happy with the books I have done through mypublisher.com. There are usually coupon codes available. People always ask what company I used because the books are so nice. For Christmas this year I made two books for gifts and I paid $15 for one and $16 for the other (free shipping). They were 11.75"x8.25" fabric covered books with a window in the front. They were very well received.

I love mypublisher but how in the world did you get books for so cheap?

 

[patti_jim_peanut]

One word... Artscow.com They have photo personalization for pretty much ANYTHING you could think of and offer free shipping deals on their photo books all the time!

They're a Hong Kong based company, so if you need stuff in a rush, it's not the best company to order from. And pay through PayPal so you have the buyer protection because when an order goes wrong they WILL say too bad, so sad. I never recieved my last order and when they said too bad and to just wait longer, I filed a claim with paypal who refunded my money after they got no response from artscow.

That said, I will order from them again because the prices are amazing and the quality is good, too! I'll just make sure to do it through PP

 

[chrissyt27]

I really like Winkflash. They extended the sale t ill the 8th. I made a 100 page book in just a few hours. They have upgraded their book making and I think upload of pics is pretty easy too. my 100 page book is going to be like $35 with shipping. It’s of our Alaskan cruise and this way I wont have to leave any photos outs. I got some nice full page scenery shots in there too. I have made around 10 of these 100 page books. They don’t offer this sale price very much anymore. so take advantage.

I have also ordered prints and a canvas from them and have never been disappointed.