I know I'm going to take a TON of photos on our WDW vacation, so what company do you

[MiaShella]

use to get photobooks made? I will be using my new baby, Canon Rebel XSi, and I have lots of memory cards, going to get some more after looking at the not your average tourist photo post, I have been inspired to take even MORE photos. So who are the best companies online to get photobooks made? Thanks!

Michele

 

[annnewjerz]

I have used Blurb and the quality of the books was great.

Here's what I like:
- Reasonably priced.
- You can get an ImageWrap cover (which is where they print directly on the cover rather than using a dust jacket).
- The software was easy to use.
- The publishing/shipping of the book was fast.
- You can choose from hard cover, soft cover, large, small, text, no text, etc.
- Your book can contain up to 400 pages (if I recall correctly).
- The quality of the paper was nice.
- The color/resolution of the photos were nice when printed.
- You can make the book available for others to purchase.

A co-worker brought in a book they made on MyPublisher.

Here's what I didn't like about MyPublisher:
- There is a 100 page limit, so a trip may take multiple volumes. This was a biggie for me.
- There is no ImageWrap option, you either get a dust jacket or a material cover with a hole in the middle where a picture would go.

I found the image color/resoluation/print quality/paper quality of both of these books to be comparable. I also found their software to be comparable in that it was easy to use, but they were somewhat limited in the amount of layouts. If you know how to make a layout in Photoshop, you can import your own custom layout and not have to worry about that though.

Hope this helps!
Ann

 

[YesDear]

If you have a mac or a friend who has one IPhoto does a great book and the prices are reasonable.

 

[MiaShella]

Thanks for the info! I don't have a Mac, or know anyone who does, so the IPhoto option is out. Blurb sounds GREAT!!! For Blurb do you just upload your photos into one of their books, or can you make digital scrapbook layouts in PSE to upload? Is the website for them blurb.com? Thanks again for your help, everyone at this site rocks and is so helpful. I've been warmly welcomed here and my questions ge answered so quickly, there is also a tremendous amount of info here that is very helpful.

Michele

 

[annnewjerz]

Thanks for the info! I don't have a Mac, or know anyone who does, so the IPhoto option is out. Blurb sounds GREAT!!! For Blurb do you just upload your photos into one of their books, or can you make digital scrapbook layouts in PSE to upload? Is the website for them blurb.com? Thanks again for your help, everyone at this site rocks and is so helpful. I've been warmly welcomed here and my questions ge answered so quickly, there is also a tremendous amount of info here that is very helpful.

Michele

Yes, their site is blurb.com. You download their software and then you just select what photos you want to use and drag/drop them into their pre-existing layouts. Haven't tried to make layouts in Photoshop (I have PE6), so can't offer any help on that unfortunately.

 

[Poohbear5]

I'm a technical dud, but on the recommendations of these boards I used blurb to do a photobook for my daughter's college graduation gift last month. It was easy to use.
The most time-consuming part was scanning 22 years of photos! After my photos were uploaded, it took me a few nights to put it together. The quality was great and she loves it!

 

[jfinke]

I used Costco which redirects you to mypublisher. I was pretty happy with the results.

 

[MiaShella]

Thank you everyone! I have checked out a few sites recommended here and from 2peas. I have all of the info at home to go thru side by side so I can be prepared when I come home with all of my photos.

 

[boBQuincy]

Mpix is very good with printing, and they do 12x12 for scrapbooks. I just upload a jpg (no software download required) and select a print size/style.

 

[juligrl]

I use Shutterfly and I've always been very happy with my books.

 

[MiaShella]

Thanks! I haven't been able to go into all of the details of each place, but do any of these let you upload digital scrapbook pages to be used as the photo? I am thinking about going with the larger sized books, either 11x13 or 12x12, and would like to make it more like a scrapbook.

Michele

 

[juligrl]

Yes. I have exclusively used Shutterfly but uploading digital scrapbook pages is definately something you can do.

 

[jrc-elpaso]

I used Picaboo to make a book of our Alaska cruise last year - turned out great. I'm in process of testing SmileBooks - just a book of general local photos to see what the quality is like. The only thing I don't like about Picaboo is you can't change the page layouts - although there are a lot of them. SmileBooks page layouts are customizable - change picture size, position - add text - etc. If the quality is as good as the one from Picaboo I'll probably use SmileBooks for my pics from Disney World in September.

 

[MiaShella]

Thanks! I will check those sites out as well.

Michele

 

[Brad M]

I have used Blurb and the quality of the books was great.

Here's what I like:
- Reasonably priced.
- You can get an ImageWrap cover (which is where they print directly on the cover rather than using a dust jacket).
- The software was easy to use.
- The publishing/shipping of the book was fast.
- You can choose from hard cover, soft cover, large, small, text, no text, etc.
- Your book can contain up to 400 pages (if I recall correctly).
- The quality of the paper was nice.
- The color/resolution of the photos were nice when printed.
- You can make the book available for others to purchase.

A co-worker brought in a book they made on MyPublisher.

Here's what I didn't like about MyPublisher:
- There is a 100 page limit, so a trip may take multiple volumes. This was a biggie for me.
- There is no ImageWrap option, you either get a dust jacket or a material cover with a hole in the middle where a picture would go.

I found the image color/resoluation/print quality/paper quality of both of these books to be comparable. I also found their software to be comparable in that it was easy to use, but they were somewhat limited in the amount of layouts. If you know how to make a layout in Photoshop, you can import your own custom layout and not have to worry about that though.

Hope this helps!
Ann

Another vote for Blurb here. I created with an imagewrap cover like Ann and was very pleased with the results.