Photo book

[doxdogy]

My brother and his wife are currently on a cross country trip to Alaska and Canada. They are have blog and are posting pictures on their blog of the different stops along the way. I am thinking about downloading the pics to my computer and then creating a photo book as a gift. Can anyone recommend any sites to use?

 

[ksjayhawks]

I like Shutterfly. Uploading pictures is easy and quick. They have several different sizes available, a lot of layout choices--number of pictures, text or no text, backgrounds, cover options. You can add two pages at a time for a reasonable cost. The pages print on both front and back. You can crop pictures to fit; several font options.

Lots of times they have specials to get percents off. You can work on your book and keep it up-to-date and when there is a special, if the timing is right, you can order it and also save some money.

I have also used Snapfish.

 

[diznygirl]

Another vote for Shutterfly.

 

[bumbershoot]

If they are really really good pictures, I'd go with inkubook. I did a "lovely pictures of nature" book with them and it's just beautiful.

If they aren't quite *that* good, I'd go with shutterfly...I've done some "lovely pictures at DLR" books with them, and they are nice, too! (but not as nice as the inkubook book)

 

[ferrytale]

I vote Shutterfly too, but I haven't used any other sites to compare. Everyone always loves how they come out.

 

[autumnpalm]

I've seen books a friend had made with iPhoto and they looked very nice! I'm not sure if they are more expensive than a service like Snapfish but I would not hesitate to order from them if it's a program you use.

 

[Silent1CB]

They might be posting smaller / lower quality photos versions online. Like 800x600. I wouldn't use those to upload for a book personally. I would want to use the larger / better quality originals.

If you do it, using lots of info from their blog to retell the story would be nice idea.

 

[doxdogy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just checked the resolution and they are actually running 1600x1200, so I should be okay. I have plenty of time to plan it and put it together. They are not due back until September.

 

[Silent1CB]

Add maps with their routes or pin locations when telling the story. I like to do that with my albums.

 

[doxdogy]

Great idea silent! I am going to get my daughter to help me. I don't have a creative bone in my body. She is great this stuff!

 

[Silent1CB]

And if they aren't that type of people who take good photography, you can supplement by googling for more. Like for instance, if they don't take any close-ups of things that are distinctive to that area like architecture, plants, rocks, shells...textures.... you can often find some of the nice photo sites like Flickr, Smugmug or pbase.

Just not sure if there wouldbe copyright violation there. Not selling the photos but using it. Could always ask the photo taker if you could use it.

Of course, if you find something from google that could be considered stock photo, its usually ok to use.