shutterfly photobook questions

[dsnygrl2003]

Thanks to this board I entered the shutterfly fall contest and won one of the photobooks. I have never used shutterfly or done a photobook before but this seems like the perfect gift for my daughters father as a Christmas present from her. She can help me design the pages so it will be truley from her and it will only cost me for shipping plus I know he will love it. I have been going through all the pictures I have of her and I am having a hard time finding good pictures of her alone that do not have our family now in them. I don't think my ex wants pictures of my family now in the pictures of his daughter. I have a bunch of her that were professional portraits, school pictures and santa pictures but I know that most places will not copy professional pictures with out the letter of consent from the company. My question is does the same rule apply to the photobooks? Has anyone used professional or school pictures in thier photobooks and was anything required to do so? Thanks.

 

[LanaJae]

Thanks to this board I entered the shutterfly fall contest and won one of the photobooks. I have never used shutterfly or done a photobook before but this seems like the perfect gift for my daughters father as a Christmas present from her. She can help me design the pages so it will be truley from her and it will only cost me for shipping plus I know he will love it. I have been going through all the pictures I have of her and I am having a hard time finding good pictures of her alone that do not have our family now in them. I don't think my ex wants pictures of my family now in the pictures of his daughter. I have a bunch of her that were professional portraits, school pictures and santa pictures but I know that most places will not copy professional pictures with out the letter of consent from the company. My question is does the same rule apply to the photobooks? Has anyone used professional or school pictures in thier photobooks and was anything required to do so? Thanks.

There is a notice somewhere that talks about this on the shutterfly site. I've done two books there and I was able to use Disney PhotoPass pictures without the release form (because they are so common), but I would not have tried any other professional pictures without mailing them a photographer's release - it's just not worth the hassle for all the work involved in creating the book.

Oh - I take that back - I did add some Proex pictures (I have the release), but they did not question them. I wouldn't try Lifetouch photos though, they are pretty strict on requiring a release (which I doubt you can get).

 

[Lisa_M]

I have the digital files of my professional wedding pictures and uploaded them to Shutterfly. I paid extra to own the rights to my photos. I haven't done a photobook yet, but I did order prints. Shutterfly printed and shipped them to me without questioning who owned the rights.

If your pictures have something on the bottom stamped like "Olan Mills" or some other name, they may look into it.

 

[donald&daisy]

Well, I used the photos from my photopass cd in my last shutterfly book. They were clearly professional photos, a couple even had a Disney border. I was never asked whether I had the rights to use them (which I did). I would think it would be ok. I love those shutterfly books! They do make lovely gifts.

 

[mdrob214]

Well, I used my photopass cd photos. I do have the copyright but they didn't ask. Same for some prof. pics I had from this summer. It clearly has the photographer's logo in the corner and I ordered prints. Again, I have the copyright but I don't know if they would know that. No one asked. I haven't tried scanning in school pics or anything. I say if you can get them on your computer, give 'em a try. I love shutterfly--use 'em for all my prints and we make a photobook for each Disney vacation.

BTW, congrats on winning a book. I've tried every day and NADA! I placed my order the other day with free shipping and $10 off purchase of $50+ so now I'll probably win one!

 

[dsnygrl2003]

Dang, you guys are so fast and good, I love it. I just looked at what I have pulled so far and it looks like only 2 of the more recent school pictures have liftouch written on them so I will steer clear of those. I think I will mix in a few of the others as needed but won't push my luck with too many of them in one album. Thanks for all the quick replys. Now to figure out how to load everything up and get started.

 

[LanaJae]

Dang, you guys are so fast and good, I love it. I just looked at what I have pulled so far and it looks like only 2 of the more recent school pictures have liftouch written on them so I will steer clear of those. I think I will mix in a few of the others as needed but won't push my luck with too many of them in one album. Thanks for all the quick replys. Now to figure out how to load everything up and get started.

You'll love the book - they are well worth the money even if you have to pay full price. One thing on these pictures is that I think it's way different when you're ordering one book for personal use vs. people who order the cheapest school pic package and then think they can go to Walmart and get 100 pics printed, etc.

I quit taking my kids to places that didn't offer a photographer's release. The strictest place I've seen is Sam's Club - they even questioned a photo of my dad (old instamatic) because it was laminated, they needed to see it to prove it wasn't out of a book or magazine. My dad would've enjoyed that if he were still alive.