Does anyone still use photo albums? Who provides the best service to make a photo album? Shutterfly? Or anybody else? TIA
The last time I wanted a photo album, I went to one of the large drug store chains that has a photo service, plugged in my phone, and made my own.
And there always seems to be a sale.
1 Like
I have used shutterfly to make photo books of special times (like a big trip). However, I try and do it when they have a significant sale (as the prices are always high). They do a nice job. I spend way too much time tweaking each page to get it exactly as I want it.
4 Likes
I have used shutterfly and been happy with the results. It is important to upgrade to the lay-flat binding, though.
2 Likes
If you have a Costco membership you can get additional discounts at Shutterfly.
Search “Shutterfly Costco” and the link will pop up - it’s not a link I can share because it asks for your Costco membership #.
3 Likes
Wow thanks! I did not know that and use them all the time! Though I’ve only been a Costco member for a year.
I also used mixbook for a few years. I thought it was easier to manipulate everything the way I wanted. It might have been cheaper. But the last time, the quality was not great. The pages and books themselves were great - maybe nicer than Shutterfly. But they couldn’t get the pages straight. Many of them were slightly crooked. They tried three times. The 2nd and 3rd attempts were free, but each on had different crooked pages. Finally they gave me 50% off the total so I was ok with it. I gave the other copies to the kids, as the book was from a big family trip.
1 Like
My D made photo albums with her wedding pictures for gifts one Christmas. She used Artifact Uprising. I think it’s relatively pricey, but the quality is amazing.
1 Like
I have ordered Shutterfly photo albums every year since 2012. But I spend many, many hours custom editing every page. I don’t like their template pages because I can’t get enough photos on each page. I use a LOT of photos and always add about 12 pages to my photo books. It would be too expensive, even if there’s always a promo code somewhere, if I stuck with their 4 or 5 pics per page.
If I was trying to be more arty, yes, their photobook making program is really good, IMO. There are usually promo codes available somewhere. As an example, I just ordered 6 photo books and paid $130 total. These included shipping, plus cumulatively, I added about 60 pages between the 6 books. But wait, there’s more! I also got 10 free photo Christmas cards. I think it’s decent value overall.
1 Like
I like shutterfly. I make albums for all our trips and yes, like many of the others have said, spend hours getting the book just right! The books come out good. They often have coupons/sales for unlimited additional pages and I wait for those, because my books are often more than 20 pages. The latest one I made is a whopper 96 pages!! My strategy is to make the book, preview it and then leave it there until a sale comes along. If you add the book to your cart but don’t buy it - shutterfly will sometimes send you special coupons 
I’ve tried mixbook a couple of times. Different styles, but I didn’t like the finished product. To be fair to them, they were great about reprinting the book and sending it to me but even then, it didn’t look as polished/finished as the ones from shutterfly did. So, now, I stick to just shutterfly.
1 Like
Ditto on the time consuming part. I write little blurbs on each page, as well as adjusting each photo, changing the size/location of the templates to suit my needs, adding stickers, borders, etc. I estimate I spend about an hour for every 2 pages. And my books tend to be 40 pages on average, some longer!
2 Likes
Shutterfly discounts and coupons are pretty easy to find - TMobile and Verizon rewards often have them. My favorite is code for unlimited additional pages.
2 Likes
I used Shutterfly to make an album for my Yosemite pictures taken with my camera. It seemed like a good idea to have a momento and I used some discounts.
1 Like
My husband really likes Blurb. It seems to pair well with his photo app (Lightroom). He compiles books and then usually waits til there is a coupon for 40% off
2 Likes
Just bumping this up to let people know that Shutterfly has revamped their photobook process. I absolutely, positively, HATE it. And I was about 20-25 hours into a 30 hour long process for my last trip when it switched. It’s too late to start over elsewhere, but unless someone they give me a big discount once I’m done, I’m not going to buy it. I would rather not have one at all instead of paying $$$ - and their prices have increased a LOT in the last year or so - for book that I hate.
The worst parts? They got rid of the both sides justified text box. I hate the way left hand justified looks on a photobook page. I want everything nice and neat looking. Then, you can’t easily add pictures to make the preset layouts work for your pictures. You can adjust the picture sizes and move them around, but it you want to add another, forget it. It moves everything all around and reformats the whole thing. Thank God for undo. So all of my pictures on the last few pages are just a hodgepodge in random order, because I’m just trying to get something fit somewhat decently.
They also don’t seem to have a good selection of layouts anymore. Layouts with a lot of pictures, which is what I need. And the snapping/align/spacing features are just gone. You can slide things around and the guides appear, but they don’t seem to be exact. Ugh…
And then the whole thing is just painfully slow. When you start typing text, it gets locked up and you have to back out and go back in. And then trying to get your cursor in the right place is a nightmare.
And they don’t have an email to complain. You can chat with an agent - which is down now because of weather, or you can call. I will definitely be doing one or the other next week, once I’m done with it, because as I said… I’m not spending $150-200 on this book that I hate.
1 Like