<p>I thought I might have figured out what to do about the several years’ worth of photos I have on my computer and memory cards: photobooks. So I spent a few days a couple of weeks ago uploading photos and composing the photobook. Received it today and I am not really excited. I even upgraded to the super-thick paper. But it just looks strange. </p>
<p>I am trying not to dislike it, because it is at least a step better than photos on the computer, but I am thinking I really like traditional photos and photo albums better.</p>
<p>I love our photo books - but we just do one a year with photos of the main highlights of the year. Also have done them for special occasions like high school/college graduation for my kids. </p>
<p>Who did you use? Are you saying they are not clear? We have used Snapfish and Shutterfly. My brother does his with a Mac program and they are awesomely clear!</p>
<p>I like them. I find they make great gifts for grandparents. I also make one each year just about my grandson. I find they are easier to look at then the old photo albums and take up a lot less room.</p>
<p>I used mypublisher.com. The quality of the materials is okay. I think the book reminds me of a storybook I ordered for D when she was little, a Sesame Street story (?) that had her name in it as a character . . . .</p>
<p>But I am going to try again. Two things I will do differently: add more pages (this book has only 20 pages–40 front/back) and also lay off the fancy backgrounds. I like the pages that have just a white border around the photos the best. The colored and patterned backgrounds seem a little chintzy.</p>
<p>I bought one because it was a Groupon type deal - very inexpensive. Very competitive business. I have seen similar deals come through from several brands. We were happy with ours, Shutterfly. Used pictures of our trip to Europe this Spring. I bought a 20 page book for $14 but added another 7 pages at only $1 per page.</p>
<p>I’ve had a few made through Shutterfly so far. I’ve generally gotten a healthy coupon for it (most of the time it was free). I’ll generally stick to the 20 page limit, and have found the basic photo hardcover to be nice. It’s usually worth your time to learn how to do some brightness/level adjustments (once you learn how to do it, it’ll only take 1-2 minutes a picture) to make things really pop out more.</p>
<p>I gave my dad a photo book of a trip the two of us had taken a year or two prior, and my mom still tells me it’s one of his favorite gifts. It’s actually what convinced her to go on a 2000 mile road trip with him! I’ve found the best photo books are ones where I have fun, try to write a little story, and make various jokes. For example, in a recent book I had some pictures where my girlfriend and I had an amazing breakfast. Instead of just putting in the pictures I tried to make it almost look like an ad for the restaurant. Things that give context make it a lot more fun (though it does require a significantly large amount of time to put together versus a traditional photo album).</p>
<p>My mom is good about making Shutterfly albums for all the trips she takes with my dad (he lectures all over the world). She’s made a few for me, too. I send her the photos, she places them on the pages, and then I give her captions. She’s the best! I think the albums are great.</p>
<p>I made one for my father who is suffering from memory loss. I used pictures of the family - current and some older family shots - to help him remember his family.</p>
<p>I’m still a photo album person. I’ve seen some photo books that relatives have made and they look nice, but for some unknown reason, I still prefer my printed photos in albums. (Which is convenient since I have about 20 years of albums that are full on the bookshelf.) I’m sure it depends on what the purpose is - if it is to highlight an event or a trip, I could see a photo book being great. I just have my routine down of printing out favorite photos from the whole year and filling a big book chronologically.</p>
<p>I’ve made a good number of photo books in the last several years. I’ve done some through Costco, and some through Shutterfly. I like both sites.</p>
<p>Shutterfly has been wonderful for sharing photos and for using photos taken by family and friends in my own books. We all uploaded our favorite or best photos to a group, and then I was able to pick and choose among them to create a book. I recently made a book for my daughter, using photos taken by several parents, of a state championship winning season. It is a wonderful book, made better by many photos taken by other people. I made another book of shared photos from a family wedding. </p>
<p>Last year I scanned old black and white family photos taken 50 years ago and created a really lovely book that I gave to everyone in the extended family. The original photos had been professionally taken, and that quality really showed in the final product. </p>
<p>I’m a convert to books. I find that I take more time and thought in selecting and arranging the photos I use, at least compared to traditional albums (in which I simply throw every photo without much thought). I always end up adding and customizing pages to the photo books. It can become time consuming, or it can be a very simple, quick process.</p>
<p>I used myPublisher to create a photo book several years ago and the results were not great. I didn’t use them after that. Over the last four-five years, I’ve made photo books on shutterfly and snapfish (primarily shutterfly) and love them. I print and put pictures in albums all the time. But photo books for special occasions or vacations are fabulous. We did one for D’s 16th birthday. Made a “memory” photo book when my mother-in-law passed away. This one had some empty pages at the end that folks used to write notes to H and us. D made a great book for H’s 50th birthday. My kids grew up with four other kids (all closer than siblings). One year for xmas, I made a photo book that had pictures of all of them over the years and gave each kid a copy - it was a really special gift for them, especially since most of them were headed out to college around that time.</p>
<p>I love Shutterfly. It was just this year that my husband (saint that he is) did two books - one for each of our children’s weddings. They look terrific and I love them. </p>
<p>That said, I also prefer a plain background as the busy backgrounds can take away from the picture. So, photo layout skills and an eye for design make a big difference in the final product. Some layouts look much better than others.</p>
<p>I have made about 10 books with Shutterfly and Mac. Mostly Shutterfly, because you can’t save them on Mac (at least as of the last time I looked, which was a couple years ago). I have great plans to make many more- we shall see how it goes. Everyone is always SO impressed and I have gotten a couple friends started on them. I scanned in lots of old photos of my parents, their parents and our family and completed “Mom and Dad” Vol. 1 for this past Mother’s Day. Volume 2 was supposed to have been done for Father’s Day- oh well, maybe Christmas! My Dad took it to his brother’s funeral last month and everyone LOVED it! Also made one of our family trip to Italy and gave a copy to H and each kid. I have grand plans to organize my photos, scan in all the old stuff and do a birth-to-now book for each kid. Like I said, we shall see! Once you have used Shutterfly for a project or two and understand the mechanics, it really is fairly easy. I have also made calendars for gifts and the recipients love them too.</p>
<p>I have asked my Son (now 24) to create a custom photo calendar as a Christmas present to me using photos of his choice of himself since he turned 20. </p>
<p>He loves to take photos and has had the good fortune to travel extensively in Asia. I have an annual treat that he actually loves to create. </p>
<p>And, I keep each years calendar so someday he will have a photo history as he grew into adulthood and will know how much I cherished the calendar and him.</p>
<p>Hmm. I have used Blurb, Shutterfly, and MyPublisher.com for photobooks. I make three or four a year, sometimes more. I make calendars, too. Of the three, I think MyPublisher.com has the best color fidelity. I’ve never sprung for better paper, either.</p>