Wedding Blog
I made a Shutterfly Photobook after our wedding last year. Overall I was quite pleased with how it turned out - great quality, the software was very easy to use and it was reasonably priced. (They have a 20% off sale going on right now.)
At the time I think I paid around $45 for a 67 page, leather cover photobook. I remember liking it so much that I said I was going to make one for all my friends after their weddings. So when Mr. Bee’s sister recently asked me to send some pictures from our wedding, I pulled out the photobook to see if I should order a copy for her.
This is to give you an idea of some of the different picture layouts that are available:
I’d like to point out a couple of issues with the pictures:
1) Some show up too dark in the book even though they look completely fine on Shutterfly’s Screen Preview and when you get regular prints. All the images overall are darker in the book than they are on screen.
2) Some images have too much contrast and appear very “orangey.”
This is the image on Shutterfly’s Preview…
This is the image in the book. But there were images that were much “orangy-er.”
Despite the problems with image quality, I still think that the photobook is pretty awesome - everyone I showed the book to loved it.
I’d like to find the site that offers the best image quality (in prints and photobooks). I’ve purchased prints from Shutterfly, Ofoto and Imagestation in the past, but I need to do more comprehensive research by submitting the same pictures to each site to determine which one has the best quality (a project I hope to embark upon in the near future). Actually I’d be most happy finding a high quality digital photo printing studio in Manhattan.
Have you purchased prints/photobooks from a site other than Shutterfly? Were you happy with them?
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I haven’t purchased any photobooks. But I did just order prints from Shutterfly and the pictures I received look darker than the ones on the site. It looks like we all got tanned.
Snapfish is cheap and the quality of their prints shows it (at least the digital ones)…mine came out very pixelated, even though the images were good resolution.
Photoworks.com
Wow, I love your site. I am getting married next year, and i’ve found some stuff you posted to help me out.
Thanks.
I use imagestation, but am also looking for a better option. Also, I agree with those that say snapfish is bad. My pictures from there are one big blur!!!
I ordered two photobooks from MyPublisher.com as thank you gifts for two of my bridesmaids. The book was a mix of older pictures I scanned in and also digital pics. The quality of the book was really good and the full page shots were awesome. I don’t think you can do that using snapfish.
The pictures came out pretty much exactly how they looked on the MP software. I definitely recommend finding a coupon and ordering a book from MP.
I just ordered a mypublisher book. But I went the extreme DIY route and made all the page layouts myself in Paint Shop Pro. I can’t wait to get it. They always have coupons too so I got a 28 page double-sided (so 56 total) 12×16 album for about $83.
thanks for the suggestions!!! i’ll definitely give mypublisher a try… but i’d also like an inexpensive option for casual photobooks that i give away to family and friends for less eventful events in life. =)
I have used MyPublisher in the past and I thought it was great I will probably use them again for my wedding and honeymoon album
I use Snapfish for their prints, never tried with books, and I like their print quality overall Dont know if it changes with books though
My sister makes books from her kids birthday parties on ofoto. the quality is good, in part b.c she uses professional pictures (she has a photographer at every wedding). the pictures aren’t quite as good as the “real” prints, but its still nice.
I’m very into graphics design and photography so I plan on design my own book using Adobe InDesign. Many professional photographers use http://asukabook.com/ which is considered to be one of the best in the field. There are many more links to custom books at http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/266892 (free registry required to view thread).
And if you’re a Mac user, you can always go with iPhoto. They have some GREAT layouts for albums.
I must be the only person who’s had a bad experience with MyPublisher…. I thought that their software was not the most intuitive to use and when I finally got the order, I was extremely disappointed that they had sent me someone else’s book! Because I had ordered the book as a Christmas present, I really needed it in a certain timeframe but when I contacted them, they told me to destroy the book I received and all they could offer me was a refund. I would have to send them the book file again b/c they don’t keep any records of it once the book is printed and that process would take several days, not in time for Christmas. I eventually did get the correct book by contacting the person it was supposed to go to (another long story) and after several months, I also got a refund. Since MP only communicates through email, it was that much more frustrating. Aside from the terrible customer service, the quality was OK — the paper is similar to the inkjet photo paper that you buy from the store and photos came out decent.
As for Snapfish, I loved that they got my prints to me in just a few days. The quality is alright but what drives me nuts is that they delete your pictures if you don’t order anything from them in a year.
When I need to buy a gift, time is very important for me. How long does the shipment take? More than one week?
the one i purchased from shutterfly arrived very quickly i recall.
Check out my website … http://www.mylifeinprint.com — I’m using the Heritage Makers publishing account as I’m consultant with them. The quality is extremely high.
I’ve been happy with all the books I’ve created in this system. You can see some samples of what I’ve done on my site in my Gallery. One nice thing about the HM books vs. Shutterfly is that you can have your cover designed with your photo instead of the cut out that peeks through to inside photos. Regardless, take a look … I think you’ll like the results.
A couple of things…
You can actually make a book in iPhoto but then export it as a pdf or jpeg and send it to pretty much any photobook maker. You get the cool apple templates and the much better pricing from blurb or others that way.
As for the computer pics looking different from the book… you really need to calibrate your monitor. Look how blue the white sections of the computer screen looks. So in comparison, the printed pics look more orange than the screen. Something to help out would be to make sure you set your camera’s white balance to the types of light you’re shooting in. If you’re indoors with regular incandecent (orange) make sure you set it to that. IT will take the orangeness away. Fluorescent is blue, so it will take the blue away when you set it to that.
Hope it helps!
I have made several books through my Heritage Maker account http://www.heritagephotobooks.ca and love the quality as well as the design features that allow pictures & text to be layered, rotated, and tons of digital scrapbooking kits included with the software. Contact me for a free account wenda@powergate.ca or 905-852-0755 to try the software. Check out my”Project Gallery” ~ click search and enter “Wenda” as author for some samples of what I have done. You will be impressed with the software. No downloads, it’s all online. Just log into your account, save project until next time to finish, then order and it comes in 2 weeks professionally printed with a complete front and back cover designed by you. Take care, Wenda
Check out http://www.memorieswetreasure.com and our new Template Gallery for some fantastic wedding book ideas! Another location is http://www.photobookdesigners.com and wishing everyone all the best with their wedding plans! If you are in the GTA Ontario area I do engagement photoshoots ~ see http://picasaweb.google.com/wendatop and am still learning so for hire at $100/2 hours and get all photos on DVD ~ I’m booking up fast so don’t delay 
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Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
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