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12/27/2006 10:44:57 AM · #26 |
Originally posted by oOWonderBreadOo: I am wondering if anyone has any experience with printing books?
I'm putting together a bunch of images for a country club where I've shot a couple weddings and only know of these two companies.
LuLu
Blurb
I don't know much about either of them except that with blurb their logo is apparently all over it and of course I want MINE all over it! :0)
I can't spend a fortune but I want a quality product. I'm hoping for an in between...
So if you have any other ideas or any experience with Lulu or Blurb I'd really appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks! :0) |
I have been using tictacphotoand I am very happy with it. Many printing and cover options, plus reasonable prices and prompt service.
Hope this helps,
Yannis, Athens, Greece |
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12/28/2006 01:25:36 PM · #27 |
Originally posted by _eug: Over all I like the Blurb results. My only complaint is the cost. I've ordered a book from Lulu, but I haven't received it yet. Of the two, Blurb's layout options are better, but the price is 1/3.
MyPublisher.com (40 page book, crappy layout software, $50 + shipping)
Blurb (40 page book, decent layout software, $30 + shipping)
Lulu (56 pages, unable to do book landscape format, online layout, $12.63 + shipping. |
Ok, so I just got the Lulu results back and, um... Not what I was expecting. I guess I selected the wrong book type. It's softcover, kind like a school workbook. The only problem is that there is no way on the lulu site to change to book type/format without starting the project all over again.
Colors are good although the Brightness is a bit darker than the Blurb book.
Turns out the hardcover is $25 or something. Grrrr...
Bummer.
Message edited by author 2007-01-25 11:52:16. |
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12/28/2006 02:07:36 PM · #28 |
I'm gonna try LuLu for my first book, which isn't going to be a photo book as we normally think of them. I'm going to make my exposure tutorial into a book to see what it looks like. It will be black and white only with some simple example photos throughout the text. I wanted to evolve this book into a textbook that could be used in a classroom environment at some point, so I have started working on that again. I'm going to use the spiral-bound paperback option on this book. I'm in the process of re-editing the entire text now and it will probably take me a couple months to actually complete that. I'm replacing borrowed photos with my own photos and I'm adding a lot of q&a to the end of each section.
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04/07/2007 11:18:18 AM · #29 |
a little late but, i recently have been looking for somewhere to print books have found a great list.. and now have even more...
here they are:
flipclips.com
fotoinsight.com
blurb.com
pixeloncanvas.com
shutterfly.com
walmart.com
whcc.com
photoworks.com
mypublisher.com
imagestation.com
viovio.com
snapfish.com
siphotographer.com
sharedink.com
asukabook.com
fashbackbooks.com
apollosllluma.com
tictacphoto.com
kodakgallery.com
cornerstone.com
mpix.com is soon to have them too.
wow!! yes some are cheep and some are good. But recently I tried Shutterfly.com for the new 12x12 with custom front and back hard cover, it looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!! and at a reasonable price. Appears to be bound great and I got it in 3 days!!!!! I was shocked!!! So good luck and thanks for the new options. |
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04/07/2007 12:50:40 PM · #30 |
I'm looking to make a recipe size directory for a church with thumbnail size photos and names and address. I'd prefer to have coilbound type. Has anyone found any companys that do something like this and do it well and reasonable? I'm trying to price a job locally and need to find a supplier.
MattO
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04/07/2007 01:06:37 PM · #31 |
Seem to be a couple of incorrect web addresses here.
fashbackbooks.com should be //www.fastbackbooks.com
cornerstone.com should be //www.cornerstonealbums.com
apollosllluma.com should be //www.apollo-imagizing.com
Nice to get a summary of most of the available suppliers! Thanks
Originally posted by chrissycampbell: a little late but, i recently have been looking for somewhere to print books have found a great list.. and now have even more...
here they are:
flipclips.com
fotoinsight.com
blurb.com
pixeloncanvas.com
shutterfly.com
walmart.com
whcc.com
photoworks.com
mypublisher.com
imagestation.com
viovio.com
snapfish.com
siphotographer.com
sharedink.com
asukabook.com
fashbackbooks.com
apollosllluma.com
tictacphoto.com
kodakgallery.com
cornerstone.com
mpix.com is soon to have them too.
wow!! yes some are cheep and some are good. But recently I tried Shutterfly.com for the new 12x12 with custom front and back hard cover, it looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!! and at a reasonable price. Appears to be bound great and I got it in 3 days!!!!! I was shocked!!! So good luck and thanks for the new options. |
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04/07/2007 02:39:20 PM · #32 |
I ended up going with blurb... This is an awesome resouce everyone's contributed to! I know I'll be checking out some of the others too.
I'll take some pics of the blurb end result and post them here! :0) |
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04/07/2007 03:31:41 PM · #33 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler: I'm gonna try LuLu for my first book, which isn't going to be a photo book as we normally think of them. I'm going to make my exposure tutorial into a book to see what it looks like. It will be black and white only with some simple example photos throughout the text. I wanted to evolve this book into a textbook that could be used in a classroom environment at some point, so I have started working on that again. I'm going to use the spiral-bound paperback option on this book. I'm in the process of re-editing the entire text now and it will probably take me a couple months to actually complete that. I'm replacing borrowed photos with my own photos and I'm adding a lot of q&a to the end of each section. |
Jim, have you done this? How did it turn out? |
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04/07/2007 03:46:04 PM · #34 |
I've used Lulu and was very pleased. Quick serive and followup orders were quick too. I did a 50 page full color. The inside pages were heavy slick paper, great colors an dcontrast. The cover both front and back was very heavy full color gloss stock. All in all for less than $15 I was very pleased. |
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04/07/2007 03:55:05 PM · #35 |
I've used mypublisher in the past. What you get for the price you pay is amazing, and one big benefit is that there is no branding all over the books - just a little url to their site on the back page. The option to get leather covers with a window is a nice touch too. In terms of quality though, the reproduction is not stunning. The darker tones tend to look very murky indeed, and the colours are not all that vibrant. Fine for well-lit snapshots, but bad enough to lose a lot of detail in subtle, contrasty low-key images.
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04/07/2007 04:15:08 PM · #36 |
I've had several coffee table books printed via Apple's iPhoto , both hard- and soft-covers.. It took me minutes to create them from hi-res shots. They arrived in a week or so and were absolutely stunning.
Message edited by author 2007-04-07 16:15:23. |
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04/07/2007 04:47:02 PM · #37 |
I've had a couple done from Apple which were great. They do use Kodak Gallery to print them, so Kodak quality should also be good. However, the layouts in iPhoto are very easy to use.
Originally posted by zeuszen: I've had several coffee table books printed via Apple's iPhoto , both hard- and soft-covers.. It took me minutes to create them from hi-res shots. They arrived in a week or so and were absolutely stunning. |
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04/08/2007 08:05:58 PM · #38 |
Ive used or seen:
asuka
apollo photo...aka Illuma memory books
mypublisher
H&H color lab Black tie
the last wins for cost, cost/value, cost/appearance, and the cheapest by far if you want a lot of pages (like 50 to 100). Apollo is second and may offer more sizes, but the paper is not as thick and the cost is about 20% more. Asuka is higher end and at least double the other prices if not triple.
MyPublisher puts their names on the books, limits your options, and doesn't holdup well over time (in less than environmentally optimum conditions)
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04/11/2007 09:05:34 PM · #39 |
Just popping in to say I've had 4 printings on Lulu.com. 3 of a 100 page softcover books on seabird photos and an a4 12 page portrait book (to show my LIPF distinction panel). The first 2 were awful (I'd use stronger words, if you get my drift) but the newest 2 were much better.
Being in Ireland they came from the Spanish printer. I'd like to see work from the new UK printer. |
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04/11/2007 09:15:41 PM · #40 |
I've done 6 books (including Parents albums after a wedding) with Shutterfly.com; and 4 books from Photoworks in the last few months. Both are good quality, but then I did one with Asukabook. The Asuka book just kicks everyone's butt. Its the perfect studio sample book, portfolio, or album. Terrific quality.
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04/12/2007 10:11:05 AM · #41 |
MPix.com just started their photobooks. I'm think I'm gonna check it our this week. I'll let people know. :) |
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04/13/2007 02:03:46 AM · #42 |
Well, here are some pics of the actual books. The quality is so-so. If there's lots of detail, all looks good- but I'm a shallow DOF girl and many of the images look poor quality. But then again, it was only $30 including shipping...
 |
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07/20/2007 04:42:14 PM · #43 |
I just got two books back from Blurb and WOW!... they aren't very nice. I am really disappointed in the quality of the printing. I have bought two MPix books in the past and wanted to try Blurb because of the dust jacket... The MPix books are so much nicer you really can't even compare the two. Just thought I'd share... |
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07/20/2007 05:37:44 PM · #44 |
Glad to know. I am looking for another company as well to get books from. Although I liked Shutterfly's quality. I don't like the fact they want to put thire name in the back of the book.
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07/20/2007 06:16:06 PM · #45 |
I used Blurb last winter when my fiancee and I were making a book of our trip to Scotland and Ireland as a Christmas present. We were really happy with the results and so were her parents. (And their friends). The logo is a bit annoying however Blurb allows you to customize the logo...for a fee. It adds about 10 to 20 dollars to the cost of the book. Grrr...
ETA: The colors were a little weird in that they were quite saturated. In some cases where we had bumped up the saturation they were TOO saturated in print. Lesson learned...
Message edited by author 2007-07-20 18:19:30.
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07/20/2007 06:51:39 PM · #46 |
You should really try MPix... the quality of the book will blow you away. |
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08/07/2007 01:20:46 PM · #47 |
Originally posted by toddhead: You should really try MPix... the quality of the book will blow you away. |
Sorry I have to disagree, at least in part...
Yesterday I got the album/book I ordered from MPIX. It's nice, but I doubt I'll use them again or I'll be more careful.
What I ordered was a 10x10, 26 page book on linen paper with a black cover. The linen paper I don't recommend. For the set I did it added a lot of noise. There might be cases where it works (I have a B&W, mostly white bouquet image in the book that looks nice), but I made a wrong choice with that option.
Some of the images in the set span across the centerline with poor results. 3/8" from the spine is a score making the pages lay better when you turn pages, but this also eats 3/4" worth of images if they cross the centerline.
The cover is paper. It's not quite the quality that you see of the Blurb fabric cover.
So far of Blurb, Lulu and MPIX, it's Blurb in the lead.
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08/07/2007 01:36:41 PM · #48 |
Originally posted by _eug:
So far of Blurb, Lulu and MPIX, it's Blurb in the lead. |
I looked at blurb originally. I didn't like the software. I wanted something where I had total control of the design. Has blurb provided this yet? Lulu gives me total design freedom. I create a PDF and they print it. I haven't printed anything yet, but this is the type of freedom of design I'm looking for...
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08/07/2007 02:17:31 PM · #49 |
Can someone post AsukaBook's pricelist? |
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08/07/2007 02:28:56 PM · #50 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler: Originally posted by _eug:
So far of Blurb, Lulu and MPIX, it's Blurb in the lead. |
I looked at blurb originally. I didn't like the software. I wanted something where I had total control of the design. Has blurb provided this yet? Lulu gives me total design freedom. I create a PDF and they print it. I haven't printed anything yet, but this is the type of freedom of design I'm looking for... |
I noted earlier in this thread that none of the software I've used from the various vendors is by any means acceptable in the area of layout.
I use FotoFusion to do all my layout. I can put text, images, and other elements anywhere I want. I can customize everything to my desire not someone else's. I simply export all my pages as full bleed images and send those via the vendors software.
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