Photo Book results - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

01/05/2008 05:14:16 PM · #1

I ordered a photo book from Shutterfly to make an album of my daughter's wedding photos. For my Photo-a-Day today, I took some photos of the actual book and several pages and made a collage type shot. It's quite large, so I'm just posting the link here.

On that page, there is also a link to view each page (it ended up being about 40 pages) - not in the book, but as I created them. I didn't not use the Shutterfly templates, but created each 12x12 page to "drop" into the album.

I am really quite pleased with the book. My total cost was just under $100. We had one minor problem with a very small area where two pages stuck together at the bottom and created a little damage, but they very quickly replaced the album for me. I kept the damaged one and gave the other to my daughter and son-in-law. The book went through many, many hands over the holidays, at church, with friends and at work - and seems to be holding up quite well. We'll see how the quality and longevity of the pages works out. The pages are quite a bit thicker than I expected.

I would definitely use them again. The one thing I would do differently is allow more room for the center binding. It took up more of the page than I thought it would, and I actually allowed for more room than Shutterfly said to. I would give it between 3/4" - 1". Or at least if you have several pages, as we did.

I just know that folks like to hear about different experiences with companies and stuff like this, so I thought I'd share.

Wedding Book Link

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

01/05/2008 06:06:36 PM · #2

Just gorgeous.

01/05/2008 08:59:56 PM · #3

Originally posted by Judi:

Just gorgeous.

Thanks :)

Ivo

01/05/2008 09:05:46 PM · #4

I've been using Shutterfly for a couple of years and have had times when they've been asked to step up to the plate and fix things. Never a moment's hesitation to make things right and the overall quality has been top-notch. I've never used them for a photo book and am glad to hear, and see, you got great results. The price is also quite attractive. Guess I'm gettin a new coffee table book. ;-)

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/05/2008 09:37:28 PM · #5

Originally posted by Ivo:

Definitely! I sent them a couple of photos of the small damaged spots on the page and offered to send back the album to get a new one. They didn't ask for the first one back, so it worked out wonderfully for me! The first one is still quite usable, just not perfect. They didn't hesitate and the new book arrived right away...and it was even before Christmas, when I'm sure they were busy.

Beetle

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/05/2008 09:40:32 PM · #6

Thanks for sharing, Judy, the book looks awesome!

There is something I don't quite understand about the process, perhaps you could explain:

You said you created each page yourself (i.e. collage style) rather than using their templates. You said you "created each 12x12 page to "drop" into the album".

When I look at the book, I don't see anything that looks square - neither a single page, nor a combination (like page 2 and 3 together, for example).

So did you create each individual page, making sure you have matching backgrounds between even and the next odd page numbers, or did you make each collage across both pages, making sure to leave open space in the center for binding?

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/05/2008 10:07:12 PM · #7

Originally posted by Beetle:

Each page starts out as a 12"x12" size, and that is the size of the covers. I created each page individually, but generally coordinated facing pages. Perhaps the pages don't appear square in the book due to the binding. My background for each page covered the entire 12x12 area, and then I made sure not to have any important feature, photos, etc (that are layered on top of the background) within .6" of what would be the center portion that would be bound. Shutterfly told me to leave .25", but I decided to go a little higher with so many pages. I would increase that amount to within 1" on my next book. I hope that answers your question.

Beetle

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/05/2008 10:19:13 PM · #8

Yes it does, thank you :-)