Printed Photo Book Reviews Part 1 – a major undertaking…

(Please excuse the white blotches on the covers.  I wasn’t comfortable with our last name showing.)

I’m interested in moving from scrapbooking with individual sheets (later to be put into a purchased scrapbook) to bound photo books.  A lot of it is space-related – they take up so much less shelf space!  But also because they tend to be cheaper for digital scrapbooking.  Printing a single sheet is about $3 (12x12), but a book is generally half that (or less) per page.  (Prices vary widely!)

There are so many photo book printers that the options are almost overwhelming.  I decided to pick a handful of printers (based on cost, book sizes available, page counts allowed, and positive comments from other people) and print the same photo book through each of them to determine which I felt would be “best” for our family albums.

Book size – I’m most interested in square books.  Probably 12x12, but 8x8 for the kids (when I print books for them to keep in their own space).  Mainly because digital scrapbooking supplies are 12x12 and it’s what I’m used to, I guess.  I didn’t really consider companies that don’t print square formats.

Page counts – I want to be able to put a lot of photos in one book.  Preferably, I’d hope that I can get one year’s photos into each book for our family.  (We’ll see how that goes once I get started!)  So those with lower page limits (75 or less) weren’t being considered.

The contenders:

1. ArtsCow – I have used them in the past for several photo projects, including one photo book for my kids.  Their prices (with ubiquitous coupons) are great.  There are often coupons for free 8x8 books (shipping is not free, though).  I’m not sure that their quality is top-notch, but their prices pushed them onto the list easily.
2. Blurb – I hadn’t heard of this company until I started researching (actually, someone’s recommendation of Blurb was what caused me to start this project).  My favorite feature, right off the bat is that their books can hold up to 440 pages!  Woohoo!
3. Mixbook – I didn’t see many reviews of this company, but I like that their books can hold 399 pages, so I figured they were worth a try.

A few that I considered but didn’t end up trying:

1. Costco – We actually just let our Costco membership expire (oops!).  Oh, and they didn’t have a small square book.  Before I realized our Costco membership had expired, that was the real deterrent.
2. AdoramaPix – These books were VERY highly recommended but VERY expensive.  And they can only be purchased in discreet increments – 14 pages, 26, 38, 50, or 76.   I don’t like to be forced into something like that.
3. Walgreens – Based mostly on price (although they often have coupons/sales).  I might still try them at some point.
4. Snapfish – Again, I didn’t have a coupon.  I used them in the past for prints and was annoyed with them (I printed tons of pictures and they were not sent in order – even by album – so I had to sort through 144 pictures to get them in order).  Their prices seem reasonable, and they have a 150 page limit.  I might consider them at some point if there was a coupon/sale.

A couple of last-minute additions:

1. Shutterfly – They were more expensive than other options, so I wasn’t going to try them.  But I got a coupon for a free book (paying for shipping only), so I went for it.
2. MyPublisher – They don’t offer square book formats, so I wasn’t even going to bother, but, again, I got a coupon for a free book, so I decided I’d use it and just test the waters.

A summary of pertinent details of all the options I looked into:

Photo Book	Book sizes available (width x height, inches)	Cover	Page Limit	12x12 price	Paper Weight
ArtsCow Regular	6x6, 7x5, 8x8, 9x7, 11x8.5, 12x12	glossy	101	24.99/20 pgs +1.50/page	110#
ArtsCow Deluxe	4x4, 6x6, 7x5, 8x8, 9x7, 10x8, 9x12	matte	32 for 8x8	n/a	525#
Blurb	7x7, 8x10, 10x8, 13x11, 12x12, 5x8, 6x9	matte	440 regular 240 premium	48.95/20 pgs incremented up to 192.50/440 pages	80# regular 100# premium
Mixbook	6x4, 8x6, 11x8.5, 14x11, 8.5x8.5, 12x12	glossy	399	49.99/20 pgs +1.25/page	100#
Shutterfly	7x5, 9x7, 8x8, 11x8, 12x12	extra glossy	101-110	54.99/20 pgs +1.50/page	80#
My Publisher	3.5x2.75, 7.75x5.75, 11.25x8.75, 15x11.5	glossy	100	n/a	115# (largest  book=80#)
Costco	12x12, 11.25x8.75	glossy	100	39.99/30 pgs +1.38/2 pgs	?
Walgreens	3x2, 6x4.5, 7x5, 8x8, 11x8.5, 12x12	?	150	49.99/20 pgs +1.99/2 pgs	?
Snapfish	7x5, 8x8, 11x8, 12x12	?	150	49.99/20 pgs +1.99/2 pgs	100#

My process for creating photo books was maybe not what everyone would choose.  As a  digital scrapbooker, I want to create/design my own pages.  I don’t want to throw my photos into a pre-existing scrapbook page design provided by the publisher.  Luckily, all companies allow a full-page “photo”, which was my scrapbook layout.  In order to test the differences in publishing only, I uploaded the exact same digital files (at 12x12) to each program to be used in the books.  I had previously purchased ArtsCow square templates for photo books from Studio Wendy, so I used those to determine bleed areas.  (I did not research all scrapbook companies’ bleed areas – I just decided to try it and see what happened.)  I uploaded 20 page files, plus a front cover, back cover, and a spine to each of the company’s programs and then plugged them in.

More details from each experience will follow in the next post…

Other posts in this series:
Part 2 - two ArtsCow photo book reviews
Part 3 - Blurb and Shutterfly
Part 4 - Mixbook and MyPublisher, plus wrap-up