Making Books of Photographs

[boomguy57]

I'm not sure if this is the right category--if it's not, please let me know--but I wanted to see what others use for printing photobooks. It's been said a million times, but a monitor is not the way to view an image, whether created digitally or with film--it needs to be printed! I have used MyPublisher, Apple's Aperture, and now Blurb...I haven't gotten my Blurb book in the mail yet.

I have found MyP to be inconsistent in terms of color rendering, and print quality; their B&W images also leave something to be desired, generally. I like the fact that they have coupons and special offers regularly, thereby saving some money, and the fact that they archive all your old books so you can buy them later if you want/need to. Their software isn't the best, but it works.

Apple's Aperture always gives me great results, especially in B&W, but there are NEVER special offers (it is Apple, after all). They also do not archive your orders, so 30 days after you order your book, it's deleted and if you want another copy you have to re-start the entire process. That said, the process isn't too difficult.

With Blurb, making the book was relatively easy. I like that they archive your orders, and you can even sell them to others if you like. I will find out about print quality, etc when my book arrives.

What have others used? What have your experiences with the above been?

Also, if anyone is curious about the book I just made, here is the link:

http://www.blurb.com/books/3087288

I was in Portugal this month for 2 weeks and used my iPhone and the Hipstamatic app to document our time there, and created a running "travel journal" on my flickr page for friends and family to follow along day-to-day. This book is the printed version of that journal. My M6 and X100 photos I haven't had the time to go through yet.

 

[Ducky]

I've used Blurb a few times with good results.

 

[Aristophanes]

http://photo-book-review.toptenreviews.com/

http://www.photobookgirl.com/reviews/

And probably the best:

http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/97676/

I highly recommend photobooks for those with the inclination to design and pay for printing. The results are astounding. If done on acid-free paper, they are archival, and the softcopy can be PDF's for offsite storage.

I use Apple's Aperture and have experienced very good results for a decent price.

 

[shadowfox]

The good thing about Blurb is that they try to improve.
I have so far created 8 books (four are public) and the quality is good to excellent.

I've seen more than 8 press published books whose quality is worse in just the last year.

 

[dasuess]

I have used both Blurb and Apple (since I am an Aperture user) and have been impressed with both. As has been said, there are no deals with Apple, but the quality is first rate, delivery is prompt and the processing/printing/shipping seems a bit more reasonable. Blurb quality is also very good, but shipping cost is higher. And with Blurb, you can make the book public and even sell it from their online store - heck I've even made about $26.00 on the sale of 5 copies of one of my Blurb books. Not making me rich, but it does help pay for ink and paper for my home printing.

 

[__--]

The situation here in Bangkok is different in that I can get custom printing done at printer using digital (4-color) offset with complete flexibility on page size, cover, end papers, and binding. I just had four copies printed of my 130-page Bangkok Hysteria book project at 6.67x10 inches (HxW) full-bleed, printed on both sides of the paper with a hard cover. Very good quality at US$100 per copy. I've sent off a copy to the International Photobook Dummy Award 2012

The other nice thing was that the printer here also printed some proof sheets for me so that I could test four different types of paper.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Tristes Tropiques? No, They Have a Strip Mall in Chiang Mai Too

 

[jsrockit]

I've seen more than 8 press published books whose quality is worse in just the last year.

Like which ones?