Looking for a Good Photo Book

Hi Brooke,
I've used and or seen and handled the Apple books, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Creative Memories story books. The last is my absolute favorite by a mile. but not the cheapest. The Apple books are too cut and dried in that you can't manipulate photo size or write what you want where you want to on a page. Snapfish and Shutterfly photo books feel "cheap" compared to the Creative Memories one's (Cm's are hand stitched bindings and pretty indestructible.)
I hope this helps!
K.

I have always used Kodakgallery.com and have never been disappointed. I love their quality.

Good luck,.

L.

I may have misunderstood but are you wanting to make these pictures come out on paper? Or just for your pictures to be seen like a "slideshow" or album online?
As for me- I have been using Photobucket for many years. It is free, It can be totally private or you can make it accessible for anyone to see all or just 1 picture or 1 album etc. You are able to do some editing to the pictures. You can create themes and "flair". Different effects. I do not have any errors or glitches and not asked to pay for something to use as an extra cost or join membership. It is just as easy as clicking 1 button & then you pick the pictures to be loaded. You can edit them whenever or not at all. It also saves room on my computer so I have freed up file space and not have the risk of my computer crashing & all is lost.(happened more than once & hence the need/use for Photobucket..lol)
www.photobucket.com
You have to be careful that whomever you choose that they are "nig" enough to stick around for awhile so you do not have to move elsewhere or lose the pictures.
HTHIA=)

I use Shutterfly for a lot of things. I have used them several times for photo books and calendars and everytime they've been beautiful. I've given a lot of the things out as gifts and everyone loved them. They're program is very easy to use. Upload pics and drag and drop photos! If you buy Pampers and you do the gifts that grow points you can get Shutterfly products with them. The other thing I love about Shutterfly is that you can share your project with other people and they can order it also.

I tried using Kodak to make a calendar and hated it! They only had a few choices for backgrounds, I think the most pics I could use on a month was 4, and I had several problems getting it to let me do different things. I had a coupon for a free calendar and got so frustrated with their program I ended up not using and went back and paid for one from Shutterfly.

If you look around you can get deals and free things from Shutterfly every once in a while. I haven't been on there in a while but I'm hoping they still have the thing where you can pay for a discount on your prints that you order and get a free photo book. The price you pay for the discount (for a year) is the same price you would pay for a standard book but then you have the discount if you ever order prints. The only thing is that you only have a few months to get the photo book before that expires and it takes me forever to decided how I want my books to be. I'm going to make my book and then buy the discount if they still have it. Good luck! I need to get busy and start doing mine again!

I know you have already had this suggestion, but I use Heritage Makers and I get a TON of comments on the book (and posters, cards, and folds) I have printed. They are wonderful, very professional looking bound books. I have been doing my Christmas cards through them for the last 2 years and I get SO many comments back about how great my cards are. The program is easy to use (it is very similar to any Microsoft program (such as PowerPoint) where you click on what you want, drag and drop on the page). Plus they have tutorials and any consultant would be willing to help you (my consultant will even "do" your Christmas cards for you if you ask her to). Plus they have a bunch of templates where you just drag and drop pictures and add text to the page. You can literally make a book in a half an hour. I don't usually use templates, but I know they are there. As for the price, they are a little bit more expensive than the other companies, but the books are nicer (I have a friend who used Shutterfly and her book didn't last longer than a year BUT that may have been a fluke with just her book.) So you kind of get what you pay for. The company also runs specials every month, so you can get the books up to half-off if you wait for a special.

Just so you know, I am not a consultant with Heritage Makers, but I do love (and highly recommend) the products. That is why I wanted to recommend them, because I am not trying to "sell" you a product or steer you towards my web page. I hope this helps.

I have done numerous photo books, and it seems like Kodak had the best software and books and prices, but it's been awhile since I did that, so I could be remembering wrong. ALso, Costco has good prices if you have a membership there (photo website).

You can always get good deals at www.artscow.com. They are always running specials and often have promo codes for free photo books-all you pay is shipping. My friend has ordered a ton of books from their site and loves them!

I use shutterfly for all my photo needs and have created 6 different photo books from them. They are pretty simple to use and the quality is amazing. Uploading pictures is a breeze as well. I have also used winkflash in the past but never created a photo book from that site. They look to be very similar.
Best of luck

I used to use shutterfly, but was frustrated with the templates and the quality of their books. I recently became a consultant with Heritage Makers and love the products! My website is www.MyPhotobookStory.com.

The templates are 100% customizable, it's all online, and there are webinars and youtube videos to help get you started.

Watch this 5min video to give you an idea of what we are about! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irdqtq7mF6Y

Please contact me at ____@____.com.

Hi Brooke,
I use shutterfly all the time. I post my pictures and order pictures from them alot. I personally have not used the book option but my sister has and it turned out great! My aunt actually asked for a second book since it turned out so well. I hope that helps.

Brooke,

If you would like an easy system to use, The your choice of 100 templates, and over 40,000 pieces of artwork, the best quality books, with an heirloom guarantee, (meaning if your dog, or child:) tears a page, you can call our company and get another one at half off) have a personal consultant help you answer any questions you may have and help you along the process and the ability to get your books for free, contact me.

I would love to help you get started and get a book done for you!

A.
____@____.com
www.YourKeepSakeStories.com

I am a graphic designer for digital scrapbooking. There are so many companies that offer photo books. I have still never printed one, but it seems like MyPicTales and Shutterfly are the most popular with the digital scrapbooking community. Check out the threads about photobooks at DigiShopTalk here: http://www.digishoptalk.com/boards/search.php?searchid=16.... There are several comparisons and reviews.

Also, I have heard several times that My Publisher is probably one of the worst. It does initially look good, but it holds up the worst because of the binding.

There are also so many resources out there for "quickpages". These are basically pages that are already designed for you & you only need to add your picture underneath. Digishoptalk is a great central location to learn about digital scrapbooking, quickpages, basic beginning questions, galleries, and photobooks. You can find current coupon codes and discounts for photo books there as well. http://www.digishoptalk.com.

I have used Shutterfly to make a photo book after my dad passed away. I used Shutterfly because I had used them for years for photo storage and website photo sharing. At the time, I didn't realize how many other photo book companies are out there. I now use Heritage Makers, and had I known about it at the time I did my Dad's memory book, I would have used Heritage Makers for that as well! Heritage Makers has templates available for use, so if you are not creative or don't have lots of time, you can very quickly drag and drop your photos and text to make a beautiful book. The pages are also each completely customizable, which is something that drove me crazy with Shutterfly. I kept having to delete text that was part of my Dad's life story because it didn't fit in the boxes available. Some other differences include:

1. Artwork- Shutterfly is very limited in the number of backgrounds available. HM has over 40,000 pieces in the art collection and you can add (or delete from a template) any embellishments you want! You can't do this in Shutterfly... what you see is what you get.

2. Binding- Shutterfly pages are glued together, whereas HM books are stitcehd together. My dad's book is less than 1 year old, but because of the many times I've flipped through it, the pages are already starting to separate.

3. Print quality- While Shutterfly produces quality prints, I have not found their photo books to be of as good of quality (color or feel of the paper). HM paper is professionally printed on acid free paper.

I am happy to answer any other questions you have. HM is not the cheapest out there, but I honestly believe it's the best. I became a consultant because I really believed that!!! But I'm not trying to sell you anything... just telling you my experience with Shutterfly and why I would not use it again. Good luck!

I use Shutterfly and love it. Very simple to use and download photo's. You can pick from a large variety of backgrounds, layout styles, add text, change fonts and add as many pages as you would like. They turn out wonderful! Can be a little high if you have a lot of pictures, but it's worth it to me not to buy tons of scrapping materials, crop and cut pictures, organize and the books are nice slim.

I've always used kodakgallery.com for my pictures. Their books are great and so many to choose from. They have mini-books for $6.99 that I make for my daughters for birthdays or vacations and then all the way up to heirloom books for weddings. My neighbor who is an amazing photographer turned me on to kodak. She took pregnancy photos of me and then made a book as a gift and it is incredible quality...truely an heirloom. Kodak will send you emails with free shipping or 1/2 price books randomly too. It's easy, I am not computer savy at all! My friend used Heritage Makers because her friend let her use her account and the books/calender are soooo beautiful, but I think you have to buy into the program?

as another option for your son you should check out www.gocreativejourney.com - there you can get a customized childrens photo album book that will be very special for years. Especially great if your son is a big fan of trains.

I have made Creative Memories books and they are the best quality. They are sewn in instead of glued in and they have beautiful pages to choose from. I found it easy to use. The website is www.creativememories.com. If you need help, my consultant, who is great, is Lynne Meagher -
____@____.com

K.

I put together a book of my daughter's first year. It was so amazing that I'll be doing more books for her. I used My Publisher, but I went in through Costco.com. Built my book (about 2-3 days) and then waited until there was a GOOD discount and then ordered it. The discount was so good that I ordered 2 and my mother-in-law was thrilled.

For our Au Pair's Christmas gift I paid for her book. She spent month's putting it to together to reflect her year in the states. It is one of her favorite things and it perfect for her to take home and show everyone her year.

We found it easy and the end product was beautiful.

Hi Brooke, Heritage Makers is an online storybooking company that allows you to create your own storybooks, cards, calendars, deck of cards, posters, cookbooks, etc. Our software gives you access to over 40,000 pieces of art and we also have a template gallery that has over 1,400 templates so you can just add your photos and it's very simple. Our books range from $35 to $80 depending on the size of your book. I would be there to help you each step of the way as you complete your book. Our goal is to help others preserve their family legacies and heritage through the power of story. It's so important to preserve our stories. Our Heirloom Assurance assures that your project will last a lifetime. If you have torn pages, the book gets lost, etc., we will replace your book at 1/2 price. Your book would always be saved no matter what. I would love to help you get started. I would be happy to meet with you in person or we could do a webinar over the phone where you see my computer screen from yours. Please feel free to visit my website at www.DesignAStorybook.com or email me at ____@____.com for more information. Thanks!

Our cousins just made a picture book from their recent vacation to Canada. It was BEAUTIFUL! The website was www.picaboo.com He said that it was really easy to make and that he found a 1/2 off coupon online for your first time purchase. He found the coupon by googling "picaboo coupon." I have never created a photo book myself, but this one definitely has me excited about creating one for each of our vacations. With the coupon the book was $55.

Let me just put this one to rest!...check out blurb.com and download their free booksmart program. I am a graphic designer by trade and I put my stamp of approval on this site! You create your photo book by working from over 70 different page layouts, customize to your hearts content (photo corners, colors, paper background, journaling, etc), upload your finished book to blub.com through their automated publisher and voilà!... Two to three days later, the finished printed book arrives at your house at a quality and price better and cheaper than iPhoto, shutterfly, or even snapfish! And one of the best parts is your family or friends can go online, preview your book, and even order their own copy! If you are so inclined, you can even allowblurb to sell your book and earn a commission!