spylaw4 Posted July 22, 2008 Share #21 Posted July 22, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I've had patchy results from iPhoto - first book was great, subsequent suffered from streaking on colour areas e.g. skies. No problem about refunds and reprint attempts tho'. Easy to use - may try Aperture next. Still wanting to find a really good UK/EU based service. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 22, 2008 Posted July 22, 2008 Hi spylaw4, Take a look here Creating and printing a Photo Book [Merged]. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
peter_n Posted July 22, 2008 Share #22 Posted July 22, 2008 I participated in the two books published by the RFF forum printed by Lulu and the quality was quite variable and not particularly good. B&W prints looked like the top example shown by earlyadopter above. Both books also had color pictures. Recently I got a hardback copy of a Blurb book and the quality was much better. All of the pictures in that book were black & white. Forum members might be interested in the book as it is by Leica shooter Steve Barbour. It is a moving study of the young human spirit in the face of daunting odds - serious infectious disease. Link is below: "I never wanted to be famous" | By Steve Barbour, MD | Category: Arts & Photography | Blurb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pointcolville Posted July 22, 2008 Share #23 Posted July 22, 2008 I have had 4 photo books made with Blurb, and ran about 5 copies of each. The quality was consistently good (better in the most recent runs, production time fast, and shipping fast as well. As with most things in life, the quality of the ouput correlates directly to the effort put in. I have a friend who publishes absolutely gorgeous specialty books on bonsai trees. He has come up with a way of creating beautiful text by treating text as images. His books are works of art. Mine are passable. Cropping is a bit tricky. 8x10 books have 8x10 covers, but the pages are slightly smaller. All of the usual caveats of preparing images for print apply - especially color correction and sharpening. We have become accustomed to looking at photos individually on screens. In print, variance between photos in color balance becomes quite apparent. I am quite happy with Blurb. If I had more time for designing books I would want a less rigid interface that gave me design freedom beyond templates. That said, with Blurb I can do the work in photoshop and print full bleed, giving me control over the entire page. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 23, 2008 Share #24 Posted July 23, 2008 Snipped. If I had more time for designing books I would want a less rigid interface that gave me design freedom beyond templates. That said, with Blurb I can do the work in photoshop and print full bleed, giving me control over the entire page. I totally agree with the 'control' POV. I find the repro quality reasonable, but the binding, in my limited experience is poor. So far I have had two 11"x14" books of 300+ pages. They are quite heavy volumes an are not sufficiently well packed for shipping. 'Normal' shipping handling invariably causes damage, mainly to the spine, which cannot handle the usual tossing of parcels in the post. I complained to Blurb about the poor packing and they instantly sent a replacement book packed the same way, and suffered the same damage. Not good customer relations when it comes to the follow through. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted July 23, 2008 Share #25 Posted July 23, 2008 The book I recently got from Blurb was very well packed, it was inside a polyeurethane slip jacket which was in turn shrink-wrapped onto a stiff board. Just like the way Amazon used to do it. I was pretty impressed with the packing and shipping. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 23, 2008 Share #26 Posted July 23, 2008 It would seem that Blurbs QC is variable. Peter, your book sounds as though it may have been a slim volume, well suited to the way it was packed. Mine was simply in a standard plastic bag directly inside a well fitted cardboard cover with no padding at all. I think Blurb shop their printing and parcelling etc out to a number of different locations, globally. This could account for the variations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent M10 Posted July 23, 2008 Share #27 Posted July 23, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have heard that Shared Ink is the best for black and white publishing. We are going to use them for our next book next month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordon Posted July 24, 2008 Share #28 Posted July 24, 2008 I ordered one book at Blurb and was disappointed. I tried serval companies. The best quality was offered from Fotobuch The software is quite simple and not flexibel - but the results are much more better than the others ! Georg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted October 30, 2010 Share #29 Posted October 30, 2010 I need to build a photobook to support my daughter's art exhibition. I plan to photograph various pieces of art with my M8 and then layout pages that are likely to be within a large format landscape or square book . Each page will have some detail about the image (size of sculpture, name of the piece etc.). I also want to write something about the artist (my daughter). I think that the book will have about 30 to 40 pages. I know that the Leica charity book was built using Blurb, and I seem to remember that there were some negative comments about how difficult this was using the Blurb software, rather than alternatives (?) . I have seen Jessops (UK) small size photobook which are OK, however the larger ones seem to use a thicker paper and perhaps is of higher quality. Does anyone have advice on the following: Good (and bad) experience with Blurb, Jessop or other photo books. Which software to use Any recommendations about building such a book? What is the likely one off price for a book (the web sites seem to be vague on this issue and tell you the price after 3 days of working with their software it seems to me!) Any information is much appreciated........Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted October 30, 2010 Share #30 Posted October 30, 2010 I did a book using Blurb - and I was very happy. I have no experience with any other service. It was not difficult, but it was time consuming. There a few choices to be made, and getting them right is important to getting a tasteful and professional looking product. Blurb's software takes a little learning, but this is complicated enough that there is a learning curve. So it is with anything worthwhile. I would say, with respect, that creating a book is not point-and-shoot. Be prepared to work at it. And be prepared to put some considerable effort into the thought process - there is no substitute. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 30, 2010 Share #31 Posted October 30, 2010 The Forum Charity Book was prepared using Blurb and as far as I know, everyone was very happy with the quality of the printing and binding. The software can be a bit if a challenge, though. Our 120 odd page book cost about £65 ( but Blurb have just increased their prices... ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryharwood Posted October 30, 2010 Share #32 Posted October 30, 2010 Hi, try using Iphoto- there is a very simple book creating programme which is simplicity itself; my daughter uses this to create wedding books, and they are superb, and believe it or not, they are not expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted October 30, 2010 Share #33 Posted October 30, 2010 Hi, try using Iphoto- there is a very simple book creating programme which is simplicity itself; my daughter uses this to create wedding books, and they are superb, and believe it or not, they are not expensive. Jerry, Is there a version for Windows, or is this for Macs only? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 30, 2010 Share #34 Posted October 30, 2010 iPhoto is a Mac only application. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted October 30, 2010 Share #35 Posted October 30, 2010 Frank, from memory most problems Bill had with the book had to do with the size of it - number of pages, not dimensions - for 30-40 pages I wouldn't expect too many problems. Certainly if I were producing a book of that size Blurb would be my first port of call. With that number of pages you could also have the option of having it printed on heavier 'fine art' paper. Blurb is pretty open about the costs of the finished book. It's related to the size, number of pages, type of paper and whether it's hardback or paperback. Full pricing details here... Book Pricing | Blurb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleeson Posted October 31, 2010 Share #36 Posted October 31, 2010 Popular Photography has a review of 10 book services in the November 2010 issue. The 4-star rated ones were Aperture, Kodak, and Mypublisher. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompsonkirk Posted October 31, 2010 Share #37 Posted October 31, 2010 Blurb has just released new software called 'Bookify,' & they're offering a 25% discount until Nov. 2 to get people to try it. No doubt it's easier than the older version. I've just finished laying out a book mockup here: http://www.blurb.com/my/store/update_display?display=public&page=1 Blurb is a great way to make a 'basic book' & see how the type face, page layout, etc., will come out. I've tried 4 'editions,' using different images, pairings, & text. They're very cheap if you stay within the 8x10" format, though the cost curve rises for larger formats. I've been getting revised versions for about $35-45 each, depending on number of pages. I couldn't afford to print a single photograph for someone at that price! Blurb isn't really the printer; they're more like a contracting agency that farms out work to several printing plants. The results are always pretty good, but can vary a little bit from one printing to another. Their pricing is right in front of you – just fill in the boxes for size of book, number of pages, paper quality, binding, & quantity. My impression is that Blurb massages its output with some mistake-preventing software to keep all of the images within bounds, in terms of retaining some shadow & highlight detail. If you want the highest quality output, you can reformat the material for a custom printer. When my own book seems finished to me, I'll have a higher-quality private publisher do the work in a larger format. I'll be using Edition One, because they're local & I can go by to ask questions & check a proof (we used to be in the same building in Berkeley). I've been surprised, however, by the quality that MyPublisher – another large on-line publisher – can produce. Kirk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucklik Posted October 31, 2010 Share #38 Posted October 31, 2010 Hi, try using Iphoto- there is a very simple book creating programme which is simplicity itself Aperture is more powerfull and almost as simple. My wife uses iPhoto, I use Aperture, we are pleased with both programs and results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted October 31, 2010 Share #39 Posted October 31, 2010 Thanks to all of you for the fedback, and the pricing at Blurb which was not clearly presented on their web site. I see that Blurb and the others seem to use their own proprietary software and many people have also suggested MAC software. I am a PC user ....does anyone have any recomendations for a book layout software that can be used on a PC that is then easily downloadable to Blurb or the other printers? I understand from above that it is possible to layout with Blurb software, and proof the book. Then as a second step export the complete book to another supplier that may have a higher quality. Is the export really that easy and what format is used? Many thanks for all the help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted October 31, 2010 Share #40 Posted October 31, 2010 No idea about PC software, but it is possible to upload a pdf book to Blurb. Macs can write pdf books natively, but on a PC you will need to buy Adobe Acrobat or something similar. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.