Best Book Printers

[Richard K]

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Those of you that like making books, which service do you use? I’ve tried Blurb and Photobook. Blurb quality OK but it costs to remove their logo and they don’t offer a debossed  cover option, which I like. Photobook quality is variable, mostly not great but price is good. Customer service bad and no matte paper option the last few months and ongoing. No company logo though and a nice debossed option. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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[mikemgb]

39 minutes ago, Richard K said:

Those of you that like making books, which service do you use? I’ve tried Blurb and Photobook. Blurb quality OK but it costs to remove their logo and they don’t offer a debossed  cover option, which I like. Photobook quality is variable, mostly not great but price is good. Customer service bad and no matte paper option the last few months and ongoing. No company logo though and a nice debossed option. Thanks for sharing your experience.

The lack of matte paper may just be a temporary supply chain issue. I’m a printer by trade, one of my biggest challenges right now is finding paper, currently I’m only able to buy 50% of what I bought at the same time last year. 

[Photojournoguy]

 

I’ve used Printique/Adorama for the past 4 years (one book a year in multiple sizes). Have been very happy with the finished product and best of all they use lie flat books so no creases down the middle. Customer service also fantastic, one time reported damage to some pages that were sticking together and didn’t break apart well, sent pics and they sent new ones no questions asked. Also one time I muffed up the placement of the cover photo and they alerted me to it and asked if it was intentional or if I’d like to fix it before sending (and charging me a lot of money).

Haven’t used any other service so can’t compare but curious of any comparisons between them. Unless there’s a real differentiator I plan on sticking with them.

[wda]

I have used Photobox for three A4 hardback books during the past year. Final product is to a high standard. I did upgrade paper quality. Prices can be high, but I take advantage of regular special offers. Prepare your content before committing. The main disadvantage is the frustrating software. Aspects like picture arrangements are brilliant. But the online Help menu lags behind evolving software development.  Even customer support struggles to explain some features. Lessons learned do not apply to two slightly different variants, such as seemingly identical book content, but one front cover with a cut-out window. Different layout templates confuse early pre-planning.

You might like to see my article here https://www.davidaskham.com/my-first-photo-book

Edited December 23, 2021 by wda
Added reference

[intermediatic]

I am also interested in the best book printer. Any more high end versions? I could easily spend $1,000 for a copy of the book I'd like to print, potentially more. 

[IkarusJohn]

I’m sitting on journals and photos from over 30 years of travel with a camera, and I’d like to process the images ad publish them in a quality book - probably no more than 5 copies (if that).  I’ve used Apple Books (or whatever it’s called) and Blurb, and struggled with both in terms of the software and the quality.  I see WhiteWall also offer books.

What I’m looking for is:

• quality paper (if I’m going to bother scanning and processing these images, I want the end product to be worth the effort)
• the ability to include text, and arrange the images accordingly
• a book with a nice feel in the hand.  I know that’s subjective, but hold a Granta book in your hands, and you get what I mean

Any recommendations?

[JackieMac]

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On 12/22/2021 at 10:52 PM, Photojournoguy said:

I’ve used Printique/Adorama for the past 4 years (one book a year in multiple sizes).

+1

I gave them a try after seeing a online recommendation and found the quality to be pretty stunning. The software is relatively robust and their customizable layout options more flexible than other sites I've used. Totally satisfied and will definitely use them again.