I apologize since I'm sure that this topic has been mentioned before, but when I searched PHOTO BOOKS in the Chatty Pad forum, there were so many hits that didn't seem relevant... Has anyone had any recent experience with Persnickety photo books? I've heard awesome things about their prints, but nothing earth-shattering about their photo books. I've just come back from a once-in-a lifetime vacation, will have about a thousand photos to do something with. I seem to always deal with Shutterfly because of coupons etc., and they are my go-to, but I just wondered if I should try another company. I've heard good things also about Mpix as well. What is your fav company? Thanks for the suggestions.
I didn't know persnickety did photo books still. I've never done one through them. I've heard great things about Blurb, most recently from Melissa over here : https://the-lilypad.com/forum/threads/photobook-printing-options.45060/#post-789018 Good luck with all the photos! That seems like so much, I bet the vacation was great!
I know gals who are in love with the Adoroma books. I've only ordered Shutterfly and Blurb. I have a few from Creative Memories but their digital division is long closed down. Shutterfly is very generous with their coupons. Blurb is getting better with the coupons. They are exceptionally well priced for huge books. Their additional pages are so much lower than other companies. I use Blurb for a big book project with my daughter's school. I use BookSmart. I hate/loathe/despise direct uploading of pages to their site. BookSmart is an app and you can arrange your pages and view them with bleed/cut guidelines and then when it's all set you upload the whole project at once and the program converts it to the pdf for printing.
unfortunately, there is no perfect company. you kind of need to decide what's most import for you and then go from there ...
I use Shutterfly for the bulk of my books and I'm happy with them. But I LOVE MyPublisher. They're a division of Shutterfly. Shutterfly will do 12x12 but MyPublisher doesn't offer that size so that's why I still print with Shutterfly so much. I print my trip and event photos in rectangular books and tried MyPublisher originally since they were the only company I could find that printed 11x8.5 (which is the typical rectangular template size in the store here). Most everyone else prints a 11x8... close, but not quite the right size. Their printing is gorgeous and the paper is nice and thick. Their coupons are different than SF. The one I look for is the free extra pages when I have big books to print. They also had a good voucher sale on Black Friday last year.
Persnickety does books? I thought that's why I didn't use them. I had a single page printed by them once -- it was a gift for someone -- and the quality of the print was awesome. But I didn't go back to them because for myself I prefer books. I'll have to check them out again. I have made several Shutterfly books because they're very good at offering us freebies to tempt us (and then we can't resist making more pages, and shipping is kind of expensive to make up for the freebie, I think). Also Shutterfly book quality is not the sturdiest, with bindings only glued. I've printed twice with MyPublisher like Tracie mentioned, and their quality is very good. Their lack of 12x12 books is what has kept me away though. Blurb is the best!!! I've ordered several sizes and styles from them over nearly a decade. They stitch their bindings, not just glue. And I like their pricing system. It makes more sense to me. They offer coupons via email too. Not as often as Shutterfly, but always around the holidays. That's why I started last year to make my annual books after my birthday in late November instead of waiting until January. So last year's album doesn't include December and this year I plan to make a December 2015 - November 2016 album.
That's one thing I forgot to mention about Blurb over in the other thread. The maximum number of pages allowed is GINORMOUS! Up to 440 if you print on their standard paper. If you want upgraded paper, they max out at 240, which is still huge compared to Shutterfly's max of 110.
Nevermind... i just looked them up and they do 12x12! I think the last time I checked into blurb they didn't do that size. I might have to try them out.
My very first book was from Persnickety. While I loved it at the time, I've not ordered another one from them. I now order 10x10 lay flat books from either Adoramapix or Shutterfly. Since I almost always scrap my layouts as double pages, these books are perfect. Nothing lost in the gutter. They fit nicely on my shelf and are easier to hold. Now if only Shutterfly would get better was of delivering them, I'd be happy. My latest book was sent by UPS, who then delivered the book to my local post office on Saturday. It sat there all weekend. No delivery on Monday due to the holiday. Then, they sent it to Ohio on Tuesday. This makes me crazy! Anyway, I do love the quality of the Adoramapix books better than Shutterfly, but their upper limit is 76 pages. I almost alway have more than that, so I go with Shutterfly.
I have printed all mine with Mixbook book and Love them! I actually started designing my pages in mixbook until I got PSE. So you can design directly through them - they provide a number of stickers, background papers and layout templates to use for free to design your book, but you can also upload all your own stickers and papers as well. Now - I just upload my complete pages and place them on the pages. They have a number of different sizes to choose from and offer lay flat pages. They are great quality and have great customer service. One time one letter in a title did not print. When I got the book and noticed it and quickly checked the online file and it was there. I contacted mixbook and they immediately reprinted the book and send it right out - no questions. I have also printed calendars and cards from them! I always receive extra discounts via email for the books (buy one get one free and calendars). I just wish I had books ready most of the time I get those discounts But I just wait until the good ones pop up to do my ordering.
I used to use Persnickety and was happy, but they stopped offering 10 x 10 which is the only size I can live with. So I returned to Shutterfly since they now DO offer 10 x 10 as well as good coupons, reasonable shipping to NZ and quick turnaround. I also think I like their glossy pages, although some people don't like the glare. I do worry I may change my mind in a few years and decide I hate them but they stand up to lots of reading. My first photobooks literally fell apart they were looked at so much by DD even though she was very gentle.
Wow! Thanks everyone for the suggestions. So much to think about. And @michelepixels, a special thanks to you for sharing the coupon code!
My go to is shutterfly too - I moved from shutterfly a few times but the quality always disappointed me - so I will stick to shutterfly for some time I think! Though I feel it keeps getting more expensive - every time I go to order my next book (
