Not your average baby book?

August 16, 2011 6:41 PM

Where to have photo books made? Is Shutterfly still the best as older (2006) askme answers suggest? What has worked well for you? Relevant details: Must be able to ship to CANADA without huge price markups; It will be a baby book so the ability to include text (first smile, heights etc...)

Bonus Points: Any pro tips for special things/info to include in the baby book? Anything you wished you had added?

posted by saradarlin to Grab Bag (15 answers total)

I used iphoto, and the book came out amazing! It was very easy, as I didn't have to upload any pictures to a website, and they make choosing layouts really easy as well--they even have different "themes" (probably a baby theme too). The book was very high quality. A little on the pricey side, as I think they start at around $40 bucks. Obviously this doesn't work if you don't use iphoto...
posted by katypickle at 6:53 PM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

I used Shutterfly for a photobook recently and it came out really great. They seem to have 50% off sales pretty frequently.

I don't have experience with other companies that offer photobooks, but I definitely had a good experience at Shutterfly!
posted by pupstocks at 6:54 PM on August 16, 2011

I used inkubook and was pleased with the quality of the soft cover book; I'm going back again for another book. Very user-friendly. They shipped to Canada at the same price as they ship to US addresses and it was ridiculously well packaged for a soft cover book. Also, they have always have coupons for 25-40% off!

This might be helpful too -- skip to page 14 if you just want a summary.
posted by pised at 7:00 PM on August 16, 2011

I used Blurb for a travel photobook. There's a downloadable app as well as a web interface, so you can choose which way to design your book. I liked having BookSmart (the app) on my computer, because I could work on it over a period of a few weeks with or without internet access. I even uploaded a font of my handwriting for the commentary. Quality was high, I'm very satisfied with it, although it wasn't cheap. You can find coupons online if you look, though, which does help. And it looks like shipping to Canada is cheap.
posted by katemonster at 7:01 PM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Blurb. (Canada friendly).
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 7:09 PM on August 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

I created two photobooks with Blurb abnd was more than happy with the result, and the price was frankly good for such great memories!
posted by ddaavviidd at 7:49 PM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have made books the last three mother's days with blurb - at the suggestion of my photography teacher. Good experience.
posted by shothotbot at 8:27 PM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

I did a test about six months ago, printed the same book at . Inkubook, v. iPhoto v. Mypublisher v. another. I can't remember which the fourth was - maybe shutterfly or blurb -- one of the big mainstream ones.

Mypublisher came out MUCH MUCH MUCH the best print quality for softcover books (I like soft cover). Not the easiest software, but not the hardest - they all take some getting used to. I use Mypublisher now becuase of that.

They all have great promotions (esp if you want multiple copies of the same thing). Not sure about Canada shipping however, I'm in the US so didn't look into it.

The comparison pissed linked to is what got me started on my comparison quest, it's worth reading.

PS - I'm a photographer so I'm picky about print quality. If you care more about layout options or something, your mileage may vary.
posted by bluesky78987 at 9:37 PM on August 16, 2011

I've only ever made one photobook, and I used elephoto (a Canadian company located in Toronto) and it worked out well and I received the book extremely fast.

The book I made included a lot of text (I created an anniversary book for my parents, and included picturies and stories from their close friends and family). There are many themes for any occasion.

I don't know about how the quality compares to the other companies mentioned, but I was very happy with how my book came out, the prices were reasonable, and being local helped in receiving the book fast and without crazy shipping costs.
posted by devonia at 8:19 AM on August 17, 2011

No clue about shipping to Canada, but I use MyPublisher for the 2 baby books I've made, they have lots of styles and you can now pretty much modify every page to whatever you want (though it's a bit more difficult). They have sales all the time, so definitely search for those.
posted by katers890 at 8:24 AM on August 17, 2011

I've only used MyPublisher and have been happy with the results. That said, I've been thinking about trying Blurb.
posted by xammerboy at 1:18 PM on August 17, 2011

Adoramapix makes very nice books. I'm pretty sure they ship to Canada.
posted by teg4rvn at 1:42 PM on August 17, 2011

I created three books with Blurb.
High quality, very fast delivery, great colour, excellent print, nice paper. Good price for what I got.
Recommended.
posted by seawallrunner at 6:17 PM on August 17, 2011

Response by poster: Small follow up, ordered a Shutterfly book and making one up on Blurb too. I will post the results. Thanks!
posted by saradarlin at 2:50 PM on September 19, 2011

saradarlin, have you received the books yet? I'm curious to find out if you had better luck with Shutterfly or Blurb.
posted by Juniper Toast at 9:18 PM on September 23, 2011