Photobooks - has anyone used these company's?

[Inspired]

Hi
I was wondering if anyone had used any of the following companies for photo books?

clickonprint.com.au
www.cahootsphoto.com.au
www.myreflections.com.au

How did you find them? Were they of good quailty?
I am doing a maternity/newborn shoot for a friend (very much an amatuer here, so trying to get some experience!) but if they turn out alright so would like them in a photobook, with text..eg need to be able to place text where ever (not like snapfish where text options are limited) I would really like them to look professional if the photo's go as planned, and to be of great quailty.
Any other company suggestion would also be appreciated!
:)
TIA
Nicole

[ving]

nope not those... i have used blurb and lulu. they were ok :)

[charton]

momento is another one

[Inspired]

Thanks David..just wondering did you prefer one over the other?

Just had a look at the momento website (actually i looked at them all! haha)
Thanks for suggesting them Rachel..Love the Diaries they have to offer..just found my MIL christmas pressie! lol

Just wondering with the photo books through momento, i'm looking at the gallery page and it lets you open the books and turn from page to page, when you make your own photo book, does it give you a link that you can email someone to 'flick' through their book? without having to give them your password etc. I'm just thinking i wouldn't really want to give my password out even though its a friend, still would rather not, and it would be easier to just send her a link to the book then try and meet up with her when bub is born etc. (i'm sure anyone with a newborn would agree, you just wanna do things in your own time/pace) so thinking this would give her the option to have a look when she had a spare 5mins. Obviously i want her to check it before i went ahead and printed just to make she was happy with it all etc. not a huge biggy if thats not an option as i can just log on her pc..just thought it would be easier for her :)

[jamalnic]

Nicole Albumprinter Australia is another one. My sister has just done albums for each of her children and has got one back today so I will ask her tonight if she is happy with hers. I know she chose them because of the options they offered.

Di :)

[ving]

Thanks David..just wondering did you prefer one over the other?

nope. service is a bit slow on both as they arent based in Oz, but quality is quite good :)

[jamalnic]

Nicole I spoke to my sister about Albumprinters and she is very happy with her book. Her husband has a background in printing and he says the paper and print quality is very good also. Kerry said she was able to keep track of the whole process and see at what stage the book was in the print process, and received replies to her emails promptly. She only send her finished book off to them the Sunday night before last and had it back this morning.

Di :)

[Inspired]

Thanks so much Di for finding out for me much appreciated. just about to go DL the software now and see how i go!
I have also downloaded momento and Blurb.
Only tried out Momento so far, and its really easy to use and i like the fact that you can put text anywhere not just in 'allocated' places. However out of the 3 the are the most expensive by quite a bit..is that because there quailty and service is unbelievable fantastic? not sure...

Going to Try out blurbs and albumprinters over the next few days and see which i prefer...defianltey liking the price of the these 2 better.

For anyone out there that has used these 3 could you please share your experience..good..bad..neutral?

Thanks David..great to know quality is good..i'm not too worried about 'time' as i dont have any customers so wont have any impatient people ringing asking for there books! hehe

[RuthJ]

I just picked up an album yesterday printed by albumprinter (through officeworks). I am also impressed with the print quality and paper. I uploaded the album on Saturday, so it only takes a few days to be completed. I have a couple more to print and will definitely be going through albumprinter again.

[Inspired]

Thanks Ruth thats great to hear.
Can you tell me did you find the software easy to use? and were the text options limited or was there a wide range?
I tried downloading the software last night but my internet seems to be playing up - must of overloaded when i DL the others :rolleyes:

[RuthJ]

I found the software both easy and flexible in terms of image and text size and placement. Aspect ratios could also be changed so that images aren't cropped to fit the suggested designs (from memory, click on the image and drag the bounding box edges to achieve the ratio for your image... I was impressed with this as in the past, I have been locked into the set aspect ratio....I hate having my images cropped by software! Images can be shuffled around at will.

Plenty of choice with text fonts...extra text boxes can be added (or removed)....very, very flexible with design.

[chaz]

I'm working of an iMac and have used Blurb for three projects in the past 6 months - all presents for friends/family and over that time the software has improved, the price has been competitive and the service have been consistently excellent - they schedule print runs reasonably often, advise when dispatched and the parcel arrives with a few weeks of uploading. I'm happy.

[Avalon]

Another vote for Albumprinter. I made an album for a family member with them and was very happy with it.
Much better than the Snapfish one I did although to be fair it cost more.
The service was good too. The first file I sent them was corrupted, but they contacted me immediately and helped put it right.
However you should note Albumprinter has changed its name recently to Albumworks.
www.albumworks.com.au

[umajo]

click on print photobooks are excellent as well i have used theem and will again

[Inspired]

Thanks Ruth...will definaltey DL ablumworks software when my interent is working a bit better..the only thing that disappoints me is they have a limit of 60 pages...i'm wondering if that will be enough for what i want...Going to do the first half of the book for her pregnancy and the second half when bub arrives...so i'm thinking if there we say 50 photo's of each set..100 all up how many pages would i use...as she wanted to put quotes through the book as well...hmm
If it turns out i need more pages will have to try someone else..am definately going to use them when i do my girls one though..and there price seems pretty good.

Thanks chaz...i have played around with there software and must admit quite like it and there prices seem pretty good (specially in comparison to momento) not sure if momento has better quailty or what? Can i ask what type of cover finishes did you get with your books? How did the covers look?

umajo..clickonprints was one of the first i found and quite liked the look of, great to hear some feedback about them.

Just wondering what "cover style" everyone chose and if they have tried a few different covers which did you prefer? eg dust jacket, image wrap, plain with embossed text etc.

Thanks everyone for all your responses its much appreciated.

[chaz]

On covers - I've done one Hardcover with Dust Jacket which is folded over the hardback - and it was terrific - high quality glossy paper with a crisp set of images. Also 2 using Imagewrap, which prints directly onto the hardcover. My preference is for the dust jacket because its high quality paper that has a glossy high res finish, while imagewrap finish on the hardcover is silk/matt. So it depends on the purpose of the book. The 2 imagewrap books are going to be thumbed a lot by many people (wedding and birthday photos), while the Dust Jacket book is a present to an elderly person (father in law) who will treat it carefully.

[Karl]

Hi, I have used My reflections and they were great and their product range is very good. I did a photobook of our recent holiday and was extremely happy.

They recently won an award for the Best Small business here and they are active members of our local club (Rockingham Photography Club).

Karl

[Inspired]

Thank Chaz..must admit i prefer the look of the dust jacket, but was concerned about how 'thick' the jacket was...Dont think it will get thumbed that much as it will be quite personal with the maternity pictures...but cant guarentee that.
From what you say the dust jacket has a more classier look?

Karl..thank for the feedback on My Reflections..i downloaded there software the other day and really liked it, and liked it prices you project as you select what you want...and i like the idea of supporting a small local business. (not that their local to me but you know what i mean). There prices are a bit higher than blurb and ablum works (but ther offer more pages than album works). Did you get the dust jacket? what is it like? Do you think it would last a long time?

Thanks again
Nicole

[calmaxgan]

I thought Albumworks looked great and downloaded the software, only to realise it doesn't work on a Mac (as a new Mac user, I keep forgetting the check first!). Have downloaded Blurb's software and will try that over the next few days. I did a quick run with their automatic layout, but can see I will definitely have to go custom.

It's great to get feedback from other users... when you can't see something in the flesh, you never really know.

[Karl]

Hi Nicole,

Sorry I didn't reply to you earlier. I didn't get the dust jacket but have seen a couple of their completed books on display at our club meetings and they look very good and I do think they will last. I have recommended them to some of the guys at work and they have also been pleased with the result. I don't mind paying that little bit extra if the product is good or Australian.

Karl

[wideangle]

I can highly recommend Blurb based in the US, they have an excellent product and now have really competitive shipping as well.

[share50]

Hi
I used albumprinter and they were great ,even took time out to email as I had the incorrect postal code
cheers
Shareen

[dwolrige]

Hey, recently used clickonprint.com.au and the book turned out awesome! Their books are great quality and cheap :) Though the packaging the book comes in could be better.

[Inspired]

Thanks everyone!
The lady i did the pics for has just had her baby, so will be doing bubs shot sometime between now and next week, so will probably get a photobook in the new year...will report back on how it turns out!
Thanks again everyone for your input/advice its much appreciated!

[wattsgallery]

Thanks for the great thread Nicole. Have you made some books and how did they go?

[Sheila Smart]

After much procrastination, I recently bit the bullet and produced a Momento book and I must say how impressed I am with the printing and binding on the book when it arrived last week. The paper quality is excellent and it looks good sitting on a coffee table! The pages are A3 making it a fairly large book. Here's a link to Momento photobook (http://www.momento.com.au/preview.asp?b=4677-8910-8351)

Having such a link (with the page turning effect) is an added bonus which one can place on your own website.

Sheila

[wattsgallery]

Sheila

I had a look through your book and loved the images. I really like your style of shooting - not disimilar to mine in the landscape shots although I have along way to go to reach that standard.

Cheers
Josh

[Inspired]

Hey Josh
Sorry just saw this.
I ended up letting my friends choose (as there were so many options! lol) and we went with Momento also and the quality was fantastic..cannot fault them in anyway! (although it was very pricey!) But the quality is there!

Sheila your book looks beautiful!

[Sheila Smart]

Thanks all. It was well worth the effort and expense.

Sheila

[Old Skool]

Just uploaded my first Photobook through Albumworks. They have a new program which has new products. Also 25% off at the moment so I was prompted into action. Will let you know what it is like when it arrives. I did an A3 landscape book from a holiday we had years ago.

[Gecko Girl]

Thanks for a great thread! Very helpful! Was going to start my own thread and then discovered this. Going to check out all the recommendations for my up and coming photobooks :) I have tried Snapfish previously and it was ok - not fabulous though.

[dacar]

I am a bit late coming in here, but it is great to read all this advice and experience. thanks everyone.