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Home: Video University Forums: Digital Photography for Videographers:
got my first blurb photo book....

RustyB
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Feb 24, 2007, 8:50 PM

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got my first blurb photo book....	Can't Post

Cost about $48 with shipping, for a hardcover with 70 pages. I got the book 3 days after ordering it.

It was just a party I took pictures at for fun and beer. The book is nice. Only took a few minutes to create, about 45 minutes+ to upload, and is just pictures/no story/text. Plain gloss black cover, and semi-matte pages. The actual book doesn't have any printing on the outside, so if you lose/tear up the paper bookcover, you'd be screwed. Shocked

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

Shadow
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Feb 24, 2007, 9:27 PM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

Neat book!

I also like the McDonald's shoe car.

Once I saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner car driving down the street. I was looking at others on the bus, none of them seemed amused by this although I thought it was pretty funny.

__________________________
My boring blog: www.pawspun.blogspot.com

szerangue
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Feb 24, 2007, 11:38 PM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

So what do you think about the quality, Rusty? It looks very nice. Is that a glossy paper cover over the hard cover that has the printing on it?
Miracle Pictures
"If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!"

"Life Productions, coming out of the dark, into the light"
4EVER GROUP AFFILIATE

RustyB
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Feb 25, 2007, 12:15 AM

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Re: [szerangue] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

So what do you think about the quality, Rusty? It looks very nice. Is that a glossy paper cover over the hard cover that has the printing on it?

Yeah, the paper cover is black glossy, with white printing. Looks real nice, although black/glossy shows greasy fingerprints. You print any color you want...the free design software is a quick download onto your PC and is simple enough for a monkey to use.

Quality of the book is great...amazing considering the cost/fast delivery time. I wish it would have the title printed onto the actual linen hard cover, like a normal book, instead of just the paper jacket. I'd like the books to stand the test of time, and sometimes I tear up the paper jackets on my books from carrying them around too long. (It takes me a LONG time to read a book...damned short attention span. Laugh

)

Of course, you can also order your books in paperback, but books under 80 pages don't have printing on the spine. I put this book in my "bookstore", and told the party organizer it was up. Quickly got about 90 hits on the book, but no sales. I guess my pictures sucked/weren't their style. Tongue

j/k, everyone had cameras there that night taking tons of pictures...so there were plenty of shiny flat digital P&S pictures to be had for free...I didn't expect to sell any of my grainy film stuff.

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

szerangue
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Feb 25, 2007, 12:26 AM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

OK, thanks.. I am thinking about creating one of those. I have a ton of photos, 80 pages should be a breeze.
Miracle Pictures
"If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!"

"Life Productions, coming out of the dark, into the light"
4EVER GROUP AFFILIATE

Sandy B
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Feb 26, 2007, 2:06 AM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yeah, the MacDonald shoecar was in the HLS&R parade yesterday, too.

How does one get the gig to drive the shoecar? Or the Oscar Meyer hotdog weinercar?

How much you selling the photobook for?

Sandy B
SSPBLOG

"Good luck seldom comes in pairs, but bad things never walk alone" Chinese proverb

RustyB
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Feb 26, 2007, 10:35 AM

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Re: [Sandy B] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

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Yeah, the MacDonald shoecar was in the HLS&R parade yesterday, too.

How does one get the gig to drive the shoecar? Or the Oscar Meyer hotdog weinercar?

How much you selling the photobook for?

I didn't even bother to go downstairs to watch the marathon or parade. I thought maybe,"Wet T-Shirts of the Houston Conoco Marathon" might make a good Blurb book, but it looked like it was mostly men, so I just stayed focused on getting this damned wedding recption edited instead. Laugh

I set the price for the photo book at $44.95 for hardcover, and $29.95 for softcover. That's actually a few bucks over Blurb's price, so that if I actually do sell a copy, at least I'll get a few bucks for it. One of the great things of photo being a "hobby"...I don't HAVE to sell anything, can shoot things in my own PERSONAL style, and don't HAVE to work for free to get the rent paid every month....like I do with wedding video. Tongue

Blurb's cool...gives you a preview of the first 15 pages of the book via a PDF file.

My first book:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/37763

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

(This post was edited by RustyB on Feb 26, 2007, 10:37 AM)

Jordan O.
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Feb 26, 2007, 11:15 AM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

thanks for the rundown Rusty. This looks like a good alternative for iPhoto books.

btw- great signature. with a "free toy" I'm sure you'll be booking weddings left and right!

RustyB
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Feb 26, 2007, 11:31 AM

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Re: [Jordan O.] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

thanks for the rundown Rusty. This looks like a good alternative for iPhoto books.

btw- great signature. with a "free toy" I'm sure you'll be booking weddings left and right!

I don't know if I would use these books for wedding photography, but for other event photos, vacation photos, and obviously any kind of BOOKS that you may write, they're really cool.

Yeah, industry experts agree that I produce the "happy meal" of wedding video, so I need to decide on what kind of toy to inlclude that married people could appreciate. Currently topping my list are, a bottle of Qualudes, a .38 revolver, a case of Jack Daniels, and a copy of Girls Gone Wild. Laugh

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

Jordan O.
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Feb 28, 2007, 1:54 AM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

I just ordered my first blurb book- 8x10 hardcover, 96 pages. I just sent my order in not 30 minutes ago, its already printing!

The book itself costs $38, which, for a 96 page hardcover book, its excellent, especially compared to iPhoto/Aperture. I found the "booksmart" layout software to be much more flexible than iPhoto or aperture.

RustyB
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Feb 28, 2007, 2:26 PM

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Re: [Jordan O.] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

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...I found the "booksmart" layout software to be much more flexible than iPhoto or aperture.

Looks like they've integrated iPhoto into the Blurb software, as well as added a larger coffee table book perfect for photos, and a cheaper smaller sized book...

Quote

Greetings Blurbarian,

We're happy, ecstatic even, to announce one of our most significant releases of Blurb BookSmart� ... ever. BookSmart Beta 1.7.2, now available for download, and free for Mac or PC, includes several new features we're sure you'll like.

Here's the scoop:

New book sizes - By very popular demand we now offer two new distinct sizes: a large format landscape 13x11 book (starting at $54.95 and available in hardcover with dust jacket only) and a square 7x7 book (starting at $12.95 and available in both hardcover and softcover). The large format landscape 13x11 book is a true "coffee-table" book ideal for photographers, while the "highly holdable" quality of the square 7x7 makes it ideal for graphic artists, poets, marketers, and gift-givers who want a smaller, less expensive book.

Blog Slurper updates - We've added Blogger and LiveJournal to the blogs we already support (WordPress.com and TypePad). Automatically slurp your blog content � text and pictures � into a professionally designed book template, and produce a draft book in minutes.

iPhoto integration - Mac users: No need to import your photos from iPhoto anymore. iPhoto photo libraries, albums, rolls, and individual images now automatically show up in BookSmart.

New text features - Support for vertical line spacing and smart quotes gives you more text control.

Also, a reminder that Blurb's Set Your Price program is available, growing, and worth checking out if you have a book you'd like to sell. Set Your Price enables you to sell books in Blurb's Bookstore at a price you determine, plus you get to keep 100% of the profits.

So go ahead and download BookSmart Beta 1.7.2. Don't worry, all of your previous books and books in process will be retained.

As always, visit our online Help area if you have questions, suggestions, or need assistance.

Happy bookmaking from your friends at Blurb.
The Blurberati

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

DanLewis
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Mar 2, 2007, 9:34 AM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

I wish I never saw this post, Rusty! I was not aware of this service and (being a creative person) I'm going nuts thinking of what I would like to make a book of. Just what I need, another project! Unsure

My son writes poetry and actually got published, so he has a book (see it here). I have a couple of things in mind. First, I have 5 grandchildren which I could document. Grandparents love to show off their g-kids! But I'm leaning to a larger project that I initially wanted to do last year for Christmas. Our tradition has always been to gather on Christmas Eve at my wife's parents house. Over the years this has become a major happening and there are many photos of us all growing up through 3 decades. I wanted to do a photo montage and let it run on Christmas Eve. But it got put on the back burner. Maybe the book is the perfect way to go.

Dan
Dan Lewis

My Blog

"Everything seems new to those too young to remember the old and too ignorant of history to have heard about it."

Postal Boy
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Mar 2, 2007, 11:36 AM

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Re: [RustyB] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

How clear is the printing? I have had photo books done from Picaboo and from Snap Fish (I think that is its name) and they look good, but on closer inspection the photos are pretty "soft" compared to true photos. I believe it is from the digital off-set printing method they use, but there does appear to be a difference in quality between vendors.

-Postal

Scott Brooks
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Mar 2, 2007, 11:50 AM

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Re: [Postal Boy] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

Shared Ink puts out a real solid book. I would look into that if someone wants something affordable.
Scott Brooks

Jenn M
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Mar 2, 2007, 11:52 AM

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Re: [Postal Boy] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

Shane,

I've had the same experience w/ Photoworks. those I've showed the book to really like it, but the quality of printing is questionable, IMO.

I'm going to try a Shared Ink book, a la Sparky's suggestion. They are quite popular on the DWF forum.

RustyB
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Mar 2, 2007, 12:14 PM

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Re: [Postal Boy] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

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It's hard to tell, as all of the images were shot in the dark, with a POS flash, onto 400iso 35mm film, negs scanned and cropped by me. Not a great test of how sharp they are compared to the original prints. But, I can't imagine in 100 years that anyone would notice if they were softer. Like I mentioned above, these are just 'books' and I wouldn't use them to replace a bridal photo album or something. Real film print enlargements on real paper would look better, as these are just 'books' with I think 80# semi-matte paper.

I think they'll be perfect for sharing large groups of digital pictures, like vacation photos, event photography, and stuff. For my one-off personal photo books, it's easier to just shoot on 35mm, and put them in a cheap photo album from Target. Tongue

For wedding customers, I think most would want to push the more expensive 'real' albums with more durable pages, and the big cheesy leather covers with the gold "our wedding" stamped on the front, versus a $40 instant book.

I hate cheesy wedding photo albums almost as much as I hate weddings...
Laugh

For event photographers, seems like it would be a great way to sell photos. Say you shoot a sporting event...you could hand out flyers to the guests telling them where to buy the book, and how much it costs. You could sell them for about the same price as a video. However, instead of waiting days/weeks for you to edit the video, you could have the book published and uploaded...ready for sale...by the time the guests got home from the game, after they stopped off at Bennigan's for Fat Tire and chicken fried chicken. Tongue

And you could still upload the pics to SmugMug for example, for those that wanted to purchase individual prints.

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

DanLewis
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Mar 2, 2007, 12:16 PM

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Re: [Sparky] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

I checked out the shared ink site and I'm not sure I like the binding used on the Hardcover books. Although they don't show a good picture of it I get the impression that blurb has an actual book-binding on their hardcovers and Shared Ink has what I call "tape" binding. Can anyone share their experience with an actual purchase?

Dan
Dan Lewis

My Blog

"Everything seems new to those too young to remember the old and too ignorant of history to have heard about it."

RustyB
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Mar 2, 2007, 1:05 PM

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Re: [DanLewis] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

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Yeah, the hardcover blurb book I got has real "library binding". The pages are held securely together by strings, and bound to the cover. Seems pretty durable.

faith poison films
it's better than nothing

Scott Brooks
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Mar 2, 2007, 4:18 PM

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Re: [DanLewis] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

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Dan,

I highly recommend that you e-mail their customer support. Chris is the owner and as far as I know, answers all emails himself ... at least that's been my experience. Chris will answer any and all questions accurately and quickly.

There are two companies that have the best customer service I've ever experienced and SI is one of them.

I don't know that much about binding, but I just took a 12x12 book through 5 bridal shows and there's not a scratch on it ... no frayed pages ... still looks pristine. No way would I hesitate to put out an SI book as an entry level wedding book, for seniors, family portraits, baby book, or guest book at a wedding.

As a matter of fact, I'm planning on putting together an album of our family vacation from this year.

They also have a photographer program that you can sign up for. There are two levels and it's a one time payment. You can ask Chris about that as well. I believe they have a 30 day trial membership.

I would be surprised if you ordered one and didn't like it.
Scott Brooks

octoberpro
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Mar 13, 2007, 8:18 AM

Post #20 of 21 (971 views)
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Re: [Sparky] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

Anybody know if there are any "premade" templates for Shared Ink? I really want to try out their service (i signed up for the 45 day trial) but I don't know if I have the time to design a full blown album. Not to mention that their forums are a bit dead.

I love the BLURB templates. Now if SI would only distrubute similar software they might have me. I think for an upfront membership cost of 100-200 dollars there should atleast be pre built templates.
Dan,

(This post was edited by octoberpro on Mar 13, 2007, 8:19 AM)

Jenn M
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Mar 13, 2007, 10:21 AM

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Re: [octoberpro] got my first blurb photo book.... [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'm also signed up for the trial. I haven't found any templates - I design using Custom Image Studio from Labprints. I've found 2 other companies, though, that offer similiar books that I'm also going to try - Apollo Imaging and ACI - American Color Imaging. As afar as I know, they both have templates - I know ACI does.