Photobooks - What to use instead of Apple books

cambsno

cambsno

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I have used Apple books a number of times in the past and found them decent quality, and easy to put together. That seems to be no more, there are various companies on the app store but not convinced by any and keen to know who others use and recommend.

These are for family albums so decent quality (ie. not photo box) but not looking at loxley at the other end! Most important is the ease of use, drag & drop and ability to easily change the layouts (i.e. just like apple!)
 
I’ve ordered one from Whitewall. 36pgs, A4 landscape book - just over 40 quid. The website was very easy to use, quick to upload files and easy to fiddle around with the layout. It must be simple if I can manage it as I’ve the patience of a flea with such stuff. It’s in the hands of UPS now, on it‘s way to me (hopefully!) by the weekend. I’ll post back when it’s landed with thoughts on how it looks.
 
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JasonPC said:
I’ve ordered one from Whitewall. 36pgs, A4 landscape book - just over 40 quid. The website was very easy to use, quick to upload files and easy to fiddle around with the layout. It must be simple if I can manage it as I’ve the patience of a flea with such stuff. It’s in the hands of UPS now, on it‘s way to me (hopefully!) by the weekend. I’ll post back when it’s landed with thoughts on how it looks.
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Thanks, would be good to know what your thoughts are - what paper did you go for?
 
If you have Lightroom, I'd recommend Blurb as the integration into LR makes book editing and layout a breeze.
 
cambsno said:
I have used Apple books a number of times in the past and found them decent quality, and easy to put together. That seems to be no more, there are various companies on the app store but not convinced by any and keen to know who others use and recommend.

These are for family albums so decent quality (ie. not photo box) but not looking at loxley at the other end! Most important is the ease of use, drag & drop and ability to easily change the layouts (i.e. just like apple!)
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I guess you are referring to a physical product and so my comment will be irrelevant :(. But although iBooks Author has been discontinued it’s just as easy to create books in Apple Pages (which is what Apple intends you to to instead of Author). I tried Author before it was discontinued and found Pages better.
 
I’ve just used Mypicture to produce one. A4 32 pages (I think) and cost£22.50 inc postage. Was actually printed in Cologne, Germany by United Arts GmbH according to the invoice. Simple process to layout and probably because I print so few of my photos I was very impressed with the quality of the images !
 
Fuji Dave said:
I'm just waiting on getting a photobook delivered, I used bonusprint.
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Fuji Dave said:
I've just had delivery of the photobook and it really looks great in gloss, it is a gift for my mother. Love it.
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Well, my Whitewall order is still stuck in Germany, held up by bad weather and now something UPS are calling a ‘Brexit related delay.’

Since Bonusprint were mentioned above I’ve ordered one from them as well, taking advantage of their 40% off code. It’ll be a birthday prezzie for my Mum if it turns out ok. Chances are it’ll be here before the Whitewall book. :p
Be interesting to compare them as there‘s a fair price difference.
 
I did mine in a local photo store. It was a long time ago, now I keep photos in a slideshow form (usually use Smartshow 3d or Smilebox for that), but I've heard that Shutterfly and Bonusprint are good, Shutterfly has discounts and off codes.
 
The Whitewall book has arrived safe and sound after being stuck with UPS for six days. Really well packaged - standard book packaging with an inner soft envelope and a clear plastic wrap-around to be extra sure. Very pleased with the book, seems like it will last. Colours and tones look pretty accurate. I used the paper profiles on their website and soft proofed with paper sim, re-editing the JPEG’s as needed before upload. All the pages are cleanly printed with no dust spots or other marks. No branding or barcodes on the finished book either.

Be interesting to see how it compares to the (cheaper) Bonusprint one that’s on the way but I’m pretty pleased with the Whitewall book. I’ve previously used Jessops (decent enough) and Snapfish (rubbish.)
 
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SAAL digital are superb, lots of variations, a bit pricey but there are discount vouchers about if you google em.
 
I use photobox and have no issues with them what so ever, 7 x A4s and 2 x A3s, quality on images and paper is great, and if its just for personal use, ie home family shots there prices are excellent, i usually wait for an offer that can be up to 70%, I did have an issue with one lay flat, but was quickly rectified....
Its most likely you can get better, but at a price..
 
cargo said:
@JasonPC

Hi

Did you ever compare the two books ? Bonus print v Whitewall ?

Gaz
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Hi Gaz,

I’ve had three books done over the last month or so - lockdown boredom maybe! :D

Thoughts on Whitewall are as a couple of posts back. I also got one from Bonusprint and since Saal was mentioned above, and they had a discount code up for grabs, I thought I’d try them as well.

The Saal book was a bit cheaper than the WW and dearer than BP. I’m impressed with it. It’s a ‘lay flat’ book and the printing is really good. Colours etc look nice and accurate. Arrived well packaged and only took a few days. Paper is heavier then the others as well, almost card really.

The Bonusprint book isnt so good. It’s ok and will do as a present for my mum. Colours are fine but when looking at the book in good, natural light some of the photos have small artefacts in foggy or cloudy images, almost like a lowres jpeg. I know it’s not error on my part as the same files were sent to each supplier. In indoor light it’s not really noticeable.

I‘d say the Whitewall book is the best but only by a small margin. I really like the lay flat design of the Saal book and the fact that it was cheaper will probably make them my choice when I order a bigger book. Whitewall seem to have better paper choices though. My ultimate aim is for a large book of a hundred or so pages which will be pretty expensive whoever I order from. I’m going to live with the WW and Saal books for a while, let others look at them and then decide.

HTH.
 
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JasonPC said:
HTH.
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Yes it does.

I have never thought to have a book printed before. That said it is only the last year or so I have started to have the odd thing printed.
After reding this thread I had the idea to maybe have a book printed consisting of photos taken of my Sister in laws dog as we have been meeting up every Saturday for a walk around our local green space during the latest restrictions.
She as been good enough to help me try take photos of Brodie. Course i'm still making rookie mistakes :-(

On a very quick search the blurb books looked to be very well recieved.
So your experiances are very much appreciated.

Thanks again.
Gaz
 
SAAL - I've had 3 books printed. Top drawer service and great colours. They even made my photos look good!
 
I ordered up several books from Pikto.com earlier this year. They were far better quality than the Apple photo books and far exceeded my expectations.

Cheers,
Bob
 
Has anyone had any luck creating photo books using any of the extension apps to Apple Photos (Motif, Mimeo, MILK, friedmann, ifotor)?
 
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