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Photobooks - are there vendors you like?

I saw this thread was active again so I wanted to pop in and say that I love Mixbook, too! I just finished our photo book from last year's trip to Europe, and the Mixbook interface was sooooo much easier to use than Shutterfly. And their layouts are amazing. I love the pictures that span two pages, and all of the options they have. I'm *really* hoping the quality is as great as the interface.

My plan is to make books using each of the major photo book companies and then compare them all. I made a Shutterfly book for our Ireland trip and it's fine quality. The hardcover isn't as nice as I hoped it would be, and since I didn't make a very long book the binding is a bit too thick, so that's disappointing. The Shutterfly site was fine to use, but the layouts don't hold a candle to the Mixbook layouts.

I like that you can share the photo books online so others can give you input before you publish them. In case anyone else is looking for comparisons, here are the two books I recently made.

Mixbook travel book from Summer 2011 to Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland:
http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/travel/belgium-germany-and-switzerland-2011-7700314

Shutterfly travel book from Summer 2010 trip to Ireland:
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=1c533df8b18569e1&sid=0AatGjJk0bs2biI
 
OH! And if anyone is thinking about making a photo book, DO NOT pay full price. Ever!

I bought a $15 Groupon for $50 for Mixbook, and a $35 Groupon for $100 for Picaboo. (Haven't used the Picaboo one yet. That will be for two books--Grece and our honeymoon in St. John.) I think I had a 40% off coupon for the Shutterfly book AND a free shipping code, so that was great.

The other thing I wanted to say is that Shutterfly makes beautiful prints. I ordered six 16 x 20 prints from our travel pictures to frame and hang up in our living room. They are beautiful.
 
Just wanted to post a quick update- I have gotten my Mixbook project and I am very very happy with the result. It's for work, so I can't post it like Haven so kindly did, but the turn around time was way faster than expected, the binding is straight and sturdy, and the pictures look great.

The colors are very accurate and nothing darkened. I chose the 12x12 size, so some of the pictures I used are very large and some are crisper than others, but I think this is the result of the variation in the photos rather than in the printing. Just got it today so I can't speak to longevity, but I am happy enough with the software, the turn around time, the quality, and the pricing that I'll immediately be starting another book, also for work. Maybe one of these days I'll have a moment to actually make some for myself!
 
Aviastar--Thank you for coming back to update! I'm so happy to hear that the book turned out to be high quality. I am very much looking forward to comparing the Mixbook I ordered with the Shutterfly book I already have. The Mixbook shipped out a couple days ago, so hopefully I'll be able to share an update soon.
 
I made a wedding album using Mpix after reading so many positive reviews online for them - it was cheap, maybe $65? Anyway, I didn't like it. Something was off - either the way it transferred or the paper it was printed on, the photos weren't properly SHARP. I've given it to my MIL, who loves it, and now need to do another. Perhaps Mixbook this time. :)) Your photos look great, Haven -- and we were just in Murren last week so it was familiar scenery...even the photo of all the flags at Gimmelwald's Mountain Hostel! :lol:
 
Justginger--I'll post a review and pictures of the actual Mixbook as soon as it arrives! I'm really happy with the Shutterfly book, but it's hard to really recommend it as a photo book since I have nothing to compare it to.

Oh, Murren! We really, really loved it there. (In fact, if we have a girl we're going to name her Mirren after the place.) I think we ate half of our meals at StagrStubli, or however it's spelled. :cheeky: It was so beautiful there, I almost couldn't take it.
 
I am excited for you to get your book, Haven! I ordered mine on Saturday and chose the cheapest shipping option. I got an email yesterday it was shipped and it was delivered today. 3 business day turn around is excellent, in my opinion!
 
Definitely post photos and reviews of these when you ladies get your Mixbooks - after telling DH about seeing your Murren photos on here, Haven, he was all gung-ho about getting our last few years' holidays put into books, as well as the two weddings. Can't imagine which one of us will be doing all of the layouts... ;))

And yes, Murren was divine! I had been to the area in 2004, but stayed longer this time. We had most of our meals at our pension, as the owner was employed as a chef at Piz Gloria for 12 years. Might as well take advantage of his skill set! :lickout:

It's been quite a transition though, Switzerland to Turkey. I think I've lost half my body weight in sweat!
 
Well, I received my Mixbook photo book today. The good news is that I used the cheapest shipping method and my book came very quickly. I ordered the photo book on 6/21 and it arrived at my home today, 6/29.

And . . . unfortunately, that's about the only good thing I have to say about it.

When I opened the box, the first thing I noticed is that there are little scuffs all over the cover.
THEN, I opened to the first page, where I typed out our itinerary, and the printing is terrible. The letters are gray, but the color fades out to white at the edges--not intentionally, just in a crappy print job sort of way.
THEN, I turned the page and the bound edge of the first page tore right up about an inch! When I opened the book all the way I saw the worst thing of all--it looks like this book wasn't fully bound. They almost look perforated, and there's a white bleed. (The background of the pages are black.)
Photo quality isn't nearly as good as the book of the same size I had made with Shutterfly. I find this particularly interesting because I used a newer camera at a higher resolution to take the photos that I included in the Mixbook photo book.

Overall, I'm very disappointed. I'm going to contact Mixbook with these concerns, particularly the binding issues. I'll add an update to let you know how they respond. What a disappointment!

My verdict at the moment: Shutterfly is a million times better, no question.

My camera is actually at Canon right now because I'm having an issue w/the shutter, so I took some photos with DH's phone. They have not yet come through to my email, but I'll post and share them once they do.
 
Oh, that is so disapointing! Their website says they have a 100% satisfaction policy, so hopefully it's a one off mistake, they will re-print it for you and it will be perfect.

I also had the black background and mine didn't look like that AT ALL- so hopefully it's clear to them that it's their printing mistake!

Let us know how they handle your (super valid) complaint!
 
Aviastar--Okay, your experience is very reassuring! I think this is a case that something just went very wrong with the binding, it's almost like the cuts they made on each page are visible, and they're barely bound in. I've looked through the book once more, so two times total, and I'd say about half of the pages are separated from the binding already. This can't be normal!

I sent an email to Mixbook customer service right after I posted here, and received a polite response within minutes requesting pictures showing the problem. Since my camera is getting serviced, I had to use DH's smart phone to take photos, and they didn't come through to my email until about an hour ago. (Don't know what's going on there!)

So, here are some pictures. They're from a phone, so sorry for the lack of quality. I'm really impressed with Mixbook's response so far, so hopefully they'll reprint the book and it will be better the second time around.

I'm not sure if they'll show up, but there are tiny scuffs all over the cover:
imag1087.jpg

Here's what every page looks like at the binding, see all the white? It's like perforated paper or something. Comes apart at the lightest touch.
imag1089.jpg

Here are two shots of pages that are already pulled out of the binding. The first one happened the moment I touched the first page.
photo_1_0.jpg
photo_5_0.jpg

I'll update as soon as I hear back from Mixbook. I'm really hoping they'll reprint and make this right.
 
Mixbook replaced the defective book they sent to me, and the new one arrived today. This one doesn't have pages ripping out at the binding, so that's great!

Comparing the Mixbook to the Shutterfly book, the Shutterfly book is better quality, hands down. The covers are pretty comparable, except that the Mixbook replacement cover has the same little scuffs all over it as the original. I have no idea what they are, but they're on both Mixbooks. The Shutterfly cover doesn't have any scuffs on it, even though it is now over a year old. Photo quality is fine with Mixbook, but MUCH BETTER with Shutterfly. Same can be said for the quality of the lettering printed in both books, Shutterfly wins.

So, at this point, Shutterfly is the way to go. I'm going to use the other major photo book companies for future books so I can continue to compare!

I was impressed with Mixbook's immediate attention to my complaints, and they did send out the second book very quickly. So, customer service with Mixbook is great.
 
I have some high-resolution professional photos I had taken that I wanted a book of. I wasn't about to pay $1200 for the photographer to make one for me! I did a bunch of research and ended up purchasing a book from Blurb. I ordered it tonight so will update when it arrives. I loved all the options I had for the paper, the printing, and the covers.
 
I can't wait to hear what you think, Erica! My parents used Blurb a couple years ago after a trip to the Middle East and their book turned out great.
 
My Blurb photo books arrived and they are AMAZING! I purchased two - a 12x12 hard back book and a 7x7 soft back. I upgraded the paper in the big on, used the standard paper in the small one. Both are wonderful!!! The printing is true to what I set up in their software. I won't hesitate to use them in the future.
 
EricaR|1342300605|3233959 said:
My Blurb photo books arrived and they are AMAZING! I purchased two - a 12x12 hard back book and a 7x7 soft back. I upgraded the paper in the big on, used the standard paper in the small one. Both are wonderful!!! The printing is true to what I set up in their software. I won't hesitate to use them in the future.

Hi EricaR, which software option did you use for Blurb? Based on the reviews in this thread, I'd like to give it a try. I was happy with my Mixbook, but the prices are comparable and if the quality is better I'm more than happy to switch. I will be making serveral books a year for the foreseeable future for work- and hopefully for myself!- and want to find the best tool.

I like the idea of total design control, but worry that I might overcomplicate what really is a simple project and spend way too much time on it. But I do have LOTS of high resolution photos, so I think maybe the BookSmart option?

Also, were you able to just order the smaller square book after completing the larger design and layout or did you have to re-do the smaller book?

Thanks!!
 
I used the Book Smart option. Make sure you turn on the ability to see the trim areas!!! I really can't post photos of my book (ahem...boudoir photos!) but trust me when I say that it is one of the nicest photo books I've ever seen. I did spend about 45 minutes playing around with the various options in the software (background colors, how to position the photos, going through tutorials, etc) which was worth it. In the end I was able to crank out a 20 page book very quickly and it looks great.
 
I've just spent hours putting together a 98 page My Publisher boo from this year's holiday. I downloaded the software for Blurb, MP, and Shutterfly - I liked MP's the best so stuck with it and uninstalled the others. Because the book is so big, it is fairly expensive. I'll let you guys know what I think when it arrives. :))
 
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