Photo Websites for making photo books

[lovemountains]

Which photo websites do you like for editing photos, printing photos, and making albums? How would you compare Picasa, Shutterfly, Snapfish, or others for quality and reasonable pricing?

[monkey44]

mlts22 wrote:
Check the terms of service with those places. There might be some photo websites that will take legal ownership of any photos printed, which allows the website to use the photos as they please, including selling them as stock photos.

X2 ...

You, we, all of us (especially those that use the photos for work related) need to know that our/your copyright is protected. You should protect yourself from others using what you create for profit.

Unfortunately, many issues never before faced prior to digital images come to the surface with online 'everything' ...

Our work as journalists often includes images and I have on several occasions found my images on websites without permission. Copyright laws in USA are very specific, and you all should never give up the right for any company to use your 'kids' or 'grand-kids' or family, or any other creation for profit. Obviously, a very touchy point here, for M44.

[tatest]

lovemountains wrote:
Doesn't anyone have experience using Picasa, Shutterfly, or Snapfish?

I've used all three (as well as Kodak and Webshots) and can't recommend any of them for photo books. One of my nieces uses Shutterfly for her Christmas cards, they are cheap but the printing quality just isn't there, color management issues mostly. So if you don't practice color management, Shutterfly could work for you.

A brother in law uses Vistaprint for books and calendars, he is happy with it, I think the result is just kind of OK.

Another brother in law, serious about his photography, sends his work to Costco with the color management profile. He gets what he wants to see, and they are seldom more expensive than on-line services that cannot do a good job.

For any service storing, sharing, printing your photos, make sure you understand the terms of service with respect to ownership and use of your photos.

[D_E_Bishop]

We usually use Costco for prints and mouse pads, just had Christmas cards done thru Costco and received a big discount. The cards were actually done at TinyPic.com. Came out great and it is one of the Host sites recommended for posting pictures here on RV.NET. DW is going to do books for the DGKs travels with us and use TinyPic.com.

[Bucky_Badger]

lovemountains wrote:
I appreciate all of your answers. NCwriter, thanks for the details about Shutterfly. I want to make some photo books with photos of camping with our grandchildren. It sounds like Shutterfly would work well for that. I wish I had started this earlier so it could be done by Christmas.

Once you get used to Shutterfly, you'll love it

[mlts22]

Check the terms of service with those places. There might be some photo websites that will take legal ownership of any photos printed, which allows the website to use the photos as they please, including selling them as stock photos.

[Kemahsabe]

My wife has done a couple very nice books using the Walgreens website and publishing service. Pricing seems good, but I've never compared it.

[shakyjay]

I just finished a photo editing class at the local college. We did have a discussion about different services. Surprisingly most of the class including the instructor said that Costco does a very good job. The instructor who is a professional also uses and recommends BayPhoto.com. Shutterfly was another choice that several of the attendees use. My daughter just had a book done by Shutterfly using a half price coupon deal. The book came out very nice and the price was more than reasonable.

[lovemountains]

I appreciate all of your answers. NCwriter, thanks for the details about Shutterfly. I want to make some photo books with photos of camping with our grandchildren. It sounds like Shutterfly would work well for that. I wish I had started this earlier so it could be done by Christmas.

[NCWriter]

I've been using Shutterfly for photo books and Christmas cards for almost ten years now. As someone said, they have frequent discounts of up to 50% which they send via email (or just go to their site.) Usually free shipping for over $30.

(Often I use the Windows photo editing software to crop or enhance first before uploading.)

I don't know the other services to compare because I haven't used them since I've never been dissatisfied. Over the years they've added a lot of new options. They also have added many gift things I've bought like woven blankets and pillows with your photos on them.

Fairly often they send a freebie via email where you just pay postage. 100 free prints, 10 free cards, etc.

I find it easy to work with and use the option where you have a lot of control on the layout versus letting them arrange the book. I add different color choices for backgrounds, add extra layouts, flip the page layout, add, enlarge or remove text boxes, move the spacing, etc.

For our trips, I like to scan things like a map with our route or a typed itinerary and upload them for the book. I also like to buy the Retro Ranger vintage style postcards from National Parks to scan and include in the book.

Shutterfly delivers very quickly from plant locations around the country.

[otis-agnes]

I use Shutterfly. I have made alot of photo books for myself and for gifts. Agnes

[AllegroD]

vermilye wrote:
Even though I have a Mac, I have used & like Blurb.

Ditto. Great product.

[owenssailor]

We use Picassa for organizing and light editing. For books my wife uses My Publisher. The quality of their product is excellent. The supplied (downloaded) editing tools give a lot of control on the layout of the book.

She produces the books with My Publisher and sells them at a local Art Gallery.

[WoodGlue]

Costco stuff goes out to a 3rd party for printing and binding.

WoodGlue

[Rangerider]

DW and DGD use Shutterfly. Product looks pretty good to me and they often give discounts.