Today we got back our first coffee-table style photo book that was created using our honeymoon photos using the Blurb software (free software). We started off with something like 1600 photos from our nearly month-long trip to Europe 2 years ago for our honeymoon (yes, I get camera happy!)
We have nearly 15,000 images on Flickr and have only ever physically printed just our photos from Barcelona last year. We rather suck at the non-digital step. So, I decided to mix the technology in to make it easier. I’m not sure it was necessarily easier to use Blurb to create the photobook, but the end result was something I couldn’t have achieved with just printing photos. Here’s a shot of the software:
In the end, we have a 160-page book featuring about 450 images from our honeymoon. Some of those images are full page, some arranged into quadrants, and some mixed into patterns. There were lots of templates in the Blurb software to create various layouts. The cover I chose is basically a sticker-type thing that goes over the fabric, instead of the jacket (though the latter has the advantage of jacket flaps).
I chose to keep this book just about the images. It was too overwhelming with so many images to choose from to think about putting in a story as well. I had something pretty written for the flaps, but didn’t realize there would be no flaps with this cover style. Kind of a bummer on that.
I will definitely be exploring this in future, and would like to create books with more full-page photos, with text, and perhaps with black backgrounds instead of the white. We had no idea what to expect from the first try, but were quite pleased by it!
The price was just over $100 plus shipping for the book – not bad considering how many photos there are and that they are full bleed, and many at a large size. The quality was pretty good, with only slightly less vibrant colors than the real photos.
Can I come over and look through it? That’s a pretty good price for 450 photos and 106 pages!
I’m using the Blurb software to put together a Christmas present for my wife and wasn’t sure what the quality would be like. I’m glad to read you’re happy with the end result.
The results look amazing!
What made you pick blurb over the other self-publishing options?
Sadly, I started the book about a year ago on my old laptop. It was the best option at the time, from my research (most options available, good reviews). My computer got too slow to work on it, so I waited until I got my new MBP before starting again.
If there are better ones now, I’m not aware of them. :)
Looks fabulous, will you be able to bring it on your trip? Would love to see it.
A friend of mine used Blurb to make a book for their family trip to Mexico – she loved it. She’s now in the process of creating another book. I saw the first one she made and it was great :-)
[...] not sure it was necessarily easier to use Blurb to create the photobook,” she writes at Blogaholics.ca, “but the end result was something I couldn’t have achieved with just printing photos. The [...]
i’ve made a photo book like that before!
but i used iphoto on my macbook. i probably spent at least 2 months deciding on what photos to use and arranging them in the layout. it was 4 months worth of european memories – my best of the best in photos! only $70 including shipping and handling!
Really enjoyed reading your blog post. I will have to bookmark your site for later.