Two new photo book printing places...

Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
edited November 2, 2013 in Mind Your Own Business
I can't vouch for them, but these 2 places look promising for getting photo books published. The first one is called Picaboo and it looks like it's more about books that you'd send to grandma (which isn't to say that they don't look nice). The other one is called Blurb and it looks like a more serious book publishing site. You can print all kinds of books on blurb and it looks like you can do 440 pages in a book for only $80 which sounds pretty good.

Maybe I'll get my act together with some bryce and zion pics enough to get a book put together and I can report back about if these sites are any good.
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
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Comments

  • Brookes' PhotographyBrookes' Photography Registered Users Posts: 4 Beginner grinner
    edited July 25, 2006
    Looks Great
    Hey the Blurb site looks great. So glad you posted it. I may also try it soon and I will post the results. thumb.gif
  • photofreakphotofreak Registered Users Posts: 233 Major grins
    edited July 26, 2006
    Mike Lane wrote:
    I can't vouch for them, but these 2 places look promising for getting photo books published. The first one is called Picaboo and it looks like it's more about books that you'd send to grandma (which isn't to say that they don't look nice). The other one is called Blurb and it looks like a more serious book publishing site. You can print all kinds of books on blurb and it looks like you can do 440 pages in a book for only $80 which sounds pretty good.

    Maybe I'll get my act together with some bryce and zion pics enough to get a book put together and I can report back about if these sites are any good.
    I've had several books made through Picaboo. I went and picked my best photos, added quotes and made them to show to other's. I like the quality, the binding is good. I would recommend the faux leather as opposed to the linen if you are going to use them as portfolios. The faux leather does not look cheesy and seems to be holding up better than the linen. A drawback I have found... there is an opening on the cover for the first picture. It is a small opening...my photo there already got scratched. It would be nice if they offered book jackets. They are great with customer service. They sent me one of my books with half the pages upside down. The next evening the new book was in my hands. I didn't even have to send the other book back.

    Another company I used was Photoworks. They produced pretty much the same quality, however they do not give you the option of different fonts.
    The prices, I felt were very reasonable. Starting price is 29.95 for the first 20 pages. 1.99 for each page there after. There for awhile, they were offering a medim sized book free with every large book. The software program is very user friendly.
    Just my humble opinion,
    Mandi
    www.mandraleephotography.com
    I'm going to go out and check out the other site you listed.
    Mandi :shay
    www.mandraleephotography.com



    Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
  • camblercambler Registered Users Posts: 277 Major grins
    edited July 26, 2006
    Any recommendations for sites that don't charge one-off prices?

    I'd like to get 1000 copies of a 60-page full-color book for retail sales, but short of going through a broker who gets the work done in China, I'm failing to find a decent provider. All of the sites mentioned around here (and others) are all geared towards one-off publishers who can get away with charging $200 for a wedding book.

    I'd like to sell a $39.95 coffee-table book, but at a unit price of $75 per book from most of these sites, that's just not going to happen. From China, the cost goes down to about $9 per unit in Q1K, but that's quite a risk if they show up bad.
  • Mike LaneMike Lane Registered Users Posts: 7,106 Major grins
    edited July 27, 2006
    Geeze man, I don't know. Did you really look at the prices for blurb? For 1-40 pages it is $29.95. For up to 440 pages (!) it's only $79.95. Plus they have bulk rate discounts of 10% for 25 to 199 and 15% for 200 to 400 (and presumably more over 400 but you have to get a quote).

    $80 at blurb will get you quite a coffee table book! You could probably use the book as the coffee table lol3.gif
    Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

    http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
  • aktseaktse Registered Users Posts: 1,928 Major grins
    edited July 27, 2006
    some reviews, etc.
    I don't have experience with any of these, but I hope this helps.

    NY Times article on blurb and others

    100 books -- printing in China, but someone seems happy with the results.
    An experience with 100 books
  • photofreakphotofreak Registered Users Posts: 233 Major grins
    edited July 27, 2006
    aktse wrote:
    I don't have experience with any of these, but I hope this helps.

    NY Times article on blurb and others

    100 books -- printing in China, but someone seems happy with the results.
    An experience with 100 books
    VERY GOOD ARTICLE!! Thankyou!!!!clap.gif
    Mandi
    www.mandraleephotography.com
    Mandi :shay
    www.mandraleephotography.com



    Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
  • SeefutlungSeefutlung Registered Users Posts: 2,781 Major grins
    edited July 27, 2006
    Mike Lane wrote:
    ... You could probably use the book as the coffee table lol3.gif

    I need a coffee table ... sorta like killing two birds with one stone.
    My snaps can be found here:
    Unsharp at any Speed
  • cmasoncmason Registered Users Posts: 2,506 Major grins
    edited July 27, 2006
    cambler wrote:
    Any recommendations for sites that don't charge one-off prices?.

    Cambler, you may be interested in Lulu.com

    Lulu is really focused on self-publishing. It does photo books like the others, but also does larger orders, and also offers online sales of your title.
  • Osprey WhispererOsprey Whisperer Registered Users Posts: 3,803 Major grins
    edited July 27, 2006
    Thanks for the info Mike. Need to find a reliable source after the disaster with "My Publisher". umph.gif
    Mike McCarthy

    "Osprey Whisperer"

    OspreyWhisperer.com
  • Seattle_LiSeattle_Li Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited July 29, 2006
    Any else ever order from Picaboo?
    First of all, thank you. I have searched high and low on the web and you're the only info I've been able to find about what sort of quality the Picaboo albums are. (How many combinations can you do of the words: Picaboo, online, album, book, photo, quality, "made my own", etc!) It made me join the site just since I was so happy to finally find someone who had used them. I suppose the fact that they don't have reviews anywhere yet means either 1) not that many people use them or 2) they're just too new to have gotten much reaction yet.

    Do you know anyone else who has ordered from Picaboo, and if so, what did they think about the quality?

    My one problem with their service (well, only problem I've figured out so far) is that I can't order prints from them, so I'm unable to tell how well their pictures turn out without ordering a whole album.

    The others I could all compare (Kodak EasyShare, Snapfish, Shutterfly, Winkflash, Photoworks) by ordering a few test shots from each (or reading threads like this). I've seen some good things about Picaboo, and their software seems like it does more than a lot of the other sites I mentioned, but I'm leery of spending my time and money putting together something that looks c****y in the end.
  • photofreakphotofreak Registered Users Posts: 233 Major grins
    edited August 1, 2006
    Seattle_Li wrote:
    First of all, thank you. I have searched high and low on the web and you're the only info I've been able to find about what sort of quality the Picaboo albums are. (How many combinations can you do of the words: Picaboo, online, album, book, photo, quality, "made my own", etc!) It made me join the site just since I was so happy to finally find someone who had used them. I suppose the fact that they don't have reviews anywhere yet means either 1) not that many people use them or 2) they're just too new to have gotten much reaction yet.

    Do you know anyone else who has ordered from Picaboo, and if so, what did they think about the quality?

    My one problem with their service (well, only problem I've figured out so far) is that I can't order prints from them, so I'm unable to tell how well their pictures turn out without ordering a whole album.

    The others I could all compare (Kodak EasyShare, Snapfish, Shutterfly, Winkflash, Photoworks) by ordering a few test shots from each (or reading threads like this). I've seen some good things about Picaboo, and their software seems like it does more than a lot of the other sites I mentioned, but I'm leery of spending my time and money putting together something that looks c****y in the end.
    IMO, they don't look crappy at all! I am a perfectionist to a fault so, passing my standards is a feat. I will say this...the larger books (meaning, more pages) look slightly better than the 20 page books. They are thicker, obviously. And again, I would choose the faux leather over the linen. It just is not holding up as well. I use mine as portfolios and have made several for customers as gifts from me, of their photo shoot. The response has been overwhelming.
    And don't do this...I ordered a medium size book to start with. I got ahead of myself and ordered a larger one before the med one came in. I did not like the medium size at all. It is called a soft cover...it was card stock. Those medium books are in a drawer while, the large ones go with me to a shoot. I let any "others" who may be at the shoot, look through the books. I've scheduled many sittings simply from people looking at the books.
    Again, though...faux leather over linen...for handling purposes. I've done some wedding books for customers, that I ordered in linen and felt it would be safe as they probably would have it simply, on their coffee table.
    Mandi
    And yes, they are very new!!
    Mandi :shay
    www.mandraleephotography.com



    Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited August 4, 2006
    I just placed an order with blurb.

    The software is decent , only some minor glitches mostly in regards to speed. I seem to want to work faster than the beta software. The ability drag and drop photos into the book is also a bit touchy but it works. making sligt changes to the placement of photos within a given page is tricky though as the software is very clumsy here. There is also a lack of otions for "portrait" style phots as the current templates really favor "landscape" size pics. You have to get a bit creative with that. Font and text options are also limited which kinda sucks. Overall putting together a 54 page portfolio took about 6 hours from start to finish. Total with shipping was $41.90. I'll report back once it arrives.
  • claudermilkclaudermilk Registered Users Posts: 2,756 Major grins
    edited August 4, 2006
    This thread is taking me down some interesting, potentially expensive or lucrative roads. Thanks for the links. I'm liking what I see so far with Blurb--some great layouts & styles in the software.

    A quick question on the Picaboo software: can you do all-black pages like the Blurb portfolio layout?
  • ChibiPhotographyChibiPhotography Registered Users Posts: 30 Big grins
    edited August 5, 2006
    Summary of photo book printint (so far)
    For reference, here are all of the Photo Book Printing sites I have found so far:
    shutterfly
    Photoworks
    Blurb
    Picaboo
    Kodak Gallery
    Snapfish
    SharedInk
    lulu
    Winkflash

    Does anyone know of more out there?

    Feature Request: Can SM hook into one of these companies so we have book printing options? {or did I miss another cool feature?}
    Doug Pearson
    Chibi Photography
    pix.chibiphotography.com
  • photofreakphotofreak Registered Users Posts: 233 Major grins
    edited August 6, 2006
    "A quick question on the Picaboo software: can you do all-black pages like the Blurb portfolio layout?"

    I haven't seen the blurb layout...but, yes you can. There are many themed backgrounds to choose from. I prefer either black or white. I think it looks a bit classier. I did one with sepia tone photos on white background. It was beautiful! But, then they were my photos...and I did create the book...but, no bias here!
    Mandi
    Mandi :shay
    www.mandraleephotography.com



    Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
  • StustaffStustaff Registered Users Posts: 680 Major grins
    edited August 7, 2006
    For reference, here are all of the Photo Book Printing sites I have found so far:
    shutterfly
    Photoworks
    Blurb
    Picaboo
    Kodak Gallery
    Snapfish
    SharedInk
    lulu
    Winkflash

    Does anyone know of more out there?

    Feature Request: Can SM hook into one of these companies so we have book printing options? {or did I miss another cool feature?}


    Apple!
    Trapped in my bedroom taking pictures...did i say bedroom? i meant studio!

    My www. place is www.belperphoto.co.uk
    My smugmug galleries at http://stuarthill.smugmug.com
  • Seattle_LiSeattle_Li Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited August 8, 2006
    Additional info on photo books
    I've been doing more research and have come across a few other threads that might be useful...
    http://blog.photoblogs.org/2004/09/20/making-a-photography-book/
    http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1014&message=18517645
    I found them by doing a google search on "picaboo quality" and then going through to page 5 or so. Picaboo seems to have the most options for layout (or else making the book yourself in Photoshop) - they also have some interesting options for scrapbookers...

    A few other sites that I don't think have been mentioned:
    www.treasureyourpics.com
    www.asukabook.com
    http://www.viovio.com/wiki/Photo+Books
    http://www.pixart.com.my
    http://photobooks.colormailer.com/
    www.mypublisher.com
    www.blurb.com

    I registered at KodakGallery and they sent me a coupon for 30% off their books (med & large, not small) but it's only thru 8/9. Might be good for anyone who wants to give them a try though. Coupon code is BOOKS30. Picaboo is also currently running a special - buy one large book, get a medium book free - can't tell anywhere if that means they just print the same book twice but in different sizes, or if you can get two completely different books.

    Another interesting question I came across - some of the photo sites only accept JPEG files, which means I'd have to get my TIFF files translated before I could use them.

    Would love to hear any results from folks...has anyone tried Snapfish?
  • photofreakphotofreak Registered Users Posts: 233 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2006
    Picaboo is also currently running a special - buy one large book, get a medium book free - can't tell anywhere if that means they just print the same book twice but in different sizes, or if you can get two completely different books.


    It is the same book and it is the cardstock cover, I spoke of earlier in this thread. They "run" that special all the time.
    Mandi :shay
    www.mandraleephotography.com



    Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
  • claudermilkclaudermilk Registered Users Posts: 2,756 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2006
    photofreak wrote:
    I haven't seen the blurb layout...but, yes you can. There are many themed backgrounds to choose from. I prefer either black or white. I think it looks a bit classier. I did one with sepia tone photos on white background. It was beautiful! But, then they were my photos...and I did create the book...but, no bias here!
    Mandi

    Thanks. I'll give them a harder look then. So far these two appear to be the top runners for me. I'm also going to take another long look at the Leather Crafstmen page. I talked about the photo book ideas with my sister & she whipped out the wedding photo album; her photographer used them & it's a gorgeous book.
  • camblercambler Registered Users Posts: 277 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2006
    ... and yet, I'm still looking for a book printer who can do a full-color photo book in Q500 for a price more reasonable than the one-off POD printers.

    Am I resigned to outsourcing to China?

    Anyone?
  • Seattle_LiSeattle_Li Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited August 12, 2006
    More sites for photo books
    For reference, here are all of the Photo Book Printing sites I have found so far:
    shutterfly
    Photoworks
    Blurb
    Picaboo
    Kodak Gallery
    Snapfish
    SharedInk
    lulu
    Winkflash

    Does anyone know of more out there?
    Here's a huge list I found during my recent adventures in surfing :)

    http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1014&message=19068641

    http://www.albumsinc.com
    http://www.albuminclub.com
    http://www.palmbeachphoto.com/albums
    http://www.albumsunlimited.com
    http://www.renaissancealbums.com
    http://www.artleather.com
    http://www.artzproducts.com
    http://www.bindit.com
    http://www.burnesofboston.com
    http://www.campdale.co.uk
    http://www.caprialbum.com
    http://www.classicalbum.com
    http://www.creativeframe.com
    http://www.cypressalbums.com
    http://www.dennisdaniels.com
    http://www.digi-books.com
    http://www.studiomaterpro.com
    http://www.gpalbums.com
    http://www.graphistudio.com
    http://www.gnpframe.com
    http://www.g-m-b.com
    http://www.kambara.com
    http://www.proshots.com
    http://www.la-viealbum.com
    http://www.leather-album-designs.com
    http://www.leathercraftsmen.com
    http://www.levinframes.com
    http://www.lineco.com
    http://www.malden.com
    http://www.matermount.com
    http://www.mulbrundesigns.com
    http://www.pacificdigital.com
    http://www.pictobooks.com
    http://www.pioneerphotoalbums.com
    http://www.prat.com
    http://www.prinzusa.com
    http://www.queensberry.com
    http://www.reliablephoto.com
    http://www.thebookalbum.com
    http://www.roxburytwain.com
    http://www.sandisalbum.com
    http://www.seldes.com
    http://www.stoneeditions.com
    http://www.tap-usa.com
    http://www.topflightalbums.com
    http://www.ultra-pro.com
    http://www.wgbooks.com
    http://www.zookbinders.com

    I'm guessing many of these may target professionals since I haven't seen any of them advertised/reviewed/etc on consumer lists.

    On my personal quest:
    - I just ordered 3 small (softcover) photo books from Kodak Gallery (they seemed to have the best prices, could get 5X7, and full bleed) - price for a 47pg 5x7 book was $18 - with tax & shipping, it cost me a total of $64.
    - Still deciding for my "main" book whether I want to use blurb or picaboo - I think the picaboo software has more options, but they're also way more expensive. Prices for a 40pg or 50 pg book were respectively, $70 and $90 dollars on Picaboo vs. $30 and $35 on blurb. Big difference.

    One more question - which sites do you use for sharing photos with family & friends (ie, people who might want to get reprints vs. sites to share your photography with other folks like flickr, etc)?
  • meewolfiemeewolfie Registered Users Posts: 97 Big grins
    edited August 13, 2006
    One more question - which sites do you use for sharing photos with family & friends (ie, people who might want to get reprints vs. sites to share your photography with other folks like flickr, etc)?

    that would be...smugmug!:D

    Mary
    Brecksville, Ohio
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited August 18, 2006
    Blurb.com review:

    Got my book last week while on my vacation from Dgrin. Overall I'll give it an 8/10. The book itself it of very high quality. The binding is well done and the coverslip is perfect. I am taking some issue with the printing though. There is a noticeable loss in sharpness and brightness that seems to get worse as image size (printed not actual pic resolution) decreases. I'd say the book prints about a full stop darker than what you process on your monitor. This also seems to take out the crispness from all but the most razor sharp pics. This could be a function of the paper but I'm no expert.

    Yet another major issue is the crop used on pics that you layout with any version of a full bleed. All pages with pics that run to the edge of the page are cropped MUCH shorter on all edges than the layout would leave you to believe when putting it together on the PC. This is a major bummer and IMO should dealt with by blurb.com.

    I will be contacting them today with my critique so I'll post the remedy after the call.

    Good luck.
  • claudermilkclaudermilk Registered Users Posts: 2,756 Major grins
    edited August 18, 2006
    truth wrote:
    Blurb.com review:

    Got my book last week while on my vacation from Dgrin. Overall I'll give it an 8/10. The book itself it of very high quality. The binding is well done and the coverslip is perfect. I am taking some issue with the printing though. There is a noticeable loss in sharpness and brightness that seems to get worse as image size (printed not actual pic resolution) decreases. I'd say the book prints about a full stop darker than what you process on your monitor. This also seems to take out the crispness from all but the most razor sharp pics. This could be a function of the paper but I'm no expert.

    Yet another major issue is the crop used on pics that you layout with any version of a full bleed. All pages with pics that run to the edge of the page are cropped MUCH shorter on all edges than the layout would leave you to believe when putting it together on the PC. This is a major bummer and IMO should dealt with by blurb.com.

    I will be contacting them today with my critique so I'll post the remedy after the call.

    Good luck.

    Thanks for the info, good things to know. In the sharpness thing, would boosting the sharpening a little more help do you think?
  • SystemSystem Registered Users Posts: 8,186 moderator
    edited August 18, 2006
    Thanks for the info, good things to know. In the sharpness thing, would boosting the sharpening a little more help do you think?
    I don't think so. It seems to be an issue with the actual printing / paper as identical photos printed via smugmug are perfect.

    I wnated to call blurb.com but there is no phone number (that I could find) so I had te resort to sending an email via the webpage. I'll see what they say and report back...
  • Seattle_LiSeattle_Li Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited August 19, 2006
    Blurb customer service
    truth wrote:
    I don't think so. It seems to be an issue with the actual printing / paper as identical photos printed via smugmug are perfect.

    I wnated to call blurb.com but there is no phone number (that I could find) so I had te resort to sending an email via the webpage. I'll see what they say and report back...

    Just sent in my book order to Blurb today, so I'll let you know how it turns out.... I had several problems with the software - was very pleased with their customer service. I actually got a response from them after it sent in an automated "report this problem" email (see problem below) - I didn't think anyone would actually be looking at those, so it was a pleasant surprise. Maybe they're paying attention more since it's still in beta, but I found them very helpful.

    Lessons from the problems I had - can't upload pictures at >300 dpi (I kept getting "not enough memory to upload" error every time it got to that particular page). Can't use TIFs - I had one I tried to make jpg just by renaming (rather than exporting it into the new format) - made the software crash every time I tried to add that photo to the library. Overall, a good experience though...I'll let you know once I see the results...


    PS - meewolfie (Mary) - pretty funny :)
    I found this thread from a search...didn't even realize it was part of smugmug until a day or two ago when it was mentioned on a review of smugmug somewhere....
  • ReitzPhotoReitzPhoto Registered Users Posts: 9 Beginner grinner
    edited August 19, 2006
    photofreak wrote:
    They are great with customer service. They sent me one of my books with half the pages upside down. The next evening the new book was in my hands. I didn't even have to send the other book back.

    Wow, that's good C/S. Sign me up! I'm a sucker for places that care about customer satisfaction!
  • craftcraft Registered Users Posts: 10 Big grins
    edited August 22, 2006
    Shutterfly, MyPublisher & SharedInk as Options
    I can't speak for Picaboo, etc.; however, I did do a ton of research so I could offer my wedding clients less expensive photo books.

    I've been ordering from Shutterfly for ages and I love the leather/leatherish covers versus the cheap feeling canvas/cloth books I've seen from some of the other books. Shutterfly has full bleed pages and, if you click off "vivid" in the "effects" under each photo, you can ensure the photo prints EXACTLY as you want it to (if you calibrated your monitor to sRGB). Using their vivid photo (which is automatic, hence you have to turn it off) turns faces orange and will blow out your highlights in B&W (lesson learned from printing a book). These books are only $40 (for their best ones) and have impressed a lot of my friends and potential clients. I have a few who have ordered these books from me righ tnow.

    I tried out MyPublisher and found their user interface and software next to impossible to follow. They gave me two different explanations in their help files about how to print a book (I wanted the left side to have words, the right side to have photos).... Instead, the book printed the opposite. Instructions are hard to follow. The print quality waas good but the cloth cover really looked cheap. I was able to print a really large book though 12x16, which was cool. However, I won't be using them for my business.

    I am about to try SharedINk since they have a pro photographer package. You do have to pay $129 for the year (although they will give youa 45-day trial account) and their software seems okay to follow. You basically do the page in Photoshop according to their instructions. They have beautiful covers and will allow you to engrave writing on the front cover (perfect for weddings, or a gift to my mother). The 12x12 books are quite large and you can get ICC profiles, etc. You can also get a swatch book to share with clients showing paper, covers, etc. It all sounds great. I'll be building my first book shortly. The 12x12 books are around $80 or so (I think). Oh... and if you pay for a pro account your books DO NOT have SharedINk's logo at the back. In fact, you can put your own logo and website address instead. Has anyone had a book printed from them? I'd love to hear a review.

    Looking forward to seeing this thread grow. I think it's hard to work your way thorugh all the options out there.

    Cheers!
    Christina
    www.christinacraft.com
    http://craft.smugmug.com
    http://craft.smugmug.com
    Thousands of Nature & Wildlife Images Online
  • StustaffStustaff Registered Users Posts: 680 Major grins
    edited August 23, 2006
    Good post - unfortunately its even harder in the UK! think Im gonna have to gamble as finding it hard to find anyone reviews of uk publishers/book makers.
    Trapped in my bedroom taking pictures...did i say bedroom? i meant studio!

    My www. place is www.belperphoto.co.uk
    My smugmug galleries at http://stuarthill.smugmug.com
  • mama_cito95mama_cito95 Registered Users Posts: 2 Beginner grinner
    edited September 5, 2006
    More photo book sites
    There is also:
    MyPublisher: www.mypublisher.com which is similar to Picaboo in that you have to download their software. Picaboo offers more layouts and backgrounds. MyPublisher does not offer backgrounds or any other embellishments. However, I create my pages/layouts in Power Point, save each slide as a .jpeg file, and then load them up to MyPublisher into a full bleed layout.

    There is also Sony Image Station: www.imagestation.com/ . Never tried them before though.
    For reference, here are all of the Photo Book Printing sites I have found so far:
    shutterfly
    Photoworks
    Blurb
    Picaboo
    Kodak Gallery
    Snapfish
    SharedInk
    lulu
    Winkflash

    Does anyone know of more out there?

    Feature Request: Can SM hook into one of these companies so we have book printing options? {or did I miss another cool feature?}
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