Wedding Photo Books
So as to expand the resources and tips links please post your wedding album vendor list and experiences with them.
Albums Inc www.albumsinc.com They have a large selection of brand and types. I have used some of the older traditional type albums with pages with predesigned layouts that you insert prints into. The ones I used were the Renessance Milano. I worked for another wedding photographer for a while and he used these for his medium format film weddings. There is some work to putting them together.
Albums Inc www.albumsinc.com They have a large selection of brand and types. I have used some of the older traditional type albums with pages with predesigned layouts that you insert prints into. The ones I used were the Renessance Milano. I worked for another wedding photographer for a while and he used these for his medium format film weddings. There is some work to putting them together.
"A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
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Blurb (inexpensive coffee table; free proprietary design software).
WHCC (press printed coffee table; design in Photoshop).
Asuka (high end coffee table with custom box; design in Photoshop or buy 3rd party templates)
Kiss (custom flush mount, very simplistic to order. Design in Photoshop)
GraphiStudio (the biggest, baddest Italian-made albums out there; lots of custom options. Design in Photoshop; or take advantage of their fairly reasonable design service).
50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
ST-E2 Transmitter + (3) 580 EXII + radio poppers
One of my favorite vendors I found at WPPI this year.
Not only do they have albums, but they have the neatest proof boxes that are canvas wrapped with an image.
www.heatherdunnphotography.com
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Asuka Books - probably my second faovirte, High quality, fast turnaround. You have to do the design or use a 3rd party so there is more time involved. Close to Graphi quality for much less $$ so great choice for the Brides on a budget. Just remember to factor in your time in designing the album in your final price.
Zookbooks - good book for the budget conscious. they have greatly improved their quality and have recently come out with a several new styles including print to bind. Fast turnaround time. I have used them with very good success for engagement books, wedding guest registries (stole that idea from Shay - and the brides love it) I also use them for my "babies first year" albums
I have not yet used Blurb but have heard good things and my try them for a few studio books I am designing to see how they look.
MILOStudios
www.milophotostudios.com
There are some images of a couple of our sample Finao One albums here
Cheers!
David
www.uniqueday.com
Please hlep!
I've used the search option and can't find the thread that lists all the digital photo books....... could we maybe do a "sticky" in this section of all the best and helpful links for us photogs!?:D
I've used
my publisher
blurb
both were, fine based on what I needed, but I'd love to find a listing for better quality books!
Who have you used and how did you find the quality?
Blurb (inexpensive coffee table; free proprietary design software).
WHCC (press printed coffee table; design in Photoshop).
Asuka (high end coffee table with custom box; design in Photoshop or buy 3rd party templates)
Kiss (custom flush mount, very simplistic to order. Design in Photoshop)
GraphiStudio (the biggest, baddest Italian-made albums out there; lots of custom options. Design in Photoshop; or take advantage of their fairly reasonable design service).<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
There's a larger thread with reviews in the Mind Your Own Business section: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38968
HTH!
http://www.finaoonline.com/
http://www.graphistudio.com/en/products/Book/index.html
I like some of the products from GraphiStudio, but as I got all excited...I saw they were in the UK.
1. Have you ever used them?
2. Do you know if they ship to the US?
Thanks for the links.
For what it's worth, I've done several books with MPIX. The overall quality is pretty good. I did their custom covers and after quite a while, got it to come out ok. Their software is pretty easy to use but I found them to be way too expensive to do any kind of quantity. They DO offer a 25% discount if you order 50 of the same book and their limit is 50 pages.
You can get a "next day" option for just 15 bucks more also, so if you need it in a hurry and money is no object.....
________________
www.elginet.com - www.elginet.smugmug.com
Toys: Nikon D3x, D300s w/MD10 grip, D300, Fuji S3Pro &S2Pro,
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There offices are actually in Italy not the UK, and yes they do ship to the US. Each region in the US has their own rep, the one I deal with in So Cal is wonderful. She returns phone calls within 15 to 30 minutes never fail. Their work in impeckable, their designers are amazing. Graphi is by far the best quality books I have ever used. I would highly recommend them to anyone. They are not cheap, and probably out of the price range or the budget conscious B&G, but they are so worth the $$. Only down side is they are a minimum of 6 weeks delivery time.
If you have a budget conscious B&G I recommend Asuka Books. high qulaity work for mid ranges prices. A little more expensive than blurb but much better quality and CS. They are US based and have a 3 to 4 week turnaround. I also use them exclusivley for photo guest regestry books.
MILOStudios
www.milophotostudios.com
I've got a need for something kind of in the middle - the client doesn't want a 'thin page' book like the ones I've done in blurb. They want a 'thick page' full bleed book but not a ~$500+ typical wedding album style.
Is there an option around ~$100 bucks for a thick page style photo-book?
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
$100 wholesale or client cost? Are you talking about a flush mount? There is no flush mount I know of that is only $100. And if there were...well I'd probably lean toward a nicer coffee table for the money. Custom wedding albums...ones that will last more than ~1 year...are not commodities.
You would be wise to educate your clients on the intense amount of hands on labor (yours AND the manufacturers) involved in a flush mount.
ETA: I was very impressed with this email notification I recieved from Kiss, my favorite flush mount manufacturer. Very enlightening.
Dear Lynne ,
New turn-around time for standard orders: 15 working days. Rush orders are still 5 days.
As we've ramped our production into full swing, we've learned some things over the past year. One of them has been in regard to how fast we can make a book. It's true, we can technically flip a book in about 3 days--if absolutely nothing goes awry--but any hitch in the process can bring us to a halt.
To give a thumbnail sketch of how your books are built:
* The files are uploaded.
* We review every file, in detail, to determine if we think it will print properly.
* If not, we work with our clients to ensure they get the files to where they need to be
* Once the files are approved, they go to printing.
* If there is anything wrong with a print (scratch, color, dust, etc.) they are reprinted.
* Once we have good prints, they are creased for the fold.
* Sometimes, the creaser or the person running it makes a mistake--back to printing.
* Once the pages are creased, they are all hand-folded.
* If a page doesn't lay down in the fold properly--back to printing.
* Once we have properly folded pages, they are hand-stacked onto the page backing.
* If the glue is uneven on the backing, which may cause a bump, the page is pulled and re-stacked.
* Once we have a stacked book, it is inspected for any problems (dust under a page, scratches, page order, etc.) If anything is not perfect, the page is pulled from the stack and sent back to printing.
* Once we have a stacked book that has been checked and approved, it goes into the hot press.
* When pulled from the hot press, it's inspected again for bumps, scratches, etc. If anything is bad, that page is pulled and sent back to printing.
* Once we have a stacked and cooked book that looks good, it goes into the cool press.
* Once out of the cool press, it's inspected again. Any defects are pulled from th e book and sent back to printing.
* Once it clears the cool-press inspection, it is ready to be hand-cut.
* In cutting, many things can happen. A page can crack. The blade can have a defect that damages the book. The cut can be slightly off. Etc. If any of these things happen at this stage, it frequently means starting over.
* Once we have a properly cut book, it is covered. This stage is usually easy. (whew!)
* After it is covered, it is, again, inspected. If anything is amiss, it's likely not fixable (sometimes it can be) and the book has to be remade from scratch.
When things go smoothly, or there's only a few problems, 10 days is no big deal. Some books, however, seem cursed and require multiple fixes at every stage. So, we have decided to push our production time to 15 working days from 10. It was either that or raise prices to slow things down and bring in more labor. We are doing this in your best interest, and I hope you all see it that way!
In love,
Kevin and Shaun (and the rest of the hard-working crew at KISS)
50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
ST-E2 Transmitter + (3) 580 EXII + radio poppers
That's cool - I guess that is the type of book we/they are considering. The pages are thick enough to where the page is 'stiff' like a thin cardboard.
What is the ballpark pricing on something like this?
I've also thought about getting something similar for my daughter (almost 2 years old) for an alphabet book - lots of the popular kids books are printed with really hardstock paper so the child doesn't tear the page; is there a more inexpensive printing option for something like that?
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
As Lynne said is the $100 your cost or cost to client. I dont know what others charge but I usually charge between 2 and 2.5 times my cost. The cost of any book, in most cases, is going to be dependant upon four to five aspects of the book.
1. Style of printing/binding
2. Size of book - dimensions, ie 7x7, 8x10, 9x12, etc
3. Number of printed sides
4. Cover type
5. Paper type
Without knowing these things, expecially #'s 2 & 3, its hard to tell you if there is a book in that range.
I have never done a flush mounted book so I can't realy comment on that. All of my books are print to bind.
If you are looking for a thicker paper in the print to bind style I did see an email from Zookbinders the other day introducing metalic paper. I have not seen it first hand to atest for the quality but on general Metalic paper is usually significantly thicker than laminated paper. Zookbinders print to bind quality has come a long way in the past year or so. they may be woth checking out.
www.zookbinders.com
MILOStudios
www.milophotostudios.com
Mainly something around 40 pages (sides), book size in the 10x8 to 13x13 range.
I just threw that ~$100 price range out there, I really have no idea what these cost and haven't been able to find many estimates online for these.
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
Yes, the better book companies are very photographer friendly when it comes to publishing prices. They know most of us have high mark-ups on these types of books, so they dont want to undermine our pricing by positing pricing for B&G's to see. Almost all the venders I deal with require you to complete an application for an account which will give you access to their photographer only pages with pricing. Graphi Studios & Asuka Books go so far as to check out your web site before granting you access. They dont want their prices out on the street!
Asuka is probably out of your price range on this one, check out Zookbinders you might find something close but I would still bet your at least double the $100.
MILOStudios
www.milophotostudios.com
Just this week Blurb started offering the option of thick pages
Thank you for pointing out the premium pages, that is a great thing to know. I can't wait to get my hands on one.
Atlanta, GA USA
my smugmug
Atlanta Modern Wedding Photographer
SheriJohnsonPhotography.com
I wonder how thick? Would like to check that out also as an option. I agree the imagewrap feature is really awesome!
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
Here is a picture of the problem. The image wrap is like some sort of contact paper type stuff stuck on top of the hard backing. On this album it was improperly installed. You can see it in the picture. If you press on it it made a stick and unstick sound and was not professional looking. In the photo it looks as though the plastic cover had been cut, but it wasn't- it just isn't stuck down well. I got 2 copies and both had the same issues.
HOWEVER, blurb replaced them at no charge and the new ones did not have the issue. All in all, quality wise, they are not as good as some other albums, but if you have the time to deal with it, the price is definitely right.
Is there another company that makes these books that you do recommend?
Atlanta, GA USA
my smugmug
Atlanta Modern Wedding Photographer
SheriJohnsonPhotography.com
I just made my first graphistudio book and I LOOOOVE it.
It is like comparing apples and oranges it is so good. Of course that difference is reflected in the price tag. But I do have to say that I had a bride in my studio raving about a blurb book that I had done and then I showed her my graphistudio book with a price tag over 90% more than my blurb book price tag and she bought it hook, line, and sinker and the guest books and parent books as well. It was rather humorous to see her practically drop one in her excitement over the other.
To be honest I had worried about being able to sell the graphistudio books because they cost so much more, but apparently that is not going to be a problem.
I am also going to be checking out the Kiss books, and am in the process on working up a sample with them as well. We'll see.
Heather, Thank you for that feedback on the books. Please come back and share about any others as I weigh heavily by feedback and input by real people with discriminating tastes for high quality.
Atlanta, GA USA
my smugmug
Atlanta Modern Wedding Photographer
SheriJohnsonPhotography.com
My blurb imagewrap books (4 copies so far) have all been great - maybe they refined their methods of getting the image on the cover recently? Mine were done this summer.
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
Atlanta, GA USA
my smugmug
Atlanta Modern Wedding Photographer
SheriJohnsonPhotography.com
Tried them, not too bad if its something the clients are ready for . . .
Thumbs up for graphisoft... there really is nothing better at the moment. The wait is worth it.
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