Thanks Denise.
Looks like there is a clear difference between lulu/zazzle and mycanvas/redbubble. The pricing of lulu is so tempting though. I figure that I can offer a calendar from lulu for under $20 but would be stuck at a more premium $25-30 price with the mycanvas/redbubble products. I definitely want to turn out a quality product however.
Hoping someone has more recent experience with the less expensive options. If banding is still an issue, I'll quickly take them off my list.
My head is spinning! I've looked at the following: Bay, nations, vista, lulu, viovio, mycanvas, magcloud, redbubble, officemax, staples, kinkos, and my local printer. Seems stapling is only an option with Bay (but I don't like the cover option with that one), possibly Staples, MacCloud and the local printer. I'm torn as to whether stapling is really a 'deal breaker' though. What have others found as far as preference for their clients? Seems that the lower end at the cost spectrum are lulu, vista, viovio and staples. Those would allow me to keep the selling price down to $15. Any thoughts on these? Could I possibly have missed someone else??
Thanks!
My head is spinning! I've looked at the following: Bay, nations, vista, lulu, viovio, mycanvas, magcloud, redbubble, officemax, staples, kinkos, and my local printer. Seems stapling is only an option with Bay (but I don't like the cover option with that one), possibly Staples, MacCloud and the local printer. I'm torn as to whether stapling is really a 'deal breaker' though. What have others found as far as preference for their clients? Seems that the lower end at the cost spectrum are lulu, vista, viovio and staples. Those would allow me to keep the selling price down to $15. Any thoughts on these? Could I possibly have missed someone else??
Thanks!
I have used Lulu for several years and have always been happy with their quality and turnaround time. Only other one you list that I have used was Redbubble. I loved the quality of their calendars but the turnaround time was way to slow and they are more expensive. Hope this helps.
Thanks Mark
I started making one at lulu but then got to the last page and realized it would be blank! No room for copyright info, directing customers to my website, etc.
Thanks Mark
I started making one at lulu but then got to the last page and realized it would be blank! No room for copyright info, directing customers to my website, etc.
Yes that's a problem. I considered put that info as a watermark on each month's image but in the end decided that it wasn't that big a deal for my situation. But I may revisit that position for my 2012 calendars.
I'm now thinking about doing a 13 month calendar with the last one being the contact info possibly presented on a blank page with the tides for the year (liveing in a coastal town that's almost a given on any wall calendar)
So I got the Lulu calendar in the mail today. I have to say that I am very impressed! Got the standard calendar. Excellent card stock and color reproduction. I don't see any banding in my photos - there is a faint 'texture' appearance when looked at very close.
I did full bleed photos but, next time, will leave some white space beneath to include the photo title and my website info.
There is a local printer who gave me an incredible price on a 12 month calendar on 100 to 110# stock with staples (200 for $100!). Will meet with them next week and see what that product looks like. For now, though, I think Lulu does a great job for the price.
So I got the Lulu calendar in the mail today. I have to say that I am very impressed! Got the standard calendar. Excellent card stock and color reproduction. I don't see any banding in my photos - there is a faint 'texture' appearance when looked at very close.
I did full bleed photos but, next time, will leave some white space beneath to include the photo title and my website info.
There is a local printer who gave me an incredible price on a 12 month calendar on 100 to 110# stock with staples (200 for $100!). Will meet with them next week and see what that product looks like. For now, though, I think Lulu does a great job for the price.
Cool. Glad to hear you liked Lulu (and no I do not work for them ) I like to use them because of their quality and storefront that allows me to sell online. At least until this becomes an option here at Smugmug.
So I got the Lulu calendar in the mail today. I have to say that I am very impressed! Got the standard calendar. Excellent card stock and color reproduction.
I just ordered a test calendar from Lulu, and I agree. I had gotten a full color, hardcover book from them 2 years ago and I wasn't all that impressed with the print resolution on the book's paper. However, the images looked great in the calendar. And, compared to the other options people listed, I like the price. A friend of mine wants to order a small lot (50-100) to go with a fashion show that he's organizing this fall, and he's not going to pay a premium of $20/calendar.
I considered UPrinting. I've ordered postcards from them, and the print quality is good. The prices are decent, too, but there are fairly large order requirements.
There is a local printer who gave me an incredible price on a 12 month calendar on 100 to 110# stock with staples (200 for $100!). Will meet with them next week and see what that product looks like.
Holy geez. Can you send that printer over to the NY Metro area...? I thought about looking for a local printer to do a short run, but I haven't found a deal like that.
Brian
That deal ended up 'too good to be true'
Updated price was 80# paper for $6 per calendar. Up front $50 for test run and first batch
Now thinking of just going the lulu route. If I order more than 5 I can get the price to just under $10 for a much better product
I'm now thinking about doing a 13 month calendar with the last one being the contact info possibly presented on a blank page with the tides for the year (liveing in a coastal town that's almost a given on any wall calendar)
I'm putting together my 2012 calendars now through Lulu and I'm going with a 13-month calendar. January 2013 will have website info, etc., etc., as well as detailed captions for the cover and the dozen 2012 photos.
I finished mine. Ended up putting my name and website info (spelled out; not the URL) on the front page.
Mentioned it on my FB page and already sold 14 units.
Ordered a test run of 5 for myself to show/put in some local stores. Will need to bump up the price locally to 24.95 to make up for the commission paid to the stores but will likely allow much broader reach. I see this as a really nice way to distribute samples of my work and build awareness of the site (and the ability to purchase prints from there).
My lulu link: http://www.lulu.com/product/calendar/marblehead-2012/16430335?showPreview
Also, their 'embed' option looks amazing on my wordpress site. See it at the bottom here: http://wednesdaysinmhd.com
eoren1,
Very nice calendar/photos... my only comment would be that it would be great to see info about the location of each shot at the bottom.
Questions
1) Did the color of the photos you submitted turn out about right in the finished piece?
2) Do they have a printer profile that you could use for more exact printing.
3) Did you submit these to them as CMYK or RGB,
4) If RGB, what flavor? Adobe RGB, Pro RGB, sRGB...
Lastly, I was curious, you mentioned earlier that you were planning on using a 13th page to include info about you, your website etc., but I didn't see that. Are you able to add that info if you'd like?
I finished mine. Ended up putting my name and website info (spelled out; not the URL) on the front page.
Mentioned it on my FB page and already sold 14 units.
Ordered a test run of 5 for myself to show/put in some local stores. Will need to bump up the price locally to 24.95 to make up for the commission paid to the stores but will likely allow much broader reach. I see this as a really nice way to distribute samples of my work and build awareness of the site (and the ability to purchase prints from there).
My lulu link: http://www.lulu.com/product/calendar/marblehead-2012/16430335?showPreview
Also, their 'embed' option looks amazing on my wordpress site. See it at the bottom here: http://wednesdaysinmhd.com
Thanks Chip
I did a few variations and showed them to my wife. She preferred the full bleed/no text ones.
Answers
1. Colors matched - I work on a calibrated iMac
2. Didn't profile; don't think they have one
3. sRGB
I should add that I got a second batch of 5 copies to sell in a local store and noticed a bit of banding in the sky. Looked at the original copy and saw it there as well. Not sure that 'banding' describes it correctly. It looks like very fine crosspatch if that describes it any better. In any event, it was minor enough that I didn't notice it initially. I have sold 18 copies in the past few weeks and heard nothing but raves about the final product.
The other really nice thing about Lulu is that they put out coupons that go toward their cost and not your profit. I sell mine for 19.99 and they had a coupon for 20% off last week. This week they have a 31% off coupon. I advertised this on my site and FB page which is a great way to drum up sales and not take a hit on profit margin. I actually plan on using that coupon myself to purchase 20-30 more so that I can sell them in person at an upcoming Fall festival. If that works out well, I'll order even more for a Christmas event in town.
The part that seems a bit odd to me (about Lulu.com) is that they don't really have any detailed specs on what image sizes to submit, what resolution they can print, or what color profile is best. They do mention that images 150 DPI or above produce "better" results.., I would hope that their print quality would be 300 DPI.
One more question, I've played around with their calendar creations tool and was wondering how you got your name on the front cover. In preview mode, I didn't see this on the cover.
Thanks Chip
I did a few variations and showed them to my wife. She preferred the full bleed/no text ones.
Answers
1. Colors matched - I work on a calibrated iMac
2. Didn't profile; don't think they have one
3. sRGB
The part that seems a bit odd to me (about Lulu.com) is that they don't really have any detailed specs on what image sizes to submit, what resolution they can print, or what color profile is best. They do mention that images 150 DPI or above produce "better" results.., I would hope that their print quality would be 300 DPI.
One more question, I've played around with their calendar creations tool and was wondering how you got your name on the front cover. In preview mode, I didn't see this on the cover.
If you start designing a calendar in the LuLu studio, each image box should have a set of dimensions. A full page image, for example, says, "11.25" x 8.75" or 3375 x 2625 pixels (300 dpi)."
So, I'm pretty sure the product is printed at 300 dpi - up to you to deliver the proper resolution image.
As for the cover (and the same for the insides), like eoren said, you can design it yourself. I prefer InDesign, but Photoshop works too. If you choose a calendar template that lets you drop a full-size image in, you can just create your own layout on a blank slate and not be constrained by their templates.
SlowWalkere, yes you're right. I finally did find the image sizes in each blank image box on Lulu.com. The print was so small that I initially didn't even notice them. In terms of color space, I've spoken to a few folks offline since my post and the consensus seems to be to just submit images as sRGB, and let Lulu do the conversion to CMYK for their printer.
I'm doing a test calendar with an embedded color chart to see how the colors on my monitor compare to the printed version.
If you start designing a calendar in the LuLu studio, each image box should have a set of dimensions. A full page image, for example, says, "11.25" x 8.75" or 3375 x 2625 pixels (300 dpi)."
So, I'm pretty sure the product is printed at 300 dpi - up to you to deliver the proper resolution image.
- Brian
Comments
Looks like there is a clear difference between lulu/zazzle and mycanvas/redbubble. The pricing of lulu is so tempting though. I figure that I can offer a calendar from lulu for under $20 but would be stuck at a more premium $25-30 price with the mycanvas/redbubble products. I definitely want to turn out a quality product however.
Hoping someone has more recent experience with the less expensive options. If banding is still an issue, I'll quickly take them off my list.
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
Thanks!
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
I have used Lulu for several years and have always been happy with their quality and turnaround time. Only other one you list that I have used was Redbubble. I loved the quality of their calendars but the turnaround time was way to slow and they are more expensive. Hope this helps.
Smugmug site
Blog Portfolio
Facebook
I started making one at lulu but then got to the last page and realized it would be blank! No room for copyright info, directing customers to my website, etc.
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
Yes that's a problem. I considered put that info as a watermark on each month's image but in the end decided that it wasn't that big a deal for my situation. But I may revisit that position for my 2012 calendars.
Smugmug site
Blog Portfolio
Facebook
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
I did full bleed photos but, next time, will leave some white space beneath to include the photo title and my website info.
There is a local printer who gave me an incredible price on a 12 month calendar on 100 to 110# stock with staples (200 for $100!). Will meet with them next week and see what that product looks like. For now, though, I think Lulu does a great job for the price.
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
Cool. Glad to hear you liked Lulu (and no I do not work for them
Smugmug site
Blog Portfolio
Facebook
I just ordered a test calendar from Lulu, and I agree. I had gotten a full color, hardcover book from them 2 years ago and I wasn't all that impressed with the print resolution on the book's paper. However, the images looked great in the calendar. And, compared to the other options people listed, I like the price. A friend of mine wants to order a small lot (50-100) to go with a fashion show that he's organizing this fall, and he's not going to pay a premium of $20/calendar.
I considered UPrinting. I've ordered postcards from them, and the print quality is good. The prices are decent, too, but there are fairly large order requirements.
Holy geez. Can you send that printer over to the NY Metro area...? I thought about looking for a local printer to do a short run, but I haven't found a deal like that.
- Brian
That deal ended up 'too good to be true'
Updated price was 80# paper for $6 per calendar. Up front $50 for test run and first batch
Now thinking of just going the lulu route. If I order more than 5 I can get the price to just under $10 for a much better product
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
I'm putting together my 2012 calendars now through Lulu and I'm going with a 13-month calendar. January 2013 will have website info, etc., etc., as well as detailed captions for the cover and the dozen 2012 photos.
The Railroad Photographer
www.railroadphotographer.com
Mentioned it on my FB page and already sold 14 units.
Ordered a test run of 5 for myself to show/put in some local stores. Will need to bump up the price locally to 24.95 to make up for the commission paid to the stores but will likely allow much broader reach. I see this as a really nice way to distribute samples of my work and build awareness of the site (and the ability to purchase prints from there).
My lulu link: http://www.lulu.com/product/calendar/marblehead-2012/16430335?showPreview
Also, their 'embed' option looks amazing on my wordpress site. See it at the bottom here: http://wednesdaysinmhd.com
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
Very nice calendar/photos... my only comment would be that it would be great to see info about the location of each shot at the bottom.
Questions
1) Did the color of the photos you submitted turn out about right in the finished piece?
2) Do they have a printer profile that you could use for more exact printing.
3) Did you submit these to them as CMYK or RGB,
4) If RGB, what flavor? Adobe RGB, Pro RGB, sRGB...
Lastly, I was curious, you mentioned earlier that you were planning on using a 13th page to include info about you, your website etc., but I didn't see that. Are you able to add that info if you'd like?
I did a few variations and showed them to my wife. She preferred the full bleed/no text ones.
Answers
1. Colors matched - I work on a calibrated iMac
2. Didn't profile; don't think they have one
3. sRGB
I should add that I got a second batch of 5 copies to sell in a local store and noticed a bit of banding in the sky. Looked at the original copy and saw it there as well. Not sure that 'banding' describes it correctly. It looks like very fine crosspatch if that describes it any better. In any event, it was minor enough that I didn't notice it initially. I have sold 18 copies in the past few weeks and heard nothing but raves about the final product.
The other really nice thing about Lulu is that they put out coupons that go toward their cost and not your profit. I sell mine for 19.99 and they had a coupon for 20% off last week. This week they have a 31% off coupon. I advertised this on my site and FB page which is a great way to drum up sales and not take a hit on profit margin. I actually plan on using that coupon myself to purchase 20-30 more so that I can sell them in person at an upcoming Fall festival. If that works out well, I'll order even more for a Christmas event in town.
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
One more question, I've played around with their calendar creations tool and was wondering how you got your name on the front cover. In preview mode, I didn't see this on the cover.
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
If you start designing a calendar in the LuLu studio, each image box should have a set of dimensions. A full page image, for example, says, "11.25" x 8.75" or 3375 x 2625 pixels (300 dpi)."
So, I'm pretty sure the product is printed at 300 dpi - up to you to deliver the proper resolution image.
As for the cover (and the same for the insides), like eoren said, you can design it yourself. I prefer InDesign, but Photoshop works too. If you choose a calendar template that lets you drop a full-size image in, you can just create your own layout on a blank slate and not be constrained by their templates.
- Brian
I'm doing a test calendar with an embedded color chart to see how the colors on my monitor compare to the printed version.
http://www.createphotocalendars.com/
Website
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