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SharedInk and/or other photobooks
Back in 2008 I wanted to do a photobook for my goddaughter's wedding. I ended up selecting SharedInk and was very pleased. Expensive (I had to pay for their pro version initiation), but the results were great, colors and cropping matched exactly what I sent, and excellent construction.
I now want to do one for my niece. I also need to do one for my wife's africa trip (if she would ever give me captions!)
They are still around, and my account appears active (clearly I do not do this for a living but for fun).
But they seem to have almost no followers talking about them, in reviews, etc. It is as though they faded away. 4 years later their technology for preparing books is basically unchanged (photoshop templates -- usable, but tedious).
Anyone still use them, are they still good? Or comment on a good place? Cost is not so important as good professional look, and willingness to deal with someone who doesn't do this as a business. This latter seems to be a challange at several well rated places.
PS. Least someone start in on the subject, no I am NOT the photographer for the wedding, they hire someone, I stay out of the way, but grab some candids and family time shots to supplement.
I now want to do one for my niece. I also need to do one for my wife's africa trip (if she would ever give me captions!)
They are still around, and my account appears active (clearly I do not do this for a living but for fun).
But they seem to have almost no followers talking about them, in reviews, etc. It is as though they faded away. 4 years later their technology for preparing books is basically unchanged (photoshop templates -- usable, but tedious).
Anyone still use them, are they still good? Or comment on a good place? Cost is not so important as good professional look, and willingness to deal with someone who doesn't do this as a business. This latter seems to be a challange at several well rated places.
PS. Least someone start in on the subject, no I am NOT the photographer for the wedding, they hire someone, I stay out of the way, but grab some candids and family time shots to supplement.
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Comments
SharedInk is still around and still focused on the professional photography market. Your account is definitely still valid, although we did drop the pro fees a couple of years ago.
SharedInk's philosophy has not been to lock your design so that you can only order it from us, which is what happens when you get the "free" page layout tools from other companies. Many pro customers will order the bride's wedding album from one company and less expensive parent albums using the same design from another company. There are several ways you can design a book:
Photoshop. The Fundy Album Builder application that works in Photoshop works great. The Photoshop templates were improved last November.
Adobe InDesign. It is gaining popularity with photographers, it has long been the printing design industry standard. We've had InDesign templates for about a year now.
Lumapix FotoFusion. SharedInk presets are built into the program.
iPhoto or Aperture. They have limited book sizes.
Any other page layout program you'd like to use.
SharedInk is going strong. You can check out the SharedInk facebook page or the blog for current info. Please feel free to contact me, email support@sharedink.com, or call SharedInk at 877-944-8920 for more info.
SharedInk is still going strong. A lot of current customer comments are in paid pro forums. You can get an idea of what is going on at the SharedInk facebook page or the blog. You also should be getting the monthly emails that has what's new.
Your account is still active. The pro registration was dropped fee a few years ago.
A few things that have changed since your previous order are shorter lead times, 6 color / 210 line per inch (20% higher resolution than industry standard) printing, photo cover and metal cover options, and enhanced layflat paper types. The Photo Lustre and Pearl are pretty popular.
I personally use SharedInk for parent books - and I always get a *gasp* of wonder when they see, then touch the album. I particularly love their watercolor type paper... it has such a unique touch to it. I think they're not very strong in marketing so they don't get as much buzz as the others - but they have stellar products and stellar customer service - at least that's been my experience.