Photo books make some of the best presents. I love making these books as holiday, birthday or “thank you for the weekend” gifts—it takes me down memory lane, and I get so much pleasure putting them together. If you’re looking for a creative gift to give this year and have some spare time on your hands (insert giant sigh here), these are some of my favorite sites for you to check out.
As a photographer, I’ve made professional photo books of my work in Paris from Blurb, and let me tell you, they do not disappoint. They make beautiful books fit for any level of dollars you’re willing to pay. The downloadable software is easy to use and you don’t have to be tech savvy to do so. I’m a huge fan of Pinhole Press. I can’t wait to get started with my annual “recap of the year” family book that I make for my mother-in-law (I’ve got my eye on the large purple one), and I also just received my photo holiday cards I ordered from them—two thumbs up!
Shutterfly is an easy and foolproof site. You can choose various layouts and background themes and knock out a book in no time. Plus, they always seem to have a discount code on their site, which is an added bonus if you want to save a few dollars. My mom loves Kodakgallery. She creates photo books and puts together the greatest collages of our family. With a click here and there, you really can’t go wrong creating a terrific looking album. If you own a Mac computer, the iPhoto program is already installed. Lovely. Lovely. Joy. Joy. Fabulous professional looking books—my go-to book when I make an album for myself.
What photo books have you tried? I’d love to hear them.
Cool Tips to Preserve Your Child's Artwork
Monday 10th of October 2016
[…] in a photo book. This one comes from Pinhole Press. I wrote a post a few months ago about about my favorite photo books. Not into digital? Scrapbook it.Frame: Kids just love seeing their masterpiece framed and hung with […]
Giveaway: Pinhole Press Gift Certificate | Project Nursery
Friday 3rd of February 2012
[...] than store them on my computer. I was first introduced to Pinhole Press through Johanna’s post: Creating a Photo Book: A Labor of Love. It was love at first sight. I spent hours on their site brainstorming all the fabulous creations I [...]
cjko
Thursday 2nd of February 2012
I was not happy with my last couple books from blurb. They were very dark and print quality and colors were not good. I have used several other sites and I think my publisher has great quality. I am planning on trying viovio next. Reviews are really good.
Kate
Friday 16th of December 2011
I have stopped ordering Kodak books around the holidays. The print quality goes way down, the colours aren't true and they bleed. I am going to checkout your recommendations
Melanie
Tuesday 13th of December 2011
I love Picaboo. Used it many times. It is very flexible, you can use your own photos as backgrounds too, and they have a wide variety of layouts and covers. Very user-friendly.