Lon, years ago I used "My Publisher" for a few books as gifts. They since had gone out of business after 23 years or merged with Shutterfly as I recall. As a coffee table photo book gift they were fine, but for our level of photo scrutiny they fell short IMO. I will say that was years ago and there were issues at that time with browser color managements, uploading ISP constraints, publishing file size issues, etc. I would think most all of these groups now have advanced dramatically since then.
To back that thought up I most recently had an eye opening on an image I had uploaded a few years ago from Lundy Canyon for sale at FAA. I ran across an old friend at a house warming deal and low and behold he had that print on his wall. What a vast improvement on the general file transfer and end quality from years back. I'm sure we've all seen that improvement over time, similar to products produced through on line uploads to Aspen here on the west coast.
I would always say it is best to try a test run on a small purchase before going full on, but that can be subjective too. Maybe produce one book and then see how it turns out before producing too many. Once you've made a book you can save it at Blurb for future purchases.
Posted by Max Waugh on November 26, 2017 at 1:09 PM
It's been a while for me. I liked using them in the past since it seemed like they offered one of the best deals for larger books (we made a 160+ page book to commemorate a trip with friends). I'm pretty sure their prices have risen since then, so I'm not sure how competitive the pricing is these days. The quality was pretty good. Probably not the route I'd go for a "professional/commercial" book project, but for basic self-publishing they're pretty solid.
Max
Posted by Lon Overacker on November 26, 2017 at 4:58 PM
Yeah, I'm not sure I would fork out the money to produce a nice coffee table book of my own work - although it might be fun to see how it turns out.
I do think it's a cool option for perhaps a family photo album. I'm working on one of my grandson and his first 18 months. I little 7x7 book at about $10 ($20 or so minus the 50%) could make for some nice Christmas gifts.
I'll report back if I go through with it and get it done by the 29th.
Posted by Eva McDermott on November 30, 2017 at 7:05 PM
Never tried Blurb but have used Lulu and Zazzle for calendars as family gifts. Lulu is erratic in quality. Zazzle has been good the past few years. They were also great with Christmas ornaments and mugs. Waiting for my Yosemite and California Calendars from Zazzle this year. I think they are due to ship next week. My Publisher was great for calendars and picture books. I have not tried Shutterfly since MyPublisher went out of business. Shutterfly bought them. I have used my Zenfolio website to make a book of my son's and daughter-in-laws wedding. Very nice quality but a little quirky to use through the Zenfolio website. MPIX Pro did the printing.
Posted by Max Waugh on December 6, 2017 at 5:50 PM
I managed to create a 74 page book in time to take advantage of this deal. The quality's pretty good, though again, probably not the route a photographer would go if they wanted to print a serious commercial book. The coupon saved us about $50 per book, so thanks to Lon for sharing that here.
Discussion
5 replies%50 off Blurb books til 11/29.
Has anyone used Blurb? What's been your experience?
Lon
To back that thought up I most recently had an eye opening on an image I had uploaded a few years ago from Lundy Canyon for sale at FAA. I ran across an old friend at a house warming deal and low and behold he had that print on his wall. What a vast improvement on the general file transfer and end quality from years back. I'm sure we've all seen that improvement over time, similar to products produced through on line uploads to Aspen here on the west coast.
I would always say it is best to try a test run on a small purchase before going full on, but that can be subjective too. Maybe produce one book and then see how it turns out before producing too many. Once you've made a book you can save it at Blurb for future purchases.
Max
I do think it's a cool option for perhaps a family photo album. I'm working on one of my grandson and his first 18 months. I little 7x7 book at about $10 ($20 or so minus the 50%) could make for some nice Christmas gifts.
I'll report back if I go through with it and get it done by the 29th.
Max