Shutterfly 12x12 book

[mugsbigsis]

I have to tell you girls that I just got my 12x12 December Daily book from Shutterfly. I am very frugal by nature and this 12x12 was a splurge for me (even with a sale). I am so THRILLED with this book! It is absolutely fantastic as far as me feeling like I got my money's worth!

Here's the next part. . . I had changed my 365 format to accommodate the 8.5x11 size book because it was much cheaper and I figured I would like it just fine. Well, after receiving my December book I'm going right back to the 12x12 layout! Yes, I'll have to change my last 3 pages, but I now know it will be sooooo worth it!

Just had to share with people who would get it and not just say, "oh, that's nice".

[MeEmMom]

Kelly - I understand completely! Isn't it just so fun to get that new book and see all of your hard work in print! I'm still trying to decide if I want to do my 365 in 8x8 or 12x12. I do my family albums in 12x12, but I have done a few special albums as 8x8 and they were equally nice. I'll probably stick with the 8x8 for 365 since many of the pictures will be reused in my yearly 12x12 family album.

[carollee]

Kelly I know what you mean, the family album I got, I got two 12x12 printed (one for mum and one for me) and I got an 8x8 printed (for my brother). So I got to see the same book in two sizes.

The 8x8 was fabulous, loved it. My brother loved it. But wow!!! The 12x12 knocked my socks off.

Now, if only they did a 10x10 happy medium, it would still fit on shelves and yet be a bit bigger than 8x8, it would be perfect

[Jen D]

Originally Posted by carollee

Kelly I know what you mean, the family album I got, I got two 12x12 printed (one for mum and one for me) and I got an 8x8 printed (for my brother). So I got to see the same book in two sizes.

The 8x8 was fabulous, loved it. My brother loved it. But wow!!! The 12x12 knocked my socks off.

Now, if only they did a 10x10 happy medium, it would still fit on shelves and yet be a bit bigger than 8x8, it would be perfect

I agree... a 10X10 would be nice!

[dugarner]

I don't know if you're loyal to Shutterfly, but I'm waiting on an 8.5X8.5 book from viovio.com. They do have a 10X10 option, if I'm not mistaken, though not a casewrap hardcover, I think it's a material cover or a diecut. I will give an honest evaluation of the product when I get it.

The downside is the interface is more difficult to use than Shutterfly. It took some figuring out. But they have the option of paying more to have the binding stitched, so I did. With 33 pages, the stitching, and shipping, it came to $33, which is less than Shutterfly which doesn't stitch.

The main reason I'm trying them is because my 365 book will be 104 pages, and Shutterfly sets the limit at 100 pages. I think you can go up to 160 pages with viovio.com.

I love Shutterfly's 12X12 books, but if viovio.com works out, I will probably use them. They also have paperback options in every size imaginable-8.5X11 portrait and landscape, and small bragbooks. But if the quality of the product doesn't meet or exceed Shutterfly, I won't use them again.

Sarah

[hendon]

I agree Kelly! I got my first shutterfly album free in the 8x8 and loved it. But I REALLY wanted to see it 12x12 so I splurged and it's even more awesome! So I'm just going to wait til I can afford the 12x12 each time. But I'd probably still make gifts in the 8x8 (stingy ay?).

[Mary Rogers]

I will completely agree! I just loved my 12x12 of favorite layouts - just so wonderful....good for you kelly - in the long run I know you will be so much happier!!!

[Starlite9711]

Hmm, I have always gotten the 8x8's (4 of them for myself and 5 for gifts) But now I am anxious to see a 12x12....I will probably wnat to reprint all my 8x8's lol...Thanks for sharing Kelly!!

[kathie02]

I'm glad you are so happy with your book Kelly, makes all the hard work even more worth it!!

I have only ordered the 8x8 size, but would LOVE if they offered 10x10!!

[Kayleigh]

I can't wait to see a 12x12 book of my pages - i am just trying to figure out if i want to print my sister book, new pages of spencer, my all about me pages ... so many options lol

[MeEmMom]

I agree -- I would LOVE to see a 10x10 size. It would be the perfect size for most bookshelves and large enough to really show off the LO's. I wish there was something we could do to convince them.. hmmm....

[mugsbigsis]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I can't wait to see a 12x12 book of my pages - i am just trying to figure out if i want to print my sister book, new pages of spencer, my all about me pages ... so many options lol

Kayleigh, It's not so much the scrapbooking pages as it is the photos on the pages. The photos in the large size are just so wonderful. If you have to chose, then I'd go with the one of Spencer. (not that you asked, just thought I'd mention it)

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by mugsbigsis

Kayleigh, It's not so much the scrapbooking pages as it is the photos on the pages. The photos in the large size are just so wonderful. If you have to chose, then I'd go with the one of Spencer. (not that you asked, just thought I'd mention it)

Thank you for the vote Kelly - I need the push so I just might do a Spencer book since I do MOST of my pages on him. I can't wait to see them in 12x12!

[Kathie]

Good to know Kelly. I have also only done 8x8 and have been frightened of going larger. Good to know. Good to know. Although I didn't even realize that 100 pages is the limit at Shutterfly--been doing all my 365 in double page spreads! Looks like to stay with them, there will have to be some single pagers thrown in as well. TFS!!

[geekgirl415]

THANKYOU! for posting about this- i have been wondering how everyones books came out, if the quality IRL was as wonderful as i've seen online.... i've been debating on whether to do layouts or just photos for my p365... now my only debate is whether to do 12x12 or 8x8 (12x12 is just too big for me!).

[Chris]

It makes sense to get the larger size with the 365 project. With so many pics on the page they will look so good. When I pull up the layouts to 12" on my 24" iMac, you can see the detail in the photos, but not on my laptop.

I'm so glad you wrote this kelly, I might start one for each of my children for next year.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by MeEmMom

I agree -- I would LOVE to see a 10x10 size. It would be the perfect size for most bookshelves and large enough to really show off the LO's. I wish there was something we could do to convince them.. hmmm....

have you looked at mypictales.com pages - they have 10x10 - I printed that for my sons soccer album and I really liked that size.

[dugarner]

I don't know if anyone is interested, but I've been shopping around for books. I've been using Shutterfly, but wondered if anyone else did the same product for about the same price, or less. My 365 book will be bigger than Shutterfly can print, so I'm trying to find a solution.

I have noticed that places like mpix.com, whcc.com, and others are doing 8X8 and 10x10 books, they are very expensive, but nonetheless, they are out there.

I ordered an 8.5X8.5 book from viovio.com, who received great reviews from users on forums like Jessica Sprague's. I thought I'd give them a try. A 33-page casewrap hardcover runs about $8 less than it would at Shutterfly, so I ordered my December Daily book from them.

I don't want to be the party pooper, however, I was absolutely frustrated with the low quality of the product. I paid extra for a professional ("stitched") binding; it looked and felt like it's been glued, just like Shutterfly. The paper is thin, about half the weight of Shutterfly paper. It feels like copy paper. The colors are way off---makes everything look like it's got jaundice (I used Katie's kraft paper for the cover, and it is yellow instead of tan). They stretched the cover image instead of enlarging it, so my daughter looks distorted. On the inside, there is a 1/4" white gutter on the spine where my LO just stops. I understand variable-width spines, but that shouldn't make a difference. Full bleed should be full bleed.

Anyway, if anyone had been considering using other vendors, I wouldn't go with viovio.com. I am very unhappy with the product and would never order from them again. I have had issues with Shutterfly's color (I finally figured out I need to up my saturation about 15% for the prints to match my screen), but even though I don't do color calibration on my computer, their colors are never off like that.

So chalk another one up for Shutterfly!

Sarah

[earlofoxford]

Sarah, have you contacted them with your concerns? If their customer service is what it should be, they should refund your money.

[dugarner]

Linda, I don't think they will. I read a bit on their site and they are only responsible for mistakes related to the manufacturing equipment. They would tell me that my color calibration was off. It's not a big deal, I was prepared to spend the money to try them out (I'm glad I did before I ordered a 104-page book!). I might send them an email, but I don't think it will do much good. I'm just writing it off to experience. I wanted to be honest about it, in case someone else was going to try them. If the color had been better, I would have been satisfied, but I'm still convinced that Shutterfly is by far the best deal for the money. I know there are more professional binderies out there, but I can't afford them right now.

Sarah