Blurb vs. Shutterfly

[thessh]

So, since January 31st is fast approaching, and there is no way I'll be able to finish all the projects I have started at Shutterfly before that date - I've made up my mind!!!

I'm going with Blurb instead!
Just ordered their Swatch Kit, since they have some new quality papers as well as new linen covers and different colored endsheets!
Since I'm doing some books on weddings this year for friends - I want to see and feel the paper and cover before I decide how to "do it"!

I now have BookSmart downloaded on one of my desktops and have linked that one to my Flickr-account for easy transfer of all my pages into my books!

I hope to have my books on Africa and our latest cruise done and printed within the next couple of months, and maybe my book on 2010 too!

Then I can concentrate on the two weddings!
I'm doing one as a collaborative effort with my sister, and one all by myself. I'm just waiting for the photos to be sent to me from the professional photographer in Scotland for the second one...

[earlofoxford]

I think you'll be very happy with Blurb, Thess!

[digigrandma]

Good to know, Thess. I'll be interested in hearing what you think when you get your new books from Blurb.

Meanwhile, I sure do enjoy seeing the travel pages you post here at Designer Digitals.

[Scrapbird]

But Blurb doesn't do 8x8, do they?

[SallyJesse]

What's going on with Shutterfly?

[thessh]

Originally Posted by Scrapbird

But Blurb doesn't do 8x8, do they?

No, they do 7x7...

For me, that is not a problem, since I order 12x12...

[thessh]

Originally Posted by SallyJesse

What's going on with Shutterfly?

Shutterfly is discontinuing their "Classic Custom Path", that was kind of made for us DigiScrappers.

You can probably still use their "All New Custom Path", but it makes it harder and you have to adjust so many things that I, personally, find it VERY tedious...
We (several digiscrappers around the world) didn't ask for much. And Shutterfly actually did ask us! But I still don't know if they've listened...

So, I'm changing my venue for printing books!

[carollee]

Ahhh the great debate. I'll look forward to hearing what you think Thess.

[esther_a]

I didn't know that had a 'swatch kit'! That could be very handy!

[geekgirl415]

I love my Blurb book- the quality is much better than my Shutterfly books. I'm sticking with them. Good luck- sounds like a bunch of fun!

[dugarner]

I am SO frustrated! I was about to go with Blurb for my 2011 book and decided to do Shutterfly one last time because their sale brought me down $50 less than Blurb.

The quality is HORRENDOUS. Every person in the book looks like they have jaundice, and the pages are so dark sometimes I can't make out the detail in the photos. I know I'm not a professional photographer, and I don't have calibration software, but my screen can't be that far off. There is too much yellow all the way through the book. I've never had a book printed that had such inconsistent color and saturation.

I know they'll fix it, but I don't have much confidence that a replacement book would be any better. Should I cough up the $$ to reprint with Blurb or just let this be the last hurrah, and keep the crappy book?

ARGH!

[Scrapbird]

Since it won't cost you anything to fix it, I'd probably try that first.

[carollee]

Get them to redeem themselves, they should do it for free, then if that isn't any better then go Blurb. Maybe this one slipped through quality control.

What a bummer though, really negates that excitement you feel when opening the parcel to see your work.

[Janet1949]

The EXACT reason I've dumped them for BLURB... they are sooo much better....

Get them to reprint Sarah, it can't be any worse... can it?

[dugarner]

I'll take it outside in the morning to see it in daylight. It might be the lighting in my living room, but there is a noticeable difference between it and my other books. If it's bad, I'll call them and complain. I suspect when they run those tremendous sales their quality suffers. When I've ordered in the past with just a moderate discount, they've been much better quality.

My ONLY holdout with Blurb is the darn cover. They just don't hold up like Shutterfly's do and my one Blurb book is covered in grease and grime stains. I wonder if a Magic Eraser would work on it . . . anyway, other than that, I'm happy with the Blurb quality.

[Janet1949]

ooooh, thats a good idea Sarah, I never thought of the Magic Eraser.. it was the cover that stopped me ordering from Blurb for ages, but I don't mind it actually, and waiting for one to come any day.. mind you, I don't have any children pick up my books, only adults around here..

[DonnaNJ]

Sarah Would a clear plastic book jacket cover work.. they sell various types on Amazon, etc .. for those of us old enough to remember covering our school books with paper bags, these plastic covers work the same you fold it to size HTH Donna

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by DonnaNJ

Sarah Would a clear plastic book jacket cover work.. they sell various types on Amazon, etc .. for those of us old enough to remember covering our school books with paper bags, these plastic covers work the same you fold it to size HTH Donna

That might be a good idea! I remember the brown-paper days, for sure. I never even thought of something like that. I definitely need to keep that in mind.

[Photogirl2]

You could order the Blurb book with a dust jacket.

[carollee]

You know my Blurb book is a recipe book and it sits on the recipe holder on the kitchen bench and is pristine, despite being used a lot. What type of cover did you get Sarah? I got the image wrap I think it's called.

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by carollee

You know my Blurb book is a recipe book and it sits on the recipe holder on the kitchen bench and is pristine, despite being used a lot. What type of cover did you get Sarah? I got the image wrap I think it's called.

It's the image wrap, but it's so oversaturated. It's a teal color and because it's a matte finish instead of a glossy smooth finish, it retains grease and oil from hands. I'll have to see if I can get a photo of it with the condition it's in.

[Janet1949]

Guess what, after all my ranting and raving about how great BLURB was, I rec'd my P365 2011 today, and I've gotta say, Im a little disappointed.. the main problem is, the cropping isn't consistent, and alot more has been chopped off that I envisaged... also, some of my pages are a little on the dark side.. however, because I didnt have enough pages for my Dec Daily, I added them to the back of this book, and those pages are GLORIOUS..
I'm still gonna stick with BLURB, but will leave a bigger border than I normally would..
not happy Jan

[carollee]

Is it because do you think we scrap square (12x12 or 8x8) and their template size isn't exactly square. Do you think that could be a reason, which is what worries me.

[scullen2]

I love the books I order from White House Custom Color. They're expensive, but they are absolutely gorgeous....take my breath away gorgeous. They've got templates to download with guides for safe lines and etc., so I know in advance what the cropping will look like. They've got a variety of papers, but there's one that's very like photo paper. AND there's an option for a hinged/lay flat page, so no gutter. Easy, easy, easy to drop our layouts onto the ordering software. The covers are beautiful, too. I've gotten Shutterfly books with great sales or coupons, but for anything 'special,' I go with White House. And really, after spending this much time/effort to make pages look just right....I'm willing to spend some money to have them printed. They're not set up as a retail printer, though, so you can't 'share' books and pages through their site. Their market is professional photographers, but if you just ask them about setting up an account....they say 'yes' and seem happy for your business. I'm a happy customer!

[dugarner]

When I was setting up my book, I did notice they gave a very generous possible-crop space (they had the dotted lines but then the light purple border which looked to be about 1/2 inch). I never put borders around the edges of my pages because the trim is inconsistent. It's not a science with any printer. They are printing on paper that is probably 13" or so, and on a long roll. It gets trimmed after they print it and if anything if off---alignment on the trimmer, the press, whatever---the border will be inconsistent. I just put stuff to the edges without worrying about what will get trimmed. It's the same with Shutterfly, though I have never had trouble with their 1/8" trim guidelines.

I love WHCC too, but they are far out of my budget. I'm a SAHM and my monthly income (my funny money) after savings deposits is about $200. So while I'd love to go with a professional printer, I just don't have that kind of cash right now. Maybe in 20 years when both my kids are out of the house and I'm working full time again . . .

[scullen2]

yeah, we can't spend money we don't have! The chance to be a SAHM is way too valuable to pass up for even photo books. And--the beauty of digital--if you wanted to print then in 20 years, you probably could. They might even be more precious/appreciated.

[readstoomuch]

I was going to do my 365 this year through Shutterfly in 8 x 8 . . . then I decided to try Blurb's 8 x 10 landscape simply because they can print all of my 52 week double pages which Shutterfly can't do.

Anyone here used Viovio? I would need to go 8.5 x 11 landscape for them I think. Their website looks good to me . . . I'm still in the deciding mode, but would like to make a decision so I can create/resize my pages while it is still early in the year.

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by readstoomuch

I was going to do my 365 this year through Shutterfly in 8 x 8 . . . then I decided to try Blurb's 8 x 10 landscape simply because they can print all of my 52 week double pages which Shutterfly can't do.

Anyone here used Viovio? I would need to go 8.5 x 11 landscape for them I think. Their website looks good to me . . . I'm still in the deciding mode, but would like to make a decision so I can create/resize my pages while it is still early in the year.

I used VioVio once and the quality was horrendous. The color was way off---everything was a bleached-out yellow---and the paper felt almost like tissue paper.

Here's a thread where I posted a picture of a Shutterfly and VioVio book together.

http://www.designerdigitals.com/digi...photobook.html

The cover is Katie's Krafty Christmas paper, which is more brown than yellow.

Maybe it was a bad run, but it was so far off---and the paper was so cheap---that I decided not to use them again.

[readstoomuch]

Thanks, Sarah . . . I won't be using Viovio!

[dugarner]

I found a Magic Eraser today and tried it on my Blurb cover. Then I dried it with a paper towel. All the grease and grime came right off! It still has the couple of places that are bent/torn (came that way), but it's much more clean.