Best Photo Book for Baby Photos

"Which are the best photo book printers - how do I choose?"

Here is a summary of things to consider when choosing the best photo book printer for your baby's photos.

1. Cost of the digital photo book
2. Method of creating the photo book
3. Capacity of digital photo book
4. Photo book appearance
5. Page layouts
6. Page backgrounds
7. Quality of the digital photo book
8. Ease of creating the photo book
9. Customer service
10. Shipping time
11. Online store

#1 Digital Photo Book Cost

When comparing the price of digital photobooks, keep in mind that photo book printers price their digital photo books in one of the two following ways:

1. Some photo book companies have a set price for a certain number of pages and then charge extra for additional pages.
Shutterfly and Picaboo photo book suppliers price their photobooks in this way.
2. Other digital photo book suppliers such as Blurb give you a price for a different range of pages. For example, Blurb will charge you a certain amount for a 20-40 page book, and a higher amount for a 41-80 page book and so on.

When comparing prices of different photo book companies, try and compare the prices for similar sized books and books with similar cover style eg. soft cover or hard cover. In some cases this may not be possible as different suppliers have different photobook sizes and cover types.

#2 Method of creating a photo book - download software or upload photos

The best photo book is one that is easy to create!

Depending on which photo book supplier you choose, you will create your baby’s photobook in one of the following ways:

1. you can download photo book making software and create your photobook on your computer and then upload your completed photo book for printing or
2. upload your photos and create your photo book online.

Which is the best option for you? Here are some questions to help you decide which is your best way to create a photo book:

• How old is your computer? If you have an older computer, keep in mind that some photobook software can only be downloaded to newer computers (memory) and creating a photobook online by uploading photos will be a better option for you. Photobook making software can be very slow on older computers. Check the system requirements.
• You fast is your Internet connection? If you have slow Internet connection then you might find it frustrating to upload all your baby’s photos to create a photobook. You may find it easier to download photobook software and upload your completed photo book.
• Do you have a PC or a Mac? If you have a Mac keep in mind that you may not be able to download some photobook software. Some photo book software is only PC compatible.

Would you prefer to download software or upload your photos to create your baby’s photo book?

#3 Capacity of photo book

If you want to include a large number of photos in your baby’s photobook, you will be interested in the maximum number of pages you can include in your photobook.

The number of pages you can include in your digital photo book varies for each photobook company. For example, you can include a maximum of:

• 440 pages in a Blurb photo book
• 160 pages in a Piccaboo photo book
• 150 pages in a Snapfish photo book
• 100 pages in a Shutterfly photo book

Most digital photo book printers require you to include 20 pages in your photo book as the minimum number of pages.

Also check how the photo book company defines a page in their photo books. Generally a page is defined as one side of a leaf of paper.

#4 Appearance of your photo book

Photo book Shape Options

There are a number of different photobook shapes and sizes and these vary depending on the photo book printer you use.

Here are some examples of photobook shapes:

• Square
• Landscape (longest part of the photobook is the top of the book)
• Portrait (longest part of the photobook is the side of the book)

Photo Book Size Options

Some photobook companies give you a choice in sizes for different shaped photobooks. For example, Blurb has a landscape photo book available in two different sizes.

Photo Book Cover Options

When deciding on a photo book printer consider your photo book cover options. Do you prefer a soft cover photo book or hardcover photo book?

The benefits of soft cover photobooks are that they cost less than hardcover photobooks. The benefits of hardcover photobooks are that the cover won’t easily bend or crease.

Some hard cover photo book cover options are:

• Hardcover covered by dust jacket (a loose paper cover that wraps around the book)

Dust jackets look great on photobooks. Your photobook will look just like a coffee table book. You can add a favourite photo to the front cover, back cover and flaps. The name of your photo book can also be on the spine and front cover.

One downside with dust jackets is that they aren’t practical with young children as they can be ripped. Blurb photobooks have dustcovers.

• Hardcover with laminated photo covers
• Hardcover with die cut window to reveal a photo – with the hardcover covered in either:
• Fine linen/ cloth
• Italian leather
• Padded leather
• Textured paper

Photobook Cover Color Options

If you like the look of a digital photo book with a plain cover you will be able to choose from a variety of colours. You might want to choose a gender specific colour such as pale blue for a baby boy photobook and pale pink for baby girl photobook or choose a gender neutral colour such as black.

Title of photo book on the spine

Some photo book printers allow you to label you baby’s photobook on the spine. If you plan to create a lot of photo books having a label on the spine will enable to find your baby’s photobook on the shelf easily.

Binding

Check to see how the photo book is bound. Photobooks can either be bound in the following way:

• Perfect bound
• Saddle Stitched

#5 Page Layouts

Most photo book printers provide pre-designed page templates to help you create your baby photo book. The designs will vary according to:

• the number of photo spaces on the page – from one full-bleed photo through to 20 photos on the page,
• the orientation of the photos on the page (horizontal or vertical,
• the shape of the photo spaces – rectangular, circular or square,
• whether there is space available to include text,
• whether the photo spaces overlap each other or the photo spaces are separated.

If you are creative and like to create your own page designs (a digital scrapbooker), some photobook suppliers allow you to drag your design onto a full-bleed page. Blurb, Shutterfly or Picaboo photobooks all allow you to import your own designs into your baby’s photo book. Checklist when deciding on the best photo book:

• Can you create full-bleed pages where the photo goes right to the edge of the page?
• How many different page designs are available?
• How many page designs are available if you only want to include one photo, two photos, three photos etc?
• How many page designs are available for different orientations of photos (vertical or horizontal)
• Are there text boxes on any of the page designs? How large are the text boxes?
• Can you import PDF page designs?
• Do you have a choice of fonts?
• Can the text be different colours?

#6 Photo book page backgrounds

In addition to providing page templates, photo book printers provide a range of different background patterns/themes and colours that you can use to enhance your photos.

If you are looking for a photo book company that has baby themed page backgrounds then choose Picaboo or Shutterfly. Blurb doesn't have any baby themed page backgrounds.

Some photo book printers have beautiful scrapbook style page backgrounds available in a blue theme for a baby boy photobook and pink theme for a baby girl photobook. These photobooks are available in the 12x12 traditional scrapbook size too.

Of course, you can always choose a classic black or white background for your baby’s photos. Keep in mind that black backgrounds show fingerprint marks.

Photo book printers also provide a range of photo borders and ornaments that you can place around your photos.

#7 Photo Book Quality

When checking out the quality of a photo book find out:

• the paper quality that the photo book printer uses;
• image quality in the photobook; and
• quality of the binding.

#8 Ease of Creating a Photo Book

Some things to consider:

• Is the download of the free software easy to do?
• Does the photo book printer have an automatic book build?
• How quickly will the software work on your computer?
• Does the photo book creating software/ photo book website have easy to use photo editing tools?
• How long does it take to upload photos or photo book to the photo printer website?

#9 Customer Service

Good customer service comes in handy when something goes wrong. If your photo book arrives in poor quality or your photo book arrives late or not at all then you will want to talk to someone to complain and rectify the situation!

Check whether there is a phone number which allows you to talk to a person if something is not right.

Also, check photo book reviews to get an indication of the photo book printer's customer service quality.

#10 Shipping Time

Check how long it will take for your photo book to arrive.

#11 Buy Online

Check to see whether the photo book printer allows you to share your finished photo book online. Some companies have an online shop where other people can purchase your finished digital photo book.

This is a great idea if baby’s grandparents would like to purchase a copy of their grandchild’s baby photo book!

Best wishes in choosing the best photo book printer for your baby's photos.

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