Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Advice on Shutterfly wanted

I am thinking about getting a shutterfly book. For all I have heard they are fab. What experience have you had - good or bad? Please help me decide and leave a comment. If you have no idea what I am talking about, look here. Thanks gals.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

Check out Traci Sims blog today. She is SOLD on Shutterfly. BTW, thanks for all the freebie links. :o)

Kara said...

Love 'em. I was really impressed with the one I did. It was an 8x8 and turned out really well.

Anonymous said...

I'd love to hear more about the books too. I want to order 12x12s with my completed pages. But I would seriously die if they weren't fabulous after spending all the time and money on them. Ya know? Anyone else had experience with them?

Anonymous said...

Just ordered my first about a month ago-- it is soooooo cool!! I ordered a 12X12, and used their new "print your digital scrapbook" option. Be sure to follow their guidelines about how far away from the edge of the page you should keep "important" parts of your layout. They even have templates you can download to make sure that none of your page will be cut off by the binding of the book. I used their guidelines, and my book turned out great. The best part about it-- it's really SKINNY-- not thick like a regular scrapbook. I will be able to fit a ton of them on my shelf! Anyhow, I give shutterfly an A+ for their books!

Anonymous said...

I love my shutterfly books! I did them before they had the 12x12 and 8x8 books. I scrapped 8.5x11 because thats what size their books were.

You will love it! Go for it.

p.s. Love your site!

Anonymous said...

I've been so impressed with the two books I've done so far through Shutterfly (both were 8x8). I love how you can even design the spine and the quality is very impressive. I also followed the "print your digital scrapbook" option (it was available when I did my second book recently) and followed the instructions exactly. Also, when I designed my pages for the second book, I moved my margins a little away from the gutter so that they appeared more centered (my first book was actually centered and the pages were a little off -- that was before the "print your digital scrapbook" option though).

They do a great job of packaging them for mailing (I'm always so excited to open the package!!!). Good luck!

Oh, and a million thanks for all your hard work on this site -- I'm a religious stalker of your blog!!!

THANKS! Angie

Anonymous said...

I created books for my mom and my mother-in-law a year and a half ago. They were fabulous then, and from what I have seen, their services and options keep getting better and better. Definitely a great way to complete a nice book quickly or as a gift.

ccjanet said...

I didn't use Shutterfly, but I did one at Winkflash because I could get one for half price. You need to pay attention to thier templates if they have one so your page fits their borders without losing anything. My book was great when it was finished. Wonderful paper and beautiful color.

Anonymous said...

I got an 8x8 book just before they added their digi option, and it was wonderful. One page was slightly more overexposed than I could see on my screen, so I will be careful in the future with pushing levels and contrasts and brightnesses TOO high so that they don't look "BLOWN"when I don't mean for them to. I ended up ordering a second copy for my parents, and adjusted the picture to a bit darker, and it looked fine on the second printing.

I am now doing all my pages using their 12x12 (11.95x11.95) digi template so that all the pages I do this year can go in a book at the end of the year. I want to support Shutterfly since they are the first company to really support our hobby with specific directions on how to do the pages right from the get-go.

Do pay close attention to the 1/8" gutters. The one place I can see the trim is where I have a two-page spread that doesn't line up quite right. You can tell they trimmed one side at the top and the other side at the bottom. I've researched all over the industry, and they all seem to use the same process, and can't control exactly where the trim will happen. I've seen this, for example, at MPIX, when I have used Photoshop artwork to order business cards and folded greeting cards. As much as we all like lovely borders and grungy inked edges, just don't use them for these professionally printed items. Keep ANYTHING at least 1/8" away from the edge, and design two page spreads so that they will look OK as two separately contained pages - anything crossing the middle line will probably not line up on both sides.

Also, in the future I will design everything at 11.95x11.95 at 300 dpi, even if I think I will print it at 8x8. I realized too late with my first book that you can reduce square layouts in size, but you can't go the other direction very well.

On my first book I got the glossy cover with my own pictures on the front and back, and my title on the spine, and they look so fab. I can't wait to try their new fully-customer-designed covers!!!

Hope this helps!
Amanda
oldbooks214@earthlink.net

Andrea said...

I ordered their 8x8 storybook which is a lot like a kid's storybook. The print quality was amazing. I love the cover. It has a bleed through image on the cover so my image was laminated into the hard cover of the book. I didn't like that some of the edges got cut off and I also thought the printing was a little dark. However, I have since found out that you can use the templates to minimize edge cut off and you can also turn off "vivid color" so the printing will match the original image better. Overall, these are really cute little books. Hope this helps!

Muka said...

I didn't order a book for my layouts from them, but I did order a photo book a few months ago. I LOVED it - the colors were crisp and clear, the pages were a clean white, and the cover was fabulous. they packaged it very safely too, and I got it just a couple of days after I'd placed my order. also it is VERY thin - mine is something like 1/2 inch thick. it came out so good that I ordered two more copies! it was definitely worth the price, though I haven't printed my layouts through them so I can't be sure if it'll the same :)

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I totally want to try one of these too! I'm so happy everyone is giving such great tips :). I have been eyeing these books for a while, and I think I might go for it now. Great post question. And I love your site BTW!

Tracy Blankenship said...

I just did the 8x8 and loved it. my advice...don't do layouts with things hanging off the edge. Other than that...just use their templates to make sure it is all good!

Anonymous said...

LOVED it. Before they had a template, I created my own for the cover so that the page is centered on the cover... but now it sounds like they have something available, based on the comments here. The color is so vibrant and the photos and elements are very crisp and clear. I LOVE IT. I have tried 2 other photobook companies, and I think the color and clarity of this is the best of the three.

{B}dreamy said...

I've heard wonderful things, but I've heard one bad thing. That would be that even though you select how you want your pages to look, the printed project is a wee bit off... like the margins get in the way so your image ends up looking off-centered. Make sense? Good luck though!

Anonymous said...

DO IT! DO IT!! DO IT!! I just made one for my sister's birthday and was blown away! It was a little costly at full price (around $70 dollars including shipping) but they're running a great sale right now on them. It looks like a high quality, hardback children's book. I even had some of my pictures as large a the 12x12 page and there was no distortion...no pixelization...just perfect! My only complaint is the price....I'd love to start having these instead of my scrapbooks, but it's not cost effective. Also, the pages are much thinner than cardstock (like regular paper) so you need to be careful with letting little ones look at the book. My three year old tore one of the pages while turning the page. I about died! It's no inexpensive thing to replace. Overall, I say go for it!

Amy W. said...

I got a coupon for a free book and so I'm currently working on the pages for it. So far it looks easy to use. I know Michaele (Jburkhart) has had one done and as someone else mentioned Traci just did one too. I know if nothing else they are 20% off thru the 8th so that's a good deal.
hugs,
-Amy

Anonymous said...

You will love having your pages made into a book!
I chose not to work with shutterfly because sometime the pages can be off...even if they look perfect to you. I did my Mom's Memorial Book with Heritage Maker. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Plus it's guaranteed for life! They will replace the book at half price!
Beautiful quality! Full bleed pages you design front cover to back. And there is a pre-order preview that is 100%.
I'm now making a Memorial Book for my Daughter. And I'm also a consultant. (discount benefits)

Visit my site~
scraplessscrapbook.com
or for questions email me~
momtoanangel@gmail.com

LovelyMissKait said...

I ordered one a month ago and love it. Top ntch quality and vibrant colors.
Here is a link to where I posted some samples:
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=867

Thanks for the links.
Kait

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I didn't use them, but have recently used blurb.com and was delighted with the quality (and reasonable price).

HML said...

OH!! I just did one for a customer and LOVED it. I get a free 8x8 today. It just looked great. The customer was very impressed as well. They are easy, have great templates for sizing, and I just love that you can create the cover as well as the pages.

Anonymous said...

I highly recommend their books. I just ordered one on Friday night, it shipped Saturday, and arrived on Tuesday! (And with the standard shipping option!)

Agree with the others on being very careful with your margins...just download their templates and I bet you'll love the results! :)

Anonymous said...

I use Picaboo and they are awesome! I did 30 page yearbooks for my daughter's hockey team for the last two years and they come out beautifully! Can't vouch for Shutterfly, but take a look at Picaboo as well. They have my vote.

Anonymous said...

Can I say just one word? "FREE" I've received two books from Shutterfly (shipping included) free. I got one free because I ordered a few prints and I got the other one free because of Photoshop Elements Users group. What could be better? I like the way the books turned out, too. Subscribe to their e-mail list!Janine

Anonymous said...

I love the books. Very rarely you will have a page where the color is a bit off but it's pretty much 99% perfect. Great construction and binding.

Lisa said...

Love it!
My only thought is to keep your journaling in just a bit from the center where it would be bound at....it is a book after all...otherwise you have to pull open the book just a little to see it all.
Overall....excellent quality, great customer service, I am a client for life.
I do mine in 8x8 and upload my LO's monthly...so all I have to do when ordering my annual Christmas book is add the final few LO's and order!
A+ for Shutterfly!

Gina said...

They are awesome. I got one and it totally inspired me to fill in all the blanks in my layouts (missing photos) and get on the ball. One thing I love is that I have a tendency to be a perfectionist and want to change layouts around. With this, once it's bound it's done and there is no going back. Then you have a beautiful bound book forever. Love it. Totally worth it. : ) I check your blog every day by the way!! Thank you for your generosity in finding so many great freebies for us!!

Anonymous said...

Can't help you with this one :-) It is not a known thing here in Holland. We have other brands and I try to find out what the best is here.

Good luck, Fryske

Anonymous said...

hallo ikeagoddess,

ich schreib dir auf deutsch, weil mein englisch leider nicht so gut ist.

shutterfly kenn ich noch nicht.
ich hab jedoch schon mal bei www.fotobuch.de bestellt und bin mit der qualität sehr zufrieden.
das buch ist echt schön geworden.
ich hatte das classic format 20,5 x 27 cm gewählt.

das nächste buch wird quadratisch (da kann ich dann besser die vielen schönen templates verwenden).
man muss nicht die vorlagen von fotobuch.de verwenden. da kann man auch fertig verscrappte seiten einfügen. so hab ich's gemacht.

sag mal, wie läuft das denn mit den shutterfly-büchern, liefern die auch nach deutschland? und was kostet das dann? das hatte ich auf der hp nicht gesehen.
das hört sich ja schon klasse an mit den shutterfly büchern. besser für digi-scrapper, als das was hier in deutschland so geboten wird. vor allem auch weil es hier das format 12x12 inch nicht zu haben gibt, max. 20,5 x 20,5 cm.

wenn du mehr darüber weißt, kannst ja evtl. noch was darüber posten.

viele liebe grüße

tina

Anonymous said...

I have been ordering Shutterfly books for over a year now and I absolutely love them. I have just started an actual digital book with my layouts but have not yet ordered it. It is so easy to do and you will be very impressed with the quality. They usually have a sale on every 2-3 months where you get 30% off your entire order. I usually create my books and then wait for a sale to order them.

mom2triplets04 said...

I had my 8 x 8 pages done with them for the holidays. The price was really good. The only problem I found was that my pages did get cut off so the next time I do make a book i need to remember to move my journaling in at least 1/4 inch so the words don't get cut off in the printing process.

Anonymous said...

Go ahead and order one! I just rec'd my first book on Mon. and I am absolutely thrilled with it!!! The quality is excellent and the service was fast! You won't be disappointed.
PS-templates are on their site....make sure to use them!

Anonymous said...

I don't know about Shutterfly, never tried as I am afraid shipping costs to Luxemburg will be way too expensive.
I did order a book at photobuch.de
but this is only 8 x 8
It was rather expensive, but with very good quality!!!I really love it and plan on doing some more books.

Canay said...

Traci Simms has a blog entry about Shutterfly books:

http://www.your-digital-dream.com/blog/

katg1006 said...

I just got my first book last month and it was fabulous!! I love it. Only thing I would caution you on is the borders. If you order 12x12 resize to 11.5x11.5 or 8x8 resize to 7.5x7.5 so you don't lose any parts of your LO :-) Thanks again for the freebie list :-)

jburkhart said...

I did one in March and it was easy and turned out gorgeous! I would totally recommend you give it a try...you will be amazed!!! Great quality and quick delivery!
2 Thumbs up!!!!
Michaele

Anonymous said...

I use blurb.com Can't vouch for Shutterfly. Have heard many great things about them, and have always been tempted to try out their 12x12, but it's was way too EXPENSIVE for me.

I know you tend to scrap 12xx12, and blurb.com doesn't offer 12x12, but they do offer 7x7, 8x10 , and 11x13). Blurb.com is MUCH more affordable, and their page limit is higher (over 400 pages per book)-- which is great for my travel scrapbooks. Rather than charging per page after the first 20, they go by sets of 40 pages (so every 40 pages is a higher price).

Downsides about blurb: They don't have nifty templates to guide you with margins like shutterfly or turning the vivid colors option off like shutterfly (so sometimes pictures to come out darker, and your pages may not necessarily be centered), but like I said, much much more affordable than any of the other sites, and friends and family can buy additional copies of your books. You can send them a link to the book after you purchase your copy, and they can preview the first 15 pages and buy it if they want.

Perhaps if enough digiscrappers write in and request 12x12 they may add that size on.

I don't work for or represent blurb. I just make lots of books for myself and family and friends, and it's just the most affordable option for me.

Anonymous said...

Hi Goddess,
I have made a 12X12 book with Shutter fly and Loved it. However becareful with the spine as it shows more room on the template than there really is. I also am almost done completing another book and I am going to try these guysthis time.
http://www.blurb.com/create/book/htmab