I'm not a scrapbooker. I wish I were. I love all of the details and the creativity. I've even tried - I'm "crafty" enough, but for whatever reason, I just don't have the scrapbooking gene in me.
I have created a number of photobooks online, which is kind of the same thing. Or at least in the direction of the same thing.
I made my first book shortly after our wedding, on shutterfly.com. I called it "A Bride's Memories" and I wanted it so that I wouldn't forget some of the little details that don't get documented.
It was a lot of work. A tremendous amount of work. Part of was the site (back then) was not terribly user-friendly, and part of it was that I was not very organized. I liked the outcome a lot though.
Click here to view this photo book larger
My next book was a gift for The Mr on our first anniversary, about (some) of the adventures we had on our honeymoon. Apparently, I learned a bit from the first book, because this one did not take quite as long. I used shutterfly.com again and was happy with the upgrades that they made to their site. New layouts, and some tools to make it easier to put the book together.
Click here to view this photo book larger
The Mr took me to NYC to celebrate my birthday and to see Spamalot! on Broadway. We're both big Monty Python fans, and I put together a book about our trip. This one was really easy because I had the book in mind as I was taking pictures. This made a great Valentine's Day present!
Click here to view this photo book larger
That same year, we spent a lot of the holiday season with our families, which was WONDERFUL! I put together photobooks for our families so they could remember what an awesome time we had!
Click here to view this photo book larger
And recently, I tried a new site - Panraven. We pre-purchased this book while we were on our Hawaii cruise. Our package allowed us to use some "official" ship's photos (the portrait-type photos they take on board) as well as stock photos of the ship. Then we upload our own photos, tell the story and you've got a photo book! My only complaint about this site is that it doesn't have as many layout options as I would like. Otherwise, I thought it was fantastic. Great customer service too! I just finished it (this one took a LONG time to finish - the narrative was the hardest, but I really wanted to have all the details of our trip in the book) and expect it to be delivered next week.
View Our Cruise in Paradise - Hawaii 2009
Tips I have learned about putting these books together:
- Choose and organize your digital pictures BEFORE uploading them to the website.
- Once organized, rename your pictures in the numerical order in which they will be used (this helps once the photos have been uploaded).
- Think about the story you want to tell before you start your book. This will help with choosing pictures as well.
- Proofread when you are done! And then have someone else proofread (preferably someone who knows how to spell any names you may have included in the book). Leave it alone for a while. And then proofread it again. Trust me on this one. I'm the voice of experience.
I've primarily used shutterfly.com, but my experience with Panraven.com was fantastic, and I am working on a snapfish.com book now. The Shutterfly books have been of very good quality when printed, and I can't wait to see our Panraven book!
Have you made photo books online? What sites have you used and liked?
Your books are awesome! I have been wanting to do one and have started one on snapfish for Pano... hoping to finish it with all his pictures from his first year. I spend alot of time organizing our digital photos and would love to make books out of all our older ones of vacations and such. Thanks for sharing yours... gives me good ideas and thanks for the tips. Very helpful!
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