Hi all
This time last year I started a Blurb book of my 365 photos but I didn't feel happy with it because I lost the diary and friendship aspect and gave up. This year I'm trying again and this time I'm making screenshots of my project including my own musings and the first one or two comments so that I get my fix of 365 friends. However I've ended up with different sized 'photos' and I'm finding it very fiddly to drop them into Blurb and also to get something aesthetically pleasing when I've done it. Can anybody who has done this already give me some tips? Has anybody posted photos of their efforts? Many thanks in advance!
@sarie Yes it's a dilemma when we have so many photos! Blurb charge about £40 for 200 pages I think which is probably as good as you can get - I'm planning on 2 pics/page and I might throw in some full page photos.
I am having a similar time, it is taking me ages to do, I have kinda given up as it was using all my available time and I had only done 3 months. Eeekk.
Like MaggieMae, I use iPhoto for my books and calendars; I just created two different books and gave them as Christmas gifts. The format is fairly limited but very acceptable and the quality is top notch.
I've been building a Blurb book as I've gone along, which my OH is paying for as a Christmas present. :)
My format is to have the picture (size dependant on how much I like it), the date, number, title, my description & the basic EXIF - camera, lens, aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
I've used 'wanting to finish the book' as a motivational tool for the latter part of the year.
i'm thinking of doing one but i won't include everything... and i might organize by theme rather than in sequence... i've mostly used shutterfly and been quite happy with the results... big issue this year will be the crop since this is a bit limiting in shutterfly...
I did 2010 with blurb, and am working on 2011. Am v. happy with it. I include my descriptions, but no comments. Someone I saw, can't remember who, included selected comments. I have used a selection of the preset layout templates, but have gradually built up a library of customised ones.
@judithg I'm using their BookSmart app on the PC and I use a selection of page layouts depending on size, quantity & landscape/portrait format of the photos. It's all based on one of their inbuilt themes.
I'm using large landscape as the format of the book, which in retrospect is probably overkill, but if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. ;)
I would NOT recommend using snapfish. I had made my own 12x12 layouts and when I printed them in snapfish, it resized and cut off a margin on all edges. Shutterfly has a set up that shows you the edge 'gutter' so you won't lose anything.
I did a large square book with Blurb using Lightroom 4. I used the praline paper (you can get them to send you a sample pack of end sheets and papers for a small sum that is then discounted from your first order) and image wrap cover. It took a long time to figure out the shots I wanted to include and how to couple them according to color theme or content. I thought in the beginning to include only my favorite shots but a book doesn't work like that. There has to be a sense of flow otherwise it gets boring. I started with one photo per page and just played with the template to suit the photo. There is a good video that I found on how to do that. Do you want me to dig it up for you? Good luck with the book!
@archaeofrog@aspada@humphreyhippo@boxplayer Many thanks for your top tips. I saw the video link and I'll watch it this time - sounds like it may also be helpful to get things organised more before I start the book. Have any of you ever posted any pics of your layouts?
@judithg Hi Judith - here's a few quick screenshots of mine: http://imgur.com/9YhAU
This is a set of double pages, so each square is a page, and each row is two sets of 'full spread', i.e. how it should look when open on my desk. :)
@boxplayer Thanks Isla!! That's just what I needed - it looks fabulous! I can add in my own waffling and a few comments as well from my favourite people :0))) I enjoyed seeing the pelican again as well! I think I will start with this year though as I was much more organised in storing the photos.
@humphreyhippo OMG - Yours looks magnificent as well! You could sell both of them! Just gorgeous - no idea how my pics will stand up to being that big! Wish I'd made sure that the 1st of the month was always a good shot!
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My format is to have the picture (size dependant on how much I like it), the date, number, title, my description & the basic EXIF - camera, lens, aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
I've used 'wanting to finish the book' as a motivational tool for the latter part of the year.
I'm using large landscape as the format of the book, which in retrospect is probably overkill, but if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. ;)
I would NOT recommend using snapfish. I had made my own 12x12 layouts and when I printed them in snapfish, it resized and cut off a margin on all edges. Shutterfly has a set up that shows you the edge 'gutter' so you won't lose anything.
This is a set of double pages, so each square is a page, and each row is two sets of 'full spread', i.e. how it should look when open on my desk. :)