View Full Version : My photo books came in...
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 12:47
I've been shooting some family portraits for the last couple of weeks, all taken on film with a Rolleiflex and Pen FT to go into a photo book for X-mas gifts. I finished them on Sunday night and they were shipped to me Monday.
I used "My Publisher" ( http://www.mypublisher.com/ ) it was easy and the reults were fantastic. I have done several others in the past, LuLu and iPhoto with mixed results. BW always seems to have a color cast and the shadows were blocked, This book looks almost perfect, shadows are very acceptable, better by far than anything I have tried in the past. The BW are truly BW, no perceptable color casts in any light.
I ordered the Leather bound version with picture Window, I personalized them by putting a different family pic on each cover, otherwise the book is the same. The leather is very supple with a very nice grain and stitching. All in all I'll use them again.
Fast Service and easy upload!
Todd
Ooh, those like nice Todd. I'm supposed to have some cheap ones arrive from Kodak Monday for gifts, and I'm kinda concerned (all black and white).
Can I just re-order yours with the great photos you took and give them as presents instead? :)
shadowfox
12-19-2007, 13:06
Look at that Pen-FT shot... wow, that's a good black and white printing.
Did you have to adjust the pictures so it won't be printed too dark?
What kind of color-management profile did you use in your picture?
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 14:03
Look at that Pen-FT shot... wow, that's a good black and white printing.
Did you have to adjust the pictures so it won't be printed too dark?
What kind of color-management profile did you use in your picture?
I uploaded them as greyscale, I found out later that they want you to make them adobe RGB, it seems not to matter.
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 14:04
Ooh, those like nice Todd. I'm supposed to have some cheap ones arrive from Kodak Monday for gifts, and I'm kinda concerned (all black and white).
Can I just re-order yours with the great photos you took and give them as presents instead? :)
I've seen some Kodak books and they are nice.
Todd
I've been keeping up on your shots on flickr todd. They look great! I am almost ready to send my stuff from Poland off. All black and white as well. I was going to use blurb, but maybe I will give these guys a try instead!
chrispiper
12-19-2007, 14:22
Do you use MyPublisher on a Mac or PC? I ask because I was going to make photobooks myself and had seen a friend who used MyPublisher. I use a Mac, so I downloaded the client, set up the book and sent the file off. I got a message backt that my file was corrupted. I went through several rounds of recompliling, resending, etc before I finally gave up. Any tips you might have for MyPublisher? I like their software better than what I ended up with (Shutterfly) but I couldn't get it to work.
Thanks,
Chris
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 14:35
Do you use MyPublisher on a Mac or PC? I ask because I was going to make photobooks myself and had seen a friend who used MyPublisher. I use a Mac, so I downloaded the client, set up the book and sent the file off. I got a message backt that my file was corrupted. I went through several rounds of recompliling, resending, etc before I finally gave up. Any tips you might have for MyPublisher? I like their software better than what I ended up with (Shutterfly) but I couldn't get it to work.
Thanks,
Chris
I used a Mac. I downloaded the Mac client and used it. My only problem was Internet Explorer was my default browser and it wouldn't allow me to upload. I fixed the issue by opening Safari and making it my default browser. I also made all my images 300 dpi instead of the recomended 180 dpi. Good Luck
Todd
Todd,
I've been following your series on Flickr. Knowing the quality of your work, if you are that satisfied with MyPublisher then it must be good. I've used iPhoto before (hacking the plist to get true 300dpi) and although they turned out good, I was never truly satisfied. I think I'll give MyPublisher a try.
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 14:45
That looks really nice from what I can see. How much did they cost?
65 bucks and change, includes leather and 2nd shipping. I paid the same for the iPhoto books and this is one is by far a nicer presentation.
Todd
Todd, the book looks great. I downloaded the software, made a book, and I'm about ready to pull the trigger. What weight is the paper that the photos are printed on?
I too have tried iPhoto books once, and the pages were hit and miss, although my mother-in-law, for whom I made the book, was completely thrilled with it.
Looks great, Todd! I'll have to look at the MyPublisher books. I'm laying out a Blurb book right now, but your reproductions seem to look very nice.
.
Todd, that looks really excellent. Thanks for posting!
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 18:49
Todd, the book looks great. I downloaded the software, made a book, and I'm about ready to pull the trigger. What weight is the paper that the photos are printed on?
I too have tried iPhoto books once, and the pages were hit and miss, although my mother-in-law, for whom I made the book, was completely thrilled with it.
The paper is similar in weight to the photobooks I've bought,"Avedon in the American West", etc. Excellent quality, you'll be impressed.
Todd
Todd.Hanz
12-19-2007, 18:50
Looks great, Todd! I'll have to look at the MyPublisher books. I'm laying out a Blurb book right now, but your reproductions seem to look very nice.
.
You'll love it Ray!
f/stopblues
12-19-2007, 19:38
That looks really great, Todd! My wheels are turning for a family trip to Cabo this Friday. Thanks for showing this.
sienarot
12-20-2007, 00:01
Wow that looks great! I may have to jump on the bandwagon too!
IGMeanwell
12-20-2007, 01:29
Looks like they have stepped up their quality since I have last used them ...
Enjoy!
Great work! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the tip, Todd. I'll take a look at My publisher (I hope they ship to France).
Well, I have a stupid question: what picture size is required for the press? I mean in pixels. When I scan my neg with the Epson 4490, I usually set on 1200 pxl, sometimes 2400. I read that publisher accept 15x21 cm (convert in inches) at 300 dpi, but I have no idea how to set my scanner in order to get that resolution.
Hope I don't hijack the thread, otherwise ignore my question.
Best,
Marc
IGMeanwell
12-20-2007, 03:42
Great work! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the tip, Todd. I'll take a look at My publisher (I hope they ship to France).
Well, I have a stupid question: what picture size is required for the press? I mean in pixels. When I scan my neg with the Epson 4490, I usually set on 1200 pxl, sometimes 2400. I read that publisher accept 15x21 cm (convert in inches) at 300 dpi, but I have no idea how to set my scanner in order to get that resolution.
Hope I don't hijack the thread, otherwise ignore my question.
Best,
Marc
From Mypublishers website:
Image Size
To determine the size of your jpeg image, right-click on the original image or file name (on your hard drive, not in BookMaker) and select Properties. The size of your image will be located to the right of the word Size. BookMaker autosizes your photos to fit the appropriate mold, so the following information is needed only if you are custom-designing your own page or template.
For any of the full-bleed layouts with 1 Photo per Page, we recommend the following image settings:
Deluxe Hardcover
Landscape (horizontal) with the image resolution set at 180 dpi
14.63 inches wide
11.3 inches high
2633 pixels wide
2034 pixels high
Portrait (vertical) with image resolution set at 180 dpi
8.475 inches wide
11.3 inches high
2066 pixels wide
2034 pixels high
Classic Hardcover and Paperback PocketBooks
Landscape (horizontal) with the image resolution set at 180 dpi
11.3 inches wide
8.5 inches high
2040 pixels wide
1530 pixels high
Portrait (vertical) with image resolution set at 180 dpi
6.387 inches wide
8.5 inches high
1148 pixels wide
1530 pixels high
Scans have to be at least 200DPI
BTW, checked out the products when looking this up and they have changed alot of their book covers, layouts since last year
Todd.Hanz
12-20-2007, 06:09
Marc...what Pete said ;)
I sized my square images to 8x8, Pen FT images to 12" wide. Once uploaded the software allows you to resize (Zoom back and forth) without any apparent loss of detail.
I'd be interested to see what others think of their book so please post opinions if you order one.
Todd
Will do, Todd, and thanks again for passing along this info.
Okay, I just completed my photo book and it's in the queue. It's going out to my mom, who I'll see in about a week. I'll report back and tell you what I think then.
I uploaded my book without any hiccups, and I took advantage of the free book coupon, saving $50 on the second leather-bound photo book. Look for the coupons on the mypublisher page.
Pete, thanks a lot for the information :-)
Todd, once I have my book, I'll post my opinion here ;-)
Cheers,
Marc
photorat
12-20-2007, 13:19
Does it not bother anyone that all these book publishing interfaces assume a 4:3 digital sensor as opposed to the 3:2 ratio of 35mm film/digital rangefinders? I've used iPhoto several times for family gifts but cropping my images to fit is a huge compromise. Or am I missing something here?
Jeremy
ibcrewin
12-20-2007, 13:35
I got my book today from blurb.. I'll report back tomorrow.
Jeremy, as Todd pointed out, BookMaker, the program you download to make a book, has a Zoom feature that you use to fit your photo onto the page template. As you zoom out, you can fit your entire photo (or only part of it, if you zoom in) on the page, with more and more white space as you zoom out. This did not bother me at all, at least there are alternatives to try. The proof will be in the product, when I see it.
photorat
12-20-2007, 13:50
Yes but wouldn't it be so much better with 2:3 pages as well (i.e. no wasted white strips top and bottom)? It's often the full page photos in such books that are the most striking, I find. Portrait orientation would also be a plus.
Jeremy, as Todd pointed out, BookMaker, the program you download to make a book, has a Zoom feature that you use to fit your photo onto the page template. As you zoom out, you can fit your entire photo (or only part of it, if you zoom in) on the page, with more and more white space as you zoom out. This did not bother me at all, at least there are alternatives to try. The proof will be in the product, when I see it.
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