My photo books came in...

[Todd.Hanz]

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

[MikeL]

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?

[Todd.Hanz]

Originally Posted by MikeL

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

[chrispiper]

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]

Originally Posted by chrispiper

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

[shadowfox]

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]

Originally Posted by shadowfox

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.

[RdEoSg]

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!

[Honus]

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]

Originally Posted by ErikFive

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

[jja]

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.

[Todd.Hanz]

Originally Posted by jja

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

[RayPA]

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.Hanz]

Originally Posted by RayPA

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!

[peter_n]

Todd, that looks really excellent. Thanks for posting!

[jky]

Quality looks great!

[f/stopblues]

That looks really great, Todd! My wheels are turning for a family trip to Cabo this Friday. Thanks for showing this.

[sienarot]

Wow that looks great! I may have to jump on the bandwagon too!

[IGMeanwell]

Looks like they have stepped up their quality since I have last used them ...

Enjoy!

[Marc-A.]

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]

Originally Posted by Marc-A.

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]

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

[jja]

Will do, Todd, and thanks again for passing along this info.

[jja]

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.

[Marc-A.]

Pete, thanks a lot for the information :-)
Todd, once I have my book, I'll post my opinion here ;-)
Cheers,
Marc