Choosing the Right Photobook Publisher

Once you have taken several digital pictures you may be ready to create your own photobooks. Photobooks are printed on high quality paper and can be more than a printed photo album. With the variety of layouts, backgrounds, and text boxes you can make a book on any topic that you want.

There are many photobook publishers and choosing the right one can be highly personal. Although photobooks are quite easy to make each publisher has a slightly different product to offer. Here are some pointers to consider when choosing which photobook publisher to use.

Are You Already Using an Online Photo Sharing Site?

If you already have most of your pictures uploaded to an online photo sharing site investigate if they offer photobooks. If they do, this would be the place to start. Make a practice book to see if you like the interface and the options available. Most sites allow you to save a book you are working on, so you can make and share a book without placing a final order.

Never Used an Online Photo Sharing Site before?

If you haven't used online photo sharing yet, choose a group of 10 or so pictures and then choose 3 or 4 photobook publishers and upload these pictures to each site. This will give you a good idea on how easy it is for you to upload photos to that site. Since you will be uploading a lot of photos if you are making photobooks you want a site that is easy for you to upload. When you have the pictures uploaded start a photobook with each publisher to see how you like the interface they use. If there is one that you really like, that might be the publisher for you to choose. If you like working with the interface, you will probably actually finish a project.

There are also a few other considerations.

Compare Photobook Prices

If cost is your primary consideration you should compare the photobook prices. There is a slight variations in sizes, but you can get the cost comparison for books of similar sizes.

Compare Book Sizes and Covers and Backgrounds Available

There are several different photobook sizes, but most publishers carry some minor variation in photobook sizes and covers so this can be a consideration if you are very particular about your choices. The original sizes were a variation of a horizontal 8.5x11 book. Now you can get 8x8 and 12x12 because these are favorite sizes with scrapbookers. The book cover options have recently expanded from the die cut cover to one where it can be printed directly on the cover or you can get a dust jacket.

There is a wide variety of backgrounds available and this can make a big difference in your choices. Sometimes you choose a theme and that has a handful of background choices available, and other times you can choose from a variety of themes within the same book. Some publishers allow you more freedom in using text -- if you are going to use a lot of text in your book be sure to check this out. You may even choose to use more than one photobook publisher depending on the project you are making.

Use the handy photobook publisher comparison chart to help you in your choices.