Quick thoughts on Blurb

I promised an account of my Blurb experience months ago but never got around to it. Before my memory fades, let me drop a few quick notes here for anyone looking to know more about publishing photobooks with Blurb. I won’t go into the details as there are plenty of reviews out there with better content. However, I would like to share some of the BKMs (Best Known Methods) that I learned from using BookSmart, the free software offered by Blurb that turns pictures into albums.

• The software is simple and easy to use, but it is also a MAJOR memory hog. My computer at home has 3 G (DDR3) memory, which I thought was sufficient. But running BookSmart slows everything else down.  
• Importing pictures into BookSmart can be slow. This is especially true if you have more than 100 photos to import. Take a break while the software gets busy with copying pictures into its own work folder.
• If you want to go with full bleed on a page, remember that Blurb cuts away about 1/8 inch from each edge when your album goes to print. So take care not to move your focus object/subject too close to the border. Otherwise, visual balance will be off on that page.
• The gutter between opposing pages will take at least another 1/8 inch off from the page (if not more). If a picture is spread across 2 pages, don’t go for the perfect match across the split line. Instead, let a small part of the picture repeats near the center. Then you will come out with a good final product in print.
• I’m not sure if it has anything to do with my monitor setting, but pictures in the printed book usually come out one shade darker. Not a big deal for me, but in case you have higher standards, then check out the Blurb blog for color matching techniques.
• I don’t know what  image compression ratio is used, but for my albums (most of them 7″x7″), the pictures usually come out a tiny bit grainy even when the original images were at high resolution (eg. 8 M pixel). With that said, the overall finish was still impressive. In fact, if a pair of newly-weds wanted to customize a wedding album for their parents, I’d say this would be good enough.
• The glossy finish on the dust jacket is extremely impressive. It makes the book look like it’s professionally made.

In terms of ordering and shipping, the instructions are easy enough to follow. They seem to always ship before the estimated completion date (which is good!), but the shipping charges are high (min $8) and there are not many coupons floating around. Also keep in mind that all Blurb coupon codes can only be used once per account. So plan ahead wisely (or register for multiple accounts) if you know there will be multiple purchases.

Resources for homemade invitations and cards

I like to create homemade cards and party/wedding invitations for friends. They may not be the most decorated artwork, but it feels more personal. Since moving down from the big North to sunny California 4 years ago, I have been slowly collecting new go-to places for homemade paper projects. Here are my favourites so far:

• Paper Source – I go there mostly for the stamps and embossing supplies. I also like to check out their specialty paper collection for inspiration.
• Kelly Paper – For projects that require a lot of printing paper, I prefer to buy in bulk. Kelly Paper offers a wide selection of printing paper in various weight. And their low prices also help keep the budget in check.
• Paper.com – When I don’t feel like paying for shipping from Thailand or India, this is where I go for exotic paper such as mulberry, Japanese rice, bamboo, even elephant dung!!
• Paper and More - Good price for cardstock, text and vellum paper. Plus they offer paper samples at $1 and free shipping. Fast delivery too. I usually receive the order in 2 days.
• Texas Craft – Lots of products for your crafting needs! My favourite is the adhesive photo paper for making birth announcement or Save-the-date magnets.
• HQ PaperMaker – A supplier of handmade paper from Thailand. Their products are good, but the shipping is expensive. For some reason, they only ship with FedEx, who charges $20+ USD per shipment. They also offer skeleton leaves in various colors and sizes for a bargain. Orders are received/paid for online. Response is usually prompt, but do expect a 12 hour turnaround because of the time difference. 
• Kinko’s – When I have a lot of paper to cut into squares, rectangles, or any straight-lined polygons, I go to Kinko’s. Depending on the weight of the paper, they can cut a stack of 150 – 200 pieces of paper each time, and charging only ~$1 per cut. Considering the time saved from doing it yourself, it’s a dollar very well spent.
• Michael’s – When you sign up for their mailing list, you’ll get regular discount coupons in emails. Some coupons can help you save as much as 50%!

My first DIY photobook

I love traveling. According to the travel map on my Facebook, between work, family and personal trips, I have covered 77 cities in 12 countries in the past 5 years. Of course, not all of these places are far from where I usually nest. But I do try to learn as much as I can about every upcoming destination, especially if it’s far from the cultures that I’m used to. One obsessive habit I have when traveling is taking pictures of everyone and everything I encounter. Unfortunately, I’m also a master procrastinator when it comes time to download the pictures onto the home computer. Every now and then, I do pick out some of the nice ones and post them on Picasa for friends and family to see. But occasions like that are few and far between. All other pictures usually just stay in a sea of SD cards, collecting dust on my desk. Indeed, my beloved calls me the memory card hoarder, for he knows that every SD card he lays in my hand, he has no hope of ever retreiving it again. Essentially, I have become a black hole of SD cards.

Alas, I’m fed up with the situation, because even the basket on my desk is flooded with memory cards several times over. To clean up the photos, I decided to make DIY printed albums out of them. For each adventure, I want build a graphical journal by picking out memorable pictures, then print and bind them into a book. Hopefully, they will become popular coffee table readings in our home. But first, I must select a software that will help turn these images into printed books.

Reading up online reviews, it seemed like iPhoto, Blurb, Snapfish, Photoworks and MyPublisher were the most popular album creators. Since I didn’t own a Mac, iPhoto was automatically out the window. And for the remainder, it looked like Snapfish offered the best picture quality, but lacked in layout choices or option for self-made templates. On the other hand, Photoworks and MyPublisher offered more choices in layouts but most claimed they had unpredictable QA control. So this left me with Blurb. Most users agreed that it had plenty of templates for DIY, and still produced books with acceptable picture quality.

The downloading and installing of Booksmart (Blurb’s free bookmaking software) was easy. Took me around half and hour to install and get used to the sofware. After that I added in photos, created my first photobook, even submitted it for printing all within the same night. The process was relatively painless. In fact, I quite enjoyed it especially when playing with the different layout templates. Since there are already many reviews of Blurb online, I won’t go into the details on how to use the software here. Instead, I will save my comments until the order is delivered. In the meantime, if you have experience to share on DIY printed albums, I’d really love to hear your thoughts on any of the available services out there!