Last year I created a photobook on Shutterfly as a unique Christmas gift. I ordered 6 copies-- one for each of our kids, one for us and one for each set of grandparents. Shutterfly photobooks come in two sizes: the 8" x 8" (my favorite) and the 12" x 12". I chose a theme, "A Year in Review" , and then uploaded a bunch of photos to fill in the designated spaces. What I loved about it was that I could choose and rearrange different page layouts, add my own text and document some of our travel and adventures from 2008. I could hardly wait to see the final product...
I was THRILLED when my order arrived! Here is what the front cover looked like:
Here is a peak at some of the inner pages...
And the back cover looked like this:
While I was working on my Shutterfly photobook, I received a coupon to try out a competitor's photobook. So I went to Snapfish, uploaded a bunch of our photos from our trip to Paris last summer, and built an 8"x 11" photobook. I appreciated the free photobook offer, but I was disappointed with the simple pages and the lack of options. It WAS a photobook, but it did not really tell a story.
So, long story short, I wanted to give my business to Shutterfly again this year. They were offering some awesome photobook specials last month (and free shipping!) so I decided to build a sequel for 2009 Christmas presents. I spent a couple of weekends collecting photos for my new theme and uploaded them into my Shutterfly account. I chose a different theme and customized the pages. The early bird specials actually expired last week on my surgery day-- so I stayed up until midnight the night before adding the finishing touches to my new photobook and placing the order. [Note: it was a great way to reduce pre-surgery anxiety!] I can HARDLY wait for them to arrive...
If you take lots of pictures--I URGE you to try this someday for yourself! I prefer Shutterfly, but you can create photobooks at Snapfish.com, Costco.com, scrapbooks etc.com and other services. Shop for the style and size that you want. There will be many pre-Christmas promotions for weeks to come... My experiences with both Shutterfly and Snapfish were both reasonable with delivery in less than 2 weeks. And you can build your photobooks at your own pace, you just save them to your account and place your order when you feel like it!
Sherri's bottom line: I LOVE photobooks. :)
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