Making a Book

I was recently at a friends house and he pulled out a few photography books to share with me. I was suprised to see that they were actually his photos. He put together books through an online software, designed them, and had them printed. They were high quality and very professional. But, they were mostly just really cool. Self-publishing used to be a major undertaking, but he explained the process to me and it seems that it has become easy and an open market for anyone.

So, I decided to try it out. After spending a few hours reseraching companies online, I decided to go with http://www.blurb.com/. I've also heard great things about http://www.mypublisher.com/. I was shocked to find that it really is easy! You simply download the free software and use their templates to create your book. You can choose hardcover or softcover, the number of pages, and of course all of the colors, designs and page layouts. Just upload photos from your computer and pop them into the pages. Best of all, when you roll over the picture boxes, the optimal size in pixels shows up for each separate box. In about 15 hours I created a 30-page book of my images with text and captions. After you review the book, you just click order and I couldn't believe it, but the hardcover books are only $29.99! They print them in 5-6 days.

I'll let you know how the books look when I receive them, but as of right now, I'm incredibly pleased. They will make the best personalized gifts or photography portfolios! Check it out online.

- Gabby