book publishing

[PeterAit]

Poking around my Lightroom catalog, I came across the very first digital photo that I took (and kept). November 18, 2001, a river in Belize where the missus and I had gone for a fishing trip. Wow, the years sure do whiz by! It was taken with a Sony CyberShot with a (then) whopping 5 megapixels. At the time it was considered a high-end digital camera and with its Zeiss (I believe) lens it did quite well!

Anyhoo, as it's been 20 years since I started digital photography, I am considering publishing a vanity book of my best photos over those 20 years, something I could give to family, friends, and the NY Times art critic. I know of Blurb and Adorama and would love to hear of anyone's experiences with them or of any other companies I should consider. Thanks.

[RSL]

Good idea, Peter. I've had quite good results from Blurb. I did one on the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade which has games and activities going back to the beginning of the 20th century. The book was fun to put together. Made a copy for the Arcade owner and one the manager. They were thrilled.

[Redcrown]

I have 11 Blurb books and 4 Adorama (Printique) books. Of the 11 Blurb books, 3 had to be re-done because they shipped with "garbage" colors. The 3 contained a few images from previous "OK" books, so it was easy to see and prove. Blurb re-printed with no argument.

The Blurb books are OK and fine for the untrained eye - if the images don't push any color gamuts. But if you have images with bright, strong colors way outside the CMYK gamut, Blurb will disappoint.

The Adorama/Printique books are beautiful. The main difference, of course, is price. You have to sit back and wait patiently for a sale at Adorama/Printique. Sign up and enable receiving e-mails so you get notice of sales. 10% minimum discount, sometimes up to 30%.

If I need multiple copies of a book of snapshots of kids and relatives at family events, I'd use Blurb. But if I'm making a book of my fine art landscapes, street art, still life, etc., I'd use Adorama/Printique.