Are you thinking about making a photo book but haven’t made up your mind which company to use? The best quality photo book? The cheapest photo book? Looking for the best photo book maker? Then you’ll be glad you took the time to read and watch (yes, there are videos as well) these photo book reviews.
If you like to do extensive research before you do business with a company online then you’re going to love the article published in 2010 and updated in April 2011 by Jason Dunn at Digital Home Thoughts before you make your first photo book. This epic review The Great Photo Book Round-Up Review: Who Makes the Best Photo Books compares online experience, print, covers, paper, overall quality and value of several top photo book publishers including Inkubook. Check it out!
Here at Inkubook, we love bloggers. They work seemingly around the clock to provide great content, a great sense of humor, great style, great pics, great tips and the list goes on. We follow all types of blogs from wedding to parenting and from crafts to photography and giveaways to savings. If you’re looking for fresh, creative and often humorous content checkout for yourself some of the blogs we love.
BravoBride: Wedding tips, inspiration and DIY wedding ideas.
Annie’s Art Book: An adventure in the world of art (painting, pyrography/ woodburning, scrapbooking), craft projects, many tutorials and step-by-step instructions, gourmet cooking and cake decorating from the art book of a NY mom. Visit and be inspired!
If you’re a blogger and you want to be a part of our Blogs We Love page, click the blue button and provide your information, we’d love to see what you have to say.
I started my Christmas shopping this past weekend, in that I stumbled upon something that would be perfect for my best friend’s son. My first official gift of the season meant it was time to sit down and write out who is on this year’s list and what I’d like to get them – if I have an idea of what at this point, and what price range I’d like to stay within. Writing out the list forces me to draft a budget and stay on schedule.
Staying in budget is obviously important as you don’t want holiday joy to be replaced with January regret and February depression. Writing out the list and adding in the gift ideas months in advance lets you be creative, thoughtful and frugal – by scoping out sales, coupons and promos.
This leads me to my mom. My mom is a conundrum. Shopping for her has always been a challenge. This year will be different, because I’ve already put a lot of thought into her gift. She is the family memory maker and keeper, but she’s gotten a bit lazy with regard to the keeping part and so, I want to help her out with that and show her how much I cherish the memories she’s made.
I’m going to surprise her by sneaking in her house and stealing her Rubbermaid tote of photos starting with 1987, when she stopped putting photo albums together, to the mid-90s when my parents were relieved of their photographer duties because my sister and I started taking pictures.
How is stealing a good gift idea? Because, I’m going to have her tote full of photos scanned and made into digital files. Searching the web, I found several companies that do this and appear to do it well – even preserving videos. I also read a few reviews. Below are a few of the companies I’ve looked into, there are many more out there. Aside from saving time, you can save money by searching out current promo codes.
I think I’ve decided which route to go and how many to scan to start with (to keep within my budget). Now, I just need to plan my thievery – and soon – so I stay on schedule.
Let’s face it, the tried-and-true, stand-in-a-row-and-smile style wedding photos are nice to have, but do they really capture the personalities of you and your better half?
With a wedding album from Inkubook, you make the call on what shots go into your own album. And you get to personalize it in ways that your average album just can’t accommodate.
Tips for Making Your Personalized Wedding Photo Book
Never worry about yellowing, fading or loss: Clip your wedding announcement from the newspaper and scan it to include in the photo book. Do the same with other paper goods, such as your save-the-date, invitation and program. See if the best man and maid of honor are willing to give you their hand-written notes from their toasts, too!
Experience your big day from another angle: Ask friends and family to include their email addresses in the guest book; then invite them to upload their snapshots so that you can include them in your book.
Don’t miss any special moments: Ask a friend or family member to capture candid moments – the tiny groomsman and flower girl napping in the corner; you and grandma cutting a rug to “We Are Family;” the happy couple driving away in their decorated car.
Give it the 3-D feel of a keepsake scrapbook by scanning small items such as the bride’s garter, the groom’s tie, a flower from the bouquet, lace from the dress, etc.
Other Ways to Use Inkubook for Your Wedding
Use our Great Big Square style in place of or to supplement the traditional album with a more personalized Inkubook.
Put together photos from your engagement shoot for a guest book that you’ll actually want to display after the wedding day.
No matter where you plan to go, your first trip as husband and wife is sure to be memorable. Capture the excitement in a honeymoon travel book.
MORE IDEAS
Create unforgettable thank-you gifts for parents, grandparents or members of the wedding party.
Think ahead to the first anniversary. Start uploading photos from your honeymoon and other more basic snapshots that will remind you of your first year together.
No wedding coming up? No problem. Gather old wedding pics and mementos and create an anniversary album for parents or grandparents.
As an alternative to a wedding slideshow, compile all your favorite and funniest photos of each other into a Mini Brag book that you can incorporate into your table centerpieces. Buy as few as 10 copies and you’re eligible for Inkubook’s volume discount of 15%.
Today Inkubook announced plans to enable a fast and easy way for Windows Live Essentials users to create beautiful photo books in minutes. The Inkubook integration in Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 will launch in North America beginning September 30th and roll out globally over the next year.
“We’ve seen the demand for professional-quality photo books in recent years, and we want to make it fast, easy and fun for people to create a beautiful photo bookout of their photos from Windows Live Photo Gallery,” said Bryan Saftler, Product Manager at Microsoft Corp. “We’re thrilled to be working with Inkubook.”
In minutes, users can download the Inkubook Photo Book Uploader from within Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011, import photos, and lay out a beautiful photo book. The Inkubook and Windows Live Essentials software is free; users pay nothing until they decide to purchase a book (prices start at $9.95).
“We’re excited to bring Inkubook to the Microsoft community as a Windows Live partner,” said Ken Kratz, GM, Inkubook. “We share the common goal with Microsoft to help people do more on their PCs. We built a fast, easy-to-use bookmaking platform – and this is a great opportunity to help millions of people bring their photos to life in a book. ”
If you’re a Windows Vista or Windows 7 user, get Windows Live Essentials 2011 today. Once you have it installed, add the Inkubook Photo Book Uploader plug-in from within Windows Live Photo Gallery or get it here.
If you like to do extensive research before you do business with a company online then you’re going to love the article published this week by Jason Dunn at Digital Home Thoughts before you make your first photo book. This epic review The Great Photo Book Round-Up Review: Who Makes the Best Photo Books compares online experience, print, covers, paper, overall quality and value of several top photo book publishers including Inkubook.
If you’re thinking about making a photo book but haven’t made up your mind which company to use, you’ll be glad you took the time to read and watch (yes, there are videos as well) this one. Check it out!
Now share your pics with friends, fans & family and express your photo book creativity at the same time. If you use Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live, Gather or other social networking sites, you can now share your Inkubook photo books online. Feel free to browse through the photo books posted by some of our fans on Facebook to see how they look. Are you a blogger? Inkubook photo book widgets work great with WordPress, TypePad and Blogger. Jazz-up your next post with a fun, interactive mini-version of your book that readers can flip through right on your blog.
The bloggers at Barefoot Mommies, named one of the 50 most influential Mom Blogs by Nielsen Online, recently posted a photo book widget on their site – check it out for yourself. They think the new widget sharing feature rocks. We want to know what you think. Flip-through this book made by some Inkubook fans having a fun time at a recent Coldplay concert. Thanks for sharing guys – looks like you had awesome seats!
It’s easy to make and share your photo book widget. From your Inkubook homepage or book editor page, simply click the pink SHARE button and follow the directions. It only takes a minute or so to create. When it’s done click the GET & SHARE button to choose from several different sharing methods, including social network pages, blogs, email or embedding it into any website. Give it a try and tell us what you think!
For those of you who have been pregnant or have lived with someone pregnant, you’re likely aware of the “nesting instinct” that sets in just before baby arrives. This instinct causes many women to make cleaning, shopping and organizing top priorities. At 39 weeks pregnant, I had cleaned everything, bought all that I could, and organized and reorganized every nook and cranny in the house. When there was nothing left to do, I came up with something … getting a jump-start on baby’s first photo book.
Baby photo books made at Inkubook are printed on 100 lb. archival-quality
silk paper, which means they will stand up to years of enjoyment.
When my first daughter was born two years ago, I made a baby photo book outlining our trip to the hospital, her birth, our time at the hospital, her first car ride and the first 72 hours at home, including her first bath on the kitchen counter. I finally got around to making that book when she was about 8 months old. I wish I had made that photo book sooner, when the events were fresher in my sleep-deprived mind.
This time would be different. This time, I had experience and a little inspiration from Laura, the professional organizer, mom of three and blogger of OrgJunkie on my side. Having made a baby photo book like this before, I already knew what sort of pictures I wanted to include. So, I logged on to Inkubook.com, and started the Simple Square baby photo book. The 8.5 square soft cover book fits nicely on a bookshelf and coffee table and in the diaper bag. I chose the Baby’s 1st Year theme. And in my super-organization state-of-mind, I began to lay out the photo book and write in some of the text I know I’ll want.
Photos you might want to include in your baby photo book:
- Mommy’s belly before and at hospital
- Cord cutting, hospital bath, bracelet
- Mommy, daddy, sibling, grandparents w/baby
- “Birth day” cake
- Car ride home
- First 72 hours at home – feeding, changing, napping, bath
After baby girl arrives and is finally taking a nap longer than 20 minutes, I’ll be able to upload all of the photos and place them in the book, share it with family and friends through Inkubook’s Invite Friends feature and order the photo book before she wakes for her next feeding. How’s that for organized?
The following are links to articles found around the Web for October 7th through October 8th that may help teach and inspire you in the process of making your drop-dead gorgeous Inkubook:
Tilt shifting miniature photography with Photoshop – An article on how-to create a tilt shift effect using Photoshop. Tilt shifting uses a unique angle and focus to give photos a surreal effect that makes objects look as though they are miniature.
