blurb layflat photo book review

Blurb Photo Book Review — How They’ve Improved Since Our Last Review

Here at PhotoWorkout, we’ve covered a number of photo book printers . And a Blurb photo book may be the most recognized to date.

Since its inception, the powerhouse has produced over 20 million books for hundreds of thousands of customers.

But is the biggest name on the block always the best option? With the passing of time, has Blurb maintained the high-quality standards that so many customers fell in love with?

In today’s Blurb photo book review, we’ll unveil what you can expect when working with the popular printer.

Blurb Photo Book Review

Product Name: Blurb Photo Book

Product Description: Blurb is a photo book printing service that allows you to create stunning photo gifts.

Brand: Blurb

Offer price: 14.99

Currency: USD

Availability: InStock

• Image Quality
• Product Options

Blurb Photo Book Review Summary

Blurb has been one of the giants of self-published photo books for years. However, with stiffer competition emerging, the company’s quality seems to be falling behind. Clunky software and hiccups concerning image rendering raise a red flag, but Blurb’s reputation does leave customers with a sense of accountability in the event that something goes wrong with their order.

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About Blurb

Since it was first launched in 2005, Blurb has been an affordable means for self-publishing. Catering to more than 70 countries, photographers from around the world rely on this service for all of their bookbinding needs .

Over the years, the company has grown exponentially, experiencing changes all along the way. So, even if you’ve purchased a Blurb photo book in the past, chances are things aren’t the same as the last time you logged on.

Five years ago, Blurb Inc. acquired MagCloud, gaining new clientele and equipment for magazine production. Around the same time, Blurb launched a proprietary design program called BookWright. Just last year, the company hired a new CEO.

On paper, these changes bode well for the quality Blurb has to offer. So, what exactly can one expect when placing an order?

When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. We evaluate products independently . Commissions do not affect our evaluations.

Blurb Photo Books Boast An Array of Styling Options

Most people know Blurb for its bookbinding services. In recent years, they’ve actually expanded their print products to include trade books and magazines.

However, they still devote the majority of their efforts to making books. Everything from bound portfolios to wedding albums.

In short, the Blurb photo book offers just enough to keep things interesting, yet avoids being overwhelming. It’s just enough to ensure you can execute whatever your vision happens to be for your photo creation.

Books come in six different sizes:

• Mini Square (5×5 in., 13×13 cm)
• Small Square (7×7 in., 18×18 cm)
• Standard Portrait (8×10 in., 20×25 cm)
• Standard Landscape (10×8 in., 25×20 cm)
• Large Square (12×12 in., 30×30 cm)
• Large Landscape (13×11 in., 33×28 cm)

In addition, there are six types of paper to choose between, all of which are designed to pick a wide range of tones and colors:

• Standard 80#
• Premium Lustre 100#
• Premium Matte 100#
• ProLine Uncoated 100#
• ProLine Pearl Photo 140#
• Standard Layflat 100#

For my review, I opted for the 7×7 in. small square model with a matte, photo-wrap finish. While small print might not be for everyone, the intimate design of this particular Blurb photo book really caught my eye.

Why’s that, you ask…

In my past printing experiences, I’ve found that many companies are reluctant to produce books smaller than the standard 8×10″ .

Working with BookWright

Once I decided on the materials my book world from, it was time to actually design the pages inside. To do so, I was required to utilize Blurb’s publishing tool, BookWright.

Related Posts

Instead of working directly through the website, I found I had to actually download and install the software onto my computer.

Although I didn’t have any trouble figuring out how to accomplish this, it was a bit of a nuisance .

As I began building my Blurb photo book, I found that doing just about anything through BookWright proved to be something of a nuisance.

In actuality, it’s possible to get about any look you’d like. However, the interface is clunky and inefficient. Compared to the smooth online design wizards that similar services have to offer, BookWright lacks.

A Quick Heads Up About Image Corrections…

Another concern I ran into was BookWright/Blurb’s inability to render all of my digital files. For example, I had one image that went through some serious flattening in an attempt to compensate for some over-exposed areas.

I had no option to cancel out this effect and instead was forced to omit the photograph altogether.

As much as parts of BookWright irritated me, it does get the job done.

It keeps an archive of all your imported content that’s easy to access at any time. Furthermore, it allows you to flip, zoom, size, or transform files to fit your needs.

My Experience This Time Around with Blurb Photo Books

Admittedly, this wasn’t my first experience working with Blurb. However, it’s been about 5 years since I placed my last order. After doing my research and experimenting with BookWright, I was excited to see how the “new” Blurb would stack up.

One positive aspect that’s survived over the years is Blurb’s affordable prices. As you customize your book, Blurb keeps a live price estimate insight. With a seasonal discount in place, I was able to get a 40-page hardcover book for just over $30.

So, the price was right. But did the end product live up to expectations?

All in all, I feel that Blurb did an acceptable job. About half of the images I used for this particular piece were sourced from my cell phone.

Yet, there didn’t seem to be too many major differences in tonality and resolution between shots.

That being said, the Blurb photo book could go further. Perhaps the issue stemmed from ordering their standard paper, but my book felt a little flat. The colors seemed a bit too subdued, and a bit more contrast could have spiced things up.

A prominent Blurb logo plastered at the end of my self-publication left a bad taste in my mouth.

This emblem can be removed – for a price.

But, considering that competitors leave these details out as a courtesy, Blurb leaves something to be desired.

Is the Blurb Photo Book Worth It?

Blurb’s been a force to be reckoned with for years. Thanks to their prominent reputation, they have the manpower and machinery to cater to thousands of customers.

They manage to offer a variety of styling options while keeping costs down.

However, with emerging competition like Mixbook , Blurb could stand to step up their game. BookWright was difficult to maneuver and didn’t offer the freedom to fully customize.

What’s more, their prints are passable, but nothing phenomenal.

There’s no denying that the Blurb photo book can get you a satisfactory end product. However, whether it’s the best c hoice for you is another matter entirely.

Meghan is an artist and writer based out of Boston, MA. With an interest in everything from instant film to experimental videography, her work has been featured internationally in a variety of photographic exhibitions and publications. You can connect with Meghan on Instagram .

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4 thoughts on “Blurb Photo Book Review — How They’ve Improved Since Our Last Review”

I have used Blurb for 12 different photo books since 2011. They have always done a perfectly acceptable job, up until my latest book ordered in November of 2020. After two reprints (at no charge) the issue was not corrected. It was very frustrating not the get the same quality produced books I had in the past. I ordered a book with the image wrap style cover. The cover print is not fully glued down to the cover boards in the folds of the front and back covers. A bubble of air under the image makes it very vulnerable to tearing. Customer service was very good, but the production issue was never solved after three printings. Unfortunately I no longer trust Blurb can produce the clean product they have in the past.

I have used Blurb on & off for years. I have noticed that the quality varies dependent on who Blurb subcontracts the print job. My last test order went through as image wrap the first time. All B&W images have a noticeable magenta tint. The wrap cover is not glued smoothly, and left sided pages have a different color balance than the right pages.

I made a second order for the dust cover option. The color balance issue was gone. The magenta tint was very much subdued compared to the image wrap book. Also I noticed, in the first test, that images were a bit flat, compared to my originals. Perhaps this is a CMYK printing issue. I simply brightened all images by adjusting the gamma then reloading them, and redoing the upload.

All Hardcover books came with the spine showing between the same two pages on every book. Customer Service is non-existent. I’ve sent two email with no response either time. My latest order seems to be in limbo there but a friend who ordered the book at the same time, received his a week ago. I will have to find another company to print my books.

My experience same as Meghan Boilard’s. Book is flat and wondering if there was a money back guarantee. I doubt this. Colors were subdued.

The Ultimate Lay Flat Photo Book Comparison Guide - A Book for Every Budget (Updated 2017)

The best photo books in 2024: Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Snapfish and more tested

What service should you use to make the best photo books and photo albums? We reviewed and compared five of the most popular services to find out

The quick list

Best overall, best image quality, other services we tested, how we test photo book services, when is the best time to buy a photo book.

• How to choose

1. Best overall 2. Best image quality 3. Best value 4. Other services we tested 5. How we test 6. Photo book test scores 7. The best time to buy a photo book 8. How to choose

Whatever the occasion, a personalized photo book always makes a great gift. But where do you begin if you want to turn your photos of a summer trip to Spain or a surprise birthday weekend in the mountains into a beautiful present?

We’ve been testing the best photo book services for more than five years by doing what you would do: creating a photo book. In the process, we looked at which service was the easiest to use, which offered the most options for things like clip art and binding, which had the best image quality, and which offered the best value. 

This year, we tested Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Vistaprint. We've also included shipping information where available, as photo books take time to make — and will cost more the longer you wait to order. 

And be sure to check out our picks for the best photo calendars , and best photo cards , and discover 9 tips to make the best holiday cards .

Great features, excellent image quality, the easiest-to-use software, and even online chat support make this our top pick overall.

Read more below .

If image quality is your number-one criteria when choosing the best photo book service, go with Printique, which also has powerful design software.

Read more below.  

While not the flashiest of services, Vistaprint had good-enough quality and affordable prices to make this a solid value pick among photo books.

Read more below.

The best photo book services

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Mixbook was the best service overall for making photo books of the five we tested. Its combination of ease of use, top-notch image quality and good value should make it appealing to a broad range of users. Newbies will love Mixbook’s fun and easy-to-use software while more advanced users will appreciate the wide range of customization options to help you get creative. And the image quality of our 20-page, hardcover book came in a close second to Printique.

If you’re intimidated about designing a photo book, Mixbook takes out the stress with clear and fun-to-use software that helps make the process a breeze. At the same time, there are hundreds upon hundreds of ways to customize your book, including 644 design templates alone, if you want to take a deeper dive. Mixbook had among the best-looking and most user-friendly project editing software of the services we reviewed, matched only by Snapfish . The interface offers a myriad of options but isn’t cluttered and optimizes the space by providing a roomy preview of your project.

In terms of image quality, our finished book from Mixbook tied Printique for the best cover while coming in second place for its interior pages. For the photo books we created during testing, we used an image of a waterfall we shot at Yellowstone National Park. The photo was captured at sunset and Mixbook did a great job of reproducing detail in both the brighter light at the top of the waterfall and the shadow areas in the valley below. On the inside pages, Mixbook's default Everyday Semi-Gloss finish produced solid, pleasing contrast. Both light and dark skintones in our portraits were rendered true-to-life.

Other things we liked about Mixbook are its well-designed mobile app that lets you manage your projects on the site or create products from the photos on your phone. And finally, Mixbook’s handy 24/7 chat support is built right into the design interface, so it’s always available if you get stuck while making a book.

If you order a photo book from Mixbook, be sure to check out its shipping information and deadlines .

Read our full Mixbook review . 

2. Printique

If image quality is your main concern for photo books, Printique is the service for you. While some competing companies have caught up in other ways, Printique still makes the best-looking books around. Their overall stature, however, has slipped a bit, dropping them to second place behind Mixbook after being ranked first for books in years past. What’s changed? Printique’s software feels dated now and is a challenge to use, which could turn off less experienced users. Printique’s photo books are also significantly more expensive than the competition.

For serious photographers (including pros), though, the trade-offs may be worth it. The most distinctive thing about Printique’s books are their very thick, rigid pages, which are similar to what you’d find in a professional wedding photo album. Similarly, even the entry-level books come with a layflat binding that prevents a furrow in the seam between pages, making this design perfect for images that span spreads. The pages display really well with excellent color, skin tone, contrast and sharpness/detail. We also liked the results of a few black-and-white photos we included in our book, which looked dramatic without losing detail.

While Printique’s software offers the most control of the services we tested, we feel it’s better suited to the advanced user than newbies. Seasoned designers will appreciate the variety of rulers, gridlines, submenus, and toolbars offered in Printique’s feature-rich interface, but beginners might be intimidated. 

Another barrier for entry is price. Printique doesn’t really have an “entry-level” book that’s comparable to the other services since it only offers the premium layflat binding option with lavish, thick pages, which cost more. This level of quality doesn’t come cheap.

When ordering a photo book, be sure to check out Printique's shipping information and deadlines , so you know how long to expect before it arrives.

Read our full Printique review .

3. Vistaprint

If you think Vistaprint is only adept at making business cards and other marketing materials, think again. The company has expanded in recent years to include a wide range of personal print-on-demand services including photo books. While it’s difficult to find the book-making option on Vistaprint’s vast website, once you do, we think you’ll be pleased with the process and the results, as we were. Plus, the prices can’t be beat, making it the best value of all the services for books.

For testing purposes, we made hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. At $30, Vistaprint’s book was the cheapest of the five companies; $5 less than Shutterfly, which was the second cheapest, and a whopping $45 less than Printique, which was the most expensive. As an added bonus, Vistaprint’s entry-level books come standard at 24 pages, while all the competition’s books start at 20 pages.

Given the affordable price, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of our photo books from Vistaprint. Our wraparound matte cover shot of a waterfall had rich detail even in the highlight and shadow areas, showing good dynamic range. The white endpapers for the front and rear inside covers have a classy look and feel as does the well stitched binding. The image quality of the interior pages was inconsistent though, with some of our landscape and cityscape images looking vibrant and crisp, while portraits were flat and overexposed at times.

Vistaprint’s software isn’t snazzy, but it gets the job done. It may look basic and a bit dated but unlike Printique’s complicated and outmoded interface, Vistaprint’s rudimentary software provides a relatively stress-free experience for making photo books. Just don’t expect anything fancy or a vast assortment of editing tools and you won’t be disappointed.  

Read our full Vistaprint review .

4. Shutterfly

Shutterfly is an easy to use and reliable service that does a lot of things right. In particular, the paper quality was great overall, and it did a decent job with its photo printing. Mixbook remains the best photo book service overall for its higher quality and better software, but if you want a relatively stress-free experience in creating solid if not spectacular books from a seasoned brand, Shutterfly is the one for you. 

We thought Shutterfly’s software offered a good compromise between providing full control over a project and not overloading you with too much information. If you get stuck while making a product, just click the question mark icon in the lower left to bring up the help overlay. The only downside is we found the software somewhat slow to use; in particular, there was a noticeable lag of a few seconds before images displayed in a layout.

Despite its robust and intuitive software, the resulting photo books were a mixed bag. While the page quality was the best of all the photo books we reviewed, the color was just ok, with some pale skin tones in portraits getting washed out while darker skin appeared oversaturated with a loss of detail.

The default glossy hardcover was quite eye-catching though, and the color of our waterfall shot looked natural with ample detail. But the shiny cover surface is prone to glare. Inside, the pages have a good weight and the smooth matte finish produced minimal reflection. Some brighter images, however, appeared slightly washed out in print. We also weren’t so keen on the binding, which felt flimsy, and cut off the edges of the images in the center crease. So, while Shutterfly did a good job overall, there are enough misses to fall short of the top tier of Printique and Mixbook.

Before ordering, be sure to check out Shutterfly's shipping guidelines .

Read our full Shutterfly review .

5. Snapfish

With how easy and user-friendly Snapfish’s software was to use, we really wanted to like this service more than we did. The process of creating photo books, calendars, and cards with Snapfish was so pleasant, we expected the finished products to be equally satisfying. Unfortunately, its photo book came in last among the services we tested.

The bright glossy hardcover of our book didn’t look bad from a distance, but when inspected closer it lacked detail in the flowing waterfall shot. Not awful but not great either. The print quality of the inside pages is where Snapfish really stumbles. The floppy pages in our standard 8 x 11-inch book were the thinnest of all we created from the various companies. On the other hand, while the stitched perfect binding of the book looked cheap, the crease between pages cut off only a small portion of the images. Comparatively, most of the other books in our testing obscured noticeable portions of photos in the binding.     

We wish all of the photo printing brands would emulate Snapfish’s snazzy software. It’s not only simple to use and logically laid out, it turns the process of creating a photo book into a pleasure rather than like pulling teeth. When creating a book, you can scroll through an authentic looking visual representation of the entire book to see all of the pages more easily. Snapfish’s book builder also had the fastest load times of the various companies we tested, with virtually no lag when dragging and dropping images or scrolling through layouts. 

In the end, Snapfish is something of a conundrum. While we would recommend it for anyone who might be intimidated by the process of creating products, those with more discerning image quality taste for books should look elsewhere.

Read our full Snapfish review .

For testing purposes, we created similar custom-designed books from the five services in our evaluation, Mixbook, Printique, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Vistaprint, which we deemed to be the top companies on the market. We made 20 to 24-page hardcover books with all the services in approximately the 11 x 8.5-inch, landscape format since we felt that size would appeal to most users. The only major difference in the five books was the one created with Printique, which only offers a premium layflat binding and professional-quality, thick pages, even as an entry-level option. 

While creating our books, we picked layouts and designs that were similar across the five services as well. For photos, I used my own portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes, which were shot in both studio and natural light. For portraits, the subjects encompassed a variety of skin tones. The three main factors the services were judged on were software, image quality, and value. For the book-making software, we considered both the levels of customization offered and the ease-of-use. 

For image quality, we compared photos across the selection of books, as well as against the original digital images displayed on a MacBook Air retina display. Criteria for judging included cover quality, paper quality, color, skin tones, contrast, and sharpness/detail. For value, we took into account both the price of the photo books and the level of quality of the finished product. So, for instance, a good quality book that cost a low price would get a higher value score than a poor quality book at a similar price. The same value scale was used for more expensive books in our testing.

This year, we evaluated Mixbook, Shutterfly, Printique, Vistaprint, and Snapfish. However, in years past, we've also tested a number of other services, none of whom made it into our top tier. If you'd like to read those older reviews, they're listed below. Just bear in mind that the quality of some of these services may have changed since we last reviewed them.

  Motif review | Artifact Uprising review | Amazon Prints review | Mpix review | Picaboo review | Blurb Bookify review | CVS Photo review | Walmart Photos review | Mimeo review

Procrastination is a natural human instinct, but it will cost you when it comes to photo books. In particular, if the book is a gift for the holidays or if you just want it quickly for yourself, you’re going to be paying more for rush delivery services, which can increase the cost greatly. And in our experience, fast delivery is the one thing that is seldom discounted by book companies. 

So, try to order you books as early as possible. Not only does it save you time, it gives you the chance to look over the book and order a reprint in case there are any errors. Another reason to order as early as possible is that many of the best photo book services offer big discounts throughout the year — up to 50% off in some cases, or with other extras thrown in. 

How to choose the best photo book service for you

Image quality The most important factor for most people is that their book should look good. But what does this mean exactly? In simple terms, it means the quality of the photos should be great — skin tones should be accurate, lighting should be correct, and details should be crisp. In the best photo books, you should have good contrast, deep blacks, and an overall evenness in color gradation. 

Book construction A photo book should also be built well. You shouldn't see pages coming free from the binding, the paper itself should have a substantial weight and feel, and images and text should be aligned properly.

Book-creation software If a company has poor software, you’re likely to either not be able to create the photo book you want or grow frustrated with the process and give up. While ease-of-use is a key factor, customization is also important too and our favorite brands offered a good combination of both with their software. You should be able to fully edit the book templates, easily find background art and more, and make fine adjustments to your photos, too.

Cost Price is also an important factor. With the exception of the most and least expensive options, you won't find too much variation between photo book printing services. However, some services offer options like better paper, different-size books, and things like lay-flat binding, which means you can open the book flat on a table, and not worry about breaking the spine.

More from Tom's Guide

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Dan Havlik has worked in the photo industry for over decades and is currently editor-in chief of Wild Eye ( www.wildeyemagazine.com ), a new magazine devoted to the celebration of nature, wildlife, and underwater photography. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Outdoor Photographer and Shutterbug magazines. He has been an editor and writer for a variety of other publications and websites including Photo District News (PDN), Rangefinder, Wired, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Consumer Reports, Maxim, Men’s Journal, Imaging Resource, and LAPTOP. Dan is also an avid runner with three marathons under his belt and has written fitness reviews, including guides to the best running shoes and GPS watches, for Business Insider.

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The best photo books in 2024: create a personalized picture album online

The best photo books not only make excellent gifts but are a great way of storing your most treasured memories

Best print quality

Best for discounts, best top-end photo book, best for busy people, best budget option, best turnaround time, best color accuracy, best for social photos, best for worldwide shipping, best for smartphones, photo book creation advice.

It's never too early to think about the festive season – and the best photo books are a great way to gift your loved ones something sentimental and personal (without breaking the bank!). Whether you want to create a wonderful round-up of your friend or family member's favorite memories or celebrate a specific event, the best photo books are the perfect gift.

1. Best print quality 2. Best for discounts 3. Best top-end photo book 5. Best budget option 6. Best turnaround time 7. Best color accuracy 8. Best for social photos 9. Best for worldwide shipping 10. Best for smartphones

A photo book isn't just a great gift though – it's also a lovely way to celebrate your own memories and experiences. Plus, with all of the customizable features and stylish templates available, you can make your photo book truly unique. We particularly enjoy the ability to create your own custom front cover, which truly adds a little extra polish.

• How to create a photo book

Many of the services available here give users the choice between auto-filling the pages of their photo book, or manually arranging the images themselves. If you don't need your book in a specific order, being able to automatically fill the pages can be a fantastic time-saver.

To help you find the best photo book service for you, we've reviewed and rated each of the products in this guide. We've tested each service based on the quality of their books, the speed of the shipping and how functional and user-friendly their photo book creator tools are. Discover our favorites below…

The best photo books in 2024

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

1. Printique

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

Printique is the online service of Adorama, the well-known photo store in New York. And the company's expertise in photo printing is obvious in the quality of its products and finish it delivers. If you're looking to create a professional photography portfolio, you'd be hard-pushed to find a better photo book service to do it.   

The best photo book options are available in square, portrait and landscape format, in 14 different sizes, plus there are six paper weights to choose from. All of the hardcover, fabric, and leather photo books options have pages that lay flat, which, unlike other companies on this list, Printique doesn't charge extra for. 

The Printique photo editor interface looks a little busy, but is fairly intuitive and easy to use, clearly highlighting book edges, where and how to upload images, and add special features including stickers, shapes and frames. The only slight downside to this service is the lack of editing options after a product has been added to the cart, so make sure you're completely finished creating your book before doing so.

See our full Printique review

When it comes to the best photo book service Mixbook are hard to beat. Their products are available to ship worldwide, it regularly runs big discounts making it very good value. The Mixbook software is very easy to use and it can all be done on your web browser. Choose from over 400 fully customizable templates plus there are lots of backgrounds and stickers you can include to make it really unique. 

There are three different paper finishes to choose from, semi-gloss, pearl and an ultra-thick premium matte paper if you want a lay-flat photo book. We ordered the 8.5 x 8.5-inch classic square glossy hardcover book and found the process very easy. Uploading images was quick and it didn't take long to arrange them.

When the photo book arrived we noticed there was some fringing on the edges of the cover image and the logo. We also spotted some color inaccuracies, especially on the cover which has a red tinge to it. However, most of our issues were with the cover of the book. The images printed on the inside were true-to-color and printed nicely. Plus, the design and layout of the book were genuinely beautiful and helped bring the photos to life. 

We think Saal makes some of the best photo books, at least as far as the very top-end ones go. The  Saal Professional Line Photo Book  is bloody epic. The first thing I love is that Saal probably has the best design software of any printing company. You can create designs with your own software and upload them as PDFs, but Saal’s downloadable desktop software makes life incredibly easy for uploading, editing, adding text and graphic elements, and moving pages around.

The presentation box is utterly stunning, made of a premium leatherette material. The same leatherette finish can also be used for the back and spine of the Professional Line photobook, echoing a consistent level of quality. You can choose any number of finishes for the front cover, but we were blown away by the acrylic cover – it’s thick, hardwearing, looks great, and simply screams quality. 

The whole thing is finished by hand, and is a step above any other premium finish out there – especially since there are no unsightly logos or branding, unlike other print houses. With layflat binding, the pages on the photo book are completely even – making them perfect for laying a big, beautiful landscape or panoramic image across a double-page spread. Pages can be finished in matte or gloss, but my favorite is the silk, which makes portraits looks particularly lavish. 

Colors are authentic, lively and full of pop, even if your images have the most psychedelic palettes, and blacks are deep and rich while retaining plenty of detail.From the instant you open the presentation box to the moment you turn the final page, Saal’s pro photo books are just next-level wow.

4. Shutterfly

Shutterfly is a fantastic option for anyone who wants really simple-to-use software to create a professional-looking photo book. There are lots of templates and background to choose from plus a Many My Book service where you can supply your images and design ideas and Shutterfly designers will do all the hard work for you. 

Shutterfly also offers a number of great discounts throughout the year, so if your need for a photo book isn't immediate, a good offer is always just around the corner.

5. Snapfish

Snapfish has been in the personalized printing business for more than two decades and offer a range of products including photo books. The software is an easy drag-and-drop experience and you can pick from 120 themes. 

The quality of the Snapfish photo book isn't quite as good as other on the list but it regularly offers pretty hefty discounts so if you don't need it straight away look out for these. We were pleased with the photobook we received although the colors seemed to be accurate they were a little more saturated so be careful if you're sending in images that are already highly saturated. We also noticed a couple of wonky prints and once you spotted them they were so hard to unsee. 

If you're after a super high-quality finish, look elsewhere but if color accuracy and value for money is your game, Snapfish is a great option. 

6. Walgreens Photo

Walgreens Photo is one of the best photo book sites to use to make a quick and simple custom photo book. And by quick we mean the same day if you're able to pick it up. Its easy-to-use editor means you can put your design together in no time, and with the company constantly running discount offers, it won't break the bank either.

If you want a photo book in a hurry, you always run the risk of sacrificing quality. And while other services on this list undoubtedly offer a superior finish, Walgreen's still offers a very decent service in terms of print production and value for money.  

7. Mimeo Photos

Mimeo Photos offers both a third-party Photos app extension for MacOS, allowing you to create and edit an Apple Photo project to be printed, and a web-based builder. There are over 50 theme options, including well-known Apple favorites and you can customize layouts and backgrounds for your own personal touch. You can also apply edits, adjustments and filters to any photo directly within the app's design page. 

We created our photo book using the Mimeo Photos app. Once we'd downloaded the app extension, the software itself was relatively easy to use. However, where Mimeo Photos really shone was in the quality of the book we received. We ordered a hard cover book, which arrived with an attractive dust jacket (although the cover image was also printed on the actual cover of the book as well). 

The only gripe we have about this book was that the saturation seems to have been pushed up for the front cover image, as the skin tones on both the dust jacket and the hard cover itself became a luminescent orange. However, the photos inside the book were beautifully printed. They were nice and sharp, with none of the fuzziness experienced in cheaper options. Unlike the front cover, the colors also printed accurately. 

8. My Social Book

My Social Book offers something slightly different from the rest – allowing you to create books from your Instagram or Facebook pictures, providing you a hardcopy of your favorite social media memories. 

The software is easy to use – as you simply link your chosen social media source to  My Social Book, and then choose the time frame you want your book to cover. Fortunately you can exclude those embarrassing posts and out-of-focus images, so that you only print the images you want. And you can also choose the image you want on the cover. However, we found the whole compilation process is rather slow - and the printing and delivery takes its time too.

However, the quality of the printing is much better than an average photo book printer – and this is a great way of ensuring that you have your camera phone pictures backed up in a physical form.

9. Vistaprint

Vistaprint is another experienced personalized photo printer with a lot of customizable options. For photo books, there are three different cover options to choose from including linen, leather and photo. You can also opt for either glossy r standard matte paper. There are two ways to design your book, either using the web-based builder or you can download the offline editor from the Vistaprint website. 

Both are fairly intuitive to use, but Vistaprint's downside is there aren't as many options to choose from as other manufacturers. It does have several options for backgrounds, clip art and frames you can use but they're not the most stylish. 

The web-based builder gives users the opportunity to design their own book from scratch, or have the builder fill in the pages for them. Most other manufacturers offer this service and Vistaprint's isn't much different than the rest – it's a little hit-and-miss. Some pages will look nicely put-together, while others might seem clunky. 

Overall, Vistaprint offers some affordable options for photo books. But if you're looking for more sophisticated design choices, you might want to go for a different manufacturer, such as Mixbook.

Blurb might not have a web-based photo book builder but it does have a lot of other things going for it. For example, unlike any other service on the list, once you create your book with Blurb you can then sell it to other people. This is great if you're a photographer as you can easily self-publish your work and sell it through the Blurb bookstore. There's no need for a traditional publisher and you'll keep more of what you earn. 

Blurb isn't the cheapest by any means but it's still pretty reasonable. Prices start at $21.99 for a 20-page book with each additional page costing $0.25. Blurb offers a range of finishing options including a softcover, hardcover or just jacket plus six different paper choices. If you're unsure what to pick, you can order a swatch kit to make sure you're happy with your choice. 

There are a variety of ways you can create your photobook masterpiece including a plug-in for Adobe InDesign and BookWright, Blurb's unique desktop software. There isn't an online web-builder but Blurb does have an intuitive app for iPhone and iPad that works pretty well. The design templates seemed a little limited so if you wanted to create a super personalized book, one of the other services will probably suit your needs better.

How to choose the best photo book service

If you've made it to the bottom of the list of best photo book services and you're still not sure which one to pick, don't worry! With so many different providers offering so many different book sizes, designs and paper options, it's natural to feel a bit overwhelmed at all of the choice. However, to figure out which service to go with, we'd recommend figuring out exactly what it is you want.

Are you after a super affordable service with speedy shipping? Then Mixbook might just be the provider for you. Alternatively, perhaps you just want the best quality possible? If so, Printique offers excellent print quality with a professional service. 

However, there are features beyond image quality and great shipping to be aware of. User functionality is a key part of creating a good photo book, as you need to be able to navigate the photo book creator tool with ease. Here are some tips to help you make the most of whichever service you end up using:

• You don't need to prepare your pictures in any particular way. Regular JPEGs are fine.

• Some photo book services offer book design tools in your own web browser, others offer free apps you download and run on your computer.

• Your pictures may be cropped. This may apply if you're using multi-photo page templates or printing a picture right up to the edges of the page (borderless).

• Some books come with a lay-flat binding, which makes them easier to leave open.

• You will usually get a choice of paper finish. Glossy paper is good for contrast and color, matte paper is better at hiding fingerprints and reflections, soft-sheen lustre papers offer a good middle-ground compromise.

• We have listed our choice of the best US photobook services – however many of these will ship worldwide.

How to create a good photo book

1. Select your photos  

To make the photo book design process as smooth as possible, we'd recommend selecting all of the images you want to include beforehand. If some of your desired photos are on your phone, it'll definitely make your life easier transferring them to your computer ahead of time!

2. Choose your design

The majority of the best photo book websites have hundreds of potential designs for you to choose from. This might seem overwhelming at first, but you can usually narrow the selection down into different sections, such as weddings, travel, family and more. When choosing your template, we would recommend thinking about what your own photos look like – if they're super busy and colorful, you might want to go for a simpler design to help your images pop.

3. Arrange your photos

What do your favorite books all have in common? They all have a narrative – and so should your photo book. While we're not asking you to construct Macbeth-level storylines, a beginning, middle and end will help your photo book feel coherent and more enjoyable. The simplest way to do this is often construct the photo book in a generally chronological order.

4. Make bold design choices

If you're a fan of scrapbooking, you'll love the stickers and text functionality that many photo book services provide. However, we would caution against overuse, as you don't want to overshadow your photos! 

Best photo frames Best digital photo frames Best gifts for photographers Best photo calendars The best photo printing online Best photo albums Best photo gifts

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Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. For the last 3 years Hannah has worked at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With 5 years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.

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Home » Planning & Creating » How to Reorder an Existing Photo Book with Layflat Paper

• Planning & Creating

How to Reorder an Existing Photo Book with Layflat Paper

Layflat photo books make great gifts for holidays, anniversaries, weddings, or any other special occasion. Layflat paper types allow images to stretch across a two-page spread, to take center stage and make a bigger impact.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. “I already made this book, I don’t have time to recreate it.” That’s the best part! You can easily reorder any of your existing photo books with Layflat paper.

Simply follow the directions below based on your book-making tool to reprint your past books with beautiful Layflat pages. Keep in mind that the Layflat paper page limits are between 20-110 pages.

To upgrade an existing Layflat Photo Book to Premium Lustre paper, simply  follow these instructions .

Whichever tool you use, be sure to carefully review any artwork on your book’s cover and spine before ordering as you may need to make adjustments after the conversion to Layflat.

For existing books made with BookSmart:

1. Log in to your dashboard via blurb.com

2. Select Order More under the photo book you want to upgrade to Layflat

3. Within the cart, select Standard Layflat from the drop-down paper type menu

For existing books made with BookWright:

1. Locate and open your existing file ( You MUST have your original file)

2. Select  Papers/Format in the top menu

3. Select Convert Book  from the drop-down menu

4. Select Layflat Book from the drop-down menu

5. Choose the correct trim size

6. A warning message will appear letting you know that upgrading to Layflat may result in changes to your cover and spine. You will need to check these elements carefully to ensure your text and images are displayed correctly. Click Yes.

7. Upload your finished book to Blurb

*Remember to double-check your cover and spine, as you may need to make adjustments once your book has been converted to Layflat.*

8. Select Order

9. Add  your book to your cart and checkout

For existing books made with InDesign :

1. Open the Blurb InDesign Plugin and select Create New Book ( You MUST have your original InDesign files)

2. Enter the exact details of your previous book, including trim size and page count. Select Layflat Standard Paper from the paper type drop-down menu, and Hardcover, Imagewrap from the cover type drop-down menu.

3. Instead of creating a new Pages Template, use the link button and link to your existing photo book’s InDesign Pages document.

5. Upload your Layflat book and order

For existing books made with Lightroom:

1. Open Lightroom and the photo book you have saved

2. Select Standard Layflat in the Paper Type drop-down menu

3. Check your cover. Using Layflat paper may affect the spine width of your book, so double check your cover spread.

4. Your book is ready to upload and order

For existing books made with PDF Uploader :

1. Locate your existing PDF files  *You MUST have your original file*

2. Upload the PDF files to the Blurb PDF Uploader

3. Select ImageWrap and Standard Layflat Paper from the paper type menu.

4. Carefully inspect the preview as the cover may need to be re-sized and elements may have moved slightly. If you decide to create a new Cover PDF for your book with Layflat paper, see our Specifications Page to get exact dimensions.

Pretty easy, right? As you can see, it’s simple to breathe new life into an older photo book by upgrading it with Layflat paper. Enjoy!

Got a question? Our support team  is always here to help!

Layflat Photo Books

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