I have given up on my project to bind some of my own photos into a book, and am looking for a really high quality online photo book. I have done Blurb, Bay Photo, and Shutterfly before. They are perfectly adequate press printed books, but I am looking for something better than that. Any suggestions for a really high quality online photo book? Preferably one that will give you an icc profile to soft proof.
So, just to make sure I understand… just a print on demand thing or a one-off digital book?
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Not sure what you mean . I don’t really know what both those terms mean.
Is it just for you, or do you intend to sell it?
How many copies do you want/need?
Thanks. Just for me. One copy.
I read @Matt_Payne 's comment and the review. I saw that the Saal photo book is from Germany. I had a few photo books made locally, that is in The Netherlands in my case, also on Fuji Photo Paper, at Profotonet. The result is very good. Flat binding, various hard covers. They provide icc profiles. I think that they are very similar to the Saal photo books.
And yes, it is expensive. But a different class than Blurb etc.
Whitewall in Germany produces probably similar quality and is a bit less expensive. Also on several Fuji photo papers, and they also provide icc profiles.
Whitewall is available in the USA, but I can’t find the photo books on their US website. They are available in the UK, so you can at least use the site in English language. https://www.whitewall.com/uk/coffee-table-book. You find the icc on the same page.
Tony: take a look at Printique which is a division of Adorama. They make coffee table quality books. Their books are lie flat, so no gutter. They do not provide ICC profiles but in the two dozen books I have had them print, the lack thereof has not been a problem. Here’s a link.
Thanks @Han_Schutten , @Richard_Sandor, and @Matt_Payne for the advice. So far my best option seems to be Saal Digital for making a book or screw post portfolio. The problem for me is their only non matte paper choice is glossy. I would prefer luster/satin, or semi-gloss, definitely not matte. They do offer Fujifilm Crystal Archive Silk but I can’t find out if this is a matte or non matte paper. Does anybody know the printer Media Setting for an Epson P900 (or any printer)? This would give me an idea of what king of paper this is. Thanks.
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Thanks for the share @Matt_Payne. It’s a very high quality product indeed if the goal is to impress people.
That’s interesting. I use WhiteWall sometimes for prints but didn’t realize they did books too.
All of the Saal Fuji paper options are not inkjet paper…they are a kind of light sensitive paper I have never heard of.
This sounds like a very high-end inkjet paper. They are maybe using one of the high-end large format Epson or Canon printers. But I would certainly want a profile for it, to prepare the files.
It would be so much better (higher color gamut and just the “look” of the pages) than the CMYK offset press prints used for the less expensive books.