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My box of books from Blurb.com
In the past, having a book of your photographs printed was hard to achieve and the cost prohibitive. These days, it's super-easy and affordable with printing on demand on the web. Lulu.com and blurb.com are the first two companies that come to mind. The last time I tried lulu's templates about a year and a half ago, they were too structured for what I wanted to do, and I didn't have time to design a whole book from scratch in Illustrator. I recently tried blurb's drag-and-drop Booksmart software to put together a small square softcover book of my work for a client. Their 7" perfect bound photo book is precisely what I wanted.
There are many cover layouts to choose from. I wanted the cover to have a specific design and a script font, so instead of using their cover template, I left the information empty and designed it all in Photoshop. I had all of my images ready as JPG's. All of the images are imported onto a clipboard and you drag and drop them into the layout area. The pages are grouped together on the bottom so you can monitor the flow of the book, and image size on the page is controlled by a slider. This was a little inexact for me - I like to be able to control size more precisely, but then again, that can be done when exporting your JPG in the first place, and maintaining the same zoom throughout. Pages can be added or deleted easily. Once you've got everything laid out, there is a preview button to use to flip through.
When you're finished with your layout, you upload to blurb directly through the software. You're taken through a checklist of items before ultimately uploading. The website suggests ordering one book first before ordering your quantity - I highly recommend doing this as well. I had typed something on the cover by mistake and hadn't noticed it, so I was able to delete it before spending money on the quantity. My MacBook Pro must be pretty bright, because I noticed that my images were consistently a little too dark throughout the book which I was able to correct as well.
The only annoyance I experienced is that it seems the only shipping method is UPS or FedEX; both are fine companies, but it's only easy to get your package in NYC if you can have your package delivered to work or if you have a doorman. I don't, so getting my test book was frustrating. I'm not going to go to Maspeth for anything, much less my package at night in the pouring rain! Eventually, the FedEx person got my signature, and I got my test book, then my quantity.
Blurb as well as Lulu offer markets for you to sell your book. I didn't choose this option for my first book, but I just may in the future. The quality is great, it's easy to do, and it's a cool way to self publish, create personalized gifts or samples for clients, or just have a professional example of your portfolio readily available.
Note: Blurb doesn't offer ISBN numbers, but they have information readily available on how to get your own, and include it in your book design. Lulu.com does offer ISBN numbers.
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