In Print

I've long used Vistaprint to design promotional products for my little crafty business, and calendars and other photo gifts for family and friends, however the company recently branched out into photobooks.  I'd lots of digital scrapbook pages that had never been put into print (a very expensive business at the local print shop) and as there was a good introductory offer going I went ahead and designed and ordered a book.  When it came I was very pleased with the quality of the printing and the book itself, so much so that when there was another good deal on offer a couple of weeks ago I was tempted again and ordered two more books - one large square and one large landscape.

The scrapbook page book is 8 inches square and although traditionally scrapbook pages are meant to be 12 inches square, this size is perfectly acceptable.  The only potential problem with getting pages printed in book form is possibly losing edges due to "bleed" in the printing process, ie to get images printed right up to the edge of the page a tiny strip will be cut off. 

This doesn't usually matter much but needs thinking about when adding text or journaling notes to pages - I was lucky at the bottom of this double page spread.

I wanted to print my blog monthly review pages from 2012 in a separate book so this was my second square title.  There are 24 pages in a book (extra pages can be added at a small cost) therefore 12 monthly layouts fitted in easily and I added some of my favourite 2012 photos to the other pages.  The monthly review layouts mostly go right to the edge of the page and if I'd thought about it more I would have paid extra to add in the "lay flat" feature.  Must remember that for next year.

My large landscape book was pure indulgence!  In the age of the digital camera, holiday photos are mostly destined to stay in digital form, and once the holiday is over probably never to be looked at again.  I captured some lovely scenes during my visit to Nice last October and thought they deserved to be seen in print.

I must say I'm really impressed with the quality of the printing and the finish of the books.  I opted for photo covers - which is included in the basic cost - and chose the page layouts myself instead of letting Vistaprint fill the book with my photos automatically.  However its an easy process and not at all lengthy if you don't change your mind a dozen times about which pictures to include (like I usually do).

So if you've lots of photos you'd like to see in print - either from your blog, a holiday, or a special occasion, its worth keeping an eye out for special offers from Vistaprint and grab a bargain when you see it.

By the way, this is not an advertisement for the company - I'm sure there are other equally efficient companies out there that do just as good a job - this is just the one I use and have found very efficient.