# iPhoto Book Printing for Cheap -- Anyone tried Lulu????



## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

Hello All!

I'm looking to get a bound photo book that I've made in iPhoto printed, and came across a site called Lulu ( http://www.lulu.com ) They offer colour book printing that is CONSIDERABLY cheaper than Apple's version.

You can upload your PDF extract from iPhoto and they'll print it for you, by the looks of it.

Their pricing is here:

http://www.lulu.com/about/whatislulu.php


For example, they charge $4.53 setup, and $0.15 per colour page. A 100 page colour book would come out to less than $20 US!

The kicker: International orders over $25 are shipped for free.

Okay, now the big question I have is quality. This is just for personal photo albums, and at this price, perhaps a few for friends as well. Does anyone have any experience with them at all? How's the quality? (compared to Apple / Kodak?) Shipping issues?

I know this sounds more like an advertisement than anything, but I'd really love some feedback from someone who's dealt with them before I make the plunge.

Thanks!
Rummy.


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Thanks for putting this up, Rummyd. Now I'm curious about Lulu, too. 
Anybody?


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## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

Update:

I 'live chatted' with Lulu support for a bit and received some insight that may put some kinks in the plan of using Lulu with iPhoto.

Lulu can print 8 1/2 X 11 books as one of their sizes. That means that they bind on the 'long' edge of the paper -- not the short edge. Apple's iPhoto book format (for the large size) is 11 x 8 1/2 -- they produce books that are bound on the 'short' side of the paper.

At this time, Lulu is not able to bind on the short edge for landscape books except for 9 x 7 sized books -- a size iPhoto doesn't have a built-in template for.

One option if you aren't too picky is to create an 11 x 8 book PDF from iPhoto, open it in Preview, and rotate all the pages by 90 degrees to the left. Then, have that printed and bound by Lulu. Using this method, you'll have a photo album that you'd look at vertically. Not the best option, but a viable one.

Another option is to use another program all together instead of iPhoto. Anyone have any opinions? Thoughts on PhotoPrinto or Adobe's Photoshop Elements for book creation? Do they let you do custom sizes? How about professional level programs? Any other options out there?

Thanks!
Rummy.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

Well, on the professional side. You have In Design (Adobe) and Quark. Both are Page Layout/ Desktop Publishing Applications. Thing is, you HAVE to know what you're doing to use these programs. They're quite in depth and have quite a steep learning curve.

Another Application which would be up to the task would be Adobe Illustrator. This will not do multiple page layouts.. but, you could work on each page separately. A lot of fussing around.

About the binding.. most print shops should offer binding as an option... however, I have no idea of pricing. Maybe some others could shed some light.


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## capitalK (Oct 21, 2003)

I read an article in the Star yesterday about a Toronto photoblogger who used lulu to print up a small run of a magazine which he sells.

You can contact him through the site for the magazine at http://www.uandimag.com/


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## capitalK (Oct 21, 2003)

The article requires a login, so I am cutting and pasting here. Sorry for the length.

November 1, 2005
Updated at 06:26 AM 


CARLOS OSORIO / TORONTO STAR 
Taku Kumabe found a home for his amateur photos (and yours) by starting his own magazine. 

An image becomes a reality


ISABEL TEOTONIO

Taku Kumabe often found himself looking at professional photos in magazines thinking, "I can do that," or even, "I can do better than that."

But the 29-year-old amateur photographer found it impossible to get his work noticed — let alone published. Figuring he wasn't the only one in that predicament, he decided to act.

The result is the inaugural issue of U & I Magazine, an impressive 60-page publication featuring photographs, stories and articles from 20 worldwide amateur photographers, many of them explaining in detail their techniques and inspiration.

"The content is made by people like you and I," says Kumabe, explaining the title. "It's about giving people a chance to publish their photos and at the same time tell their story and inspire and teach readers along the way."

It's exactly the kind of chance he hoped for all those times that he was rejected by travel editors who wouldn't give him the time of day.

The first string of rejections came last year following a backpacking trip through Europe, which he went on after graduating from Ryerson's Graphic Communications Management program in May. 

When he returned home to Toronto, family and friends were so impressed with his photos that Kumabe decided to shop them around. 

He was rejected at every turn. So he compiled his favourite snapshots and stories into a PDF magazine called "europebound" and printed off a bunch for those closest to him.

Shortly afterwards, he took off again, this time to Japan. After a month-long trip he again returned with a slew of photos that garnered great praise from close friends. 

But once more he tried to get them published, and was turned down. On that occasion, his pictures found their way into "inJapan," which he also designed, printed and distributed to a select few.

Although Kumabe landed a full-time gig earlier this year as an editorial and ad designer, those earlier memories remained with him. He dreamed of creating U & I.

Before launching into the venture, he surfed the Web to see if similar publications existed. He couldn't find any, which further fuelled his resolve. 

While the Internet makes it easier for people to share their talents in cyberspace, there are few photography-based publications that showcase the works of everyday individuals, even online, he says.

So for the next four months, he toiled away on his PC late into the night, researching photographers to profile in his inaugural issue and collecting and sifting through their stories and photos.

After creating U & I as a PDF, he again scoured the Internet and found http://www.lulu.com, a print-on-demand service provider in New York to create his magazine using the latest in digital printing technology. The service means anyone who wants the magazine must order the publication before it is printed and bound for and delivered to each customer.

That's because unlike the traditional method of printing — whereby one pays up front for a large print run and then simply hopes that the publication sells well — PoD isn't costing Kumabe a cent. The customer, who pays $20 US per magazine, plus shipping fees when ordering through lulu.com, is the one who incurs the cost. 

But because shipping costs can be high, Kumabe has forked out around $3,500 to a local printer for 200 magazines that he will personally sell to those in the GTA for $20.

While some may consider $20 a bit steep for a magazine, the quality of the magazine and breadth of its content make it worthwhile, Kumabe says, adding he's had no financial support from sponsors or advertisers. 

The magazine, he says, will be a seasonal publication, and will always feature a few regular sections such as: flickrVision, a section dedicated to showcasing the works of those who use the popular online photo-sharing site flickr.com; and Your City, which will showcase pictures and stories by photographers about their hometown.

"In future it'd be great if I could feature more Toronto photographers. But right now I'm taking this one step at a time," says Kumabe.

"I want U & I to act as another portal for photography enthusiasts to show their best work and, hopefully, inspire others along the way."


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## ajaxline (Jul 20, 2005)

I have published a book of fiction through Lulu (not a photo book). I can tell you that I found the process to be straight-forward and painless; also, the site has a killer support section that answers just about every question that you may come up with.

You should also check out the communities they have; many user questions get answered there.

HTH,

A.J.
www.lulu.com/closetuniverse


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## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

Thanks all for the info. I've gone ahead and ordered two copies of my photo albums off of Lulu -- perfect bind, full colour, 8 1/2 x 10, custom covers, and 102 pages each. The total cost came out to a whopping $39 US with free shipping, which is less than $0.20 per page!

I figure they'll be in hand in a few weeks, at which point I'll post up some pics and we'll see if Lulu really can be a viable alternative to Apple for photo books.

Thanks!
Rummy.


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## mactrombone (Nov 3, 2004)

Please do keep us posted. I have an iphoto book in my head but if this is going to be better, I'll wait.

Cheers


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## Jet_Star (May 20, 2005)

I was just looking at the site, it seems that they only create books with softcovers, with exception of a hardcover option at 6x9 and that's only with B/W pages.


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## irod (Apr 24, 2005)

Just a note Lulu is owned by Bob Young-Red Hat Founder, and Ti-cat owner.


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## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

Jet_Star said:


> I was just looking at the site, it seems that they only create books with softcovers, with exception of a hardcover option at 6x9 and that's only with B/W pages.


Yep, you're right -- softcover only. However, just for those keeping track the price difference is:

Apple: 100 pages large size softcover landscape = $75.19 US + Shipping
Lulu: 100 pages large size softcover portrait = ~$19.50 US (free shipping)

They're looking at hardcover options in the near future, as well as glossy pages and landscape printing. If they bring those 3 into fruition, we're looking at a killer personal publisher.

Rummy.


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## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

*Albums are Here!*

The two photo albums I created and ordered have arrived today. I uploaded and ordered them on November 05, they were printed and shipped on November 09, and they arrived today (Nov 21).

As meticulously as they were packed, there was some damage to one of the books (dinged corner), and I messed up the cover myself (misaligned the spine by about 1mm).

Cover quality is great -- even blacks, bright white, good colour. The pages on the inside are not glossy, but matte. The colours seem off on some of the pictures, and the resolution isn't 100% perfect. The binding is excellent, and cutting is very tight. The full page bleed pages are about a 1/2 mm off on the cutting, so there is a smidge of white border.

The blacks are...blocky. As you can see in IMGP2537.JPG, the solid black shows some sort of 'blotchiness' which is probably part of the method they use to print these.

The paper quality is heavy enough so that a pure white page does not show the photo on its reverse side, so that's a positive as there are a few white pages with just a line of text (as seen in IMGP2538.JPG).

Overall, I'd say these are not book-store architectual quality books. However, they are a great way to catalog lots of photographs and give gifts, and overall I'm very satisfied. I'll be ordering about 7 more as gifts for relatives, who I think will be pretty excited & impressed. I can't think of any other way to squeeze over 200 photos in a nice layout, with minimal effort and a very reasonable cost.

See all of the photos below, and feel free to fire off questions!

Rummy.


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## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

More pics...


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## rummyd (Mar 11, 2004)

Last of the bunch.


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## ajaxline (Jul 20, 2005)

Thank you for the update, rummyd! I was interested in seeing how your books turned out.


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## da_jonesy (Jun 26, 2003)

FYI... if any of you, like me, plan to use Pages™ here is a work around for the Lulu PDF publishing issues...

http://www.anvilwerks.com/pages_workaround/


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

Thanks, Rummyd!
Good critique and thanks for the images!


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

da_jonesy said:


> FYI... if any of you, like me, plan to use Pages™ here is a work around for the Lulu PDF publishing issues...
> 
> http://www.anvilwerks.com/pages_workaround/


Thanks, Da_Jonesy, for the straightforward instructions. 
And I must say, you've got a beautiful desktop image!


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

If you have a flickr account, then http://qoop.com/ is a must-see for printing.


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