Digital Photography
For those of us that began our serious love of photography using a 35 mm camera, moving to the digital age has been interesting. The ability to take multiple photos of the same image at minimal cost is a great plus. Deciding how to display those photos is another issue. The photos often stay on the memory card or stored on computers and are seldom viewed.
Shutterfly Photo Books
After our trip to Kenya in 2008, our friend Sharon, who was on the trip with us, showed us the Shutterfly photo book she created with her photos. I loved the idea of using this venue to share photos. I could see that it would also gave me an outlet for my creative side. That year I began making Shutterfly books of our travels as well as other special events in our lives. This gave me a wonderful outlet to share my travels with others. Now I am a true addict! I have created over 25 photo books. On each vacation I am already thinking about the layout and deciding how to take photos that will look great in the book. I can hardly wait until we return home so I can start my next project.
There are numerous products like the Shutterfly books. I have looked into other types and found I like the Shutterfly brand the best. The company creates quality products and provides great customer service. If there is an issue with a book, they will reprint it without questions. Over the years of using the product, I have been pleased with their many updates that add functionality and make it easier to use. Shutterfly is also very fast. I always receive my order sooner than their estimated arrival date.
This is most of my collection.
Step One – Upload Photos
The first step I do when starting a new Shutterfly photo book project is to upload all the photos for the trip or event to the Shutterfly site. This takes a significant amount of time, but it makes it easier to include them in my project at a later time. I like to have all of my photos available so that I can try different ones to see which one works best. I separate the pictures into albums and folders to have more manageable groupings. Saving them in Shutterfly also gives me an additional backup storage location. The functionality exists to upload photos from your computer or other locations directly into your project if you choose.
Step Two – Choose the Size & Style
Next, I choose the size of the book. There are several sizes available. For the books that feature our travels, I choose the 12 x 12 size. The large pages with high-resolution photos make you feel like you are right there at the locations.
Choosing a style can seem like a huge task because there are many available. Many of them have the “storytelling feature” which accrue an added cost. Each style has a color theme and some chosen layouts and embellishments. I have come to realize that I often make so many changes to those elements that I did not want to pay the extra fee. So, I usually choose a basic style. It is more economical and I know I can always choose to change any backgrounds and layouts. The standard Shutterfly photo book contains 20 pages. However, additional pages can be added for a per page fee. My books always include more than 20 pages.
Once you have selected the size and style of your book, Shutterfly opens to the project design page. I then save the project using my naming convention. For the vacations, I use the location and year, such as “Michigan 2017”.
Step Three – Add Photos to the Project
Now, I am ready to add photos to my project. Since I already uploaded all my photos, I just have to bring them into the project. I click on ADD PHOTOS and choose the album and folder with the first set of pictures. Because I have already divided the photos by topic, I pull in one folder at a time. For example, for our trip to Washington DC, I had a folder for the Vietnam Memorial. I added the photos in that folder to the project and decided which pictures to use in the book.
I often use two side by side pages per topic. Depending on the topic or how many great photos or angles I have, I sometimes fill several side by side pages. At other times, if I only have a few good photos or I feel it is a less important aspect of the trip, I only use one page.
You can drag the photos from the bar at the bottom of the design page into the photo areas in the layout. I like to sort through the photos in the photo area and delete the ones I don’t plan to use. If I have 6-8 photos of one topic, this allows me to choose the best ones. I often drop each one into the page to see which one I like the best.
Clicking on a photo area will give a few options for editing. I mostly use this editing function to crop pictures.
In my travel photo books, I like to place the photos in chronological order of how we experienced them on the vacation. When I view the book later or share it with others, it makes it easier to remember and explain aspects of the trip.
Step Four – Choose Layouts
After adding the photos, I begin working on the project topic by topic. This means it is time to choose layouts. I review the photos that are in the tray and decide how many I want on a layout. I then choose a single page or a double page (spread) template that will best display the photos.
The menu on the far left of the photo book design page has a button labeled Layouts. When you click on it, there is a choice for the number of photos you want on a page and a choice for just Text pages. There is also a choice of Spread which means it will put the layout over two pages. At the top of this screen you have the option to Get more layouts. This will let you load more options into your project. There are numerous layouts. If you don’t find one that seems to fit what you envision, you can choose the Advanced Editing option on the right and add extra photo areas or text boxes to any layout. Sizing of all the photo areas and text boxes is available.
Step Five – Choose Backgrounds
Once I have the layout and have chosen the photos I want to use on the page, I decide on the background that looks best. I like to match the background color and style to the items in the photo.
The background button is just below the layouts button on the menu at the left of the photo book design page. Here you will see the dozen or so backgrounds that are included with the style of photo book you have chosen. To get others, you must choose Get more backgrounds at the top of the column. This brings up a menu with numerous options. You can choose by occasions, collections, style, categories or color. There is also the option to search for a specific background. For example, you might enter “red or polka dots” in that search and it will show you all the backgrounds that meet the criteria.
Notice that a number of the options have an S in a small blue oval. These are part of the Storytelling Style and cost twenty-five cents extra. If you choose to pay the fee, it is for unlimited use for that one project. When I discover the perfect item, I am willing to pay it. When I created my Michigan book, I found a Storytelling Style outline of the state that was perfect to show the areas we visited.
Sticker with Storytelling icon.
Step Six – Add Text
After I have worked through all my photo folders choosing the layouts and backgrounds for each page, I work on the text boxes. On some pages, I do not want any text. On other pages, I use just a few words as a title. At times, I write more because I want to record the history of the area or a story that goes with the photo.
Text boxes can be placed in the blank areas of the page or even over the top of photos. The style of photo book you have chosen will have a specific font associated with it. However, you have the option to change the font for each text box. To edit a text box double-click on it. You will now be able to type the text to be displayed as well as change the font, font size and font color. The text justification options are also in that menu.
Step Seven – Add Embellishments
The next option on the photo book design page menu is embellishments. Upon choosing embellishments, there are tabs for Stickers, Ribbons, and Frames. Each of these shows what is available for your style book. You can add more options to your project in the same manner that you did with layouts and backgrounds. The stickers and ribbons have the option to filter by occasions, collections, style, categories or color or by using the search box.
The stickers are like clip art that you may wish to add to your pages. These can add character to the project. Use your creativity.
Use ribbons for things like page dividers, borders or text banners. Some of the stickers and ribbons are also the Storytelling Style that have an additional cost.
Frames create borders around each photo. I like to use them on all my photos because I feel it gives the photos a finished look. There are many color options and three different thicknesses for each color. To use a frame not shown in your project, choose Get more frames. The frame color and size chosen will be applied to the entire layout. I often choose frame colors to match something in the photo.
This example from our Colorado photo book shows two layouts, backgrounds and various embellishments.
Idea Pages
Under the embellishments option on the menu is the idea pages button. This shows some completed pages with canned photos to give you ideas for your project. If you choose to add an idea page to your project, it will have the layout, background, and embellishments that are shown but the photo boxes will be empty and ready for your pictures. It may however, have something in the text boxes. Be sure to check them to make sure it is something you wish to have in your book. If not, you can change or delete the text.
Step Eight – Proofreading
When I have all my pages completed, it is time for proofreading. Going back over each page, I check things such as the photo cropping, spelling, font style, colors of backgrounds and fonts, and arrangement of pages. I make small adjustments to perfect it. I also like to have another person look over the project for me. After hours of working on a book, I can easily overlook needed changes that should have been obvious.
Step Nine – Place the Order
After hours of work and fun creativity, I am finally ready to order my photo book. Shutterfly always has discount offers available, so I never pay the full price and often get free shipping too. During checkout there are several other options that incur additional charges, but you can decline them if you are not interested.
I have placed the order. Now, I just have to wait for the bright orange package to arrive on my doorstep. Then, I can start sharing it with friends and family.
Do you have a bunch of photos that need an avenue to be displayed? Give Shutterfly photo books a try. Maybe you will become an addict along with me.
Disclaimer: I have not received any discounts or compensation from Shutterfly to review their product.