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Designing my own photo album

thatemilythatemily
in Wedding Photography and Videography Forum
My problem is this:

I know that photo albums can be very expensive when ordered through your photographer, but I also know that a lot of what you're paying for is the design time that the photographer puts in. Since everything is digital now, photographers are leaning toward the new, trendy way of collaging all the photos in an album.. with photos stacked on the page, some shaded back, etc. In addition to me really not liking that type of look, I'm a graphic designer, so I feel like I don't want to pay someone else to do what I do for a living.

Any other designers out there know of a website I can go through to order a book that I layout? Most sites I've found are either template-based for novices or limited to professional photographers--nothing in-between. I'd like the quality of the books that photographers order, but I just want to be able to design it myself.

Thanks in advance....
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Re: Designing my own photo album

  • weddinggraphixweddinggraphix
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You're gonna have a hard time finding a GOOD photolab that will sell direct to the customer.  Its tough because the professional photographers or wedding designers (like myself) have the contacts, but since you're in direct competition with them, its tough for us to help too much.  However, one website that I know about is flushmountalbums.com.  I will tell you that I would never order through them because I feel that they are way too expensive for the product they provide.  They probably raise their prices becauses they are one of the few that will sell direct to customers.  But they might have exactly what you're looking for and you don't mind paying a premium.  Have you considered paying a photographer or wedding album designer a small fee to go through their company?  You would pay them to place the order?  Also, keep in mind that while you know graphic design, there are certain formatting requirements that labs have in order to cut your pages and bind your album properly.  Proper color calibration and template specifications for things like the front cover or margin control might be better with someone that has already ordered from the photo labs before.  Feel free to check out my website or e-mail me.

    -J
    www.weddinggraphix.com
    Report Reply
  • easyeyeseasyeyes
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Like the above post you will have a hard time finding a place.
    My photographer allowed me to design my own then let me order directly through him. I got a beautiful 40 page album for under $350.
    His e-mail is savethemoments@cablespeed.com
    Can't hurt to try.
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  • fallbride1109fallbride1109 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I used Somerset and they have a blank template you can use to upload your own.  My review is in my married biio.
    Planning the Meal
    With All the Trimmings
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  • fallbride1109fallbride1109 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I used Somerset and they have a blank template  you can use to upload your own.  My review is in my married bio.
    Planning the Meal
    With All the Trimmings
    Report Reply
  • shadow0304shadow0304
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Do you mean like blurb.com? (not sure if you are familiar with that one) I used it for the first time (I'm a graphic designer) designing my guest book and it was great. I had the same dilemma as you, I wanted to manipulate the layout the way I knew could be done and I felt some sites had limited designs. Blurb's templates are in InDesign, so not sure if that's a problem for you or not. I use that, so it was perfect for me.
    June 19, 2010
    Photobucket Anniversary
    Report Reply
  • morainemommorainemom member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_photos-video_designing-own-photo-album?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:30Discussion:f6c360e8-764e-4989-8ba1-26775ad9a1b1Post:3c8d5cc0-02cd-48d1-bee2-b94c2de292a7">Re: Designing my own photo album</a>:
    [QUOTE]You're gonna have a hard time finding a GOOD photolab that will sell direct to the customer.  Its tough because the professional photographers or wedding designers (like myself) have the contacts, but since you're in direct competition with them, its tough for us to help too much.  However, one website that I know about is flushmountalbums.com.  I will tell you that I would never order through them because I feel that they are way too expensive for the product they provide.  They probably raise their prices becauses they are one of the few that will sell direct to customers.  But they might have exactly what you're looking for and you don't mind paying a premium.  Have you considered paying a photographer or wedding album designer a small fee to go through their company?  You would pay them to place the order?  Also, keep in mind that while you know graphic design, there are certain formatting requirements that labs have in order to cut your pages and bind your album properly.  Proper color calibration and template specifications for things like the front cover or margin control might be better with someone that has already ordered from the photo labs before.  Feel free to check out my website or e-mail me. -J <a href="http://www.weddinggraphix.com" rel="nofollow">www.weddinggraphix.com</a>
    Posted by weddinggraphix[/QUOTE]

    I thought that vendors were not permitted to post on the boards?
    Report Reply
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