which one is easier/more user-friendly? mypublisher or blurb?
i plan to make a few photos books with our wedding pictures. I do not use indesign or photoshop; i have no design experience nor software. i don't have a lot of free time either so i wanted to use the one that was easier/more conveniant.
Ooh, I've been wondering about this too so thanks for asking! I'd also like to hear what people have to say about overall quality of the photo books. Thanks
I haven't used either one yet for an album yet, but I downloaded both programs and tested them.
I found that mypubllisher was a lot easier to navigate. It allowed you to just drag the pictures onto the album layout that you wanted w/o being so complicated like blurb. Blurb was just too hard to understand.
I've used mypublisher several times. As long as the quality of the photo is good, the quality of the book is great! It even warns you if the photo quality is not ideal.
The program is user-friendly, and it gives you lots of templates to choose from, so you don't need to be creative. It's also possible to manipulate the templates to what you want to see.
I've never used the other program, but I really like mypublisher.
I haven't used either program, but I wanted to add that I've also heard from several brides that the quality of paper used by Blurb isn't as good as what you'll get from MyPublisher - it's really thin! HTH.
I've used Blurb and thought it wasn't that hard to navigate, a little annoying if you don't line your pictures up properly. Overall, the book I created looked great, and they had a free shipping cuoppon I found online, so that worked out well. I haven't used the other program so I don't have anything to compare it to. Good luck deciding!
I have created both a Blurb and MP book, and prefer MP. Like previous posters said, the paper thickness difference is quite noticeable. I love my big coffee table book!
For me, my recommendation to you would have to be based on your preference. If paper thickness is important to you, choose MP. MP uses 100# and 115# paper (regular, deluxe, respectively). Blurb uses 80# paper. If print quality is more important, I prefer Blurb-especially since they offer the printing on the hard cover and not just a dust jacket. I bounce between the two depending on coupons I have and what book project I'm working on.
This doesn't answer your question specifically, but I did a lot of research on this topic recently and wound up using iPhoto (the photo program that comes on Macs). If you have a Mac, I highly recommend it! It's super user friendly, you just drag and drop photos into the layout you select.
The quality is definitely decent for the price (I paid about $120 incl. shipping for a 100 page book). I don't have anything to compare the quality to, since I haven't seen a Blurb or MyPublisher book in person, but I've gotten many compliments on it! Good luck!
I've used both and I would have to recommend MyPublisher because my book from Blurb, which I had planned to use as photo guestbook, which I paid expedited shipping for arrived 4 weeks late, and 3 weeks after my wedding! Blurb's customer service was awful about it too, they don't have a phone number and their email system doesn't seem to work, they only received half of my follow-up messages. They refunded the shipping and I had to reorder the book, but they didn't even try to get it to me quickly--gave me 2 day shipping instead of the overnight I originally requested.
In terms of pricing, Blurb's smallest book was a good value because you can have up to 40 pages for the base price. With mypub you can only have up to 20 pages for the base price. But with the coupons on specials that mypub offers, their books are still competitively priced.
so i DLed MyPublisher and started to use it- but its SO SLOW!!!
it says i was short on memory and i checked - i have 53Gigs of free space! what's the deal? do you girls have this prob too? at this rate i'll never finish (nor start) my albums...
My sister used Mypublisher and the quality of the book was in my opinion not good. The pictures looked grainy, and she had great original prints/disc. I wouldn't waste my money.
so i deleted MP's software (it was so slow; when i looked online to read if others had the same problem, i found a whole blogosphere full of bad review about MP ~_~)...
i have since DL'ed Blurb's book making software and it works much faster! will update as the book making progress continues...
any one else have previous experience with these 2 photobook companies?
i read reviews about snapfish and shutterfly. from what i read, most ppl liked use these sites for regular everyday albums, but for a wedding album, wanted to use a book of higher quality. MP and blurb aren't the 'best' photo book options out there (they're mainly for average people, not the professional photographers) but they are supposedly great photobook quality for the price. (a good value).
i've not tried or read reviews on winkflash before.
I used blurb to create a coffee book of my engagement photos. Everyone at the shower were so impressed. They thought it was done by a photographer! I never used MyPublisher so I can't compare. I have to say that I love the hardcover from Blurb with you picture printed on it. It just looks so cute. The papers are thinner than I wanted it to be but I am satisfy with their print quality!
Hi Hive,
which one is easier/more user-friendly? mypublisher or blurb?
i plan to make a few photos books with our wedding pictures. I do not use indesign or photoshop; i have no design experience nor software. i don't have a lot of free time either so i wanted to use the one that was easier/more conveniant.
posted by kbok 42 posts 3 months agoOoh, I've been wondering about this too so thanks for asking! I'd also like to hear what people have to say about overall quality of the photo books. Thanks
posted by gingerbread 98 posts 3 months agoI haven't used either one yet for an album yet, but I downloaded both programs and tested them.
I found that mypubllisher was a lot easier to navigate. It allowed you to just drag the pictures onto the album layout that you wanted w/o being so complicated like blurb. Blurb was just too hard to understand.
I hope this helps!
posted by MsJadey 141 posts 3 months agoMypublisher has good coupons! I just got this one in my email: HOL2550 for up to 50% off on photobooks until Nov 5.
posted by gingerbread 98 posts 3 months agoI've used mypublisher several times. As long as the quality of the photo is good, the quality of the book is great! It even warns you if the photo quality is not ideal.
The program is user-friendly, and it gives you lots of templates to choose from, so you don't need to be creative. It's also possible to manipulate the templates to what you want to see.
I've never used the other program, but I really like mypublisher.
posted by JJopJJop 2 posts 3 months agoI haven't used either program, but I wanted to add that I've also heard from several brides that the quality of paper used by Blurb isn't as good as what you'll get from MyPublisher - it's really thin! HTH.
posted by loveatfirstsightlover 44 posts 3 months agoI've used Blurb and thought it wasn't that hard to navigate, a little annoying if you don't line your pictures up properly. Overall, the book I created looked great, and they had a free shipping cuoppon I found online, so that worked out well. I haven't used the other program so I don't have anything to compare it to. Good luck deciding!
posted by Luvbug6315 31 posts 3 months agoI have created both a Blurb and MP book, and prefer MP. Like previous posters said, the paper thickness difference is quite noticeable. I love my big coffee table book!
posted by emerald 77 posts 3 months agoFor me, my recommendation to you would have to be based on your preference. If paper thickness is important to you, choose MP. MP uses 100# and 115# paper (regular, deluxe, respectively). Blurb uses 80# paper. If print quality is more important, I prefer Blurb-especially since they offer the printing on the hard cover and not just a dust jacket. I bounce between the two depending on coupons I have and what book project I'm working on.
posted by AOEBuckeye 143 posts 3 months agoThis doesn't answer your question specifically, but I did a lot of research on this topic recently and wound up using iPhoto (the photo program that comes on Macs). If you have a Mac, I highly recommend it! It's super user friendly, you just drag and drop photos into the layout you select.
The quality is definitely decent for the price (I paid about $120 incl. shipping for a 100 page book). I don't have anything to compare the quality to, since I haven't seen a Blurb or MyPublisher book in person, but I've gotten many compliments on it! Good luck!
posted by Squishy622 105 posts 3 months agoI've used both and I would have to recommend MyPublisher because my book from Blurb, which I had planned to use as photo guestbook, which I paid expedited shipping for arrived 4 weeks late, and 3 weeks after my wedding! Blurb's customer service was awful about it too, they don't have a phone number and their email system doesn't seem to work, they only received half of my follow-up messages. They refunded the shipping and I had to reorder the book, but they didn't even try to get it to me quickly--gave me 2 day shipping instead of the overnight I originally requested.
In terms of pricing, Blurb's smallest book was a good value because you can have up to 40 pages for the base price. With mypub you can only have up to 20 pages for the base price. But with the coupons on specials that mypub offers, their books are still competitively priced.
posted by ayu 12 posts 3 months agothanks girls! all this feedback is SOOOO immensely helpful. if you have more comments, keep em comin'! =D
i think i'm leaning towards MP now since it sounds more user friendly and uses heavier paper...
posted by kbok 42 posts 2 months agohey girls
so i DLed MyPublisher and started to use it- but its SO SLOW!!!
it says i was short on memory and i checked - i have 53Gigs of free space! what's the deal? do you girls have this prob too? at this rate i'll never finish (nor start) my albums...
posted by kbok 42 posts 2 months agoMy sister used Mypublisher and the quality of the book was in my opinion not good. The pictures looked grainy, and she had great original prints/disc. I wouldn't waste my money.
posted by danigirlygirl 50 posts 2 months agoEek! We're planning on making small albums as well, and it's so hard when there are so many conflicting reviews out there... Sigh...
posted by mtyf 230 posts 2 months agosmall update...
so i deleted MP's software (it was so slow; when i looked online to read if others had the same problem, i found a whole blogosphere full of bad review about MP ~_~)...
i have since DL'ed Blurb's book making software and it works much faster! will update as the book making progress continues...
any one else have previous experience with these 2 photobook companies?
posted by kbok 42 posts 2 months agoI have only ordered books through Snapfish, shutterfly and winkflash..all of which are fabulous. Is mypublisher better than these?
posted by cassiereanne 76 posts 2 months agocassiereanne,
i read reviews about snapfish and shutterfly. from what i read, most ppl liked use these sites for regular everyday albums, but for a wedding album, wanted to use a book of higher quality. MP and blurb aren't the 'best' photo book options out there (they're mainly for average people, not the professional photographers) but they are supposedly great photobook quality for the price. (a good value).
i've not tried or read reviews on winkflash before.
posted by kbok 42 posts 2 months agoI used blurb to create a coffee book of my engagement photos. Everyone at the shower were so impressed. They thought it was done by a photographer! I never used MyPublisher so I can't compare. I have to say that I love the hardcover from Blurb with you picture printed on it. It just looks so cute. The papers are thinner than I wanted it to be but I am satisfy with their print quality!
posted by deedrit 12 posts 2 months ago