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Blurb Books:

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

Moderators: Ron Percell, Mike Jackson, Danny Baronian

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Mike Jackson
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Blurb Books:

Post by Mike Jackson »

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2 ... rce=widget

Click on the Preview Book, orange banner across the book and click on the Full Screen Mode to see the images better.

Hi again,
I spent some time to learn how to make a custom book online and had a test book printed. They look GREAT!

You can see mine by clicking the link above.

While this book features some of my artistic photos, I thought I might mention them here as a potential advertising medium for a sign company.

The books are very flexible, quick to make and (relatively) cheap. And, you can make changes at any time and order more. In other words, they could work like a hard cover portfolio of your work.

There are lots of different companies that make on-line custom books including Shutterfly and Picaboo. I took a class at the local Art Center and the instructor recommended Blurb.

After making the book, Blurb allows you to sell it through their site. The connection also includes links back to your site and access to adding a bunch of keywords and tags, so it adds to your Search Engine Optimization, and possibly lead to sales of your actual products (signs, photos, jewelry, etc).

Best regards,
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Mike Simpson
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Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Mike Simpson »

Great images Mike. You are multitalented.

I ought to see about doing one of these with my paintings.

Thanks.

Mike
Mike Simpson
picture framemaker and artist
http://www.mikesimpsonart.com
Kelly Thorson
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Location: Penzance, SK Canada
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Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Kelly Thorson »

Very nice Mike.

My daughter Jess and I have used Blurb for a few years for our Farm Photography business. They are easy to work with and the book quality isn't bad. I do like the online viewing option especially for the fact clients can order their own extra copies for a year. Jess has a photography business and so she does the book ordering and has switched to Technicare because the quality is better.

Recently we downloaded software for Photo Book Canada which has some nice options and is very user friendly. I hope to use them to do a book on my Czech trip.

There are a lot of options for online photo books now.

When Dave, Larry or Roderick decide to do one with their glass work in it I want to buy one. :)
I believe there is no shame in failure. Rather, the shame lies in the loss of all the things that might have been, but for the fear of failure.
Mike Jackson
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Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Mike Jackson »

Hi Kelly and all,
This might be a good place for anyone else to recommend similar "book making sites"—or even a good place to comment on the ease of use, quality and service of the others.

The little 8"x8" books cost me around $30 for 40 pages and a dust cover. Compared to what we charge for our work, that is dirt cheap. I wouldn't want to print a single page for someone for $30. On the other side of the coin, it is difficult to pay $30 for a small book and be able to sell it for anywhere near a profit. This little book as awfully nice. It feels good and it seems to add value to what I have been doing lately, so in many ways, it is "priceless". They'll make great Christmas gifts.

I saw a guy's book printed through Picaboo and it looked very nice. I logged into their site and tried to make a book there a while back. I never felt I had enough control over the layout and which photo goes where. Most of my photos are 2:3 ratio and many of the templates in the books are square or 4:5.

Blurb let me make the entire page layout in Photoshop and upload it as a unit in their custom layouts section. On the down side, Blurb wants to put their little logo on one page near the front and another page near the back. You can pay and extra $6 per book to remove the logo, but unfortunately, the container for the logo is locked into those pages and a full page layout cannot cover those containers. I had to compromise the layout on two pages as a result. Also, the spine layout is not flexible at all...white background with one of the system fonts. I would have liked to use the same textured background and include my own type. Well, that's my comments on Blurb and Picaboo.

Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Kelly Thorson
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:53 pm
Location: Penzance, SK Canada
Contact:

Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Kelly Thorson »

Here is a review on Photo Book Canada. There is also a Photo Book Worldwide as well as a Photo Book America. You can download their software in a few minutes and try it to see if it fits your needs. If you are a Facebook user there is a coupon for 40% off if you "like" them. It would be a good opportunity to try out one of their books. The books are more expensive than Blurbs, but in my opinion, the time you spend designing the books and on the content is well worth the added cost if you have a nicer finished product.
I believe there is no shame in failure. Rather, the shame lies in the loss of all the things that might have been, but for the fear of failure.
Mark Summers
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Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Mark Summers »

Goooood Stuff Mike! My copy is on the way as of minutes ago.
I'm also very fond of a fine artist out of Jackson Hole by the name of Jim Wilcox.
Are you familiar? Thinking of attending his class in J.H. ...maybe, maybe.

Mark
Mike Jackson
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Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Mike Jackson »

Hi Mark,
I am very aware of Jim Wilcox and his beautiful paintings. He wins a lot of awards and represents this valley very well. I see him at the "miniature" competition during the Fall Arts Festival. But, I don't know him personally. There are lots of galleries in JH right now. I don't know how they are doing financially during tight times, but they seem to stay in business.

Thanks for ordering the book...I didn't post it here to sell books, as much as informing people of the possibilities for their business.

I made a post earlier about whether people here use Facebook for any kind of promotions. It seems everywhere you look on the Internet now, there are links to "share" to Facebook or Twitter. Darla does Facebook, but I try to stay away from it.

There is LinkedIn for networking businesses, too http://www.linkedin.com/.
Wiki: LinkedIn (pronounced /ˌlɪŋkt.ˈɪn/) is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003,[3] it is mainly used for professional networking. As of 1 January 2011 (2011 -01-01)[update], LinkedIn reports more than 90 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide

I am always curious how people are using these types of sites and services to help their business, and am watching for additional ways to spread links about my sites into other directions.

Best regards to all,
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Kelly Thorson
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:53 pm
Location: Penzance, SK Canada
Contact:

Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Kelly Thorson »

Mike, I was wondering how you figure out how to match your monitor to the book in terms of colour and brightness?
I believe there is no shame in failure. Rather, the shame lies in the loss of all the things that might have been, but for the fear of failure.
Mike Jackson
Site Admin
Posts: 1705
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:02 pm
Location: Jackson Hole, WY
Contact:

Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Mike Jackson »

Hi Kelly,
The main reason I ordered this little 8"x8" book was to see the quality of the paper and see if they would be matching my colors I see on the screen. They nailed it!

This Dell computer came with a 20" monitor, but it was terrible for color proofing. All I had to do was tilt the monitor up or down and it would be lighter or darker. After fighting it a while, I broke down and spent the money for a 30" Apple Cinema Display and I absolutely love it. At the same time, I bought an X-Rite Color Munki color calibration system, and between the two, I am now very confident I am getting a great color representation. The Color Munki is set to remind me every three weeks to re-calibrate the monitor, but even after I do it, I don't see any changes from the previous calibration. This Cinema Display has the matte finish screen, and I like it. I looked at the monitors at the local Apple store and I think I'd hate to have to use one with a glossy screen.

I still send a few images to stock agencies, and from the lack of negative comments about the color casts, I must be doing that right, too.

But, I should remind people that it is important to read the specs from each vendor. Blurb wanted JPGS in sRGB color space. I normally work in Abobe RBG, so I converted them prior to letting the software build the book for uploading. As instructed, I also sharpened all of my images at the correct print size. Blur now has a new, heavier paper with a very nice soft finish similar to the cover of a SignCraft magazine. I read the reviews you supplied earlier, and near the end, the guy said he wished the Canada site had an online book store to sell books there. Despite the couple of minor complaints I had with Blurb, I'd be inclined to keep using them. Picaboo, once I got signed up, would send around promotional codes to buy two and get one free or for a discount code for 30-40% off and I haven't seen anything like that come through from Blurb.

I glanced at the pricing for Photo Book America and they are much more expensive than Blurb...like double the price, but they do offer a lot more sizes and finishes. Also, I see that PhotoBook America lets you add pages one or two at a time over the normal 40 page book for just a dollar or two, while Blurb works with a range of pages for a price. For example, with Blurb, if you go over 40 pages, you jump to a new pricing group that allows you to print another 20-40 pages for a relatively low add-on price. But, if you only needed 42 pages, you'd pay the price for 20-40 extra.

Gotta run,
Mike Jackson
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
Jackson Hole, WY

Photography site:
Teton Images
Jackson Hole photography blog:
Best of the Tetons
Kelly Thorson
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:53 pm
Location: Penzance, SK Canada
Contact:

Re: Blurb Books:

Post by Kelly Thorson »

I use the Spyder 2 for my calibrating, which is supposedly pretty much the equivalent to the Munki. I see a big difference in the calibration on both, but when I place my laptop beside my desktop the colours are not even close to being a match. :?
I believe there is no shame in failure. Rather, the shame lies in the loss of all the things that might have been, but for the fear of failure.
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