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Post by workingclassdog on Dec 2, 2014 15:42:07 GMT
Good grief... I am beginning to hate this project.. lol... I am a slow scrapper but this takes the cake.. moving pages, pictures, pictures that don't have enough resolution, this that and the other.. Ugggg... I am almost done.. but holy cow, I didn't know I would spend this much time on it.. I am making an 8 1/2 x 11 book for my mom.. and hopefully use that one and tweak it for the rest of the family members.. inlaws and such....
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Post by workingclassdog on Dec 2, 2014 15:42:45 GMT
I am using Shutterfly cause I have a bunch of Coke points I can use towards the book to make it almost a freebie!!
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Post by bianca42 on Dec 2, 2014 15:48:12 GMT
I agree. They were on sale the other day and I told DH that I should order a couple for gifts...but I couldn't bring myself to jump into the project yet.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 0:20:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 15:52:03 GMT
omg...i thought it was me...I find it soooooooooooo painful!
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Post by sbartist on Dec 2, 2014 16:02:43 GMT
Good grief... I am beginning to hate this project.. lol... I am a slow scrapper but this takes the cake.. moving pages, pictures, pictures that don't have enough resolution, this that and the other.. Ugggg... I am almost done.. but holy cow, I didn't know I would spend this much time on it.. I am making an 8 1/2 x 11 book for my mom.. and hopefully use that one and tweak it for the rest of the family members.. inlaws and such.... I have made a couple of books through them. And yes, from not finding "embellishments" to use that I would like, to not being able to manipulate things (stuff facing the wrong direction), etc., to the stuff just being way more cutesy than I would use if I were paper scrapping. I totally get your frustration.
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Post by annabella on Dec 2, 2014 16:05:54 GMT
Yes and that's why I only use mixbook.com
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Post by giatocj on Dec 2, 2014 16:07:55 GMT
I do not envy you this project! I have taken to making my own layouts in Photoshop and using those for all my photobooks because I absolutely could not take the stress of using the sites' (Snapfish, Shutterfly, Artscow...wherever) photobook software any more. EVER. It was the worst, most cumbersome chore!! They couldn't be any more user unfriendly if they tried.
Good luck with your book. I am sure it will be well worth the aggravation once you are done!
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Post by chaosisapony on Dec 2, 2014 16:09:27 GMT
I did a Shutterfly book once because I was going to give it as a gift and had a coupon code for a free book. It was painful, just painful. Especially for someone like me who frequently designs wedding albums in Photoshop. The lack of control and bad interface have ensured I will never make one with them again. Now if I want to give a book as a gift I just design it in Photoshop and pay way more to have it printed at my pro lab. The convenience is worth it.
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Grom Pea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,944
Jun 27, 2014 0:21:07 GMT
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Post by Grom Pea on Dec 2, 2014 16:11:37 GMT
Yes, especially because I always seem to wait until I only have a few hours until my coupon expires and I'm against the clock! Once I make it I usually get copies for grandparents etc so the work does pay off, I'm now just waiting for a free code do I can finish my Christmas gifts ;-)
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Post by Zee on Dec 2, 2014 16:17:45 GMT
Thanks,I thought it was just me because I really dislike any type of photo software no matter what I'm doing. I find it so frustrating! I'd rather stick to paper! But I was trying to just make a simple book out of some instagram pics and ugghh... Took me two hours.
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Post by brandonsmom on Dec 2, 2014 16:44:12 GMT
I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one!!!! I just finished a calendar from Shutterfly. I had a free code to use that I just kept putting off) It took me 2 whole days to do this damn thing with TONS of frustration & lots of wine! Of course I had known about it for weeks, & waited until 2 days before it expired! Then I couldn't email my pics from my phone to myself b/c the email on my phone isn't working. So I plugged in my phone & it took HOURS to download. It was the most frustrating thing ever!!! Oh, & it had been so long that I ordered from them that I needed to update my email & address, etc... but of course the edit button wasn't working! I had to create a whole new acct!
But.... I finally got it done, & it's on the way! While I was ordering it, up in BIG BOLD RED letters, it said something about the pics & quote not fitting or something like that, I ignored it! So now I'm wondering what I'm going to get! It'll be one of dh's gifts. I make him one every year.
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Post by workingclassdog on Dec 2, 2014 16:49:04 GMT
Thanks,I thought it was just me because I really dislike any type of photo software no matter what I'm doing. I find it so frustrating! I'd rather stick to paper! But I was trying to just make a simple book out of some instagram pics and ugghh... Took me two hours. I was on hour four last night... lol... but hoping once I get the one book done.. all I have to do is change a few pictures for the other grandparents and such. I HOPE.
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Post by workingclassdog on Dec 2, 2014 16:51:01 GMT
Phew... glad it's not just me. Like I said, this will cost next to nothing thanks to the Coke points I have been collecting all year... and plus my MIL just gave me a $20 coupon.. so that helps for the shipping. I better check the exp date though!!
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Post by annabella on Dec 2, 2014 17:00:51 GMT
Yes, especially because I always seem to wait until I only have a few hours until my coupon expires and I'm against the clock! Once I make it I usually get copies for grandparents etc so the work does pay off, I'm now just waiting for a free code do I can finish my Christmas gifts ;-) Coupons come so often for mixbook, I finish my project at my leisure, then wait for the next coupon.
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Post by janniepea on Dec 2, 2014 17:13:24 GMT
I made a book and a couple of calendars and all were free....but was it stressful? Yes as in I wanted to throw my iPad out of the window!!
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Post by papersilly on Dec 2, 2014 18:29:41 GMT
i do. i did one last year and it took way too much time, not to mention a sore arm and forefinger from using the mouse. even with free book offers, i won't do another one until i have the time and patience. that means no holiday books LOL.
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Post by flanz on Dec 2, 2014 18:32:58 GMT
Yes and that's why I only use mixbook.com Thanks for this tip. Never heard of them. How is the price compared to others like Shuttefly?
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Post by originalvanillabean on Dec 2, 2014 18:47:57 GMT
Yes! We do 2 sets of calendars each year, one for my side, one for his. Painful! I don't think it is all that difficult, it's that we wait until the last minute and rush and then need more pictures and then end up paying way more than we should. I think tomorrow is the last of the "good" sales. If we would just select and edit the photos throughout the year, we could just drop them in and go, but it just doesn't work like that for us.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 0:20:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 19:43:02 GMT
Yes. But it gets easier. I have made a ton of books & calendars and it gets better.
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Post by annabella on Dec 2, 2014 19:45:26 GMT
I find the price to be comparable.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 0:20:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 19:48:49 GMT
I have made a bunch of their books. They recently changed their Custom Path design and it made it so much harder. If you look for backgrounds, they are never are what you would expecting them to be. The embellishments are crappy. Their old Classic Custom Path was way easier to use.
But I try to make a yearly book, so I work on it all year long.
Ann
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Post by candygurl on Dec 2, 2014 19:51:05 GMT
No I love making them! I really like how easy it is to use and all those free embellishments really make the page. I usually get a groupon and only have to pay for shipping costs.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 0:20:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 19:55:56 GMT
Yes, yes, yes!
I've made a few in recent years and although I'm always happy with the end result, I find myself gnashing my teeth through the process. It doesn't help that I'm just a *little bit compulsive.
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Post by Rainy_Day_Woman on Dec 2, 2014 21:44:22 GMT
Shutterfly makes me want to drink, I swear.
I make my yearly photobook in Photoshop and then just insert them as a spread which is as easy as I can make it, and I still put 30 or 50 hours of work into it by the time comes but it's a 80-100 page book. I usually use Photobook Canada.
I made a calendar in Shutterfly last week because I had a promo code- I had tk restart it three times because the site messed up and it still took me thee or four hours to put 12 pictures in a wall calendar. Sweet Jebus. I can't stand their interface at all- I prefer being able to customize things more than they let you.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Dec 2, 2014 22:55:35 GMT
I made my peace years ago with the fact that I'm a procrastinator. But the silver lining is that I do good work under pressure. Lol.
Like elaynef though, I've done so many of these, I do agree it gets easier each time. Through trial and error, I've learned how to go about making a book and it's not nearly as painful as it used to be.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 2, 2014 23:10:58 GMT
YES! Definitely not any fun. I've had several FREE book coupons come and go just because I can't bring myself to undergo the stress of trying to get their goofy online thing to work the way it should without crapping out on me halfway through. If I ever do another one, I'll design the pages in some other software and just upload the whole pages intact.
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Grom Pea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,944
Jun 27, 2014 0:21:07 GMT
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Post by Grom Pea on Dec 2, 2014 23:46:35 GMT
Yes, especially because I always seem to wait until I only have a few hours until my coupon expires and I'm against the clock! Once I make it I usually get copies for grandparents etc so the work does pay off, I'm now just waiting for a free code do I can finish my Christmas gifts ;-) Coupons come so often for mixbook, I finish my project at my leisure, then wait for the next coupon. Thanks, is it easy to use?
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Post by fotos4u2 on Dec 3, 2014 6:28:54 GMT
It used to be a headache for me until I started finding a groove. I like a simple, collage style of photobook (so no embellishments and just a neutral black background). I take their existing layouts and modify them to what I want (usually look for layouts with the same # of pictures that I want to use). I used to create the layouts in Photoshop and upload them as 8x8 or 12x12 size and picked the full page layout.
The thing I do now that makes it easier is to just do a little at a time. I do yearly books (a two-page spread for each month) for myself, my mom, and the EX. I try to start working on them in January and do a little every month so when November comes around it's pretty much done and just waiting for Thanksgiving pictures (because I like to give them as gifts they are December - November instead of traditional year). I do the same for the kids sports books. Youngest daughter played in a tournament last weekend, I spent maybe an hour or two going through all the pictures, picking out which ones I wanted to use, editing those, uploading them to Shutterfly, and creating layouts that highlighted the game. It's still time consuming, but less stressful than trying to do it all at once. Amazingly I was able to go back and do all of my younger daughter's AYSO books from U6-U10, when she moved to club, in a few days because of re-using the same formats. Now I'm working on my son's books.
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scrappinghappy
Pearl Clutcher
“I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say “Hello.” Goodbye. I’m late...."
Posts: 4,307
Jun 26, 2014 19:30:06 GMT
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Post by scrappinghappy on Dec 3, 2014 13:41:37 GMT
I have been using Blurb for years. I absolutely love them and their 8X10 size works perfectly for us. You actually download their software for free - BookSmart, then it has an interface that pulls from your photos and you can drag and drop the photos and type the text easily. It's all offline (not web based) after you download the software, then when you are ready to order you upload the file. It's very easy and they have tutorialsDo they have coupons? Is the price comparable?
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Post by Miss Ang on Dec 3, 2014 14:28:28 GMT
Yes. I do.
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