Shutterfly photo books - need your best tips/tricks/advice

I'm watching this thread. The last time I made one (five years ago) I found the process to be so head bangingly frustrating I haven't done one since, but I have a code for a free one and about three weeks before it expires, so maybe I'll try it again.

Play with all the embellishments. Frame colors, stickers, background colors, etc. can all add to your layout.

Be careful with the color combos on backgrounds and text. A couple times, I have had them come out very hard to read, not enough contrast. Other than that, I think they turn out really nice, and are actually pretty fun to make, as long as you give yourself enough time to play around with the options and aren't rushed. Make sure you pay attention to which upgrades and options are free, if you have a coupon, because some of them have an extra charge.

Ok, this is probably a dumb question, but I've never used Shutterfly before. Can I upload photos from an iPhone? Or do I have to use a laptop / desktop computer?

I love Shutterfly. I agree with finaledition- the storyboard feature really helps. Choosing "custom path" and then using storyboard seems to speed things up quite a bit. I know people who really like the Simple Path feature where they place your pictures for you, but it never works out for me.

Save your project often. It is supposed to save automatically every 5 minutes if you've named the project, but doesn't
always. Don't forget you can put a title on the spine of the book if you want to. Go though ebates for cash back (only 1%, but still)

If you have an empty text box that says it will not show if left empty- sometimes it still does. If there is any sort of border or embellishment on the text box it will usually still show in the final book unless you manually delete the text box. I usually try to lighten up my pictures a little bit, they come out darker in the books than on my screen, especially if the picture is small.

If you're giving them as gifts, you might want to unwrap them from the plastic they come in a couple of days before. The books have an odd smell the first day or two they come out of the packaging, ink or glue I guess? Check your package for a coupon if you want to make another purchase soon, they almost always send something. I hope your books turn out great!

I'll add...take your time and make your book the way you want. They have sales ALL THE TIME. In fact, I have two sitting in my cart right now, I'm kind of hoping that Cyber Monday has an additional offer.

Not sure how long exactly but, due to extreme procrastination, I have one that's been in my cart for 8+ months.

I really enjoy making photo books. It reminds me of scrapbooking without all the clutter ! I usually just have them sent to recipients, so I really don't actually see the book. Last year I had one sent to me and I was not happy with the quality, not that it was bad just a little off. Shutterfly sent out another one right away. Great customer service.

I did a calendar project a couple of weeks ago. The site kept warning me about bad photo quality, and I was really confused because the photos looked great on my monitor, which was about the size that the calendar would be.

I got the calendars Friday, and am very pleased with the result. A couple of photos aren't super sharp, but they weren't onscreen either and were better than I expected, given the Shutterfly warnings.