My review of several photo book/gift websites

[StarrMom2Xander]

This was my post in the Shutterfly group. I received a free photobook from Shutterfly as part of the CafeMom Influencer program, and this was my official review (with comparison to other sites). I added a little more info, though.

Shutterfly & CaféMom, I thank you so much for the free photo book as part of the Influencer program. With that said, here are my thoughts.

Shutterfly books: Of all the various sites I have used to create photo books, this is one of my favorites. I love all the choices for backgrounds, layouts, and especially covers. I like how you can "frame" the photos or do a drop-shadow effect. I also like how you put a white "cover sheet" at the front and back of the book- they look very polished off. The books truly look great- the colors are vibrant, the photos look more "real" than some other sites, and the pages are super thick.

I would absolutely buy your photo books in the future, but to be quite honest, only if there was some kind of coupon running (which there usually is). There are just too many sites running good deals, and I plan to buy so many books that cost is a definite concern (I plan to create a book for each month).

Here are the books I created so far:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbMW7FyzbuWLlg  (November '08)
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbMW7FyzbuWLno  (Xander's 1st Bday Luau Party)

Shutterfly Share Site: I actually started my site a couple months before being included in the influencer program, and I really love it. It's very user friendly and has lots of features, and I've gotten many compliments on it. I do have trouble with it locking up my browser occasionally, and/or running really slow. Also, I had trouble with the guestbook feature. I had several friends try, and none were able to leave a message, even though I set the permissions for anyone to be able to comment.

I do wish there were more color/theme choices for the site, or that we could customize by uploading our own background. It would be cool if we could edit with HTML to an extent; similar to features on MySpace profiles.

I also wish there were photo editing features built in, similar to what Photobucket has (sometimes I upload pics before I have a chance to edit them, and want to edit them while I'm at work). I also wish I could  "hotlink", or post my images on other websites. If that was possible then Shutterfly would be the only site I would need. Since they don't have that option, I have to upload my pics to several places on the web.

View my share site here: http://brianandstarr.shutterfly.com/

Snapfish/Walgreens Photo Books- Snapfish and Walgreens are basically identical. I have done several photo books with them, and I truly don't care for their site. The backgrounds and layouts are ridiculously limited. The covers are pretty boring. The quality was decent, but not as good as Shutterfly. The pictures didn't look as "real" or vibrant, the paper was a bit thinner (but still good), and they didn't have the nice cover/end page to polish it off. They are decent, but not as good as Shutterfly. I doubt I would use them again unless I had a freebie or really cheap coupon.

Here's one of my snapfish books:
Labor Day Vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks http://www2.snapfish.com/memorybook/ordertype=PMB/orderId=226274466/orderstatus=SHR/ownerid=41576498/upc=Photocover+Memorybook+8.5X11.5/u_=1112398349631654_xfc3f3b86e00e894_xfc1000_xfcstarrstamm%40yahoo.com_xfc1000000_xfcSFOPRD07_xfc1_xfc.rkfn6uloCVprNzNfqPhaQ--/t_=41576498

These sites I have worked on &/or ordered books, but haven't received them yet.

Multiply.com: used a freebie offer. Their site was really easy to use, and to the point. I didn't have any trouble, but the layouts and backgrounds/themes are pretty limited. Basically the site works, is easy, but is low on frills. Also, I just ordered it on Monday and it's already been shipped, so they seem pretty fast. I did just hear from another CafeMommy that she got her book and it was very good quality.
Book created: Our Honeymoon  http://starrmom.multiply.com/photos/photobook/1#frontcover

Hoorray.com: I ordered several of the freebie books. This site is truly horrible. I would never consider using them unless it was free. The site is often slow, unresponsive, only partially working, etc. Many times it locked up my browser and I had to use the task manager to close it. I emailed the company, and days later have not gotten a response. The site says there is live chat help, but in over a week it has said "offline" every time I have checked, no matter what time it is.

Besides the unstability, the layouts and background are seriously boring and limited. You can't put more than 4 photos on a page, even on their largest book. This is honestly the worst site I have used, by far. I would never even consider actually paying for a book on their site, no matter how good the quality was. However, they had the best freebie offer yet, since you could add as many pages as you wanted for free, and you could re-use the code over and over.

Books created: Christmas Eve & Christmas 2008: http://www.hoorray.com/sharedPhotos_pub.shared?sid=3271&uid=qWRqqR.64976.-786271685

Artscow.com: When you can't get a total freebie, artscow is as close as it comes. When you sign up you get a huge list- 2 pages long- of freebie offers. The kicker is that you have to pay shipping, which is slow and expensive since it's from Hong Kong. Still, if you plan your items right you can get a great deal, and new members get an 8x8 photo book for $6.99 with free shipping, which may not be free but it's still a good deal. They also have specials with free shipping quite often, like a tote bag for $7.99 with free shipping, etc. They also have some really cool photo gift items that I haven't seen anywhere else. I got my parents a deck of playing cards with a different photo on each of the 52 cards, and they really loved it.

As for their website, they have the most options for photo books. They work more like scrapbooks (actually, you can make 8x8 or 12x12 scrapbook pages on there also). You can use a template if you choose, or you can choose backgrounds, layouts, and add as much text as you like. They even have embellishments, which can really personalize it. You can layout photos however you like on the page, which I love. My main problem is that it gives me SO many options that I have yet to actually finish a book on their site...lol.

I have gotten some photo gifts from them, and they were very good quality (especially the ornaments- great gifts!). Shipping does take about 3 weeks on average, though, so keep that in mind if you have a deadline.

To sum it up: Unless I have a freebie code, the 2 sites I would use for photobooks are Shutterfly and Artscow (of course, I haven't seen Artscow's quality yet, so that may change. And if I needed the item in a short amount of time Shutterfly would definitely be the choice). I thought Shutterfly was a great experience overall, and I have heard great things about their customer service which strengthens my opinion of them.

I had been trying to decide on a good family website for about a year, and Shutterfly's share site has worked perfectly. Like I said, I wish there were more editing features, but for a quick and easy (and FREE!) family website with photo albums you really can't beat it.

COUPON CODES:

Sign up at Artscow.com and get 1200 free print credits, three 8x8 photo books, and much more! CLICK HERE

Also at Artscow:  get a 39 page 8x8 photo book with FREE shipping for $11.99. Coupon codes below are for CHECKOUT use.

Coupon                                                  Expiration

ZF64TD2		Feb/02/2009
Z8CDGD7		Feb/02/2009
Z6EDBSU		Feb/02/2009
ZD5U565		Feb/02/2009
ZGF1ZCV		Feb/02/2009
ZAGJSYC		Feb/02/2009
ZDM7HBG		Feb/02/2009
ZY1RHWW		Feb/02/2009
Z3TMYN1		Feb/02/2009

Free $30 Photo Book
www.Multiply.com/shop       PromoCode=freebookg (have to pay shipping)

Free 5X7 photobook
www.memoryescape.com/Free5X7book      till 2/14/09

Hoorray.com: use code bzzalbum (supposed to be expired, but still working for some people) or freephotoalbum at checkout. Free $35 photo book with as many pages as you want!

I hear this book is small...4x4 I think
PEphoto Online FREE Photo Book Email

Enter your email address and we'll email you a coupon and a special coupon code for an absolutely FREE* Photo Book!

www.pephoto.com/coupon.php 

I just checked, and this was extended to the end of 2009!