Blurb - paper choices

[clonmult]

I'm almost finished putting together my first "book" via Blurb. Its just a selection of pictures of my kids since they were born, a good number of them with their grandmother - and the book is intended as a gift for her birthday.

Question is - those of you who've used the service - what is the difference in quality between the standard paper (matt?) and the premium/silk finish? Its only a few £ difference, and if the paper is of better quality it definitely strikes me as being a worthy box to check.

Incidentally its been quite an entertaining process - trawling through thousands of pictures taken on a variety of cameras (A200, old Samsung, Kodak 12mp, Panasonic FT1, a few phones ...), trying to collate them into some sort of order .... but its got me to thinking about the whole picture taking process.

[R&J]

I used Blurb for the first ime recently and opted for the better quailty paper.
Don't know how it sits with the std paper but I'm very pleased with the feel and quality of the pages, infact the whole product is excellent.

I would definately do the same again

R

[clonmult]

Ta - I'm trying to get a couple of pages proof printed here prior to getting anything submitted.

The files printed are fairly huge though, two pages for the gigantic colour laser next to my desk ... 177mb. Doubt that I'll be able to get the printer to myself for long enough to print all 30+ pages ....

[VxDuncan]

I have used blurb three times, I THINK the first was std paper (before the premium was available) and second/third on the posh stuff. It's probably worth the extra, but to be honest it isn't the choice of paper that lets the product down, it's the resolution/screening that the books are printed at. I was hoping that the premium option would mean they are printed at higher res, putting more ink down. I don't think this is the case however.

Still the best of the books I've tried though, even though the blurb SW was some of the most restrictive. Haven't used the service for a year however.

[clonmult]

VxDuncan said:

I have used blurb three times, I THINK the first was std paper (before the premium was available) and second/third on the posh stuff. It's probably worth the extra, but to be honest it isn't the choice of paper that lets the product down, it's the resolution/screening that the books are printed at. I was hoping that the premium option would mean they are printed at higher res, putting more ink down. I don't think this is the case however.

Still the best of the books I've tried though, even though the blurb SW was some of the most restrictive. Haven't used the service for a year however.

I've seen mixed comments on the print quality - some have said it isn't the best, but a good number have said its excellent.

I'm using v2.5.1 of the booksmart software, and it does seem very good - huge number of page layout options, plenty of customisation - it was only towards the end that I was really starting to get the hang of it.

[GetCarter]

The paper is just thicker... print quality is the same. I've used both and now stick to std paper (but I am trying to make money from them!)

[clonmult]

GetCarter said:

The paper is just thicker... print quality is the same. I've used both and now stick to std paper (but I am trying to make money from them!)

Ta - I've requested the first couple with the premium paper, as I put together a few more I'll try the standard.

One thing is for sure though - something about the pictures taken with the SLR stands out over those taken with the compacts, even though both are supposedly relatively decent (Kodak 12mp and Panasonic 12mp). Definitely goes to show that theres more to imaging than just pixel counts.

[GetCarter]

clonmult said:

GetCarter said:

The paper is just thicker... print quality is the same. I've used both and now stick to std paper (but I am trying to make money from them!)

Ta - I've requested the first couple with the premium paper, as I put together a few more I'll try the standard.

One thing is for sure though - something about the pictures taken with the SLR stands out over those taken with the compacts, even though both are supposedly relatively decent (Kodak 12mp and Panasonic 12mp). Definitely goes to show that theres more to imaging than just pixel counts.

Indeed - Sensor size is much more important than amount of pixels, which is one of the reasons why 5 mp SLRs take much better photos that 10 mp compacts.

[clonmult]

GetCarter said:

clonmult said:

GetCarter said:

The paper is just thicker... print quality is the same. I've used both and now stick to std paper (but I am trying to make money from them!)

Ta - I've requested the first couple with the premium paper, as I put together a few more I'll try the standard.

One thing is for sure though - something about the pictures taken with the SLR stands out over those taken with the compacts, even though both are supposedly relatively decent (Kodak 12mp and Panasonic 12mp). Definitely goes to show that theres more to imaging than just pixel counts.

Indeed - Sensor size is much more important than amount of pixels, which is one of the reasons why 5 mp SLRs take much better photos that 10 mp compacts.

Its something I've always known, but not really seen in practice that often.

My favourite compact is still a 3mp Canon that I had years back - took considerably better quality pictures than others I've had since - 6mp Casio and the Kodak/Panasonic.

The SLR is going to get a *lot* more use now.