Binding Photos in Book Form

[neil poulsen]

I did what you've suggested for a single copy that had about 20 pages. I purchased a box of double-sided matt paper at our local Pro Photo Supply in Portland. It wasn't all that expensive in the 11x17 size. We also have a local do-it-yourself book binding store, and I was able to pick up some pressure-sensitive book binding cloth that covered the book's back. Each page was printed front and back using Adobe's In-Design software to send each image to an Epson 2200.

There's not really enough room here to talk about how all this was brought together in a book form. There are many ways to do this. I will say that I used some pressure-sensitive 1.25" linen tape to hold the pages to the binding. The double-sided matt paper was a little thick, and the pages wouldn't have turned very well without the tape.

The end result was decent, although a bit expensive for 17 books. I probably spent about $55 on the whole project.

[Jasmine2008]

I know it may not be what you're looking for, but I really like to bind my photographs in coil, black coil to be specific. It looks pretty nice, isn't too expensive and the pages turn a full 360 degrees. The only problem is there isn't really any hard-bound option. I hope this helps!

http://www.officezone.com/coil1.htm

[Juergen Sattler]

After trying MyPublsiher and Blurb, I decided that the quality they offered was not up to what I was looking for, so I went to OfficeDepot, bought a $60 hole punching device and binder backs (the ones you use for presentations). Then I went to the local Michael's, got some black thick carton material and made my own front and back, incl. cut-out for a picture in the front panel, used my dry mounting press to sandwich two cartons and the picture for the front together and then spiral bound the hole thing. I have made "books" with as little as 15 pages, all the way up to 40 pages books. They are for family and friends. What makes these special is that they are all orginal photographs taken and printed by us and even the "book" is handmade. Iam very happy with the overall look and quality I get with this solution.

Attached is a lousy pictue taken with my wife's digicam.

[William McEwen]

Jeff,

There's an interesting place on the web that will print a book for you from your files. It won't be on your preferred paper, but it may be the type of thing that you may find as a suitable alternate to the ideal approach that you have mentioned.

Go to MYPUBLISHER.COM

I have not tried them, but am thinking about doing so this year for gifts this winter. I received a recommendation from a friend that felt the quality was very good, and the price very reasonable.

---Michael

I've used Blurb.com successfully for finished-looking, bound books, and friends also speak well of Mypublisher.com. I agree that the quality and price are pretty good. This doesn't address specificlally what you asked about, but I recommend you consider it.

Also, a couple of years ago I gave my sister a presentation album that had 8x10 and 4x5 contact prints corner mounted inside. I used the Rockport album from Light Impressions and it was a beautiful presentation.

For Xmas 2008, I gave each of my siblings a jump drive containing scans of about 200 McEwen family pictures, years ranging from about 1880 to 2008. They were thrilled.

These days, many people are OK with just getting digital files.

[David Karp]

Ctein wrote an article in Photo Techniques a few years ago on this subject. He described how he created books using an inkjet printer and a custom bindery. It is a good article and very informative. They usually have back issues available, or maybe it is on their website.

[Jasmine2008]

Ctein wrote an article in Photo Techniques a few years ago on this subject. He described how he created books using an inkjet printer and a custom bindery. It is a good article and very informative. They usually have back issues available, or maybe it is on their website.

Thanks!