For Blurb, what size jpegs are you using? What is the point of diminishing returns for image size? I will be using about 5 x 7 picture size for the book. Will 1.2 - 1.5 MB be enough per jpeg?
For Blurb, what size jpegs are you using? What is the point of diminishing returns for image size? I will be using about 5 x 7 picture size for the book. Will 1.2 - 1.5 MB be enough per jpeg?
I don't recall off the top of my head what their minimum suggested image size is but if you use something that will not give good resolution in the finished product you will get an alert, if you use their product (Booksmart I believe) for making the book.Originally Posted by Iluvmyviewcam
I recently did a booklet using one of their templates and upon uploading one of my imagess I was alerted that the print resolution was poor and it would not print well, turned out that I picked one of the images that I had put on the internet for 72dpi.
I normally upload images at a minimum of 4 MB for their 8 x 10 size book, this gives me good resolution in the finished product and a file size that is not so large that handling 50 or more of them in one program doesn't bring my computer to a grinding halt.
I just did a book with Shutterfly and was impressed by the quality. The paper seemed a cut above the several blurb books I have bought from others, though I have not made a book myself with them... Maybe you opt for better paper. Shutterfly's interface for designing the books is very intuitive.
I do documentary photography relating to the disappearing culture in Appalachia. A longtime friend and professional writer and I did a personal project documenting moonshine, cock fighting, serpent handling and cross burnings done by the KKK. I have images I made going back nearly fifty years and we put together a documentary that tours museums in the US.
Appalachian culture has gotten to be a hot topic. It's now cool to be a redneck and moonshine is hot. One of the moonshiners my friend Tom and I worked with for three years was the late Popcorn Sutton. I made hundreds of images all in B&W with 35mm to 5x7 and documented his operation and life. Popcorn committed suicide several years ago so there will be no more new material.
Now that our show is touring we do a good bit of lecturing on mainly serpent handlers and Popcorns moonshine operation. We decided there had been plenty written on serpent handling but o real outside look at Popcorn. Tom and I actually spent more time with him than all but one of his twelve wives.
To make the story short my wife who's a retired creative director / graphic designer and Tom put together a book and registered the copyright then proceeded to publish it through Amazon and also get high quality books printed digitally through a printer I've worked with many times and could get what I want out of them.
The Amazon books are just so so quality on cheap paper but ours are quite nice. We price the Amazon books at $24.95 and ours at $27.95 and sell through some stores as high as $35.95. It's up to the store as to how they want to price them.
We're actually had to form an LLC we were doing so well with it. I think royalties in the past eleven months have run around $10k and we have quite a number of regional book stores carrying it plus Tower books and Barnes and Noble carry it on line. We do appearances and sign books and have a lot of fun with it. We've sold books now in about every corner of the world.
We've done well because of the subject. Very few people knew Popcorn like we did and since his death and the commercial production of his whiskey ( it's nothing like his original) everyone wants to know about what he he was really like. The problem with most photo books is there are a million of them and most aren't unique and have no interest to a broad audience. There's simply too much competition in the picture book world. To sell a book you have to have something no other person has if you want to make money.
We've discussed a book on our touring show. We probably will do one but don't expect big sales. Its unique but the there's no big interest like moonshine and especially Popcorn. Museum stores will sell it but beyond that it won't sell many copies.
Our book is "Popcorn Sutton, the Making and Marketing of a Hillbilly Hero."
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