MyPublisher v. Picaboo
I finished the final version of the catalog at MyPublisher. Here’s a link to the version with a black background.
MyPublisher Catalog (hardcover)
MyPublisher Catalog (paperback)
As I was hunting around - I found one other POD publisher that I hadn’t tried - Picaboo. There were a few things about the MyPublisher software that were bothering me (very few backgrounds, no frames unless you create them in PS) so I did a quick book at Picaboo. The Picaboo software that I downloaded is much more comprehensive - tons of backgrounds, and many more layouts. Easy to use etc. The prices are higher - somewhere between MyPublisher and SharedInk. Since I already had all the jpgs prepared it was a quick thing to do. (Unlike MyPublisher, I couldn’t figure out how to put page numbers on - though there must be a way and I might have missed it).
Anyway - I did an 8 x 6 hardcover with 22 pages and it cost $22. I should also note that my PC crashed once while the software was loaded.
The Decisive Moment (Uh - Chess) »
Comments
Comment from Mike
Time: April 25, 2008, 1:45 pm
I much prefer this version. I tried MyPublisher but found one thing that is either a bug or an annoying feature. Having arranged the photos into the order you want, the Auto Build feature jumbles them up again… So the only way to build an album is to do each page manually. Not good really. I’ll give Picaboo a try.
Comment from dave
Time: April 25, 2008, 3:56 pm
Mike - not sure what you mean. I didn’t use the auto-build feature at all. I did each page by applying a layout, choosing the black background, dragging in the photos one at a time. I never had anything re-arranged. The main issue but you’ll have it with Picaboo as well - is that I had to individually resize each image in its well so that the full image would show. Otherwise MyPublisher crops to the size of the well you are putting it in.
Comment from Mike Mundy
Time: April 25, 2008, 5:14 pm
I wonder if there’s any way to find out if these products are archival. I didn’t see any mention of materials used on the Picaboo website . . . maybe you have to actually get into the ordering sequence to find out. I notice that your POD article shows Sharedink as being archival, but no info on any of the others (due to their websites’ lack of information, I presume.)
Comment from dave
Time: April 25, 2008, 5:30 pm
Both MyPublisher & Picaboo use archival acid-free paper; at least that’s what I saw in either the help section or the forums. Most of these POD company are using the same equipment, ink and paper. The question might be how long the ink lasts. I don’t think anyone knows that yet.
Comment from Mike Mundy
Time: April 25, 2008, 8:10 pm
Thanks! I would guess that photos in a book would come under “dark storage” fading criteria.
They might last quite a while!
Comment from Bethany
Time: June 1, 2008, 1:16 pm
Hello. I noticed the comments about mypublisher and picaboo. I have actually used both of them, but have not yet received my picaboo book yet. I will do a review and comparison of the two once I get the picaboo book in. I thought both of them had software that was pretty easy to use and I did not have any problems with it. I liked picaboos template options better than mypublisher. However, what I did not like was that I could not find any way to rearrange the pages once they were made. I spent about an hour trying to figure it out and finally gave up. As a result, the pages will not be in the order that I intended for them to be in, which is disappointing. Mypublisher has a way to put the pages in the exact order you want them in after they have been created. If picaboo does not have this option, not sure if I would use them again. I thought their prices were very similiar, except that picaboo charges more for a dustcover. I was able to use a buy one get one free option for mypublisher and a 50% off coupon for picaboo. Since I ordered two books from each, they ended up being close in price. Mypublisher was a little higher, only because I ordered extra pages, and I only used the base page amount with picaboo. One thing to note is that they do kind of cheat on the base page thing- they say that 20 pages are included in the base cost and that is not true. Only 18 sides are included (which is a total of 9 two-sided pages, which is what I consider a page.) They include the back-side of the front cover and the title page (which if you are getting the base linen cut-out cover is what shows through the little square window) in the 20 pages, so you really only get 18 pages. (sides) That results in a very thin book, unless you add extra pages, which can really add up. Picaboos pages are really high- $1.99 a page. (which I believe is really a side, which would really make it $4 a page.) Mypublisher is 99 cents a side, which would make it $2 a page. Considerable difference in price there. I ordered the photo dust cover option with mypublisher which was fabulous and I thought very good quality considering that mypublisher is not considered a professional-grade product. Since picaboo was so much higher on their dustcovers, I went with the base cover option, which was the linen cover with square cut-out. I have used this option in the past with mypublisher, who also offers the same base cover and was not impressed- I thought it looked and felt very cheap. The dustcover made a big difference in that case. When I get my picaboo back, I will give a more thorough review of both books and how they compare to each other in terms of quality.
Comment from Sinuhe
Time: April 24, 2008, 7:40 pm
Catalog looks terrific - the prints really shine on the black background - can’t wait to get a hardcopy.