Book Your Photos with Shutterfly
Photos document our lives. They show our point of view. Make us laugh. Roll our eyes. Jump start our brain. They are a living journal. And lost in our digital backdrop.
Sure you can print photos (and Shutterfly provides that service for a variety of sizes including poster-sized 20×30). And these days can have them printed on just about anything. Shutterfly offers everything from travel mugs and puzzles to playing cards and plates.
But there’s something about a book. Creating a story. Running your finger over the cover. Turning the pages. It’s pure magic. And you’ll get addicted to the rush.
The Simple Path
If you’ve never made a photo book before, fear not! It’s amazingly simple. And if you have but haven’t tried Shutterfly then you’re missing out.
When photo books were first offered, the layouts were pretty basic and the backgrounds were single colors. Then came some fresh layouts and a few themed background designs. Then more layouts, text options and embellishments. Today it’s only limited by your imagination. And of course, the luxury of time.
Think you’re just too busy? Try ‘simple path’ which is basically a magic button. Choose your photos and select from over 20 ‘styles’ such as Summer Fun, Joy Ride or Patterns and Textures. Shutterfly transforms them into pre-designed layouts which you can then tweak by adding captions or editing the photos.
The Custom Path
You’ve probably already guessed I like to forge my own path. Even a simple B&W photo ‘look-book’ has to be hand-crafted. For us controlling types, Shutterfly offers Custom Path.
Customize everything. Sacrifice nothing.
Dozens of styles, thousands of embellishments, hundreds of backgrounds. And the layouts range from unique to the fanciful. Text only, text with one or multiple photos. Choose, change your mind, rearrange. Add a page, flip the layout, drag out a photo or three more in.
Stuck? Still think you ‘aren’t creative’? Try the page templates for a springboard. A tiny bit like the Simple Path option but these have more depth and allow for greater flexibility. A surefire way to kick start those creative juices.
Book Deals
–Example Only from 03/26/13–
Maybe the obstacle to turning your photos into tangible memories isn’t time. Sign up with Shutterfly and you not only get free prints but you’ll get the scoop on discounts (up to 50% off photo books, buy one/get one & more) as well as freebies (not including shipping & tax). These change frequently so there is sure to be something you’re looking for on sale.
With soft cover books starting at $12.99 for 20 pages and hard covers at $29.99, turning those shots into treasures is affordable and fun. Especially if you’re proactive.
How so? Check out this scorching tip: Upload photos often into albums (see below for upload options) and start one or more photo books (be sure to save!). Add to them as you have time, tweaking here and embellishing there. Once you have a book ready, keep an eye out for the sale. Then pounce!
Judge A Book By Its Cover
There are some shoddy photo book sellers out there. The pages are thin. The photos lackluster. And the covers are appalling. Definitely not so with Shutterfly.
Soft photo covers in four sizes. Hard photo covers in three sizes with hard cover (glossy or matte finish), padded photo cover, cloth with photo window and leather with or without window. The premium leather even offers layflat pages.
Thick pages. Brilliant color. Quality. You can definitely judge these books by their covers.
The Tidbits
- Photos can be uploaded from your computer, Facebook, Instagram and through their apps (of course). All are quick but the apps make it effortless for those iDevice photos.
Note: You can order prints and some photo gifts through the apps but you cannot use them to create a photo book.
- If you order your book, you can easily post to Facebook or share via Twitter (or embed the code on your site). Those you share with can view your book and even order a copy.
- Don’t be limited by the thousands of embellishments. I turn trees and flowers upside down and drag partially out of the frame to create borders, add lots of layers and mix textures.
- They also have something they call Share Sites which allows you to share your albums with others. I’ve found this a fantastic way to let the overseas in-laws get a glimpse of our life. And yes, there’s an app for that too.
- Oh, and they even offer a self-adhesive pocket for some of the albums so you can store all those extra tidbits.
Tell Your Story
You might have noticed I’m pretty passionate about these books. They inspire me. They spoil me. They turn my pictures into something more than words. They become the story of me.
My latest photo book, with the power of Shutterfly’s alchemy, morphed into a digital photo journal that I’m eagerly awaiting to arrive in page-sniffing, finger-rubbing glory. Some of my favorite shots. And thoughts inspired by them. All wrapped up in a spectacular package. See for yourself.
Shutterfly on the web, for iPhone and for iPad
Ready to transform your photos into beautiful photo books? Share them with us on Facebook.
About Marsha Bezzina
Marsha Bezzina has always enjoyed writing. But photography was mostly relegated to annual trips until the acquisition of her first smartphone, the iPhone 4s. Now this self-declared ‘mental crafter’ is a data hog – capturing moments, hoarding photo apps and editing with abandon. She is @notDelilah on Instagram but had to settle for @notDelilah_ on Twitter. Or check out her site, www.notDelilah.com