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View Full Version : I finally got my pages printed...with a Winkflash photo book


lmilgram
10-25-2008, 08:00 PM
I have hundreds of digital pages and I have been printing them at home 8x8 until now.

My daughter just turned one and I thought that she deserved a full 12x12 book for her first year. After lots of research and debate I ordered a Winkflash photo book. There is a coupon available throught 10/31/2008 for a flat rate photobook (no add'l charges for more than 20 pages) and I got my book including shipping for about $42. That's less than $1/page and includes the album!

I ordered the book on Thursday evening and it arrived via USPS Saturday morning...a good thing since I was very anxious to see how it turned out. This is the first time I've seen my digital layouts at full size and WOW!! I learned a little about the size of the fonts that I'm using as well as my use of drop shadows...

My biggest concern was the quality of the prints (I'm sure we've all seen post regarding the 200 vs 300 ppi)...I have created pages uses kits that were of both ppi and cannot see a difference in printed quality. My DSP kits look FABULOUS!!! The only pixelation experienced was due to my 3.2 mp camera and even that was minimal.

There is a printing error...a 2-page spread was left blank in the middle of the book (no layouts missing, but the pages must have stuck during printing). I have contacted Winkflash and waiting to see how they handle this.

The tops and bottoms of each page are slightly cropped (which I knew prior to printing). I will be a little more careful with future layouts to leave a wider margin. There is a white margin on the left and right sides of the pages...the outside edge is obvious, but the inside edge doesn't show and prevents the layout from landing in the binding.

The biggest surprise was how thin the book is! I'm used to traditional paper scrapbooks and how thick they are with the cardstock etc...this one is about 1/4" thick with the pages printed double-sided on a slightly glossy paper like a high quality magazine.

I will definately order another book - hopefully prior to the end of the month to use the coupon again if I can.

happybeingamom
10-25-2008, 08:02 PM
I also used winkflash and I am thrilled

shazzt
10-26-2008, 04:20 AM
Sounds great!!I too was amazed at how thin my books were (they were Shutterfly ones). I hpe they sort out your missing pages ok :)

poohbear77
10-26-2008, 04:37 AM
I'm always glad to hear of other people's experiences with different printing companies. I just ordered my second printed book, this time through Shutterfly. I was blown away and so was my family at the quality of the printing! It turned out better than expected. I was even able to do a custom cover and it turned out exactly like it showed in the preview. I was trying to get my grandmother's birthday album done in time for her 90th birthday. I was up against a tight deadline and paid a little extra for over night shipping and it got there just in time. I highly recommend shutterfly!