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When browsing the local book store looking at all the lovely coffee table books, the thought had often crossed my mind that my own photography would look very nice inside one of these lovely hard back covers.
Then Bob Books got in touch about their photo book service, which allows you to design your own photo book and have it printed, so I set about designing my very own book.
What sizes do they come in?
Bob Books offer a variety of different sizes including Small Landscape, Landscape, Large Landscape, Square, Large Square, Portrait and Large Portrait. You then have full control over the paper options, so you could choose Classic, Gloss-coated, Matte, Lustre Photographic and Gloss Photographic.
I really like the two photographic paper options as they allow for your book to lay completely flat when opened, which is brilliant if you have an image that spreads over two pages. Lastly, you can choose between Hardback and Softback covers.
How to design your travel photo book
I designed my photo book using their Bob Designer Software. The software is a downloadable desktop app that gives you lots of control over the design of your book and I found it fairly straightforward to use. The only downside of this software was that my laptop is getting quite old (a 2011 Macbook Pro) and the application was running really slow towards the end when I actually wanted to checkout and buy my book. I had to go to the kitchen for a minute and get a cup of tea while it generated my book and worked its magic.
I did find it quite difficult to pick and choose the images that I wanted and I think if the design process feels a bit too complicated, you should probably opt for their Book Design Service. Just send them your photos and they’ll do all the leg work for you. For me this wasn’t quite possible though as my photos are spread across 4 different hard drives in all sorts of backup folders. But say for instance, you go on a trip to Spain and you just want a book of that one trip, you could send over the folder of images and have your designer create something nice and professional looking.
The other options for creation are:
Online Book Creator: Design online from any computer
PDF-to-Book: Create your Bob Book using Adobe InDesign
iPad App: Design your book on your iPad or iPhone
My ABC Book App: Create a children’s alphabet book on your iPad or iPhone
The Pommie Travels Book
I opted for a Large Landscape Book (38 x 29cm) with Lustre Photographic paper, which is their best-selling, lay-flat, photographic paper produced using a silver halide photographic process. I picked hard back to give it that luxury feel, with 26 pages inside. All in all it cost £79.99 plus post and packaging so not cheap by any means, but this is on the higher end of the scale. Prices start at £14.99 and you can choose a smaller size if you so wish.
I used some images of myself from my PicTrip photoshoot for the front and back cover, then chose some of my favourite travel photos for the inside of the book. Each double page spread has 2 images from each of my favourite destinations, so it’s like a trip down memory lane taking a look at my best adventures. The spine of the book displays my catchphrase “See the world, I dare you.” and inside it simply says “Photography by Victoria Brewood”. The software allows you to add text on any of the pages so you could write descriptions but I decided to just keep it simple.
What about the service & quality?
Once I’d ordered my book it was dispatched within 9 days, with postage costing £5,99. I ordered on September 20th and I got the notification to my email on September 29th.
When I opened up my package I was impressed by the quality – a real glossy hardback cover with thick, luxurious paper inside. I was a little worried that my images might look noisy or poor quality when blown up but they look incredibly gorgeous and life like!
Final Thoughts
I’m happy with my book and I’ll probably give it to my Mum as one of her Christmas gifts this year (don’t worry – I’m not spoiling the surprise since she doesn’t read my blog or really use the Internet). If you’re looking for a company that gives you full control over the design of your photo book, along with high quality printing, Bob Books is definitely a great option.
The post Bob Books Review: Travel Photo Book Design appeared first on Pommie Travels.
Source: pommietravels.com