I am so excited about my stunning new hardcover Portfolio Book that I created with remarkable ease thanks to Blurb. If you haven’t heard of Blurb, they are an independent, creative book making platform. You may find this hard to believe, but I have never created my own photo book. I’ve often thought of creating photo books of my kids, I feel terrible having almost nothing in print, but any time I have attempted to create one it just felt too overwhelming. And frankly I was just too dang lazy. Well I recently discovered Blurb and decided to put my bridal makeup artistry portfolio in hardcover book form. I was a little intimidated at the idea, but as soon as I opened Blurb’s free bookmaking tool Bookify I dived right in. There was literally no learning curve. It was so easy to use!
In preparation for creating my Blurb book I went through all of my portfolio shots and copied the ones I wanted to use into a folder on my computer to make things easier. Once I opened Bookify I uploaded all the images into the tool and I was creating my masterpiece in minutes. The tool even lets you start creating your book layout with the images while they are still uploading. You don’t even have to be patient… in case patience isn’t your strong suit. No comment from me.
There are a variety of book sizes and layouts to choose from. I opted for square. I was so nervous I wouldn’t be creative enough to come up with attractive photo layouts but Blurb took care of it all for me. You can actually have them input the photos into the book for you but I did want to have some control. There are so many different page layout and collage styles to choose from depending on if you want a single image per page, or two, three, four or more. There are so many varieties both with and without text. You could select what layout you wanted from the menu or you can do what I did, which was so incredibly fun and helpful. I would just decide how many pictures I wanted on each page and then drag and drop the photos from my bar of photos at the bottom the Bookify tool. Once they are on the page you can toggle between all the different layouts for that number of pictures with a click of a button. I would just toggle through until I found the one that suited the pictures best and I was done. It is really foolproof because it is so flexible. You can easily insert more pages into the middle of the book in case you forgot something for example. Once you have used a picture in your book, a checkmark appears on the picture in the toolbar so you can keep track of what photos you have used, and which you still need to add. It was so quick, easy, and yes FUN to create.
If you are a bit more of a design expert than I am then you can use Blurb’s Adobe® InDesign® plug-in or their Lightroom® integration for even more creative control over your book creation.
You can also create magazines and digital e-books with Blurb. I even purchased my Portfolio book in digital PDF form so that I can email it to clients and even add it to my website.
Blurb is not only for one off photo book creation. If you are an author or other from of bookmaker you can create your books on Blurb in trade paperback or hardcover and then sell them on Blurb, through Amazon, or even in Apple’s iBooks store.
You can order a swatch kit if you would like to see samples of all the different paper options that are available from Blurb prior to ordering your book. The $7.95 you invest in the swatch kit is then given back to to you in the form of a promo code you can apply toward the cost of your book purchase. I found it so handy to be able to see how all the different paper qualities really looked and felt. I opted for the Proline Pearl Photo 140lb paper with ImageWrap Hard Cover, because as I always say, go big or go home. I wanted the nicest possible result and that’s exactly what I received. And quite promptly might I add, especially considering I ordered during holiday season.
The quality is really nice. The photos are nice and crisp and clear and I can’t detect any loss in clarity or colour quality. The paper is absolutely beautiful. I am so happy I opted for this paper because it showcases my work beautifully and it looks so professional and high end. I am so impressed with every aspect of my experience with Blurb. Everything was so simple and the results nothing short of breathtaking. I can’t wait to create my next masterpiece!
This post was made possible by a collaboration with Blurb. All opinions are my own.
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