Seamless/creased Album page durability

<p>My wife and daughter recently attended a bridal show and were particularly impressed by one photographer's albums. This was the only one showing creased (seamless?) album spreads. I searched on durability but only found some older posts. The search suggested either durability problems or visual discolorations along the fold after a while. Does this still present a problem over time or have processes or materials improved? Is this something that looks good but perhaps should be avoided for the long haul?</p>

Well everything depends on quality. If you look at some of the top album companies they are very well made. I like, and order from Art Leather and White Glove. There are several other companies such as Leather Craftsman, thats slightly more pricey, that are also very good. I have sample seamless books that are at least 10 years old and are fine, thus the reason to select a company that is well known for quality and warranties. As a photographer, the last thing I want to do is replace someones album and since 1987 or so I haven't had to replace a single album, except for one that a dog got hold of! So whatever you buy keep an eye on Rover. I would say if you spend about $400 just for the album, not including the pictures you should be fine.

 

About our studio albums. They get looked at a few times a week. Once you are married the book will see some interest from friends and family, but after a time the book hardly ever gets looked at, so since the studio albums look good I would think your book will look excellent even after 10 or so years.

<p>I use Renaissance albums and they discourage the Soho book which is their "seamless" style page album for the same reason you mention. they say over time the part of the picture in the crease will fade due to wear and tear. i'm not sure if they base that on experience with demo albums which see a lot more wear and tear than what the clients albums actually go through. but because they discourage it i don't offer it. the fine art album has an ultra thin break in the middle and that's what i offer to clients. u still get the panoramic effect but without the concern for the photo breaking in the middle. it funny because lately more brides seem to have this concern before i even mention it. maybe its just intuition.</p>

<p>I do offer it. My thought is years down the road it may discolor the maybe 1/8th inch strip in the middle but a discolored strip is better than a black one.</p>

<p>I offer seamless albums from Finao and Graphi Studio. The thick-page from Finao is really impressive and the quality is top-notch. But the albums with gutters tend to last a little bit longer due to the binding method.</p>

<p>So it looks like there is some level of expectant concern but little actual trouble with it on the high end products. As it is while doing some searches on this, I found one "provider" reporting that the "handmade" nature of their albums resulted in slight page problems, images not necessarily fully aligned to the backing, etc., one of the signs of non-machine hand craftsmanship. It does seem that a sample album would get a lot more handling over time than an individual's own after the first flurry of sharing it about.</p>

<p>The longevity not only varies with quality of construction, but whether the prints are inkjet, press printed or truly photographic. There are a number of albums available today (such as those from H&H Color Lab) that have such a narrow gap that I feel more comfortable with those than anything with a crease. <br>

How many times can you fold and unfold a piece of paper without it showing signs of wear? I don't feel that it's worth finding out.</p>