Lay Flat, non-flush mount options

[melanie_penny]

<p>I have a potential client who is going to be ordering a flush mount album from me for herself. She also was talking about making a shutterfly book for her grandparents herself, but asked if I had any other less expensive options. <br>

I wasn't initially planning on offering lay-flat press printed books or similar style albums, but if there is some way that I could find a good quality lay-flat option that was low priced and would allow me to use the same layouts as for the flush mount, I might as well offer it!<br>

I am familiar with adoramapix's albums and I would love to offer something like that (perhaps with both a leather/linen cover option as well as the photo option), because it has NO GUTTER. However, the limited page lengths mean that I couldn't just order copies of the same book (which would have to be explained to the client). Additionally, if I am going to be charging for this I would like to provide a product that she couldn't get herself. <br>

I am looking at the following possible options and would love to know what others think. The main concerns that I have is 1) quality of printing, 2) fold or small gutter so that I did not have to adjust the layout for the companion books and 3) cover options.<br>

My possible options (so far) include:<br>

1) Black River Imaging Hinged Press Printed Photo Books<br>

2) Miller's Lay Flat Albums (don't like the fact that it is limited to 30 pages however, that may be dealbreaker)<br>

3) Miller's Lay Flat Books (same issue with 30 pg limit)<br>

I've already ruled out Finao's Rave books b/c the gutter seemed too wide, and the pricing was still pretty high. Waiting on pricing for Kiss's Linen Kisses, but don't love the limited cover options, but if the pricing is good I'd consider it. <br>

So any other options that are around the BRI price range would be great. Also, any comments on the quality of any of these would be fantastic. </p>

 

[shawn_mertz]

<p>Look at their Signature series and Keepsake press printed books. They are very good.<br>

http://www.profilmet.com/</p>

[alanabrams]

<p>Hard to beat BRI press books. Plus, their customer service is amzing.<br>

WHCC offers a similar product at what is most likely similar in cost...</p>

[melanie_penny]

<p>Thanks for the suggestion and the feedback on the BRI books. I had read some pretty good comments about them on other forums--as good relative to press books. <br>

From the pictures online the gutter seems very small and wouldn't interfere with my original layouts. Is that pretty accurate?</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>Asuka and VisionArtbook.com</p>

[silverdae]

<p>Burrell Colour Imaging offers a lay-flat press printed book (Crown Books), and if you read the instructions on how to order it, you'll find that there is a very small gutter, but the image is continuous (you don't lose any of the image, even though it is two separate pages). The pages are hard, so no tearing, and the image quality is very good. The only cover option is a fully designed photographic cover, I believe, but I would ask customer service about it. We've used it as a low-cost option for albums and for low-end events. </p>

[melanie_penny]

<p>Thank you for the responses!<br>

Asuka definitely seems like a nice option, but it definitely is too pricey for the clients I want to reach. BRI price or lower would be ideal. Or at BRI price (maybe a little higher) IF it had the completely flat layout, like the Adoramapix books. <br>

I honestly feel that with the Adoramapix book, which I have seen for myself, it is hard to justify a book that will cost a lot more, unless they prefer the leather cover option than the photo cover (which is the only option Adoramapix offers now, I believe).</p>

[mark_ridout1]

<p>Use My Publisher who now offer a lay flat version......probably the cheapest of the bunch and quite acceptable print quality in the large books</p>

[ron_day___greensboro__nc]

<p>I have also used My Publisher quite a bit but have not tried their lay flat option yet. The quality from My Publisher seems to be evolving ..... I printed a sample press book from Miller's a year or so ago and thought the quality of the pages was so so. I have seen an example book from Blurb and thought it to be similar to My Publisher, etc. <br /> <br /> It sure would be nice to have side by side books using the same images from the various publishers to evaluate the quality.....if anyone has done such a comparison I too would be interested in their opinions. <br /> <br /> Seems I have read somewhere that most of the press books use the same printer made by HP?</p>