whit

"I am merely looking for a way to compose my photobook while being offline - and either

upload the entire finished book once it is completed or mail the company a CD (just like

PrintMyPhotobook offer"

I can't speak for any of the other services but I know Lulu doesn't require ANY online

composition...it's ALL created offline with a simple single file upload (plus front and back

covers) being the only thing between you and a published book. Keep in mind, I'm using

PS and other programs lacking any template but my own imagination and Lulu's printing

requirements.

iPhoto and Aperture both allow you to design a photo book in their software enviornment

and then publish it through a third-party publisher. It's all relatively streamlined and

considered (iPhoto at least) to be one of the simplest ways to publish a book. Google

"iphoto book" or "aperture book" and you should be able to find more detailed info.

Hope this helps!

"only PrintMyPhotoBook provides downloadable software...For me, this is the only way to

go."

I think you've already decided to use this company since having software is "the

only way to go" for you. To that end, it sounds like PrintMyPhotobook (catchy name) is the

only one fitting your criteria...I've never heard of someone needing proprietary software

before, so it's not an issue I've seen discussed or can offer any alteratives for. Apple's

Aperture can arrange and order photo books (so can iPhoto), but I think that may be more

horsepower than you're looking for.

Congrats on finding these guys...never heard of 'em!

"Would you say I should boost the exposure of all images sent to them?"

I do, but you may want to create a test project with only a couple of pages and get a proof

from Lulu to see exactly what type of brightness they're going to end up with.

"How about hue and color saturation?"

No problems for me here. Good reproduction of

what I was seeing on my screeen.

"What about converting to CMYK before sending to them?"

NO. Lulu converts to CMYK...doing so yourself introduces another uncontrollable variable.

Hope that helps!

I've faced the same dilemma and was sorry when I only took the 50/1.8...it's just not wide

enough at the 1.5x crop. And at a wedding, you're going to want to get a lot more into the

frame than the 50mm can deliver. And at 18mm you get 3.5 which isn't bad for low light

(especially given the D50's low-light performance).

And the 18-70 is a very light lens for what you get. I used it side-by-side with the Nikon

18-200, 80-200, and even the 12-24 and it suddenly feels like a feather by comparison!

Have a great trip.

The real problem is Lulu's lack of printer profiles. Getting consistant color is all about

having a calibrated monitor and a profile for the exact printer being used. Since Lulu

contracts the printing out of a bunch of different places, they are unable to provide this

level of precision.

And having your image files batch-converted by Lulu to CMYK from RGB seems like

another opportunity for inconsistancy.

It's definitely a compromise for quality in exchange for the price. And the B&W/Greyscale

option is very much like photocopies...which is why I eventually ended up deciding not to

sell that edition.

<p><i>"How do you get an ISBN number assigned? Does LuLu assist with that, or is that

something you need to go through yourself?"</i></p>

<p>LuLu handled the ISBN number in the Basic Distribution Package ($35)...it was

immediately assigned to my book once I completed the process. <a href='http://

www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fID=153'>Here's</a> the complete info from Lulu's FAQs.</

p>

<p>A solid year after deciding to assemble a collection of the photos I took of the <a

href="http://blog.photoblogs.org/2005/03/02/how-to-shoot-the-ambassador-hotel-

before-its-gone/">Ambassador Hotel</a>, I was finally able to publish them this past

week and I wanted to share the experience with any other photographers who'd like their

own photo book.</p>

<p>Up until <a href="http://jpgmag.com/">JPG Magazine</a> published their first

issue, I was unaware of <a href="http://www.lulu.com/">LuLu.com</a>. The only ways I

knew to self-publish a collection of photos were methods like <a href="http://

www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/100-books.shtml">this</a> that involved paying

out thousands of dollars and boxes of books in my garage waiting to be ordered.</p>

<p>But Lulu offers Print on Demand, allowing me to sidestep any initial bulk purchase.

They charge a flat binding fee (mine was $4.53/book) and then a per page charge, offering

a choice of B&W or color (color was $0.15/page and B&W was $.02). My

9x7" 95 page book ended up being around $19.00 plus s/h...a totally different pricing

dynamic than any I'd seen before. You set a retail price and LuLu handles the entire

ordering and fulfillment process...super-smooth.</p>

<p>There are, of course, a couple of caveats. First, the print quality at LuLu has been

hotly debated among photographers all over the net...I know because I obsessively read

everything Google spit at me. But the tests I ultimately relied on were two LuLu color photo

books that I ordered: the afore-mentioned <a href="http://www.lulu.com/jpgmag">JPG

Magazine</a> & Noah Grey's recently-released <a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/

153871">California</a>. </p>

<p>I know that Heather et al at JPG don't screw around and Noah is the most talented

designer I've come across, so I assumed they wouldn't foist inferior publishing on the

public. Of course, I was right. Both publications showed the limitations of what LuLu's

printers can do...in particular, looking closely at any photo reveals pixels that betray

inkjet-printer quality as opposed to the smooth off-set printing presses used by National

Geographic and others in that ilk. But it went well beyond acceptable to my mind and

doesn't seem to have set off a revolt among the consumers who's reviews I read.</p>

<p>The second caveat is that photos need to be optimized for LuLu. In particular, I found

my images needed their brightness boosted about 30% after my first test came back

looking like I'd been shooting through a tinted window. This, I came to learn, is due to

LuLu using the CMYK color mode as opposed to RGB, which I'm used to. But authors

submit their files in RGB and LuLu does the CMYK conversion outside of your control, so

there's obviously a bit of trial and error in finding the right balance. And it only took one

brightness adjustment (after cruising the LuLu support forums for advice) batch-

processed through CS2 to correct my book. Their B&W option is actually a simple

greyscale conversion of your color files that LuLu handles...not the most ideal quality

situation but much cheaper. My B&W photos in the color book, by contrast, looked

excellent.</p>

<p>LuLu also auto-generates a preview at an incredibly bad quality...DO NOT use this

option. It will turn off anyone considering your book based soley on terrible pixelation...I

added a link in my description at LuLu to a proper preview I'm hosti

ng on the book's site.

Hopefully, LuLu will upgrade the process in the future.</p>

<p>The final consideration is price. A lot of people find the cost vs quality to be

lacking...especially when you compare the pricing with traditional photo books. Michael

Reichmann at <a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/100-

books.shtml">Luminous Landscape</a> is selling his 100 page off-set book for $29.99.

That's in the neighborhood of my retail price for 95 pages and his printing quality is

unquestionably better.</p>

<p>But he also laid out five figures in the beginning, albeit getting his books at ~$11

each. As I've already said, I wasn't going to do this. At least not without the built-in

audience Michael's site affords him.</p>

<p>And after receiving both color and greyscale copies of my book, I like them. Not love,

but I'm also buried in NG and Phaidon publications that use gorgeous off-set printing

which aren't exactly fair comparisons. I know there's one photoblogger, <a href="http://

blog.nonphotography.com/">Nitsa</a>, who sells her LuLu-printed books at some of the

bookstores in my neighborhood and I'll probably be trying that out once I get feedback

from the couple of orders I have in the pipeline. So I guess I'm pretty comfortable with the

quality.</p>

<p>Overall, LuLu is an excellent outlet for any photographers looking to bind a hard copy

of their digital images. They offer a multitude of sizes and options for any type of project

one could imagine. But serious photographers looking for flawless, smooth printing

should consider other options first.</p>

<p>The finished product: <a href="http://www.lulu.com/whit">Late Check-Out: Images

From the Ambassador Hotel's Final Two Years</a></p>

Is the Mac version receiving any attention yet? There are a lot of us waiting to try this filter

out who don't have Windows machines!