I never usually get round to printing off photographs these days as they are usually uploaded to Facebook or sent to friends and relatives by email. It's a shame really as I love looking through old photo albums. Anyway, Bonusprint asked me if I'd like to try one of their products - the Square M Photo Book (RRP : £12.99) - and rather than just trusting my own judgement I asked five friends to help with the review too.
I found the Bonusprint experience really clear to follow - you can either download their software - which has additional features and design tools - to create your album or you can do it all on their website (the route I took). You are prompted on each stage of creation of your photo book and after importing your photos you can choose to place the pictures manually or have the software do that for you. Claire mentions that her husband found the site really easy to use, "especially after he had read the instructions. It took him two years to put my shelves up!" and Donna liked that she could download the pages onto a template and organise them onto pages later. Lisa adds, "If you're unsure about page order, don't worry as you can simply click and drag to move the pages around rather than delete and reload them individually."
I found the Bonusprint experience really clear to follow - you can either download their software - which has additional features and design tools - to create your album or you can do it all on their website (the route I took). You are prompted on each stage of creation of your photo book and after importing your photos you can choose to place the pictures manually or have the software do that for you. Claire mentions that her husband found the site really easy to use, "especially after he had read the instructions. It took him two years to put my shelves up!" and Donna liked that she could download the pages onto a template and organise them onto pages later. Lisa adds, "If you're unsure about page order, don't worry as you can simply click and drag to move the pages around rather than delete and reload them individually."You are also asked to choose how many photos you want per page, a background style (I chose "Urban") and if you want any additional features (extra pages, leather cover, image/wording on the front, extra glossy pages - all reasonably priced). Debbie liked the 'magic wand' button which gave her different options of how her pictures could look on the page. She says, "It's a really nifty feature. It made all the difference, creating something that looked sleek and professional from my family snaps." Lisa loves the look of her book as "the photos are clear, the colours distinct and the paper feels high quality." Annie chose to put a border around her pictures and noted that, "there are other editing facilities you can use but this was all I wanted."
The Square M Photo Book comes with a hard linen cover (6 choices of colour) and 24 pages as standard which seems to be enough as Annie remarked, "the bit that took time was to find 24 pictures to put together from my various CD's cameras, phones, etc" and I noted that you can also have more than one photograph on each page if you wish.
Bonusprint promise that you will have your product within seven days of placing your order and they promise to keep you up-to-date with delivery via specific tracking email. This facility always worries me as there is a fine line between being informed of a process and being flooded with unncessary emails. Bonusprint appear to have this service spot on, though as Debbie says "the finished book was packaged very securely and delivered well within the time given on the website. It was easy to tell what it is too - just in case it's a gift and needs to be hidden from someone to keep the suprise."
My photobook is so much better quality that I could have imagined. I have tried to order photobooks (or similar products) in the past but the quality of my photos hasn't been good enough. With the size of this book the images required are much smaller and whilst high-resolution images is better for the end product, it didn't seem quite so necessary for my book. I was really happy with the finished product. Claire adds that it is a valuable memento of her sons rugby adventures from this year saying, "My husband took over 2000 rugby pictures so I was glad to see some in print." Donna remembers using another website and found that the pictures either took too long to download or that the process was too complicated. After using Bonusprint she says, "This was quick and easy." and Annie was "dead chuffed with the end result, as were the kids." She just hopes the can keep it quiet until Father's Day!
We have all said that we would use Bonusprint again as the whole process was a positive one. We all feel that this little photobook would also make a fantastic Father's Day present but the book is great for any theme. Don't forget that Father's Day is on Sunday June 19th this year so you have just enough time to place an order with Bonusprint.
The Square M Photo Book comes with a hard linen cover (6 choices of colour) and 24 pages as standard which seems to be enough as Annie remarked, "the bit that took time was to find 24 pictures to put together from my various CD's cameras, phones, etc" and I noted that you can also have more than one photograph on each page if you wish.
Bonusprint promise that you will have your product within seven days of placing your order and they promise to keep you up-to-date with delivery via specific tracking email. This facility always worries me as there is a fine line between being informed of a process and being flooded with unncessary emails. Bonusprint appear to have this service spot on, though as Debbie says "the finished book was packaged very securely and delivered well within the time given on the website. It was easy to tell what it is too - just in case it's a gift and needs to be hidden from someone to keep the suprise."
My photobook is so much better quality that I could have imagined. I have tried to order photobooks (or similar products) in the past but the quality of my photos hasn't been good enough. With the size of this book the images required are much smaller and whilst high-resolution images is better for the end product, it didn't seem quite so necessary for my book. I was really happy with the finished product. Claire adds that it is a valuable memento of her sons rugby adventures from this year saying, "My husband took over 2000 rugby pictures so I was glad to see some in print." Donna remembers using another website and found that the pictures either took too long to download or that the process was too complicated. After using Bonusprint she says, "This was quick and easy." and Annie was "dead chuffed with the end result, as were the kids." She just hopes the can keep it quiet until Father's Day!
We have all said that we would use Bonusprint again as the whole process was a positive one. We all feel that this little photobook would also make a fantastic Father's Day present but the book is great for any theme. Don't forget that Father's Day is on Sunday June 19th this year so you have just enough time to place an order with Bonusprint.
Thanks to my Helpers;
Annie blogs at Childminding Mummy
Annie blogs at Childminding Mummy
Claire blogs at Life, Ninja Killer Cat & Everything Else
Debbie blogs at A Girl In A House Full Of Boys (when she remembers to update it)
Donna blogs at Mummy Central
Lisa blogs at 40s Chic