Sharing photos with your loved ones is always a great pleasure, especially if you want to give them as a gift. But you can’t just toss the pictures to the beneficiary; you need a better way to present someone’s most cherished memories. Thankfully, we can offer you two options, right off the bat: a photo book created by yourself or a gift voucher that allows your loved one to build the photo book of his/her favorite memories. If you create the book, you can let your creativity soar thanks to various customization options regarding the book’s size, cover, paper type, theme and the pages’ layouts. Moreover, some photo book builders allow contributions by others; therefore you can create the perfect gift with the gift’s recipient’s family/friends or the receiver him-/herself. A gift voucher, on the other hand, offers the above freedom to the lucky recipient so he/she can create the photo book the way he/she wants it.
Before you start creating the gift photo book, take a moment and think about what the characteristics of the recipient are. If you have a couple of thoughts, there are no limitations regarding the appearance of the book: you can pick any sizes, covers, paper types, shapes etc. Once you have created your photo book, you can choose to present the book as it is, get it gift wrapped or delivered in a gift box. Regardless of its presentation, the most important part is what’s inside the book.
With this in mind, select a theme that goes with the personality of the receiver or one that is completely neutral. As for layouts, try not to overcrowd the pages with photos (the lesser the better), and if you want to include captions, write down things related to the recipient instead of bland quotations. Photos can be uploaded from various places (like Instagram) and arranged in any logical order you want, but avoid modifications and/or use the best photos you can find.
If you have no idea at all, ask the relatives/friends of the book’s receiver to help you out. If you have chosen the right photo book builder, you even have the option to invite them to collaborate on the book so you can always make the right choices.
You have no idea what to give to the receiver, or you want to avoid awkward moments when you give a gift that the recipient might not like? Then a gift voucher is the ideal choice.
How does a gift voucher/certificate work? Really simple: basically you buy a blank product in advance and give the opportunity of creating anything within the amount of the voucher to someone else. Usually photo book companies offer these gift certificates at predetermined prices ($10, $25, $100 etc.), but sometimes you have the option to determine the voucher’s monetary amount for yourself or (this is unfortunately very rare) buy vouchers for discounted prices.
Gift certificates exist in two formats: physical or digital vouchers. The latter is sent via email immediately after you have paid for it, while the former is printed and sent to you or the recipient via snail mail. Either way, the recipient gets a nice-looking customized message in a letter format with a gift code inside which he/she can use to build the desired photo book.
If you prefer creating a gift photo book yourself instead of giving a gift certificate to the beneficiary, that’s a very lovely gesture. But when the big day comes, you can’t just present the photo book the way it is. You either have to wrap it or you have to put the book into a gift box. And most photo book companies gladly help you with the latter.
The advantage of gift boxes is that they are bland. Before you ask, this is a completely justifiable decision of photo book companies; you want to give the photo book as a surprise to the beneficiary, so what better way to hide a gift than in a box that can’t raise suspicions? Therefore, boxes cannot be customized in any way; the only customization option you rarely have is choosing preset designs. And one more thing: gift boxes always cost extra.
U.S.-based MyPublisher was founded in 1994, and since then it not only joined forces with one of the leading picture printing services, Shutterfly, but it also manages to sell over 120 million photos each year. Despite being fully merged into Shutterfly on May 15, 2017, the company never stopped till the very last moment in further developing its services and making new and old customers satisfied.
After downloading the software, you can quickly create your photo book from scratch or from 12 design elements. You also have the option to choose from 4 sizes, 6 different covers and order your books with different paper types and layflat binding. Other than the usual treats, the program has built-in features with which you can be sure that your book will be perfect. And once you are ready, you can simply buy your books for rather cost-friendly prices and get them shipped within 8 business days from the 2–4 day production time. But if you still think MyPublisher’s prices are high, you can always reduce them with many coupons and other discounts.
Founded in 2006, Mixbook has established its position as one of the best photo book editing services on the market. One of the reasons for the company’s impressive reputation is its nearly flawless editor that helps you quickly craft the photo book of your dreams.
This editor includes over 700 designs, layout options, and other customizations to make your photo book unique. Mixbook also offers a reasonable range of size-to-cover pairings, with eight sizes and four cover options.
For affordable pricing and shipping, you receive a quality product within one to three weeks. Mixbook is present in the U.S. and the UK, and ships internationally. It’s even possible to reduce the price by waiting for one of the occasional discounts Mixbook runs on its website or refer Mixbook to a friend and get off for each successful referral.
It’s an old cliché that the competitors of each market (including photo book editors) can be divided into three categories: the big fishes, the mediocre solutions with shameless marketing and the hidden gems. And despite its empty meaning name, Collage.com is such a hidden gem. Founded in 2008, this Michigan-based company provides over 50 different products, including photo books that can be created in one of the simplest, yet most advanced editors we have tested. In Collage.com your photos are auto-arranged in the best layout possible, you have over 200 themes and you can select 6 sizes and pair them with 3 different covers. You can edit your photo book anytime from anywhere by accessing the editor either from a regular or a mobile browser. Books, which can be ordered with plenty of everlasting discounts, are produced and shipped within a relatively short period of time, and if you are not satisfied with the final result you can ask for reprints or refunds from the apt customer support for two whole years.
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