Shutterfly Photo Books Reviews

The online editor may seem a little complicated at first. Still, once we got the hang of it, we enjoyed navigating through the several layouts, backgrounds, and embellishments to personalize our book and make it unique.

It’s possible to upload photos from your device, Shutterfly storage, social media, or file-sharing sites. The handy ‘Idea pages’ tab displays preset layouts with backgrounds that match the theme chosen.

The themes can be changed at any time during the editing process, along with the book’s size and cover. It’s also possible to resize and rotate your photos, as well as add more photo holders or text boxes. However, to be able to do so, the ‘Advanced editing’ button needs to be selected. We found this button to be unnecessary, as these adjustments are basic editing tools that shouldn’t be highlighted as advanced.

You can also apply several extra effects to your photos, such as black and white, sepia, vintage, or fade. Still, note that some of these effects may seem a bit off when printed. Plus, the 5-minute auto-save is a bit slow compared to competing editors.

Additional features

When it comes to image quality, this software has your back by removing red eyes from photos that may need it. It also displays low-resolution warnings, so if the image quality isn’t high enough for printing, you’re alerted to change it.

We especially enjoyed the fact that as you edit your book, you can see the price of it going up or down according to your edits. With this neat feature, you can build your book within your budget and avoid surprises during checkout.

Finally, it’s important to mention that you can create a photo book using mobile devices either from a browser or the iOS and Android apps. Although customization on mobile is limited in some ways, there are still options to adjust the photos, add funny doodles and stickers, and have the project auto-saved after each modification.

Standard layflat pages are also available in hard covers books (glossy or matte), and soft cover books can only be ordered with standard quality pages.

Our photo book arrived well-packaged in a cardboard box with clear wrapping for extra protection. Once we unwrapped it, we could see the top-quality product exactly as we had envisioned it during the editing process.

By default, both the cover and the pages are quite glossy. Still, fingerprints are less visible on the pages than they are on the cover. The pages themselves are relatively rigid, which adds to the overall quality of the product but, at the same time, also makes it harder to keep the book open.

As for the printing itself, there’s no denying Shutterfly’s quality on this front: beautiful, vibrant colors, high-quality flyleaves and no defects whatsoever.

There are two minor nuisances, though: for one, the barcode on the back cover is bigger than it appears in the editor, so that’s something to keep in mind when designing the book. The other is that the pages have a strong, unpleasant odor – probably due to the printing process or the glue. So, we recommend leaving the book open for a few days to make the smell disappear.

Shutterfly‘s pricing structure doesn’t differ much from other photo book makers. The 8×8 soft cover book with standard pages is only $19.98. The prices change according to the size, type of cover, and paper quality. Prices for extra pages other than the default 20 start at $1.51 per page.

Shipping prices start at $4.99, but choosing to buy two or more books entitles you to a discounted shipping price for each of the additional books after the initial one. Processing and shipping takes 3-10 business days, depending on the chosen shipping method. International shipping is also available. Shipping to Canada costs between $6.99-$15.99, while the rest of the world must pay $13.99-$15.99.

Speaking of international shipping, we decided to put Shutterfly to the ultimate test and opted to deliver our test book to a European address. The production and delivery time for non U.S. destinations is promised to be 9-17 business days (7-13 business days for Canada) – and, in that regard, Shutterfly didn’t disappoint us at all.

Like most photo editing companies, Shutterfly relies on temporary discounts and coupons and has few permanent promotions. Still, you can enjoy some discounts if you buy a large quantity of photo books at once.

Lastly, when it comes to refunds, you’ll be eligible to get your money back if your book is damaged due to unforeseen circumstances. If, however, the mistake was your own, then you can claim back a refund of 50% of the original price. Keep in mind that if you return the defective book after 60 days, then the refund is issued as store credit.

Moreover, thanks to the mobile versions, the timely production and shipping time, and the free designer service, creating a photo book with Shutterfly is bound to be a smooth and enjoyable experience.