October 22, 2024

What Do I Do With All My Layouts??

I know I can’t be the only one who has hundreds of completed digital layouts. I’ve been digiscrapping since October of 2010, after all… and I was late to the party! So that got me thinking about what we do with all the wonderful things we create. I’ve had several 8×8 hard-cover photo books printed, had quite a few layouts printed in both 8×8 and 12×12 format so I could put them in old-school albums or frames, and I’ve done a couple of calendars. With Christmas and Chanukah fast approaching, maybe some of you are planning to give scrapbook-related gifts. Did you know there are lots of options out there for what you can do and where you can do it? Here are a few!

<Editor’s note: where you see bold, coloured, underlined text, there’s a URL link embedded there which will take you directly to the site.>

I’m not going to talk about Kinko, Staples, Vistaprint or any of the more business-oriented print shops. I want to focus on scrapbooking!

I think we all know about Walmart Photo Centers. They’re typically found in the same part of the store as the electronics department. They offer prints, posters, photo books, canvas prints, calendars, plaques, greeting cards and a few other options. Prints-wise, they don’t do 12x12s, but they DO have 12×12 photo books in both soft and hard cover. I believe you can skip their “themes” and just upload your full-sized layouts to fill the pages. If you scrap in 8×10 or 8 1/2×11, you’re in luck – you can get prints at Walmart. You have a choice between going into the store to order, or an online store. Canadians, this is your link. Of course, as Walmart is a budget option, quality may be somewhat diminished.

The next one I think most of us know about is Shutterfly, the OG online photo service. Recently Costco eliminated both their in-warehouse and online photo services, moving their business to Shutterfly. Since this is where I’ve had most of my photo books printed, I wasn’t all that mad; their products run the gamut – anything you want printed on anything is possible here. I’ve uses the Costco service before and was quite annoyed that they ROLLED my 12×12 prints for shipping, so I was a bit trepidatious of how the 12×12 prints for my dad’s memorial service would arrive. Thankfully they were packaged flat and well-protected. One great thing about Shutterfly is that they run sales all the time! Quality is decent, and sale prices make this a good choice. Canadians, your link is here.

Persnickety Prints is, in my opinion, the BEST option for prints. They’re completely online, based in Utah. They offer a wide variety of print sizes and types, as well as calendars (yes, they DO have 12×12 calendars!) and soft-cover photo books, but only 6×8, 8×8 and 5×5. Best of all, they use a credit system so you can buy an bunch of prints without having those prints ready to go. A couple of times a year (Black Friday, anyone?) they have a sale… I have 127 credits for 12×12 prints just waiting for me to give them the go-ahead. (I plan to print all my Ireland layouts and put them in an album.) As far as quality goes, they use Fuji photo paper, REAL silver halide photo paper, for crisp, clean, vivid prints. Turnaround time is quick, too.

Presto Photo is entirely devoted to scrapbooking. They offer prints and photo books in a variety of sizes, calendars (yes to 12×12) and gift options. Although they’re based in the US, their site supports currency from multiple countries. I did note some negative feedback in their comments section. so proceed at your own risk.

For non-US readers, I have a PSA for you. If one of the shipping options on your chosen site is UPS, choose any other mode! UPS charges a brokerage fee that often is more than the value of the contents of your package, and will harass you if you refuse delivery. This is on top of any duty you may be required to pay. I’ve never had to pay duty on any of the prints or books I’ve ordered, but I HAVE been harassed by UPS over another type of shipment I refused at the door.

Okay, back to our regularly-scheduled programming… you may have heard of Blurb, which is based mainly in Canada, but has a US site as well. Their focus is self-publishing, so for the family historian they’re a great choice. They have a variety of sizes, covers, paper choices and even magazines! They have a few wall art options, but they don’t do just prints, or any of the tchotchkes. I have a book that was produced by Blurb and the quality is very good. I think I might use them for the children’s book my brother wants me to illustrate.

Milkbooks is another printer that only provides books. They have a selection of sizes and options, including magazine format. And they’re pricey! But on the plus side, their site supports multiple currencies.

The last site I’ll mention is Treasure Books. I left them until last because they require the use of proprietary software. Their website refers to some issue with creating on Windows-based systems necessitating a call to their toll-free number. That by itself would make me leery, although they say they don’t use an automated call-answering system so you’d speak to a human right off the bat. Based in Canada, they also have a support number in the US. Their basic books are 20 pages, but can go as high as 200.

I hope you’re not disappointed that I have no screenshots for you this week. 😉