Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio?

Hi,

I'm considering getting some of my photos printed and bound as a book.
I'm not planning on mass-producing or selling them; this would just be
a nice way for me to keep and show my photos. I'm looking for some
combination of good quality and inexpensive.

Right now, I'm primarily looking at MyPublisher.com and Viovio.com.
I've got the MyPublisher software installed, and am fairly pleased with
the way the book I've mocked up looks (though I'm disappointed I can't
control photo size and placement, apart from choosing among pre-defined
layouts). However, Viovio is offering me a larger book for less money.

This seems too good to be true, and I'm wondering if it is or not. Is
there anyone here that's used Viovio's printing service, and has
anything (good or bad) to say about it? Alternately, does anyone have
any comments on other book printing services?

Thanks,
- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

Hi,

I'm considering getting some of my photos printed and bound as a book.
I'm not planning on mass-producing or selling them; this would just be
a nice way for me to keep and show my photos. I'm looking for some
combination of good quality and inexpensive.

Right now, I'm primarily looking at MyPublisher.com and Viovio.com.
I've got the MyPublisher software installed, and am fairly pleased with
the way the book I've mocked up looks (though I'm disappointed I can't
control photo size and placement, apart from choosing among pre-defined
layouts). However, Viovio is offering me a larger book for less money.

This seems too good to be true, and I'm wondering if it is or not. Is
there anyone here that's used Viovio's printing service, and has
anything (good or bad) to say about it? Alternately, does anyone have
any comments on other book printing services?

Thanks,
- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

Hi,

I'm considering getting some of my photos printed and bound as a book.
I'm not planning on mass-producing or selling them; this would just be
a nice way for me to keep and show my photos. I'm looking for some
combination of good quality and inexpensive.

Right now, I'm primarily looking at MyPublisher.com and Viovio.com.
I've got the MyPublisher software installed, and am fairly pleased with
the way the book I've mocked up looks (though I'm disappointed I can't
control photo size and placement, apart from choosing among pre-defined
layouts). However, Viovio is offering me a larger book for less money.

This seems too good to be true, and I'm wondering if it is or not. Is
there anyone here that's used Viovio's printing service, and has
anything (good or bad) to say about it? Alternately, does anyone have
any comments on other book printing services?

Thanks,
- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

madhobbit.geo.RemoveThis@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm considering getting some of my photos printed and bound as a book.
> I'm not planning on mass-producing or selling them; this would just be
> a nice way for me to keep and show my photos. I'm looking for some
> combination of good quality and inexpensive.
>
> Right now, I'm primarily looking at MyPublisher.com and Viovio.com.
> I've got the MyPublisher software installed, and am fairly pleased with
> the way the book I've mocked up looks (though I'm disappointed I can't
> control photo size and placement, apart from choosing among pre-defined
> layouts). However, Viovio is offering me a larger book for less money.
>
> This seems too good to be true, and I'm wondering if it is or not. Is
> there anyone here that's used Viovio's printing service, and has
> anything (good or bad) to say about it? Alternately, does anyone have
> any comments on other book printing services?
>
> Thanks,
> - Darryl

FWIW.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.photo.digital/browse_frm/thread/2ad...ec8a024
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

On 12 Nov 2006 17:27:32 -0800, madhobbit.geo.RemoveThis@yahoo.com wrote:

>I've got the MyPublisher software installed, and am fairly pleased with
>the way the book I've mocked up looks (though I'm disappointed I can't
>control photo size and placement, apart from choosing among pre-defined
>layouts). However, Viovio is offering me a larger book for less money.
>
>This seems too good to be true, and I'm wondering if it is or not. Is
>there anyone here that's used Viovio's printing service, and has
>anything (good or bad) to say about it?

I asked about Viovio a few weeks ago, and didn't get any replies from
anyone who had used it.

> Alternately, does anyone have
>any comments on other book printing services?

<http://www.slate.com/id/2143039/>

If you give Viovio a try, please post a review to the newsgroup.

jc

--

"The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot
of different horses without having to own that many."
~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

JC Dill wrote:
>
> If you give Viovio a try, please post a review to the newsgroup.

I won't be. I disliked their book making software enormously - it gives
you virtually no creative control over the page layout. They also allow
you to create a PDF and upload that, which should give you complete
control, but:
- I don't have a lot of experience with layout software. I could do it,
but it would take forever
- When I tried it, their system rejected my PDF with the error "A valid
PDF file was not uploaded" (or something similarly vague). As far as I
can tell, I met their specifications exactly, so I don't know what I
could have done differently. Email to support has given me an autoreply
but nothing further.

Instead, I'm going with Blurb. Last night I put together the first
draft of my book (currently sitting at 62 pages, though it'll grow a
couple more). Their software, like MyPublisher's (my initial choice),
simply allows you to pick a theme/style, and then pick from predefined
layouts for each page. However, they have more layouts to choose from,
and they give you a little more control over individual photos (still
not a lot: if a box on the page is 4x5, it will remain 4x5 and there's
nothing you can do about it, though your photo isn't required to fill
the entire box).

The price is higher than Viovio's, but I suspect the resulting product
will be higher quality. I'll post a follow-up when I actually get the
book.

- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

JC Dill wrote:
>
> If you give Viovio a try, please post a review to the newsgroup.

I won't be. I disliked their book making software enormously - it gives
you virtually no creative control over the page layout. They also allow
you to create a PDF and upload that, which should give you complete
control, but:
- I don't have a lot of experience with layout software. I could do it,
but it would take forever
- When I tried it, their system rejected my PDF with the error "A valid
PDF file was not uploaded" (or something similarly vague). As far as I
can tell, I met their specifications exactly, so I don't know what I
could have done differently. Email to support has given me an autoreply
but nothing further.

Instead, I'm going with Blurb. Last night I put together the first
draft of my book (currently sitting at 62 pages, though it'll grow a
couple more). Their software, like MyPublisher's (my initial choice),
simply allows you to pick a theme/style, and then pick from predefined
layouts for each page. However, they have more layouts to choose from,
and they give you a little more control over individual photos (still
not a lot: if a box on the page is 4x5, it will remain 4x5 and there's
nothing you can do about it, though your photo isn't required to fill
the entire box).

The price is higher than Viovio's, but I suspect the resulting product
will be higher quality. I'll post a follow-up when I actually get the
book.

- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

JC Dill wrote:
>
> If you give Viovio a try, please post a review to the newsgroup.

I won't be. I disliked their book making software enormously - it gives
you virtually no creative control over the page layout. They also allow
you to create a PDF and upload that, which should give you complete
control, but:
- I don't have a lot of experience with layout software. I could do it,
but it would take forever
- When I tried it, their system rejected my PDF with the error "A valid
PDF file was not uploaded" (or something similarly vague). As far as I
can tell, I met their specifications exactly, so I don't know what I
could have done differently. Email to support has given me an autoreply
but nothing further.

Instead, I'm going with Blurb. Last night I put together the first
draft of my book (currently sitting at 62 pages, though it'll grow a
couple more). Their software, like MyPublisher's (my initial choice),
simply allows you to pick a theme/style, and then pick from predefined
layouts for each page. However, they have more layouts to choose from,
and they give you a little more control over individual photos (still
not a lot: if a box on the page is 4x5, it will remain 4x5 and there's
nothing you can do about it, though your photo isn't required to fill
the entire box).

The price is higher than Viovio's, but I suspect the resulting product
will be higher quality. I'll post a follow-up when I actually get the
book.

- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

JC Dill wrote:
>
> If you give Viovio a try, please post a review to the newsgroup.

I won't be. I disliked their book making software enormously - it gives
you virtually no creative control over the page layout. They also allow
you to create a PDF and upload that, which should give you complete
control, but:
- I don't have a lot of experience with layout software. I could do it,
but it would take forever
- When I tried it, their system rejected my PDF with the error "A valid
PDF file was not uploaded" (or something similarly vague). As far as I
can tell, I met their specifications exactly, so I don't know what I
could have done differently. Email to support has given me an autoreply
but nothing further.

Instead, I'm going with Blurb. Last night I put together the first
draft of my book (currently sitting at 62 pages, though it'll grow a
couple more). Their software, like MyPublisher's (my initial choice),
simply allows you to pick a theme/style, and then pick from predefined
layouts for each page. However, they have more layouts to choose from,
and they give you a little more control over individual photos (still
not a lot: if a box on the page is 4x5, it will remain 4x5 and there's
nothing you can do about it, though your photo isn't required to fill
the entire box).

The price is higher than Viovio's, but I suspect the resulting product
will be higher quality. I'll post a follow-up when I actually get the
book.

- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio? 

JC Dill wrote:
>
> If you give Viovio a try, please post a review to the newsgroup.

I won't be. I disliked their book making software enormously - it gives
you virtually no creative control over the page layout. They also allow
you to create a PDF and upload that, which should give you complete
control, but:
- I don't have a lot of experience with layout software. I could do it,
but it would take forever
- When I tried it, their system rejected my PDF with the error "A valid
PDF file was not uploaded" (or something similarly vague). As far as I
can tell, I met their specifications exactly, so I don't know what I
could have done differently. Email to support has given me an autoreply
but nothing further.

Instead, I'm going with Blurb. Last night I put together the first
draft of my book (currently sitting at 62 pages, though it'll grow a
couple more). Their software, like MyPublisher's (my initial choice),
simply allows you to pick a theme/style, and then pick from predefined
layouts for each page. However, they have more layouts to choose from,
and they give you a little more control over individual photos (still
not a lot: if a box on the page is 4x5, it will remain 4x5 and there's
nothing you can do about it, though your photo isn't required to fill
the entire box).

The price is higher than Viovio's, but I suspect the resulting product
will be higher quality. I'll post a follow-up when I actually get the
book.

- Darryl
 >> Stay informed about: Printing photo books: Any experience with Viovio?