We arrived home from Disneyland on June 14, and on July 14, I finished digitally scrapbooking all those photos. My next step was to try to decide where to get my layouts printed into book form.
I usually go with Shutterfly, and I'm fairly loyal to Winkflash for prints, but for some reason, I decided I'd try a company that specializes in printing bound books. I went with Inkubook and I have been so pleased with the entire process.
Let me walk you through the process. First I sat down with all my photos and divided them into folders with page numbers (for example, all my photos of the parade at Disneyland went into a folder marked page 39 40 dps, which told me to use those photos for page 39 and 40 and that it was a double page spread -- or a 2 page layout). Then I'd open up the photos, and choose a template to use with that number of photos. This was pretty easy because in my template folder, I have them ordered according to number of photos. For the base of every page, I used Janet Phillip's "The Album" template set. I don't think it's available any more, but if you're considering doing an album, you should talk to Janet about it. It's a full album template set, but I found that it was very easy to just open a left or right page, delete the existing photo template, and then add my chosen template to the page. It makes my book really flow well. The best thing about Janet's templates was that it kept everything away from the "bleed" space on my layouts. I didn't have to worry about anything being cut off in printing. I did check every page with Wendyzine's book sizing actions. I did end up having to nudge a few things into the live area, but most of it was great without any changes.
I also tried, in most cases, to use the same kit on both pages, even if the subject matter was different. Again, trying to keep it flowing. Some of the Disney themed kits I used were by Melissa Bennett and Libby Weifenbach. I actually found myself reaching for kits from Sweet Shoppe more often than not. In addition to those 2 designers, I used lots of Eva Kipler and Lauren Grier stuff.
If you'd like to take a look at the layouts, you can view my album widget here. I'm also hoping to get them all on Facebook today. If you have any specific questions about anything, feel free to email me. I'd be happy to help you out.
The book itself is amazing. It's soft bound, and I just love the thick paper and the wonderful colors. It was only $30 and it's 100 pages plus the 2 covers. It's the best bound book I've ever ordered.
I took some photos of my book that I thought I'd share to help you visualize it better. This is my 4th bound book, and by far my favorite. Highly recommend Inkubook (and I ordered it Wednesday, and it was here Saturday!).