While the most expensive of the photo book services we tested, AdoramaPix was our favorite, not just for the gorgeous photo book it produced, but also for the ease and robustness of its software. Best Photo Printers; Best Photo Editing Software; How we found the best photo book. We have worked extensively with photo book services over the last decade, and for this test, a group of testers with backgrounds in photography and graphic design evaluated the photo books. They looked for color accuracy, print clarity, page thickness and book. Shutterfly is arguably the most well-known photo book service, and for good reason. It scored just behind Mixbook due to its many customization options and quality product. There are hundreds of templates, graphics and backgrounds for you to use, including themes from favorite franchises like Sesame Street and Disney.
Best Photo Book Software Free
Today's best Mixbook Photo Book deals
Mixbook offers a wide variety of photo book options and templates to help you create a book for any occasion and came out top in our round up of best photo books. We were able to create good quality books with most of the services in our photo book reviews, but Mixbook stands out for making the entire process very easy. It’s one big flaw is that there is no overnight delivery option if you need your photo book in a hurry. Fortunately, Mixbook delivers its products very quickly, even if you choose standard delivery.
Mixbook Photo Book: Pricing
A 20-page 8 x 8 hardcover photo books sell for $29.99 on Mixbook’s website. This service also charges for standard shipping and tax so you can expect the price to go up at least another $10. We found this price plus tax and shipping is pretty average for photo books. You’ll find cheaper options elsewhere, but you’ll also find more expensive ones as well. If you want your book to be longer than 20 pages, it costs $1.29 for every additional page. This is a good price for adding pages, although it isn’t the cheapest we found.
Photo Books
Best Photo Book Software For Mac Australia
Shutterfly
Mixbook Photo Book: Quality & Services
The project we made with Mixbook arrived faster than many of the others we ordered. Our testers found the cover thick and sturdy, poised to protect the photos inside for years to come. The cover image displayed accurate coloring and printed nice and clear. Our experts also found the inner photo reproduction nearly perfect, though they did spot some graininess. Mixbook’s books feature a flyleaf that further protects the pages and gives the project an elegant feel.
What makes Mixbook one of the best photo book sites is its wide selection of features. The online photo book editor offers attractive, fully assembled layouts from which you can choose. If you want to rearrange photos that have already been placed on a page, you can use the Swap tool to make the process easier.
You can choose from hundreds of templates for your photo book. Many of them are themed, so you can create a book to commemorate a special occasion or trip. There are also generic templates you can use as backgrounds if you don’t want your photo book to have a specific theme. The site lets you quickly look for backgrounds using the search tool.
Other photo book reviews
Best Photo Books
Shutterfly Photo Book review
AdoramaPix Photo Book review
Amazon Prints Photo Book review
Walmart Photo Book review
The online editor gives you access to editing tools and eliminates the need to use photo editing software. Like with mobile or online photo editors, you can manipulate the images by adjusting the brightness, contrast or saturation with the dial controls. You can add effects to the pictures using the dropdown menu. For example, you can change the shadow, hue, blur, distance, angle or opacity of an image.
This is one of the only online photo book services to allow collaboration on projects. If you want several people to contribute to one project, you can simply add them as contributors. All contributors have access to add photos, decorate pages and edit the project without needing your password. You also can share your photo book projects on Facebook or publish them on a blog or website.
Mixbook guarantees high quality in all of its products. The company offers a money-back guarantee on its custom photo books. The books are sturdy and look professional with sharp, clear images on every page. Mixbook uploads your photos in their original resolution and warns you if the quality is not good enough for print. You can either replace the photos or shrink them so that every page is filled with vivid images. The processing time before shipping averages around one to three days, so it's important to plan if you need your book by a certain date.
Mixbook Photo Book: Book Options
Mixbook has one of the biggest selections of photo book sizes. It offers eight different sizing options for custom photo books, ranging from a small 8 x 6-inch pocket photo book to the most common 11 x 8.5, to a large coffee table photo book measuring 11 x 14 inches. There are four different square book sizes – 6 x 6, 8.5 x 8.5, 10 x 10 and 12 x 12.
The publisher provides five different cover options, including genuine leather, matte and glossy hardcover, and softcover. You can also use a photo to make a dust jacket. The cover options are sparse, as most online photo book publishers offer other cover options such as linen or silk.
There are three paper options to choose from. The default semi-gloss paper is good quality, thick enough to resist creasing and tearing. If you'd like something nicer and more formal, you can also choose between pearl finish and premium lay-flat pages.
Mixbook Photo Book: Album Creation
Mixbook has one of the most user-friendly interfaces.It is easy to navigate whether you are computer savvy or not. When you start the service, a guided tour shows you how to use Mixbook by highlighting the important features and tools you need to know about. While you use the photo book editor, you are shown where to drag photos and insert text on each of the pages. There is also a help button embedded in the editor so that you can seek help at any time during the creation process or get more information about a specific feature. The buttons are labeled clearly so even the most inexperienced designer can make a polished photo book.
Mixbook Photo Book: Shipping & Support
The company’s website also offers technical support. There is a live chat feature and an email address to contact support representatives, as well as a FAQs section. Mixbook does not provide a telephone number for support over the phone. We highly recommend using the live chat feature as Mixbook is quick to respond and the customer reps are very helpful. Unlike other retail chains, you cannot pick up your Mixbook projects from a physical store.. If you’re needing your project in a hurry, we recommend Walgreens Photo for same day pickup. You’ll be sacrificing quality for speed, so if you can plan ahead, we definitely recommend going with Mixbook.
Your book will likely get to you pretty quickly, but submit your order in early and allow for extra time during holiday seasons when book services are busiest. Our book was delivered less than a week after making the order. . While not quite as fast as other top-ranked products, Mixbook allows you to select three-day express shipping, which includes production time. Note that this generally means three business days. We were extremely happy with how fast our book was produced and shipped. Mixbook is one of the few photo book services that offers international shipping. It covers Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Mixbook Photo Book: Verdict
The online photo book editor is simple enough that anyone can use it, but has enough features to appeal to advanced photo book designers as well. Likewise, the books are well built and will protect the images inside for years to come. While the paper options are limited, there is enough variety in templates and features that you can make a one-of-a-kind book for any occasion.
Today's best Mixbook Photo Book deals
Need a better alternative?
Best Photo Book Software 2018
Top Ten Reviews has reviewed the Best Photo Books so that we're able to offer you the authoritative buying advice you expect.