Blurb Custom Personalized Photo Book for My Most Precious Memories

My mom has managed to put a few pictures in albums over the years, but the vast majority of her pictures never make it to her computer or get printed. The ones she has had printed (years ago, before she had a digital camera) just sit in their envelopes and within a big box in the basement. What is the point of taking all those photos and not actually looking at them and enjoying re-visiting the memories?

I have thousands of photos in my iPhoto library that I regularly look through for blog-post ideas and just to remember the good times and people I love. One thing I’ve discovered lately is that I like having the photos in a book that I can put on the shelf and share with people when they come to visit. I’ve made a few photo books in the past, but definitely prefer to create books from Blurb. The software available on the site is really easy to use, there are tons of customization options and a variety of sizes to choose from.

Here is my gorgeous 12″x12″ photo book created on Blurb.

The last big trip Greg and I went on was last September. In September 2011, we went on a month-long trip to several places in the USA, including Texas, Washington D.C. and New York City. I listed the stops on our trip on the front cover of the book (shown above), along with the date of the trip. The front cover picture shows a building at the Chinati Center in Marfa, Texas.

What can you use Blurb to create?

Though I used Blurb to create a photo book, that is only one of many things people can and do use the service for. The possibilities are more or less endless—poems, notes, letters, short stories, ticket stubs. . .all can be printed in one of these books. Have a pile of love letters you’d like to have in one easy-to-access spot? Scan them in and put them in a Blurb book!

You can make Instagram and Facebook photo books as well as cookbooks, planners and notebooks. There’s a huge selection of covers, sizes and also paper qualities to choose from so that you can make your book unique.

I was really impressed by how my Blurb photo book was packaged. The pizza-box of sorts contained a thick piece of cardboard which is what my photo book was attached to. There was wrapping and plastic wrap around the book to keep it from shifting and to protect the dust jacket and book corners.

The creative process

I decided to download the Booksmart software to have lots of customization options available for my book, but you can use other things like the online program Bookify instead. I found it really easy to upload my photos and drag and drop them to the locations I wanted them. I could also choose to include text or have multiple photos on one page. I really like the way landscapes look spread across two pages, so I did that for a few of my favourite pictures:

After I decided where to place my photos inside the book, I was able to choose a photo for the back and the front cover, as well as the inside flaps of the dust jacket.

Front cover, and the spine where you can put information or the title of the book

Back cover

A page with one picture on each page. This is of one of the Missions in San Antonio, Texas.

Did I mention you can make ebooks, too? You can turn your photo book in to an ebook on the Blurb site and easily share it with your friends and family now—no need to wait or send each person a physical copy.

The 40 page 12″x12″ photo book I created was about $80 including shipping to Canada. I think, given the quality and customization available—plus the unusual size—it is well-worth the cost. This would make such a great gift for so many occasions! I received the mentioned book for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated, and all opinions are totally and completely my own.

You can check out Blurb online.