Surveying the Shortlist…continued
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Lulu. The word makes me think of a poofy poodle dog bombarded with pink bows and diamond collars and leashes, a little fluff ball that barks at anything that moves, as a way of expressing the utter frustration and humiliation of not being able to just be a dog.
I told you: words are important to me.
But everyone (and every site) deserves a chance and so I worked hard to eliminate the doggy image from my mind in order to focus on the task at hand: exploring the last of the shortlist of photo book making options. Okay, so here is my assessment of Lulu.com:
doesn’t have templates or prefab designs, and is proud of that fact but they do have an option, something called a “Design Guide Bundle” that can be downloaded.
prices are the lowest I have seen in a bit
they offer free publishing resources (articles, links, blogs, professional services - not sure about the freeness of that last one)
And the buck stops there…because in order to get any sense of what the photo book will look like and the options that you have, you need to login!!! (Bawwwmp!! - that’s a beeping noise, a negative beeping noise) A frustrating experience, to have to establish a login before really having any access. blurb also wants you to establish an account but provides enough information beforehand to entice you, to make you want to make that initial commitment. Lulu does not show me enough.
I feel like blurb might have to be it. But before returning there and beginning to tinker, I wanted to return to saal digital, just to make sure that I didn’t miss anything about their customization that includes text…and as I was perusing again, I happened to read the phrase, “text box" so that was heartening. To be safe, should I submit an inquiry? Did I do so already? As I ponder this, I can feel another grey hair emerging atop my head…
So it’s blurb or saal. If it were a decision based on words, saal would win - hands down. I’ll start the showdown tomorrow, comparing the two and tinkering some more with each site to truly determine ease of use. I feel like saal is a bit more professional but I’ll need to check out the price tags and, again, compare quality and options. After I do that, I want to revisit the book, as it is, in terms of sequence and number of photos per chapter. I also want to do another sweep of all of Lenny’s slides and pull some of the images I marked as favorites but did not place in the “Ena’s Picks” folder. I feel that this is important as I get closer to crafting a physical photo book. My other lingering thought is of Jan Stacy’s words. I got permission from the living relative so I guess I should be okay but I still feel like I need to consider the legality of printing someone else’s words…
Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. I think I will have to mail an official document to Jan Stacy’s step-brother, Samuel Claiborne…Deep breath and just start looking into it. I also do have an intellectual property lawyer I worked with before who I could hire to write something up and send it off. Dunno. My brain is pulsing, my left eye is watering, my stomach is making some odd gurgling noises, and my neck has turned to cardboard.
Good night.
