Photobooks: Snapfish vs. Shutterfly

[Maura]

Hey ladies,

I was reading through all the photoshare threads earlier today to try to get a better sense of which site to use for our photoshare since I'm about to design our welcome packets. One of the major things involved in my decision is the quality of the photobooks on each site, because we plan on making nice photo albums for several family members who can't attend as well as gifts for our parents, and as extra thank you gifts (like an 8x8 size for each of my BMs afterwards). I've never ordered a photobook from either of the services and I can't find a whole lot of info posted on the photobooks (except that Morgan loves shutterfly LOL). I want my guests to be able to upload their high-res images so that I can use those in the books too if any of them are good enough.

I really also like the iPhoto books through mac.com and a friend of mine recently did a nice hardcover book with a dustjacket through blurb.com, but neither of those doubles as a photo host, so I'd prefer having an all-in-one type situation where people can upload photos (we will also put our pro pics on the site) and then have photobooks made if they like (but also so it's easier for us to have all the photos in one spot for when WE make our photobooks).

Anybody wanna chime in with your experience on why you picked one over the other, or what your experiences have been ordering books from each of them?

TIA!

[Kat81]

Well, I have no input for you but I have been wondering the same thing.... So I am going to see what everyone else says....

[Bianca]

I also love shutterfly. They used to give away free stuff like crazy, so I am loaded with books that I've made. I love the leather 8x11s I love the 8x8s, the little 5x7s are okay, good for brag books or something. Thinking about it... I love shutterfly because everything I have gotten was free. I don't think I would pay $30 for any of their books... So I guess my opinion is if your getting it for free or only paying shipping, take it. If you actually have to pay for it, then try something else? Dunno... I can give some pointers on how to get a code...

[LC_Rachel]

I used shutterfly. It was nice because I was able to make our own domain (kinda) name- themanleys.shutterfly.com

Also, I could be stupid but I can't post pic from snapfish on the forum. I usually transfer pics people upload in snapfish for me over to our shutterfly account. It's a pain!

[WSUgal]

I used snapfish as my photo host because my family and I have been using this site for sharing photos. So, for me, I am more familiar with snapfish. I did make a photobook for my parents' anniversary 2 years ago and the book was easy to make and provided some nice options. I am not familiar with shutterfly, so hopefully others can give you their opinions on them!

[EricaG]

I too was wondering about this, so will be checking out everyones responses.

Originally Posted by Bianca

I don't think I would pay $30 for any of their books... So I guess my opinion is if your getting it for free or only paying shipping, take it. If you actually have to pay for it, then try something else? Dunno... I can give some pointers on how to get a code...

So are you saying that the books aren't that great if you have to pay for them but good enough to get them free?

[WSUgal]

Originally Posted by LC_Rachel

I used shutterfly. It was nice because I was able to make our own domain (kinda) name- themanleys.shutterfly.com

Also, I could be stupid but I can't post pic from snapfish on the forum. I usually transfer pics people upload in snapfish for me over to our shutterfly account. It's a pain!

Snapfish allows you to create a group room in which your wedding guests can download their pics to share. Similar concept to what Rachel mentioned above about the domain name. I made a section in my welcome letter with directions on how to download to the website. I also created a section on my website with this info.

And like Rachel said, you cannot attach snapfish pics to the forum. I have to save pics from the site to my personal computer and then upload to photbucket if I want to post a pic on the forum. So, that is a pain!

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by ethrondson

I too was wondering about this, so will be checking out everyones responses.



So are you saying that the books aren't that great if you have to pay for them but good enough to get them free?

They are nice, but I don't really have anything else to compare them to. So I don't know how great they are compared to another company. I am happy with what I've gotten, but I don't know if its worth $30. SF customer service is fabulous tho... I ordered some photos mugs for xmas and one was broken and they overnighted another one.

* If you login to your account via this link you will get a 10% off coupon good for 30 days from the day you enter it. Shutterfly | Join The link
will be online till 12/31/2008, the coupon is good for 30 days from the day you use it.
* VS09-VISA = 15% off order expires Oct 31, 2008
* Log into your SF account through this link: Shutterfly | Develop, Print & Share Digital Photos: Create Photo Gifts Online for 20% off an order of $25 expires August 31st
* 15% of $10 Shutterfly | Join
AF61-URK8 Exp: 07/09/2008 "Affiliate: 20% off Prints"


If you order through shutterfly, use all those codes for discounts. Their system will automatically use whatever they allow and you can save the rest for another purchase. There are always discounts with shutterfly. Never pay full price.

[becks]

I've actually signed up for Kodak Gallery. For a $25 one-year price you can upload and download all the photos you want in hi res, which is important to me. I'll give instructions in my welcome booklets so my guests can upload, too.

For me, it was worth it, although I have no idea what the quality of their photobooks is.

[Morgan]

I love shutterfly because of all the free stuff i get. But, I did my photoshare with snapfish because of the option to download high res images for 5 cents each. I plan on purchasing the best images from our guests.

I didn't do the group room option. I just made an account & gave everyone the passord. Then they can share the albums with their personal accounts if they want to order anything.

I also picked snapfish because I have 1000 prints that I bought on ebay for $12.

My next 3 photobooks will be from snapfish because I bought 3 photobook giftcards from circuit city for 3 cents (deal has passed).

previously all my photobooks have come from shutterfly & i have been very happy with them. If one ever is defective, they replace it right away for no charge.

The quality isn't as great as some of the higher end companies, but they are still very nice & make great gifts.

Snapfish pros
5 cent high res image downloads

snapfish cons
to see an album, people must have an account. Shutterfly & kodak just lets you look at an album without logging in

shutterfly pros
better selection of templates for photobooks

shutterfly cons
no option for getting high res images

Kodak pros
ability to pay subscription to be able to download all of the high res images for one fee

I don't know the quality of their books, but there other products are great. I bought a pen holder, jewelry box, mouse pad, and some other stuff before christmas during a really good special. It was all really nice.

I'll probably use one of the more expensive sites for making my coffee table book, but I plan on using a mix of shutterfly & snapfish for buying books for gifts. I design the pages with my own software so it's easy to upload them onto multiple sites for ordering.


Summary
I would not use shutterfly for the photoshare because there is no option for getting high res images. Then your pictures are stuck in shutterfly for all projects and prints.

Scan ebay & slickdeals.net for photobook codes. I've never paid full price for a photobook.