Photobox

.../> My first encounter with Photobox was when I got my prize as one of the daily winners of the summer SonyVaio notebook competition last year. The prize was a voucher/gift certificate for a 20-page photo album worth 23 pounds (inclusive of VAT and postage/handling). At first, I thought it was solely provided by Sony for on-line printing service, but later on I found out that this service is only contracted from Photobox. Consequently, prior to Xmas ...
...printing will be directed to Photobox website. Of course, I was excited for the prize but I did not immediately visit the site, since I have a month to do it.

I claimed the prize on the last day of expiration by opening an account which was easy to do. I thought it was a quick task to come-up with a 20-page photobook (including brief descriptions) but it took me hours (5 hours) to organise my photos. I will explain later in my review ... more

PRIOR TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, everyone used to print pictures from films/negatives for sake keeping in an album, sharing it with friends or for having a copy to be blown-up, framed and hanged it on the wall. With the digital imaging, everything changed - away from the traditional and old fashioned manner. Instead of using a transparent sticky covering thin plastic or a hard bound binder/folder with plastic compartments, we can have now our own virtual or on-line photo album, and have it printed into a professional looking book. So many websites are offering this latest photo processing services allowing users/members to come-up with their own hardback albums that will last for several generations. 'Photobox.co.uk' is one of them which provide the best service for my money.

My first encounter with Photobox was when I got my prize as one of the daily winners of the summer SonyVaio notebook competition last year. The prize was a voucher/gift certificate for a 20-page photo album worth 23 pounds (inclusive of VAT and postage/handling). At first, I thought it was solely provided by Sony for on-line printing service, but later on I found out that this service is only contracted from Photobox. Consequently, prior to Xmas holiday, Sony informed me that future transactions with them concerning printing will be directed to Photobox website. Of course, I was excited for the prize but I did not immediately visit the site, since I have a month to do it.

I claimed the prize on the last day of expiration by opening an account which was easy to do. I thought it was a quick task to come-up with a 20-page photobook (including brief descriptions) but it took me hours (5 hours) to organise my photos. I will explain later in my review why it took me so long to compile it in one album. Luckily, I made it prior to the deadline, but, if I still have time to re-arrange those photos I could have it done nicely by eliminating misspelled words (got 2 same misspelled words in the previous album) and with better lay-out.

~~REGISTRATION & PERSONAL ACCOUNT~~
Opening an account requires my personal data: first name, surname, address, email address and a personalised password which upon activation provides me a 200MB free storage capacity. To login in the website is just entering the email address and the password created in the registration form which automatically leads to the main webpage. The homepage provides the basic corporate facts/information, including products and services offered by the site such as personalised gifts and cards (e-cards, calendars, books, shirts, mugs, cushions, photo books, styles books, etc.). For each item has its own individual link for easy reference of ordering and pricing. Promotional packages' arrangements are also part of the homepage to avail the regular discounted offers to the members. In addition, 'My Album' link is for the personal account which bears the albums created and profiles/contact details, credits and history located at the top portion of the homepage for easy viewing and editing. The album section includes the individual number of photos downloaded and the total capacity occupied for each album with a slideshow feature to view the images.

For every order (even for one print), an additional storage space of 50MB added in my account. I had three orders of photo books in the past which gave me a total of 100MB free space and I already uploaded 150 photos occupying almost 180MB (60%) of my free capacity. To date, I have already placed three orders since I became a member late last year.

~~CREATING AN ALBUM AND ADDING PHOTOS~~
To organise the uploading of photos is by creating an album. First, the title of the album is required to allocate one folder for an album. I suggest that, the name bears what photos in the album, something that relates where/when these photos were taken for easy referencing or maybe a title of the first photo book to be published/printed using the site. During my first attempt, everything was experimental where I just named my first album as 'My First Album'. Initially, I uploaded few photos from my PC (pictures folder). It was easy to transfer the photos by dragging the individual photo from the folder in my PC/laptop to the designated album created in the site. But the trick is, don't drag so many photos to the album, instead drag up to 5 items and click the upload command for the site to get the files from the PC/laptop. Take note that individual original photo from digital camera normally occupies more than 1MB which takes several seconds to upload. To maintain the high resolution of the pictures for printing, it is suggested not to convert them into smaller bytes or not to 'resize' them.

Later on, I just realised while organising my photo book, it turned out that it is easier if the album that I previously created is also my album to be shared with my photo book folder. Again, as I said earlier, it was really experimental which led me to long hours of editing, adding, downloading, etc. So to minimise the loss of hours just doing these additional works, it is recommended to have selected and uploaded at least 60-100 photographs in a designated album for a 20-page photo book, unless otherwise you just use a lay-out using one to 2 photos per page which I think not impressive to look at. Or unless you just want to have an individual printing of the photo which does not really require lay-outing; instead it only requires the size and number of prints for each image. But if your ultimate goal (like mine) for having the site is to have a personalised photo book, then these pointers/tips should be considered. It is worth noting that the order of the photos in the album and how these photos work together are for consideration as well which greatly affects the lay-out and the format for each page in the photo book.

~~ LAY-OUT AND ORIENTATION FOR PHOTO BOOK~~
To produce the photo book, the site provides a lay-out interface where I could drag and drop my photo. It provides the various lay-outs for the book and a choice of templates for each individual page. The cover design and page templates are like mounting frame which can accommodate a single image either in landscape or portrait orientation or a variety of multiple photos with the number of styles.

It is quite manageable to do the actual selection of the photo book having a designated link icon within the main webpage under the 'photo gifts and cards' category. The first stage of the lay-out is to choose for number of pages which gives 3 options: 20 pages (19.99 pounds) or 50 pages (34.99 pounds) or additional individual page (with extra cost per page). Even though my prize is good for the 20 pages, I could have it upgraded or have additional pages on it. But, due to time constraint and catching up for the deadline (expiration), I decided to have the 20 pages photo book. The second stage is to choose the colour of the cover page by just clicking the desired colour and then it automatically go to the next step which is to choose the lay-out from first page until the last page.

From the created album folder, the desired images are drag down to the desired page of the photo book, and the photos are automatically cropped from the centre into the designated boxes within the desired page. Also, bear in mind the orientation of the images taken which somehow much with the boxes within the templates. For example, if the photos are mainly landscape, then a landscape template is appropriate, or for a mixture, then tries a square format, otherwise for a portrait orientation, use square and rectangular formats. Generally, the templates available in the site are ok to cover the basic requirements (with few words for each image). However, there is no available template that could accommodate lengthy description/caption for the image.

It is also advisable to 'save' the file of the photo book from time to time just to make sure that any changes are saved accordingly. Editing can be done easily as soon as all pages are already loaded with images and descriptions. Unfortunately, there is no 'spell check' command available in the site, so it takes a while to review all the entries for each photo. It takes patience to review everything to ensure that words are spelled correctly, and most importantly, 'no duplication of images'. That is why the arrangement of the images in the folder/album where the images were taken is critical to prevent duplication in the actual photo book. There is no way to print a draft of the lay-out, so it only relies mainly on individual memory of images for each page.

It is also worth noting that a 'broadband' connection is useful for uploading large image files, unlike dial-up connections take a while but some of the printing service providers accept completed photo albums and images on CD by post.

~~PRINTING, ORDERING AND PAYMENT~~
After final editing, the photo book is saved and the designated album folder is transferred to the 'basket' for order purchase arrangement. Mode of payment, details for billing and delivery addresses and quantities will be confirmed. For my first order, I just inputted the promotional code number of the prize from Sony and it automatically generated the summary of my order (tracking reference) which is also confirmed thru my email address. As soon the order is confirmed, the basket will be emptied and the folder for the photo book will be posted in the 'studio items' category next to the albums created. For future order of the same photo book previously created, just click the 'add to the basket' command located in the 'studio items' category and it goes back to the order purchase page. Please take note that every order also allows users/members to avail free limited number of regular prints within a promo period. It took 4 working days for the package to arrive having a first class postage

I can also modify the old photo book folder by changing the cover colour, the images and lay-out for each page which I did for my second order when Photobox launched their 'buy one take one free' promo (excluding postage) and paid it thru my credit card. However, it was not easy to change every page especially if it deals with the template for each page, unless if only entails individual image is fine. For example, if I choose to change the template with the same photos on a particular page, then all these photos will be deleted and I will upload again those images to each box and type each caption.

~~FEEDBACK AND ANNOUNCEMENT MECHANISM~~
Well, despite the fact that I got my orders on time and satisfied with the outcome of the printing, I did not hesitate to send an email telling them my appreciation of the services offered by the site, including my suggestions making the photo book beautifully crafted and more interesting. I suggested to them having additional templates that could accommodate or allow users/members to write lengthy captions/descriptions for each image per page. After few days, they responded telling me that this option/template was originally available in the launching of the photo book, but due to technical problems, this feature was deleted. But they assured me that this feature will be considered in the near future.

One way of having updated promotional offerings from the site is by joining its mailing list. Prior to the Xmas holiday, the site offered a lot of discounted promotional arrangements for selected products and services, including its regular monthly reduced charges. For this month of February, the 20-page photobook is only 'half' the original price (£11.99, inclusive of postage) and there are other promotional packages available for the celebration of Valentine's day.

~~CONCLUDING REMARKS
Being a photo hobbyist, this on-line service fascinates me - making my photographs printed in a hardback album comparable to a 'coffee book'. Having three photo books from the site, I was really fully satisfied how my orders were handled and my money was guaranteed thru these professionally done albums and the efficient delivery. These books are ideal for gifts for relatives and close friends, showing/sharing my passion in photography! Honestly, one of my very close friends did not able to hold his tears when he got this book as Xmas presence from me. At first glance, he thought (with frowning face) that it was just an ordinary portrait frame with my image, but later on while lifting the hardback cover, he realised that it was a compilation of photographs of places, events and people taken during my travels.

OVERALL, PHOTOBOX's 20-page photo book is just under £20 (exclusive of postage/handling) and it is still good value allowing every user/member to store/download images having a minimum storage capacity of 200MB in the site which can be viewed/shared to friends or publicly on-line. For having an easy and simple to use software, Photobox also allows users/members to create a photo album (coffee book) at speed especially if these images are already uploaded for 3-4 days delivery period. Unlike other available on-line printing sites offer a minimum of 10 working days for 20-40 pages photo books. Indeed, this is an alternative on-line printing service for photo enthusiasts and the like.

@somar2007  

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