that's the last time i use blurb and booksmart
25th-aug-2009 - posted by dtra
i'm not sure why i'm surprised, but i gave them another chance, this time on a pretty expensive 196 page book from my trip to south america. sure it arrived quickly thanks to the fedex shipping method, but again, it didn't give a good first impression, let alone great. i got a dust jacket version this time after the lame imagewrap debacle last time, and guess what? somehow they managed to have a dust jacket peel? don't believe me, check out the photos i post below, just taken out of the box, and inspected briefly. on top of that, the dust jacket is more on the back than the front (smaller issue), creases in the pages, which are a bit harder to show, supposed full bleed pages that have white edges, and a two page spread that is aligned in the application but not in the book (i made a screen shot and zoomed in real close, it's definitely aligned). they tell you to leave 1/8th of an inch at the edges that will get cut off, and yet there are still white edges? you look at the pictures yourself, and tell me that i don't have reason to complain, i paid over $100aud for this, do you think i should expect better quality?
some photos are dark and dull, i expected that, the paper quality seems a bit lower than last time, and the print quality doesn't seem that great when it comes to people photos, that i can accept, but creases in the pages, and the aforementioned qa issues, that i cannot accept. i'm sticking to standard photos and photo albums from now on.
the back cover, you can probably see the white spine spreading onto the back cover.
#33 dtra (david tran)
Last edited at 3:55 25th-aug-2009
tags/bookmarks
notes
probably an over reaction on my side, i probably will use them again, considering that they're the only real option for me (i'm not going to make my own pdfs), the quality isn't that bad, i just have to pick my pictures a bit better, i have two books that i can use to work out what works and what doesn't. they are re-printing this one for me (free), i would've liked to modify it a bit, oh well.
dtra
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19:59 1st-sep-2009
in fact, i'm thinking very seriously about revising not only this edition, but also my mexico book, just so that i have them proper, it's more experience in finding out what works and what doesn't i guess.
dtra
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8:55 2nd-sep-2009
lol, the replacement arrived today, full bleed worked this time, still some bad photos, i'm going through the book again, if i have enough changes then i will probably re-order it, and have a look at doing the mexico book again as well.
dtra
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7:53 3rd-sep-2009
i've pretty much finalised the revised edition, something like 17 new pictures/pages, and tons of updated pictures (colour correction), but also i've changed the layout and removed all full bleed pages, so the only pictures that go remotely close to the edges are the panoramas, and then, only in the middle fold. will probably re-order very soon. wish me luck 
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dtra
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20:55 9th-sep-2009