Physical book
I think a photo is only really a photo if it materialises - so… printed. Since I already post some of my pictures here and on Instagram… I mean it is still virtual.
Yeah, having a photo printer since last year - I already print them from time to time, sometimes even in large (DIN A3).
However, I still felt like I wanted to have a book with my photography - just for me and just for fun.
So, I checked several providers but more or less it was clear to me, I wanted high quality at first. Thus, I got to Saal Digital - a company known for their high quality and professional services and products.
I thought - similar to here - I will just make a yearbook. My “best” photos of the last year. I collected my favourite ones and just saw…. oh… more than a thousand pictures. And I already left out private photos of my family and our endeavours. I only wanted the banal pictures in this book - just as if I could publish for sale.
So many pictures would not fit but I also did not wanted to shrink further down. Thus I decided to make the first book a test baloon: I just selected pictures from the first quarter of 2024. Yeah, they fit into a book!
If the result was good, I could just continue making such book all three months.
I used their macOS desktop software, uploaded all pictures of the first quarter and chose the 1-minute builder option. In this case, the software auto-layouts the book. I made minor adaptions and ordered quickly - as said, I wanted to have it fast and see the quality.
And boy, it arrived today. It is a softcover book with fake leather. In my case, I opted for slightly more than 100 pages. I just uploaded JPEGs and applied no further enhancements from the software - nor did I apply ICC profiles to it.
The binding of the book is in a way that the pages always remain flat - no bending or distortions. The image quality is just great, but have a look on your own:
The softcover in fake leather - other colours and materials are available
Semi-gloss surface ist just great
An image can just spread more than a page, it is not interrupted by the binding - also on the right side you see that a full print without margins is perfect
The automatic layout went fine - however, you have complete freedom of changing it and to add text and other elements (such as page designs)
Holding it in my hands and to see your pictures in a high quality art book (size is 30 x 21 centimeters) is a feeling that is hard to describe - just great.
I think, I will make a book like this now once every quarter.
