{"id":429,"date":"2019-06-27T21:47:40","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T04:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spencermeadowpress.com\/?p=429"},"modified":"2019-09-14T19:16:25","modified_gmt":"2019-09-15T02:16:25","slug":"shutterfly-sometimes-you-want-just-one-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spencermeadowpress.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/27\/shutterfly-sometimes-you-want-just-one-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Shutterfly: Because Sometimes You Only Want One Book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A couple years ago our family was given the generous gift of a vacation to Southern California. We visited a bunch of amusement parks, toured the USS Midway (a surprise hit!) and spent time on the beach. And at one stop we stayed at a resort hotel which provided us some extra perks, including a coupon from Shutterfly<\/a> for us to design one free 20-page hardback book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I joke that the Shutterfly coupon was the most expensive free coupon I\u2019ve ever received. Yes, the first book was free. With its case hardcover and bright colors it looked fantastic. So when there was another special event, I had to make a book for that, too. Parents had milestone birthdays \u2013 they each got a book. Our next family vacation needed a book. Shutterfly gave us another free coupon so I let my son design a book for Grandma. I now have a row of \u201cphoto albums\u201d on my shelf that are all printed by Shutterfly and I love them all. I like books, okay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a book with Shutterfly is like scrapbooking without\nthe scraps. You start out choosing the dimensions of the book. Then you choose\na general theme, but you have loads of options for page backgrounds, fonts, frames,\nstickers and banners. There are many page layouts to choose from \u2013 everything from\nfull page photo with bleed edges (photo goes all the way to the edge of the\npage) to a dozen or more photos on a two-page spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After downloading your photos onto the site, you drag and\ndrop them into your layout. Tweak the background, add extras and add text boxes\nas needed. You pick a layout and design for the covers and drag and drop photos\nthere, too. You can add text to the spine. When you\u2019re happy with the results,\nyou order the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shutterfly is good not just for photo albums, but also to make single books of any type. You can do pages of text, or layout text over your photos. It would be great for a personalized book for a child or a way to \u201cpublish\u201d a child\u2019s book. The software is user-friendly enough that an older grade school child should be able to lay out a book with minimal assistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a couple things to note if you decide to check\nthis out. Shutterfly\u2019s prices for a single 8×8 20-page book are about $10-$20, however\u2026\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n