Best quality DIY photobook with lay flat pages

You actually cant get a pro quality with out a photographer, they only sell to pros.

IMO the best quality consumer grade press books are from http://www.adoramapix.com/app/products/books

You're going to need the 38-76 pages to fit a full wedding so its not cluttered.

I know Mrs. O has mention Somerset Albums and Bay Photo were two professional companies that would sell directly to consumers.

Bay Photo is for pros but the Somerset seems to sell to anyone so that may be a good choice. Ive never heard of the Somerset till now.

I have been searching for the same thing Shelly. And just to make your searching easier. The type of book your looking for with the "flat pages" is called flush mount.

I have been looking at Blurb.com. They don't have the super nice books but they still look pretty nice for what i want. Course i have not actually ordered it so i have not seen it in person.

Mpix is a professional site that my photographer recommneded to us and we got some great pics from it. I am ordering a photo book for mom and mil for christamas. The prices are great the story photo book is 30.00

Lots of good ideas here thx! AdoramaPix is liking like a good option.

Has anyone used Picaboo? I like the Madison style or the Classic Custom - any thoughts?

Check out Black River Imaging - its a professional site that sells to consumers. They actually have the flush mount albums which look the best to me. Not exactly cheap...still looking at about $300-500 depending on how many pages you want but still cheaper than what a photographer will charge (about $1000) for the same thing.

I literally just signed on to WW to ask this question...Shutterfly is doing layflat "premium" books now...are they any good? They're around $100 and I'm not expecting them to be like the $300+ albums but don't want to order awful quality either. If you've ordered, would love to hear your experience! Wish I could see these things IRL...

It depends what you are looking for..but I got a few 8 x 8 hard cover ones from shutterfly, loved the quality! Obviously a leather pro one doesn't compare, but I was pleasantly surprised with mine from shutterfly!

Did you get their new layflat album or just a regular one? I ordered a regular one as our guest book for our wedding and was very happy with it but am looking for less embellishment for the actual wedding album.

While Bay Photo claims to be for professional photographers, anyone can sign up for an account with them and they don't really check. I have an account with them without having my own photography business. However their ordering software might be a little confusing for non-professionals.

Somerset albums sells to anyone. As Serina said, Black River Imaging is another one that I had found that sells directly to consumers. With albums from all these companies, the flush mount albums are all going to run you a few hundred dollars depending on size, however compared to the thousand or so that photographer's charge, it is cheaper.

I designed my own album (and parent albums which should arrive next week) and ordered through a professional company, the same that my photographer actually uses. However I was lucky enough to have a photographer friend who made an account and has allowed me to order my albums with it.

Marlene, I've been interested in seeing the new Shutterfly premium albums. While they probably still can't compare to true professional quality albums, they seem like they might be a great middle-ground compromise for the average person who wants something nicer than a regular photobook but doesn't have hundreds or thousands to drop on a professional album.

I know Kris was planning on ordering her album from shutterfly using their new premium albums. I don't know if she ever did and received it yet. I would think she would have made a post if she did. Hopefully when she does and received it, she will share with everyone and we can get a first hand opinion on the difference in quality than their regular books.

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, I would love it if someone could post some feedback from them and others that may be a bit more affordable. I started putting together a Shutterfly one yesterday and realized that once I start adding extra pages, it would also be a few hundred dollars, almost as much as some of these other pro sites. I'm really running short on time since I wanted this as a Xmas gift so should just pick one and pull the trigger but it's so hard when you can't see the quality in real life! Decisions decisions...

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