Should I ask the photographer to re-do our proof books?

This is just my $0.02, but a proof book is never intended to be the quality of an album. back in the day, proof books were 3x5s stuck in plastic sleeves in lower quality spiral bound books that people passed around to their family and guest for making print orders. your photographer may have not explained well enough what a proof book is, but if the contract says proof book, he or she is in compliance.

Did he ever tell you how big the photo would be? Did he show you a proof book beforehand and it looks different? If the contract doesn't specify this and you didn't ask, he likely won't redo them..but honestly he really should have showed you a proof book so you could see what it looks like!

My photog had several options available for the proofs, from just a bunch of copies in a box, to a spiral bound book with the copies in plastic sleeves, etc. He did show us samples of all the different options. If you look at your paperwork and it says 5x5 and your don't feel your proof book represents what was stated, I'd at least speak with him about it. The wording was misleading to say the least.

Basically what was promised isn't what we got. My interpretation of our contract is that if he says 5x5 proofs, the prints should be that size. What we got was prints that are 3x4 or 2x3 at best. We could have taken a box of proofs for the same price, and I wonder if we would have gotten full 5x5 images in that case if they weren't bound, or if this is the guy's standard practice with proofs, to make them with a huge white border. A slim white border would be one thing, but the way he printed and bound them decreases the size of the picture a LOT.

Sorry you are not happy with the result but as stated its a proof book not an album. I would like to see the exact terms stated- I agree with Brian Contracts should be crystal clear-- no interpretation!

I'd contact him and tell them you must have misunderstood. You get that it is a proof book and not a wedding album, but you can't even see the pictures since they are so small. You were under the impression that the proofs themselves would be 5x5, not with a huge border.

He is technically in compliance with what he agreed to, but he needs to know you are displeased.

And just a warning- if you use the CD to have photos printed, do not blow them up larger than 5x7! They are typically low resolution images and will begin to look fuzzy. That's normal, and nothing you should complain about if you are just now finding out.

Yeah proof books are definitely not supposed to be albums and in fact most photographers use them as a starting point to help you pick out pictures for the album. I would say that by the time you have kids technology may have changed and computers may not even accept CD's that is why we encourage having an album that will last forever.

Proof books IMHO are not all that important in fact we opted out of a proof book bc it was such an extra cost for really nothing. Anyone who wants to order photos can do so online and to be honest the proof books end up collecting dust anyway. I do like you hubbys idea of making your own album. Try shutterfly and snapfish they are great sites and they have super low prices. Good luck !

Unfortunately, you should not plan to use a proof book as your album. They are just to allow you to proof the images for album creation. I actually don't even offer a proof book anymore. All of my proofing is done online. Maybe he can cut you a deal on some prints?

A proof book is just that. Proofs are the unfinished product. I understand that you wanted to use these as your album, but and album needs to be of heirloom quality. And that also means the ones that you order online with places like snapfish don't cut the mustard. They are press-printed books that might last 20 years. Most that I've seen that are over 5 years already have fading photos and pages falling out.

That's not the quality you want for an album.

And ditto on the online proofing. That's what I do, and it has made my job and life soooo much easier.

Have you considered making a wedding album on snapfish or vista print? It's pretty affordable and would probably make a better wedding album than a proof book.