It is now possible to look highly professional for a
relatively modest investment by creating a portfolio using an on-demand book
publishing site. High quality customizable fixed portfolios are available
through a number of sources.
Even though these services were developed primarily
to support photographic professionals, they serve illustrators equally as well,
after all a JPG or PDF file is still an image file, whether it was captured
with a camera or created by an illustrator. It is important to note that in nearly every case, portfolios printed as books are unalterable, so if after ordering your
portfolio book you want to add your latest illustration, it will
require ordering a completely new updated book. Still
these options of producing a professional portfolio should be thoughtfully
considered. The list of resources provided below is by no means complete, and
each vendor will best suit the needs of an illustrator in kind. Although there are
many publishers out there, the ones below will allow you to print a single
portfolio. Also these vendors were selected based on their affinity for
professional portfolio publishing.
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| © 2013 Don Arday |
Lulu
The difference with Lulu is you can, not only create a book,
but you can also sell it. Lulu’s model in publishing is open publishing, which
empowers creators to publish and sell content to readers. Through their open
publishing platform, they help creators make works available in multiple
formats and markets so audiences and buyers can more easily find relevant
content. At Lulu, it’s free to publish, so authors can create everything from
hard cover books to eBooks, portfolio books, etc. Artists and authors keep all
the rights to their works and retain 80% of the profit when their books sell.
Lulu can provide worldwide distribution so that books can reach an audience
just about anywhere, including on Amazon.com and the iBookstore™.
And Lulu can help with cover design, editing, formatting, marketing or the
publishing process in general. You can even get an ISBN (International Standard
Book Number), a controlled, 10 or 13 digit identification number that allows
publishers, libraries, and book dealers to locate books. Lulu provides a cost
calculator to provide an actual quote with the specific printing options you
select.
Viovio
Viovio is dedicated to providing a quality product and
extraordinary service. Producing on-demand products of exceptional quality with
record speed has always been in the forefront. By combining the quality of their
portfolio books with a no-touch manufacturing process, Viovio is able to offer
customers the superior portfolio books they demand. Additionally, Viovio has a
large selection of book sizes, formats and material choices for the creation of
your portfolio book. The PDF, and font handling instructions that are provided
to assist you in preparing your book for printing are highly detailed and
elaborate for those who want to know all specifications in detail. Their online
book creation software allows you to work, on and save, your project 100% free
of charge. You only pay when you're ready to buy your book. The Viovio
bookmaking service is available on line and through a downloadable iPad app.
Mixbook
Mixbook is a user-friendly way to make customizable portfolio books, cards,
and other print items on the web. With Mixbook, you aren’t limited to static
pre-designed templates. Powerfully
designed software gives you the freedom to customize your own layout and design.
Mixbook is dedicated to bringing you the best experience in creating image
products. With Mixbook’s trademark slogan is Make It Yours™. Although they
offer a number of predesigned, adorned picture book choices, their “Blank
Canvas” or simple portfolio options are preferable for customization. The four
format options each offer a limited range of a sizes and materials. You can
preview each book style and size to get ideas about how to layout the pages.
Shutterfly
Shutterfy’s single-minded focus on helping you enhance,
organize and store your digital images allows them to provide the highest
quality. They have been trusted choice of professional photographers and
artist, and the proud recipient of many industry awards.
Advantages include free online photo storage -- Shutterfly has never deleted an image. Free online photo sharing -- reviewers and friends can view images you
want to share without having to log in or sign up. They just click on a link in
your email and instantly view a slideshow of your work. Shutterfly’s Express Uploader is a
free, easy-to-use software application that quickly uploads your images
straight from your desktop. You can also view and edit your pictures before
uploading them. Several other book-on-demand vendors either outsource to
Shutterfly or use Shutterfly’s engine for the service they offer. Pricing is up
front, accessible, and competitive.
MyCanvas
MyCanvas is an online photo book tool that provides a
variety of backgrounds, font styles and layouts. Completely customize your
portfolio book or choose easy to use templates..Book sizes include 8” x
8", 11” x 8.5", or 14” x 11". MyCanvas uses print-on-demand
(POD) printing for the book you want. POD printing is just what it sounds like.
Your book is not printed until you order it, which allows for changes while
customizing a book. Add photos, layouts, and embellishments, edit text and
change backgrounds. Choose your cover -- a photo of your choice printed in
matte finish, nuba, leather, padded leather, silk spine, full silk, two-tone
velvet, or nubuck leather. Choose from a variety of cover styles and premium
options, like slip cases. Plus, add pages and ship as fast as you like. Some of
the cover options include a slipcase to protect and preserve your book
(leather, silk and silk spine). Create up to 250 pages printed in gloss on
heavyweight, acid-free, archival paper. Their Premium photo books are
individually handcrafted and made-to-order. Matching end sheets are included.
Pricing is up front, accessible, and competitive.
Picaboo
Starting with the outside, Picaboo offers the freedom of placing
any photo on the front cover, back cover, and spine of a Classic Custom book. Specialty
books are available in 6” x 8” and 8.5” x 11” with glossy laminate hard cover
or soft cover with premium glossy paper or in 11” x 14” with glossy laminate
hard cover and premium glossy paper. Classic books available in multiple sizes
and colors feature a linen hard cover or a textured soft cover, a center
die-cut window and premium glossy paper. Choose from a variety of
professionally designed themes to get started. You can completely customize a
selected theme or you can choose to start your book with no theme. With
Picaboo, you can redesign an existing layout, or create your own page design
from scratch by dragging and dropping your photos and captions anywhere on the
page. Picaboo provides the broadest range of high-quality portfolio book
styles. Choose from the versatile Classic Die-Cut and Custom Cover collection
to meticulously handcrafted leather flush mount book. Prices are listed up
front along with styles.
Snapfish
Snapfish offers customized photo books showcasing your illustration
talents, with nearly unlimited design options in 15 different book styles.
Professionally designed templates allow you reproduce your work in a portfolio book.
Snapfish provides you with a variety of sizes to choose from. A simple
flip book, a 2” x 3” mini book, or an 8” x 11” photo books is a snap to
create with over 55 photo and text layouts, or opt for a deluxe 12” x 12” book with
large-scale images. You are in full control with the ability to use captions,
titles, and page layouts throughout your portfolio book. Choose a soft cover or
hard cover book style with leather, velvet, linen, dust jacket, and custom
cover options. All photo books are professionally bound and printed on archival-quality,
acid-free paper. Most importantly, every photo book is one-of-a-kind made
exactly to your specifications. Pricing is up front and accessible.
AdoramaPix
From the paper to the printing, quality is at the heart of
every AdoramaPix portfolio book. Premium books are hand crafted and inspected
by experienced staff to ensure that your portfolio book will look stunning and
last a lifetime. A unique binding system allows every page spread to lie flat
without any gutter or unsightly seam to separate your pages. This system
combines beautiful presentation with incredible durability. The AdoramaPix
custom-built design tool makes it drag-and-drop easy for anyone to build
beautiful, professional quality books. AdoramaPix 8” x 10” books are hard cover,
and are printed on Fujifilm Crystal Archive Album photo paper, so they are not
press printed, this makes them very different from all other press books. Pricing
is upfront and accessible. Due to the use of photo paper and premium binding
materials, pricing is a bit higher than other portfolio on demand publishers.
Blurb
Blurb offers self-published portfolio books at bookstore quality to
artists, designers and photographers. Select from easy-to-use cover layouts
in Bookify or BookSmart, or make your own with the Adobe®
InDesign® plugin. Choose from a wide selection of papers including an 80#
Standard Paper smooth semi-matte finish, or premium heavier papers in matte and
lustre finishes. ProLine professional-grade papers made by Mohawk are also an
option. Blurb prints on industry-leading HP Indigo digital offset presses for
superb image reproduction and color fidelity. For highly refined color control
Blurb offers an extensive
color management resource center and a GRACoL 2009 ICC color profile for
precise printing. Blurb layouts offer creative flexibility to add photos and
text. Create stunning two-page full-bleed spreads. Choose from a wide selection
of layouts or customize your own hard cover books that feature library binding,
while soft cover books have perfect binding that is bound to last. Pricing is
clear, upfront, and competitive.
MyPublisher (Shutterfly)
MyPublisher was the inventor and first marketer of high
quality, single-copy, custom portfolio books at an affordable price.
MyPublisher has evolved as a leading internet retailer of personalized photo applications
to enable consumers to creatively customize, share, print, and preserve digital
images. Now joined with Shutterfly, MyPublisher offers a range of custom
products and free proprietary design applications, including Photo Books, Photo
Calendars, Cards and Canvas Prints. MyPublisher prints, manufactures and ships
every product it sells with no out-sourcing. MyPublisher is among the largest
digital photo printers in the world. Every year it prints and ships over 120
million photos for its customers. MyPublisher believes that controlling its
printing and manufacturing enables it to deliver consistently superior quality
and service. MyPublisher also offers digital tools to assist users in creating
their book projects. MyPublisher books are all landscape format, with several
cover material options in four different sizes. Pricing is up front and
accessible.
Pitko
Pikto, uses the latest digital press technology and finest
materials to give your portfolio book a professional feel at a fraction of the
price. Pitko books come in nine sizes and feature various book cover materials
to give you the look of a traditionally printed coffee table art book. According
to Pitko, you can create books with exquisite detail and quality of a book of “fine
art” at a fraction of the price. Free software is available for download to
easily and intuitively put together books from 6x8” in size to 12” x 18”.
One-on-one design consultations and video tutorials are also available to help
make your Pikto experience as simple possible. The website is easy to navigate
and provides an easy interface for pricing and selection of materials. Pricing
is up front and accessible.
White House Custom Color (WHCC)
WHCC albums and books offer more unique and affordable
options compared to other industry high-end books. For albums each full-page
spread is printed on your choice of paper type and then mounted to thick
cardstock to lay flat. Customize a creative look that’s unique to each client
with various cover options and album sizes. Customized books are a choice for
portfolio style presentations. WHCC books are press printed to achieve extreme
print quality, craftsmanship. Turnaround time has most books shipping next day.
You can customize your portfolio books in nearly endless ways with the choice
from four different page papers, over 48 cover materials, and eight book sizes.
Fine details may be added to enhance your book with a photographic dust jacket
or cover foil stamping. A pricing chart is up front and accessible.
Kolo
Kolo makes printed portfolio books, boxes, and classic
albums. Kolo also makes presentation boxes that coordinate with the photo books and albums. Kolo
has a uniquely designed binding for your custom portfolio book. Books come in
5.5” x 8”, 8.5” x 11”, and 11” x 14”, while boxes and albums are offered in
other sizes. With books, the
binding is expandable so additional pages con be added. Sophisticated and
elegant, books are expandable and can grow with your image collection. Just
upload your digital files to myKOLO, select your format
and get started. Kolo offers a variety of classic styled portfolio albums.
Kolo's EasyLoad is a way to quickly, and elegantly organize your images for
presentation. Lolo can also provide you with portfolio boxes using archival
board, European book cloth and archival acid-free book binding paper. The boxes
have Kolo's trademark window to display an image or label. Pricing is up front
and accessible.
Bay Photo
Bay Photo offers hard cover and soft cover portfolio books printed on
Indigo printers for the high quality digital press printing that is well suited
for high-end proof portfolios books. You can choose from a wide selection of
sizes in square, horizontal, and vertical formats. Optional full-wrap,
laminated dust jackets are also available. Bay Photo also offers premium 6-color
printing for increased depth of color and the smoothest gradients. You have the
option of hundreds of customizable page layout templates in Bay ROES, or
create your own using any image editing application available in 48 mix-and-match cover materials for customization of your portfolio.
Choose from unique lay-flat hinged pages with optional texture or UV coating
(hard covers only), or perfect bound standard pages (hard covers and soft covers). The full price list is clear and accessible.
PhotoBook Press
Illustrators, artists and photographers can preserve their
best work in fine limited edition portfolio books from PhotoBook Press. Quality
printing, paper and binding make these books particularly suited to portfolio
presentations. The basic sewn binding book has rich black bonded leather
binding with black, white or ecru end leaves. Also offered are luxurious full grain or goat leathers,
Japanese silks or image wrap bindings for the exterior of the book. Exquisite
Nepalese cloud papers or custom printed papers can be used as end papers.
Custom printing is available on soft covers, smooth heavy weight pages, and
state-of-the-art press printed images, text and captions. Books are printed on
120# text weight archival papers. Heavy weight but flexible and supple, these
pages have an substantial feel. More permanent than photographs, the crisp
clear images in these custom portfolio books resist scratching. Slipcases can
be ordered to match your portfolio book as well. With all the unique premium
custom options available, pricing is a bit higher than some competitors. A
pricing calculator is provided up front to help when selecting sizes,
materials, and printing options.
Artifact Uprising
In addition to the hard cover portfolio books that are he
signature line in Artifact Uprising’s product suite, they also offer two unique
products, an Instagram book, and a custom printed wooden portfolio box. These
books feature your choice of a full-sized or partial dust jacket over a fabric
cover. They are available in three sizes starting at 50, 100 or 150 pages
printed on Mohawk Options 100% post consumer recycled in square 8.5” x 8.5”, landscape
11” x 8.25”, or portrait 8.25” x 11” formats. If you share your art through
Instagram, Artifact Uprising offers a special product, a textured eggshell
matte soft cover book featuring layouts that are designed to accommodate
Instagram images. Upload your favorite images and design in just minutes with
layouts suited for small square images. The interior pages are printed on Mohawk
Options 100% post consumer recycled with the cover stock: Mohawk Superfine
Eggshell, White 120#. The custom printed wooden boxes are handcrafted in
Colorado using solid deadfall beetle-kill pine reclaimed from forests. Box
product specs are 12.5” x 9.5” outer dimensions to fit all Artifact
Uprising hard cover and soft cover books with the top of box being
customizable. The website interface is extremely user friendly. Pricing is up
front accessible and extremely competitive.
Photobook America
Pro Series portfolio books are individually handcrafted
using fine materials. These modern premium books use thick, heavyweight premium
paper. Below the Pro Series is the more affordable Debossed series. Either way
you can customize your book with features from free Photobook Designer
software. A wide array of designing options allow images to be wrapped on custom
matte-laminated photo covers or choose from a variety of cover materials that
come in Leather, Buckram and Cambric in a host of colors. All books are
individually handmade. Choose from an exclusive range of papers from a high
quality heavier 170 gsm premium silk for a smooth and professional sheen with
sharp contrast and great color to an upgrade to a premium papers like the 216
gsm premium silk. The 170 gsm matte textured paper imparts a canvas-like finish
for a smudge resistant finish. All images are printed using the latest
industry-leading HP Indigo 7600 press. Hard cover and soft cover books
comes in a durable PUR perfect binding, giving books a library-quality and
feel, with additional reinforced spine. A debossed window option on the cover
offers creative flexibility to showcase featured picture and/or caption. Blind
debossed text stamping is also available. Pricing is up front and accessible.
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