Yesterday I uploaded to Blurb, through the Lightroom book module, my fifth photo book in two months.
At a recent meeting with my photo club, there was a presentation on the use of Lightroom’s Book module. I’m sure you are well familiar with the Library and Develop modules but if you look across the top of the LR screen you will note several other modules. One of those is the Book module. Let me explain how I use it.
But first a disclaimer - I am not an expert user of this module. With each use I become more proficient, and I thank YouTube for the free instruction, but I'm still struggling with several aspects of the module. However, I know that in the end all will be good. It's just not yet the end.
Regarding making photo books, there are many options available to us. In the good old days I used Apple’s photo book process that was embedded within the iPhoto app. When Apple transition to the Photos app, they dropped their indigenous photo book capability. In press releases Apple stated a return to core competencies and that did not include making photo books. That was unfortunate. Over many years I made quite a few photo books and I was always very pleased with the quality of the book. The paper stock used and the printed photo renditions were both excellent. The Photos app did not remove the ability to do photo books however it moved the book development and printing to third party apps which acted as plug-ins to Apple Photos. I chose the most highly rated of the third party plug-ins and printed several books. There was a noted difference in the quality of those books from the Apple products. For several years I stop making photo books as I researched and thought through other options.
In 2020 I looked harder at the photo book options. There are a good handful of companies in this business space. Following more research I landed on Mix Book. Between 2020 and 2024 I printed a number of photo books. In general, quality was good. One book, a collection of my favorite black and white images called “Monochrome,” showed poor renditions. Reaching out to Mix Book via email I explained my issues and posited my thoughts on why the images didn’t render as desired. In response, Mix Book concurred with my assessment, printed another copy and sent it along to me. That version was printed correctly and remains one of my favorite photo books. So, all in all, not a bad experience with Mix Book.
However, I found working in two different apps a bit clunky. Edit to jpegs in LR (or Capture One before that) then upload to Mix Book. Arrange images as desired, add text as desired, finalize and print. It worked but I felt there was a better way.
Enter my photo club. At the December 2024 meeting I was introduced to the Book module within LR. As of that meeting I had been using LR exclusively since the previous March, a little less than a year. I had seen the modules beyond Library and Develop but had not paid them any attention. Needless to say, my eyes opened wide and my jaw dropped as I saw how to seamlessly manage photo book development within LR. Key for me is the ability to adjust image editing within the Book module. Also, I can very quickly re-enter the Library module to bring in new photos as necessary. The Book module has great tools to manage the over all layout as well as the individual look of each page. While there are automation tools I have not yet learned to use, I find the overall process easier and more intuitive than Mix Book.
The YouTube videos I have watched taught me the value of doing a lot of upfront work while still in the Library and Develop modules. Specifically, adding keywords and image titles. Those are aspects I’ve not paid attention to in previous post-processing efforts. That has changed. Using keywords enables me to make Smart Collections containing images tied to keywords. This lets me quickly build a portfolio of images from which to populate the photo book. Once the images I seek to publish are in the Smart Collection I make a few mouse clicks and send the collection into the Book module. Adding titles enables their automatic addition onto the photo page without me having to enter text. Very useful. There is still some work to do, sequencing pages and adding (or not) additional text, but by that point I am well on the road to a completed book.
At any point in the process I am able to print the book as a pdf so I can monitor the look and layout of the book. It is during this step where I might notice that an image’s editing requires a bit or work, usually an increase in exposure. Within the Book module I am able to select an image, click into Develop, make necessary changes and click back into Book. Very fast, very useful.
In those cases where I am adding a lot of text, as with the book I just uploaded, it is the 2024 year-end compilation of my 52Frames effort, each week’s image is on the right side of the page and the left page is the write-up explaining the image. I was able to copy those descriptions directly from the 52Frames website and paste them onto a Word document. Once all 52 weeks were copied and formatted as I wanted, I copied each week's text from the document and pasted into each of the 52 left hand text pages. A layout preset was built that resulted in consistent formatting and significantly reduced the amount of “cleanup” time I need to expend when I had finished the copy / paste. Again, there are more automation / layout preset techniques I need to learn but I’m happy with my progress.
Once the book is complete and I have QA’d the end product pdf the book is uploaded to Blurb. To do that part I needed to establish an account with Blurb. No different than the account I had established with Mix Book. Upon pressing the “Send to Blurb” button in LR, my internet browser comes up and the Blurb page opens. After a few more clicks to pick the number of copies and to verify address, the book is added to the Shopping Cart, I pay for it, and Blurb sends notification to me that the job is in the cue. For my recent upload, Blurb told me to expect the book to arrive in a few weeks. However, based on my experiences with the previous four LR-to-Blurb photo books I expect it sooner.
As with other photo book makers, you have control over the format of the final book. One of the formats Mix Book offered was 8”x8” and that was my standard pick. Blurb offers 7”x7” and 12”x12”. In square I prefer the 8”x8” so instead I am choosing “Standard Landscape” at 10”x8”. A few other formats / sizes are available. Regarding covers, hardcover, with or without a dust cover, is available in addition to softcover, which I prefer. Also available are several types of paper. The previous four books used the standard, and less expensive, paper. For this fifth book I chose “Premium Lustre.” A bit more expensive but I am looking forward to seeing how it compares.
And speaking of cost, the book I just ordered will be 106 pages, the largest I have ever had printed, and it cost $78.28 (includes taxes, shipping and handling). Previous books were about 50 pages and averaged $45-$55 each. For me, well worth the cost.
Why do I print photo books?
To see my images. Why spend as much as I have on camera gear, on travel, on editing only to keep images locked up as electronic files on a variety of solid state drives (and in iCloud)? I want to see my images. Slowly, my favorite images are being printed, framed and hung on the wall. It is my goal to have the majority of “art” hanging on the walls of my home to be my photography. Photo books are the natural extension of that thinking. Memories of family and friends and wonderful trips and key milestones in life. That is what photo books give me. Gotta’ get the images off the drives and onto the coffee table!
If you’re interested in seeing your photography in an easy-to-digest format that you can hold in your hands, I cannot recommend photo books highly enough. And I cannot recommend LR Book module highly enough either. It has been a game changer for me and my photo book productivity gone through the roof.
Cheers and good luck!
