First time ordering - a few quality questions

Question

I am making a book for my mom that will have many pictures that I have scanned in and them imported into iPhoto. Has anyone noticed that printing a photo book greatly reduces the quality of their photos? The scan quality is OK, but obviously not as nice as original digital, and I don't want half the book to look like total crap.
Also, I read thru most of the threads here and noticed a lot of people talking about the dust covers in iPhoto 08 vs. canvas sticker covers (??) in previous versions. I have computers with access to both old and new versions of iPhoto and am wondering which to use. I want a hard cover book that looks professionally done... do the dust covers really not let you have an image on the front? Is it just a blank page? And does the older hard covers really have a sticker of the photo on the front??
And overall, what do you guys think of the quality of the hard cover photo books? Is 10 pages generally too thin? Should I try to beef it up a few pages? Do the pictures ever get wrongly cropped by Apple's manufacturing of the book? Do books look good?
Thanks!!

Answer 1

hiddenmuse:
I had a V6 theme book in progress when I converted over to V7. I looked at the new themes and the dust covers and decided that I really like them better than the glued photo cover. The dust jacket gives you some addition space for dedication and/or other information.
As far as image quality, I can't vouch for V7 as I've not ordered one with V7 as yet, today or tomorrow, but my other hardcover books were very good. Don't expect the quality you'd get in a commercial coffee table photo book as the printing is entirely different. When inspecting the photos in a large hardcover book under 10x magnification I could see the halftone pattern (dots). But not with the naked eye.
I found that the medium books had a halftone pattern visible under strong illumination with the naked eye. The newer softcover books are supposed to be printed at the same resolution as the large so that may not be a problem anymore.
Occasionally users will get oddly colored photos in their books due to some problem at the printers but Apple as been very good a correcting such problems in a timely manner.
As to the quality of the books, IMO they are excellent. I contacted Apple about printing quality and got the following response regarding materials and printing:
I contacted Apple and asked for information that I could pass on. Here's the reply I received from Apple:
"Thank you for contacting the Apple Print Products Customer Service.
I understand that you would like to know the printing process that is used and the color mode the files should be in, so you can better advise users in the iPhoto forum.
iPhoto version 4 or later, allows you to import and print files through the Apple Print Product service as RGB, grayscale, or CMYK color space. JPEG files with RGB color space are recommended for best results.
While iPhoto 2 can import files of various formats, including RGB color, grayscale, and CMYK, this version requires JPEG files with RGB color space when printing photos and books.
For more information regarding iPhoto 2, please visit the following article:
iPhoto: Color, Black and White Prints Appear Garbled or Distorted
For more information regarding iPhoto 5, please visit the following article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=165501
Here are some of the technical specifications for the books, cards, and calendars. I hope this gives you an idea about their quality and form.
BOOKS
All iPhoto books are printed using acid-free paper for long-lasting image quality. The photos are printed at a high resolution (300DPI if you use iPhoto 6). There is no external modification--such as sharpening or contrast adjustment--of the photos; what you see in the application is what is printed in the book.
Hardcovers Books
The cover is hard-bound and covered in linen. You select the linen color during the book-ordering process. The hardcover books have a solid, stiff binding that is glued and crimped. The internal pages, measuring 8.5 x 11 inches, are printed on McCoy 100# Text Gloss paper stock.
Softcover Books
The softcover books come in three sizes:
- Large 8.5 x 11 inches
- Medium 6 x 8 inches
- Small 2.6 x 3.5 inches
All of the softcover books have internal pages that are printed on McCoy 100# Text Gloss paper stock. The large softcover book has a white cover (Kromekoteplus Folding Cover, 16 point) with a cutout on the front that reveals the cover-page photo in the book. The covers for the medium and small softcover books have the cover image and title printed directly on the cover. All of the softcover books have a glued binding and feature a thick cover of McCoy 100# Cover Gloss paper stock.
CARDS
All cards are printed on McCoy 120# Silk Cover paper stock. The postcards measure 4 x 6 inches, and the greeting cards measure 5 x 7inches.
CALENDARS
All calendars measure 8 x 10 inches and are printed on McCoy 100# Silk Cover paper stock.
To ensure the best print quality, we have chosen to use Kodak NexPress technology. The press uses a dry toner, which is fused to the surface of the paper. Please see NexPress' site for more information:
KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press
I hope you find this information helpful in answering questions on the iPhoto forum."
Also, users expectations will vary considerably. But every book that I've given as a gift, large hardcover or softcover medium were received with much enthusiasm. I don't think your Mom will be a bit disappointed.
For every book I give as a give I create an iDVD slideshow of it to give also. Tutorial #6 describes the procedure.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.