Notes on receiving my first iPhoto book ever

Question

I thought a "results" or review post might be useful to someone out there in the future, especially as Apple says you can order books until the 14th, for Christmas delivery.
Overall--I'm happy. I had already ordered four additional books as gifts, on spec because I started the process too late. I'm confident they will be nice gifts that my family appreciates. I'll order again in the future, but I will pick different photos. Also, I will pay extra for express shipping when doing a test run. That was silly.
I ordered a hardcover book using the Picture Book theme.
Time--ordered one night, shipped two nights later (6pm 12/5)--arrived morning of 12/12, standard shipping.
Packaging--my book arrived in a nice Apple box within the FedEx box, and the packing slip showed my name but not the price. So I would feel comfortable sending a package directly to someone as a gift (assuming the non-hardcovers arrive similarly, and Apple doesn't already have the "send a gift" option).
Quality--The feel is very nice--it looks quite professional. The spine on the dustjacket shows the main title of the book. The foil imprint on the hard cover, showing main title and subtitle on the front, is lovely.
Photos--People said something about photos coming up darker. I would say that the colors are not as vibrant as they look on my screen, not exactly darker but less bright and shiny. Detailed close-ups are mostly fine--outside scenic shots don't really convey that it was a beautiful sunny day.
My main displeasure is with the cover/dustjacket. In iPhoto, it looks like it's going to be white. In reality, it looks like Apple took a bright white sheet and a bright photo and then washed the whole piece of paper with gray. Almost like putting vellum over an invitation, or printing onto vellum or recycled paper. This may be specific to the Picture Book theme. It's not unattractive--it's fine--but it's a place where I definitely didn't get what I expected. On the other hand, I had a photo that was really too dark on the front inside flap, that showed as very dark on my computer--and it looks better than expected. The smaller outdoor shots on the back and rear inside flap are completely acceptable. Doing it again, I would have picked a different photo for the cover, maybe used multiple photos.
The inside page photos are pretty much fine--almost as bright and clear as on my computer. My blue skies are all a bit gray-blue. Skies that were already gray-blue in iPhoto just look grayish. Shots that are a bit shadowed look almost better than I expected--even though they are busy with lots of detail, they look good. Some dark shadowed trees in a background look greener and lighter than on my computer. Close-ups on a colorful mosaic look great. The four-picture page of us in shops, buying things, which I didn't like at all in iPhoto, looks great in the book.
So if I'd had a chance to tweak the other copies, I would used fewer big blue sky shots (I had used a lot, sadly) and risked more interior/shadowed/busy shots. I guess the printing process is optimized for family photos of people rather than scenic picture books, understandably.
I rarely print photos, so I literally did ZERO editing of the photos, because I wasn't sure what to change for best results. Yet, overall, I am pleased. And I was using a point-and-shoot Canon SD 700, I'm not a good photographer, and I don't do a good job capturing skies anyhow. But all my photos were taken on the highest resolution, and I picked the best ones. If I had gotten the book in time, I might have done some research on trying to enhance the blue skies for the later copies. But I probably would have decided I didn't have the time and that it was fine as is, aside from the cover.
Gutter--in the wire-bound book, iPhoto shows you where the wire will cut into a full-bleed picture. It doesn't do as good a job with the hardcover book--definitely more of the picture is lost into the gutter than I expected. This is a minor annoyance in only two spreads, but I'll certainly be careful about this with hardcover books in the future.
Complaints--I'll probably send Apple feedback about iPhoto not being so accurate about the cover and the gutter, as it seems like they should be able to improve what iPhoto shows.

Answer 1

Daiya:
Thanks for the feedback. You comments regarding the dust jacket is a common one among users here but more for too dark photos. Your post will give other first time users a good idea of what to expect.
Regarding the Time comment: your delivery time was just about the same as mine, ordered 12/6 and arrived 12/12, std shipping.
Happy Holidays
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 created 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 and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.