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Monday, October 11, 2010

On the Hunt for Picture Book

As our youngest daughter Fabienne turns 1 year old this month, we are in a hurry to look for makers of picture/storybook, of course to showcase my talent(kaya? LOL) as I venture into Photography business.  One has to have multi-skills today when you want to offer photography services as clients today are aware of the trend on story books.  Through searches on the net, we were able to consider some makers recommended by fellow hobbyists.  Prices are almost similar to each other which ranges from Php2,000 to Php5,000 depending on the size.  We almost consider these pricey packages but by a stroke of luck, someone whispered to me to try Hidalgo stores.  As everybody knows, Hidalgo is a haven for photographers, from gears to accessories and also home of the framers.  By the way, for those who are not familiar with the place, it's very near Quiapo Church and it's just across SM Carriedo.

We scoured the stalls of framers there until we saw one with a display of picturebooks or coffee table book (whatever you like to call it).  The quality of make is quite inferior than the ones offered by printlabs but given the proper exposure, this maker can make a run for the money.  The insert (palaman) between pictures is a little bit thick as compared to printlabs and one thing I noticed is that they doesn't seem to care much on the result.  An example of this is the border/margin which they cut to align pages without checking the output.  Nevertheless, it's acceptable for first-timers like me.  With constant practice, I believed they could be at par with the labs.

I have documented the making of my very first picture book / guest book as shown below:

The making of layouts






Finalizing the layout is a bit tedious and requires a lot of patience especially when you are not a born-artist.

The mock picturebook / guestbook









The actual picture book
the box


actual size with the box


the contents.


At last, I was able to complete it.  Next project, coffee table book.


Thanks guys!