Blurb Forums

190 page Book Arrived - Mixed Reactions !

Today the long awaited book arrived !! – and to be honest I have mixed reactions, I say this becuase I spent the time to Photshop and colour correct over 500 images for my wife’s holiday.  I just though i would provide some feedback with the hope that eventually some changes may be made.

1. Major issues uploading the book thru the software, eventually got it uploaded but took a lot of time and a lot on installs on other people’s computers to get it to actually upload.  Customer service did offer alternative arrangements when i contacted them after some time. (having a secondary way to upload would be a smart Move)

2.  All of the printing was on black background, the colour background was consistent

3. The Spine and construction appeared to be quiet good.

4. The images were a bit "Dull" compared to the actual colour corrected and calibrated images they were all High Res Images, this was about the only dissapointing thing.  I notice it, but I am sure that the person I am giving it too will not.

5. I only used the templates and text that blurb provided, and this worked out very well.

Overally Impression – Good Value for Money

Things that need changing – Another way to upload, & Dull Colouring

Thank you 

did you use the  icc profile to soft proof  your photos and make adjustments? I know when I soft proof my files wtihout editing them, they look a big dull and washed out. It gives me the chance to correct that before I add them to the book.

Actually on closer inspection of my book I ahve found a printing error which exists on a number of pages it is most noticeable on images that have a whitish background, and basically it is a streak line that runs right thru the centre of the images….. this is on random pages and always at the same level, which would indicate that there is a printing issue.  I have Send an email to support and logged the issue.  ohhh boy !

I didn’t use the icc profile on my book. didn’t fully undertand how it worked until after i ordered, so I expect that the pictures will look a little dull/flat because that’s how they look when i soft proof them now. My book should be here today.. so we’ll see. what I see when I soft proof the pictures isn’t awful.. just not a lot of "wow" or "pop" factor there. It’s okay.. this one is for the grandparents and since they didn’t see the original files, they’ll likely not even notice.

for my next book, i’ll absolutly be editing the picture while it’s proofed in the indigo profile because, on my monitor at least, it makes an okay picture look fabulous when you tweak it a little.

my tweaking in photoshop.. just in case anyone cares..

first I adjust my levels (i just move the arrows on the ends to the point where the curve starts to build)

then I adjust my curve.. give everything a very slight s-curve for the most part.  very easy to do too..you can find lots of photoshop tutorials on adjusting curves so if you don’t know how.. find one of those.

then, if it needs it (usually doesn’t at this point), I adjust for saturation, color (warming or cooling filters sometimes), contrast etc.. these are minor at most though.. the levels and curves make the most difference. I do find, however, that asjusting my color to up the yellow just a touch really helps with this icc profile.

and lastly, sharpening.. I prefer to duplicate layer, apply highpass filter (3px), softlight.  but the unsharp mask at 100%, 3px, works well for me too.

just changing levels, curves, and sharpening makes a whopper of a difference on the monitor. hopefully that’ll come through in print too.

a streak though.. that’s all printing unless you can see it on your monitor.