I created my book with the printer, Artscow, I read about ArtsCow on Digitreats blog. She described the proces and posted photos of the book she received. The introductory price of $6.99 for a 20 page 8x8 photobook was appealing, so I decided to give them a try.

This photobook was a collection of layouts that didn't have a "home" in my other albums. I decided that printing these would be a good place to start to give Artscow a trial run. I knew I liked the 8x8 format after putting together a travel album. This bound book at $6.99 was about 1/4 the cost of printing individual layouts, and the book takes up far less space on my shelf. I will definitely print more books as they are both space and cost savers for me. I was very pleased with the quality of the book, it compares favorably with a Picaboo book I ordered earlier this year that cost five times the price.

I already had the layouts created, so creating the book was a matter of selecting which layouts to include and upploading them to Artscow. A download of Microsoft Silverlight was required. After uploading, I was able to select from hundreds of options for cover art (including one of my own photos), the text for the spine of the book, and background colors and themes for the pages if I chose. Placing my layouts was a click and drag exercise, and very simple to do. I did learn that if you place an 8x8 layout on the 8x8 page, you lose a little of the edges due to the "bleed" required to avoid a white edge. For some layouts this made no difference, but it will cut off elements or journaling that is place close to the page edge.

This book is a collection of miscellaneous layouts that did not have homes in other albums. They are loosely joined under family/pets.

What did you do with your book? How do you display it?: I carried the book to work with me to share with friends, and keep it on the shelf in my family room. My son enjoys flipping through the pages from time to time. It is attractive enough to display on a table, too.

Photo Book contributed by Alison Graham aka orlando.native
Gallery: Click HERE
Software used: Photoshop Elements 6

Designers Credit:
Kitty Love: Creative Cat Collection Biggie from ScrapGirls, Worn_HiRes brushes, font: Iskoola Pota
Cameron at 10: paper: dso_June7-3 (recolored), font: Kredit, Dog tags: Bizee Bee
Gypsy the Lizard Slayer: Papers: Urban Kiwi by Shabby Princess, Tag: No Milk No Sugar by Rhondogg, Daisy4: MMD, Cross stitches (recolored): MJV, Ribbons: Digitreats Run elements
Misty: papers: Tyke_Rdickson_Paper6, AWP_GrapeCrush (original & recolored), frame: aquabling by petite moineaux, brushes: ScrapGirls Refresh LCO_grunge brush, ScrapGirls ASO_dynamic brush Stitching6401, flowers: SStyle Cherished Memory

font: Freebooter Script (bevel applied)