RhymePhile's Rat Race

I was reading Lifehacker yesterday, and they link to Metafilter, where someone asked about places online in which you can buy unique gifts. Someone mentioned Blurb.com, a site where you can create your own photography books.

Now, I haven't researched across the web for places like this, but from what I see, Blurb seems really really affordable for photography projects. I was thinking mainly of spicedrum and foxestacado (which I told you about yesterday) when I saw this site, and myself of course.

The coolest thing is that for $12.95 plus $8 UPS shipping, you can get a 7 x 7, 40-page, full color, softcover book with your photos in it and text. That's the price for just one book. You don't have to order in bulk unless you want to, and then it decreases in price. If you wanted that 7 x 7 book in hardcover with a dustjacket (which you also put photos on) that would be $22.95. You can even sell your book through their store, and make profits. This site is also available internationally, so those of you across the pond can use it too.

They have other size options, like "standard portrait," which is 8 x 10, or "standard landscape," which is 10 x 8, or the mightiest (and most expensive at $54.95 for one book) is "large format landscape" at 13 x 11 in hardcover.

What's really unique about the site is that in order to create a book, you need to download this program called BookSmart. Runs on PC and Mac. It's basically a template into which you plug all your photos and text, with lots of options for layout. You can see a 32-minute tutorial here. It looks really cool.

Of course, seeing photos online and getting them printed are two different things. Here's what I discovered (it's all in their FAQ) about resolution (this is all in pixel):

Square 7x7: Cover 2225 X 2142; Interior pages, full bleed: 2063 X 2067
Standard Landscape 10x8: Cover 3038 X 2555; Interior pages, full bleed: 2884 X 2471
Standard Portrait 8x10: Cover 2530 X 3080; Interior pages, full bleed: 2363 X 3000
Large Format Landscape 13x11: Cover 3955 X 3342; Interior pages, full bleed: 3788 X 3263

Of course not every page needs to be full bleed; there are different layout options for the inside pages that create much smaller images.

What types of images are supported?

1) JPG or PNG format. PNGs should be 8-bit and non-interlaced
2) sRGB color (no CMYK nor Grayscale nor Adobe 1998 RGB)
3) If you’re using iPhoto, make sure your library has its default name and is saved in its default location
4) 150 to 300 DPI (dots per inch or pixels per inch). For instance, a 5x7 image frame should be filled with an image that is at least 750x1050 pixels and no greater than 1500 to 2100 pixels.

I'd love to make a book of my vacation photography, but the problem is I shot all of them for sharing with you guys here, not at a resolution for a book. I'm going to think of some photography projects, and definitely create a book. I hope one of you might be interested enough to look into this, too, and share your work!