So, I don't want to disparage any other companies because I've liked a lot of press books, but I just got my first from ProDPI and it's a WOW! I got the pearl paper and really love it. I don't have time to take photos of it, but wanted to share. If you're looking for a press book vendor, I'd check them out.
The good:
- Prints look unbelievably nice
- Pages seem a little thicker than others
- Pearl paper is very high-end for a press book
The bad:
- More expensive than some (not much)
- No canvas cover option (I'm always so-so on this anyway)
Do you think the photo cover will hold up well? I've found the canvas from the other company to be very good in that regard. That being said, I've been looking at WHCC and ProDPI as alternatives.
Assuming one would use these as guestbooks, do you think smearing would be a problem with the pages?
I've been using ProDPI press books for e-sessions and guest books, and I can concur that the quality is very high. I use the lay-flat version, and prefer the semi-gloss paper.
The other nice thing is that, you can order CD folios with matching fabric covers for a coherent presentation.
We also use ProDPI for our pressbooks and proofbooks - they always turn out really nice!
They work great for guestbooks because they offer magazine paper matte pages - which makes it super easy to write on with any pen.
We have yet to print a photo cover ( as our clients have always chosen silk - which are quite lovely! ) so I would be curious to see how it turned out!
Tony, how do these compare with BRI press books? I used their matte grade paper before, and wasn't very pleased with the results. Made the colors somewhat dull. Is this pearl paper equivalent to most good photo books?
Interesting. I ordered one and wasn't really that impressed. I liked the Adorama books better (felt the pages with the Adorama book were thicker and didn't feel as "cheap"). I ordered the lay flat with semi-gloss. Maybe the pearl paper makes a difference?
If you like prodpi, you should order one from simply color lab. They have thick fine art pages (I love the felt, but they offer pearl too) and they also have canvas covers. The double thick covers (not padded) are awesome on books over 8x8. The only thing that bothers me is the ratio of the square book pages are not square. Deal killer on duplicate books.
ckhagen wrote:
If you like prodpi, you should order one from simply color lab. They have thick fine art pages (I love the felt, but they offer pearl too) and they also have canvas covers. The double thick covers (not padded) are awesome on books over 8x8. The only thing that bothers me is the ratio of the square book pages are not square. Deal killer on duplicate books.
ckhagen wrote:
If you like prodpi, you should order one from simply color lab. They have thick fine art pages (I love the felt, but they offer pearl too) and they also have canvas covers. The double thick covers (not padded) are awesome on books over 8x8. The only thing that bothers me is the ratio of the square book pages are not square. Deal killer on duplicate books.
+1 the pages not being a true square does bother me. wish they would change that.
It's weird. And they have some crazy (albeit true) explanation that the book is a finished 10x10, but with the pages and then the lay flat binding added at the spine, the actual pages are not square. The ratio is off enough that there's no way you can take a typical square album design and duplicate it into this book. And while I understand their explanation... at the same time... numerous other book companies manage to make square lay-flat books with actual square pages, so I can't figure out why they can't.
