Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

FM Forum Rules
Wedding Resource List
  

FM Forums | Wedding Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

1      
2
       end
  

Archive 2013 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?

  
 
xcel730
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Yes, they would make a pretty good parent / grandparent album.

If you design your main album in square format (e.g. 12 x 12), you can easily scale it down to a 10 x 10 or 8 x 8 from Adoramapix.

On the other hand, if you're design a portrait or landscape album, be careful that Adoramapix's dimension may be different from your higher-end vendor. A perfect example is that Adoramapix offers a 9 x 12 album that I love. However, the closest dimension that my higher-end vendor offer is an 8 x 12. It's usually not too much of a problem, but you'll need to spend time to scale the aspect ratio to the correct format.



Jul 23, 2013 at 01:39 PM
NathanHamler
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


I've used them several times for Parent albums and brides who dont want to spend a ton on an album. Everyone has been thrilled with the results....a couple things though:

I use InDesign to do my layouts....i used the online flash based design application the first time, and it was ok, but InDesign is just WAY more powerful....

Their color is really pretty accurate....my display matches Millers perfectly, as well as most other labs....AdoramaPix does a good job keeping their stuff calibrated, so everything always matches (for the most part)....

I did make the mistake of leaving the first book i got from them in my car, on a 100 degree Florida afternoon, and the results weren't pretty.....it warped TERRIBLY....i weighted it down flat on a table for like 2 days, didn't straighten back out, someone told me put it in the freezer, so i did, and the book basically EXPLODED as soon as i took it out lol (it was free with a coupon code like a couple years ago when they first started)....lesson learned!!

I've ordered all size albums from them before, the last one was a 12x12, 76 page album, which they made the mistake of shipping in a box that was just BARELY large enough for the book....well USPS decided to dent one edge, which dented the book....AdoramaPix promptly replaced the book, no questions.

All in all i've been very happy with AdoramaPix and their quality FOR THE PRICE. They are WORLDS better than Snapfish, or Shutterfly, or Apple.....



Jul 23, 2013 at 02:10 PM
xcel730
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


NathanHamler wrote:
...

I use InDesign to do my layouts....i used the online flash based design application the first time, and it was ok, but InDesign is just WAY more powerful....

...



+!. This is very key. The first album I designed I used Photoshop. It worked, but it was so clumsy and slow. You lose a lot of your creative juice in laying out your album when you have to spend so much time dealing with Photoshop.

I spent one afternoon watching free online videos to understand the basic of InDesign and it made a world difference. It is so much easier and faster to design the album getting comfortable with InDesign. Take the time and effort to learn how to use the right tool for the right job and you'll thank yourself later on.

One thing though, if you're using InDesign CS5 or earlier, there are some issues when you export out to JPEG directly. It's stupid, but the exported images is very low res and terrible. The old trick was to export it out to PDF, open in Photoshop and then convert it to JPEG. They fixed this issue in CS6.

If you don't have InDesign and/or not willing to pay for its high price. Consider getting InDesign alternatives such as Lumapix Fotofusion or Fundy Album Builder. I haven't used either one of them, so I cannot comment on them. I'm throwing them out because I heard they were good. I have no incentives to use them as I have InDesign, but these may be an alternative for others.



Jul 23, 2013 at 02:27 PM
NathanHamler
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


xcel730 wrote:
One thing though, if you're using InDesign CS5 or earlier, there are some issues when you export out to JPEG directly. It's stupid, but the exported images is very low res and terrible. The old trick was to export it out to PDF, open in Photoshop and then convert it to JPEG. They fixed this issue in CS6.




Yeah, i use ID CS5, and the only thing i've had an issue with upon export, is that sometimes if a photo's effective PPI is EXACTLY 300ppi, i'll get a line across the spread....just in a random spot vertically..the trick i've found is that if i have to upsample an image, say for a large spread, i just make sure it's either slightly above, or slightly below 300, and it's fine....the effective PPI could be 1,000 DPI, and it looks fine.....for some reason, ID will throw out pixels just fine to make a 300dpi spread, but it won't ADD pixels in any way....so if you take a 6mp file, and try and make it fit a 20" wide spread, you'll end up with 150dpi....and it'll output it at 150dpi, unless you catch it, and then up-res the file in PS....which is what i usually do....but aside from that, i've NEVER had an issue with "very low res and terrible" jpg spreads being exported from InDesign CS5....or CS3 for that matter.....



Jul 23, 2013 at 08:18 PM
Inku Yo
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Why do people feel that they have to offer "cheaper alternatives" to their high end albums? Just curious.


Jul 23, 2013 at 08:41 PM
NathanHamler
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Inku Yo wrote:
Why do people feel that they have to offer "cheaper alternatives" to their high end albums? Just curious.


Because some clients straight up balk at the idea of spending $1,000 on an album, when they only spent $2,000 on the photography itself...and because some of us still wanna sell albums with a decent markup, which is simple to do with AdoramaPix albums



Jul 23, 2013 at 08:59 PM
xcel730
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


I use Adoramapix for personal albums mostly.

Also, note that not everyone is a wedding photographer. For other genre (e.g., family portraits), clients generally doesn't spend as much on albums as wedding clients. Typically, brides only get married once, so they are willing to spend the money to get high quality album. Many new parents will do newborn, 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, etc photo shoot ... they are definitely not going to drop $1,000 on album for each shoot. To them, these albums are nice to have not "must haves".

Edited on Jul 24, 2013 at 09:40 AM · View previous versions



Jul 23, 2013 at 09:49 PM
Inku Yo
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


NathanHamler wrote:
Because some clients straight up balk at the idea of spending $1,000 on an album, when they only spent $2,000 on the photography itself...and because some of us still wanna sell albums with a decent markup, which is simple to do with AdoramaPix albums


When I first started out and wasn't charging very much to shoot a wedding, I still offered "high end" albums. It just ate into my profit more. I simply didn't want my name associated with "cheaper alternative" products.

So, I'm just curious what the mind set is when offering cheap stuff to your clients. Without getting into the specific details of cost/markup, the problem you suggested seems more of an issue with your pricing and not the quality of album.



Jul 23, 2013 at 10:14 PM
Tony Hoffer
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Finao Playbook all day.


Jul 23, 2013 at 10:26 PM
mbpautz762
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Inku Yo wrote:
When I first started out and wasn't charging very much to shoot a wedding, I still offered "high end" albums. It just ate into my profit more. I simply didn't want my name associated with "cheaper alternative" products.

So, I'm just curious what the mind set is when offering cheap stuff to your clients. Without getting into the specific details of cost/markup, the problem you suggested seems more of an issue with your pricing and not the quality of album.



It may be a problem with pricing, but right now I only have the 'cheaper' albums as an unadvertised option in case the customer simply has no interest in an album. I am new and learning as I go (A LOT from viewing your incredible work, by the way), and am finding it difficult to get established in my market. My community is small and very few people interested in my work want to spend more than $1500-2000 for photography. One town over has a large photography market with many clients who aren't afraid to spend more, but it is dominated by some very talented artists that I simply can't compete with at this time. one day though....

I have beautiful red tree albums worked into my higher packages, but zero interest yet. Maybe once my photos become worthy of those albums, I will have more interest, bur for right now I feel I need to have cheaper options. I am very open to learning more though, and I would be happy to submit my package ideas (with albums) for feedback if it will help me improve

Edited on Jul 23, 2013 at 10:35 PM · View previous versions



Jul 23, 2013 at 10:32 PM
mbpautz762
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Tony Hoffer wrote:
Finao Playbook all day.


I just found out about them the other day and they seem very cost effective while still looking great! I believe I will be using them as the 'tier 1' option



Jul 23, 2013 at 10:33 PM
NathanHamler
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Inku Yo wrote:
When I first started out and wasn't charging very much to shoot a wedding, I still offered "high end" albums. It just ate into my profit more. I simply didn't want my name associated with "cheaper alternative" products.

So, I'm just curious what the mind set is when offering cheap stuff to your clients. Without getting into the specific details of cost/markup, the problem you suggested seems more of an issue with your pricing and not the quality of album.


Oh i know for a FACT if i started catering to "higher end" clients, i could sell those albums...but for this point in my life, with family and all, i'm catering to, and booking the kind of clients i need to...and staying as busy as i need to...

Like i said, for the quality/cost ratio, AP is prob the best around. I know people who will sell albums from Bay Photo, and only make like $100 on them, after design time, and shelling out to buy the book, etc...i mean, i wanna get paid for my time, and i'm not about to make less than what i do on albums...

Isn't the formula: how much you wanna make divided by how much you wanna work, equals how much you charge....??

I dont work THAT much, where i can afford to make a little less on albums.



Jul 23, 2013 at 10:37 PM
Helen Oster
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


newyorkone wrote:
Is there a promo code for this? I'm not seeing any mention of it on the site. Would love to try creating an album to see if this will work for my clients. Thanks!

Steven

P.S. I think it's odd that they don't have vendor pricing. Everyone, consumer or photographer pays the same thing. That part makes it slightly less a professional option for me. Curious what others think about this.


There is the AdoramaPix professional account: http://www.adoramapix.com/app/products/accountupgrade



Jul 24, 2013 at 04:51 AM
Inku Yo
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


NathanHamler wrote:
Oh i know for a FACT if i started catering to "higher end" clients, i could sell those albums...but for this point in my life, with family and all, i'm catering to, and booking the kind of clients i need to...and staying as busy as i need to...

Like i said, for the quality/cost ratio, AP is prob the best around. I know people who will sell albums from Bay Photo, and only make like $100 on them, after design time, and shelling out to buy the book, etc...i mean, i wanna get paid for my time, and i'm not about
...Show more

Hmm... I was trying to say that my first clients were NOT high end and I was selling high end albums at a lower price/profit margin because I didn't want lower quality stuff out there with my name on it.

Obviously what has worked for me to get to this point won't work for everyone.



Jul 24, 2013 at 05:57 AM
newyorkone
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


Helen Oster wrote:
There is the AdoramaPix professional account: http://www.adoramapix.com/app/products/accountupgrade


Thanks for this info. Might also want to make sure the people that answer the phone all know about that too since I was told by someone that there isn't a professional account/pricing option.



Jul 24, 2013 at 06:32 AM
Helen Oster
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Does anyone here use AdoramaPix for their wedding albums?


newyorkone wrote:
Thanks for this info. Might also want to make sure the people that answer the phone all know about that too since I was told by someone that there isn't a professional account/pricing option.


Thanks for letting me know that they appear not to know; I've just emailed the CS manager to request all staff are made aware. I also messaged the lab to see whether there a)might be plans to extend this in any way, eg as you suggested with special vendor pricing; b) to make a link to the Pro account more visible on the Pix home page

edit: message from Libby at AdoramaPix:

1. We do offer same printing for both the professional and consumer. We have done this since 1999. A lot of print companies cater to both professionals and consumers , only they have different divisions (example: Mpix is owned by Miller's) , we just combined it.

2.I have notified the Director of the Lab about the pro membership. It is currently a footer on the site, but yes we plan on making it easier to navigate to it.


Helen



Jul 24, 2013 at 06:38 AM
1      
2
       end




FM Forums | Wedding Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

1      
2
       end
    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.