Blurb Photobook - problem and solution

[skydog]

I just completed my sixth photo book with Blurb. First five came out great. For the sixth book I bought two and am quite disappointed. Pages are very dark and in one of the books the pages are not cut perpendicular but at a very slight angle. I've written blurb about my concern (5 days ago) and have gotten no feedback. I know Blurb uses multiple printers so consistency and quality of printing may vary.

Lets say the problem is me. I periodically check the calibration of my monitor. The book looks no different on my screen vs the other books I've printed in the past. Anything I'm missing that I should do prior to go to print?

[mistermonday]

Hi Skydog, I have never used Blurb but things that come to mind are:
- You might changed the color profile of the files you uploaded or tagged them (or not tagged them) differently than you did before.
- Selected different option settings on the Blurb upload application. Some services have check boxes to Not Auto Adjust Brightness or Color or Resie when adding borders etc.

On the Blurb side, they may have changed equipment or its calibration.Possible introduction of operator error. Clearly the non perpendicular cutting would indicate a lack of quality control in the process.
I hope you get it sorted out to your satisfaction.

Regards, Murray

[CJ Swartz]

Skydog, I'm concerned about your lack of communication from Blurb - have you followed up with a second email explaining the problem? I haven't used them yet, but was going to use them next after using Shutterfly and AdoramaPix (Shutterfly was ok but lacked text options that I wanted, and AdoramaPix had more options, but screwed up on the ordering/mailing side). I've read good things about Blurb, and hoped that it would be a long-term answer. Communication/customer support is extremely important, however, and I won't do business with a company that ignores my emails. I would expect Blurb to re-do your order unless they can see an obvious error on your part -- get after them again and report back - they should want to keep word-of-mouth positive.

[skydog]

CJ...I plan to rewrite them again tonight...I will let you know. Up until this situation I was quite pleased.

[HelenOster]

Originally Posted by CJ Swartz

........ AdoramaPix had more options, but screwed up on the ordering/mailing side.......

I was concerned to read your posting and firstly would like to apologize; it sounds from your feedback that we didn't serve you well, and I would welcome the opportunity to put this right.

If you could contact me directly with your order details: helen.oster@adoramacamera.com, I will give this my immediate attention.
Once again my apologies, and I do look forward to hearing from you.

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com

[CJ Swartz]

Thanks, Helen. No need - I got my order, with just a little glitch.

(Google alerts work very well, obviously.)

[HelenOster]

Originally Posted by CJ Swartz

Thanks, Helen. No need - I got my order, with just a little glitch....

Fair enough -but you now know how to reach me if you need advice or after-sales support with an order from Adorama in the future.

[skydog]

CJ let me know how your Adorama book came out. Looks like you got great response from Helen. Finally after the secnod note to blurb I got a response. Basically I have to take pics of my concerns and forward them to blurb for consideration. I will keep you posted. As mentioned my previous books were great, but I was disappointed in this one...mainly due to the darkness of the photos.

[CJ Swartz]

Skydog - delete some of your old PM's so I can PM you.
"skydog has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space."

Is the online version of your book the one you put together? There are images that LOOK dark, but not all of them. It's frustrating trying to do the books online because I don't know how the printed copy will look, and that is what counts, of course. They give general guidelines about images, but basically it's up to us to get it right. Now that I'm thinking about it, one of the online places offers design assistance, I think, for a price, of course. Don't remember which, or whether it was in a dream I had while waiting for my books. The images I received back from Shutterfly and Adoramapix looked pretty much like the ones I submitted to them, I thought, as far as exposure and color. The text was a problem because I wanted to tell a story and the images weren't enough by themselves. Trying to put the images on the pages in a pleasing order was frustrating also - I felt like I needed a paper copy in front of me to do it first and then submit a copy of whatever I figured out. They have so many template possibilities, but it's hard to do it remotely - at least for me. I'll have to look at the Blurb setup (I downloaded it, but haven't opened the software) to see if it's any different.

[mistermonday]

CJ, Blurb provides a custom ICC profile you can download. They also have a free 1 hr video explaining Color Management, calibration, and soft proofing using the Blurb profile.
I plan to give them a try.
Best Regards, Murray

[CJ Swartz]

Murray - thanks for that info - I'll watch the video.