PhotoWorks Photo Book Review

Photoworks had a major site redesign in October of 2009. The major change was to the site design, and did not change the software that they provide for designing your photo books. Photoworks still focuses on the user who wants to make books that look like they took hours to design, but in fact all the design work is done. Their line of special themed books has increased with the site redesign and they now offer at least 70 different books that you can choose from. These books are really great for the person who does not want to agonize over which background to use on each page.

My favorite themed book is the recipe book. The cover and pages have a great design and you just need to add your pictures and recipes. I was sad to see that they no longer offered the genealogy option, although they still offer a 4 generation chart as one of their page layouts. Some of their books are based on a particular design while some are based on a particular event or book reason. Out of these newer books I love "Why You're Special" - it gives you a neatly designed book on the top ten reasons that you like or love the person.

The design experience is different at PhotoWorks. At most sites you decide which size book you want to make and then choose a theme and/or background. Here you have a book that is designed for a specific book-making purpose and you choose the purpose rather than the size.

If you are going to make a book with some pictures that need editing or touchups, you should upload them to the site and then edit the pictures before you upload them to the book you are designing. If you want to edit the photos you are taken to Picnik where you can use some moderately robust set of tools to fix your photo.

If you are having trouble with their photo book software Help is just a click away if you are having problems. They have "Live Chat" on their site where you can get an immediate reply to your questions. This is only good during the day and early evening, and never on Sunday.

This photo book printer was one of the first to offer a 12x12 photo book, and were quick to adopt the custom cover photo books. They still have a linen and a metallic cut-out cover. The newest feature is a 4.25x4.25 photo book that offers an optional leather clutch to carry it. These books are meant for easy sharing by making them easy to carry in a purse.

A Design Center is offered to give complete directions for anyone who is designing their own pages with software such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

One negative comment is that they have a rather large PhotoWorks logo displayed on the last page in the book. That was a little annoying to see in a wedding album I made for a friend although you might not notice it as much with a regular book.

Visit our Coupon Page for current deals and promotions at PhotoWorks.

Updated: October 23, 2009

PhotoWorks Photo Book Review

Comparative Photo Book Software Review

Background Themes	12 major theme categories. There are sub-themes under those categories and a generic book. Once a theme is chosen you cannot change the theme in the book as it will apply that theme to the whole book. This gives less flexibility.
Layout Variety	35 photo layout choices
JPG as a Background	No
Digi-Scrapbooking Friendly	Yes
In-book Editing	No
Text - variety and Full Page	9 different layouts. You also have the choice of choosing your own text fonts and sizes, or go with the designer choice.
Embellishments and Corners	A few corners.
Full-Page Bleed	Yes
Final Grade	B+

For an explanation of the Feature Set Review

Photo Book Sizes

The prices given are based on a 20 page book with printing on both sides of the pages. Additional pages are available for an extra charge. The price given is the lowest price for that size category.

Hardcover
4 x 4	16.95
8 x 8	39.95
11 x 8.5	29.95
12 x 12	69.95

For a more detailed pricing, please visit Photo Book Covers and Sizes

Learn about other photo book publishers