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Petra Vogt
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Create Your Own Photo Book: Design a Stunning Portfolio, Make a Bookstore-Quality Book Paperback – June 4, 2012

by Petra Vogt (Author)
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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These days, photographs live on hard drives and DVDs in the company of several thousand other images, coming to light on a computer screen only for a short moment, if ever.

In that respect our computer is a one-image-at-a-time exhibition of our photographic work. But as photographers, we like to print our best images, frame and show them at home or at an exhibition, or present a collection of prints in a portfolio.

This book will guide you through the process of creating a printed and bound portfolio of your photographs, or even a bookstore-quality coffee table book. Learn about every step of the process, from selecting a book publishing service all the way through designing and proofing your photo book. You'll get practical advice on how to work with software provided by services such as Blurb or Viovio, and will learn about relevant concepts of book design, color management, and digital printing.

Create your Own Photo Book is the perfect guide for the aspiring amateur photographer as well as the seasoned pro.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    232 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Rocky Nook
  4. Publication date
    June 4, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    8 x 0.72 x 10 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781933952925
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1933952925
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Petra Vogt has a background in art history, philosophy, and German language and literature, which she studied in Bonn, Germany. She has worked as a journalist for many years and has published 4 books. Today she is an instructor of digital photography with expertise in photo books. Among her current clients are photobook vendors like myphotobook. Learn more about her on www.fotolotsin.de.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 193395292X
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rocky Nook; 1st edition (June 4, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781933952925
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1933952925
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.82 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.72 x 10 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

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Petra Vogt

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Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

AWOP-Images
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative Book
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
Guess I was looking for a bit more in the actual design help area. Learned a few tick though
One person found this helpful
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gmw12
5.0 out of 5 stars What to do with all those photographs?
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
Out of the crap produced by the zillions of telephone lenses and digital cameras, a few photographs deserve some attention. A better idea than the shoe box or the traditional album is the photo book. An ever better idea is this book which provides enough guidance to make a well-designed book without being a specialist for graphic design and using one of the 5 or 6 printing houses operating in the US.
This book was originally published in Europe where there are much more print providers and where this market is currently exploding. It may help developing the market of photo books here beyond the 24-page booklet of the last newborn or prom.
Buy this book only if you are ready to invest significant time in your production: Besides layouting, you may also need to edit each single picture.
BTW, this publisher (Rocky Nook) has several titles targeted at the serious photographer. Among others, I frequently refer to the book on fine arts printing, and the one on scanning photos and films. The HDR title is the most comprehensive I seen on this subject.
For the seriously engaged amateur photographer.
2 people found this helpful
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Conrad J. Obregon
3.0 out of 5 stars An Introduction
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2012
One of the boons of the digital era for photographers has been the ability to create books of their photographs that can rival the finest professional quality. Like so much of computerdum the rule of "garbage in, garbage out" applies to photo books. Even though many of the available pieces of software will lead a photographer by the hand to create a book, to create a book that rivals professional publications requires a great deal of skill.

Petra Vogt offers her take on creating a digital photo book. After a general introduction, she advises how to select a provider. She follows up with advice on photographing for a photo book and then selecting images for the book. She discusses the book formats that are available, with a quick walk through an automated process, followed by a chapter on how to customize layouts and adjust images. She mentions decorative borders, backgrounds, and text. There is a chapter devoted to quality control, and advice on the logistics of ordering a book and even selling a book. The final chapter takes a look at five book projects.

Vogt's task was made difficult by the fact that there are many competing providers, and each offers its own proprietary software to aid in the preparation of a book. There are also standalone programs like Adobe InDesign that professional book designers use. Although Vogt tries to describe the capabilities of each, there is just too much ground to cover to provide any in-depth instructions. For example, my favorite publisher Blurb offers the ability to create custom page templates for books. All Vogt can do is suggest that Blurb templates can be customized and saved.

Lightroom 4 is one of the commonest pieces of photo imaging software, and it includes a module for book publication. It's true that this facility has only been available since March, and that lead time is required for book preparation (even in the age of on-demand printing). Still I would have expected more than the simple reference in a list of service provider options. Luckily, the authors of books dedicated solely to Lightroom 4 have provided far better instructions than Vogt.

One of the biggest complaints of users of the on-line services is that the color of many printed books doesn't resemble the image that they saw on their screen. Usually this is the fault of the user's poor color management, including monitor calibration and soft-proofing. The author doesn't even mention this problem until a late chapter of the book, with no in-detail discussion. This is a point that needs reemphasizing throughout the book.

I have found that the best way to get good images is to process your images in dedicated software, and then download them to the provider's software for layout so that no further image adjustments are needed. This requires knowing, for example, the size in pixels of the space provided for an image and then adjusting the image to fit that size in the dedicated software. There is no mention of this kind of image preparation in the book.

The order of presentation of images in a book and the format selected for the images (and accompanying text) can have a synergistic effect. There is only mention of a few general rules and no illustrations.

I suspect that readers interested in creating a beautiful, quality book may do better visiting their provider's web site and reading the material there than spending their time with this book. At most this book can only serve as an introduction to what a photographer will have to learn to create a beautiful book.
10 people found this helpful
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Use Her Name
1.0 out of 5 stars Outdated. No design help.
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2019
Verified Purchase
I was looking for more tips on design, layout. I expected to see sample layouts for wedding books, ideas for baby albums etc. Instead it read more like a review of different online publishers, from 2012!!
The information and software recommended are outdated.
If the focus would of been on design, I wouldn’t care if it was from 2012, but instead the focus was on how to use software, something you would anyways figure out on your own.
The book shouldn’t be sold anymore than a manual on how to use a fax machine.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars a good book with a sound detailed approach
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2013
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a good book with a sound detailed approach , a difference with others that only make a general view and them whem you have to do it you don't know what to do - with this book you can do
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J. N. Ross
2.0 out of 5 stars Book needs to be updated!
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2019
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Book outdated...needs to be revised with current software.
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Dov Ben Amram
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Choice book on on-line Publishing
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2015
Verified Purchase
I looked at may "how to publish" books. This one is the best!
Many books elaborate academically on the subject. Some may try to promote a specific publishing house.
This book is a "hands on" guide regarding all the aspects of on-line publishing, including information on several main on-line publishing companies in the US. The book itself is an example on how to come out with a great published book.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book is not to bad. The contents is basically American all the prices quoted is in dollars and publishers are American as well but get through that and it's not a bad book.
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Roger Pratt
3.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Introduction to Making a Better Photobook
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2013
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This book is a comprehensive Introduction to making a personalised photobook. For the most part it is well written and logical. There is one major flaw, and that is that at some stage the book has been edited such that photos have become out of sequence with the text. EG, tyhe text will quote see photo 12 when it should be photo 10 etc. Just annoyingly sloppy and a sign of rushing to press. A second fault is that many of the illustrations are too small to read where text is involved.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Useful but rather short on artistic hints and ideas
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2013
Verified Purchase
Good on the technical side of things, but due to the large number of suppliers it cannot cover them all. Having done several books already I was hoping for some advice and guidance on how to get the real professional look. I was a bit disappointed on that side of things.
One person found this helpful
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