We seriously cannot contain our excitement about how awesome these photo books are! For the longest time if you've wanted to catch up on the last few years of your life (in terms of ALL of the photos!), we now have a way for you to do this.
Please note: this blog post is about only ONE TYPE of our photo books - our Year in Your Life books. Should you like to see our other photo book options, please head to this post.
Now we know, you've got questions! So here are a few answers :)
BASIC OVERVIEW
1. How does this work?
These photo books are designed to be a capture of a twelve month period in your life. You send us the pics, we'll curate and design the book, and you'll end up with a book to treasure!
2. Does the book have to fit into the period from January to December?
Not at all! If your baby was born in May, the book can run from May 2015 - April 2016.
IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS
1. Should the images we submit all be professional photographs?
Nope! We can absolutely print photos from your phone!
We've printed a huge variety of books over the past few years - some with professional images, some from cameras, some from phones.
We can highly recommend that you chat to us about our editing services - as a book that has all photos edited in a cohesive style makes such a lovely statement, such as the examples in the blog post.
2. Tell me about the image sizes please?
IDEALLY we would like your images to be between 1-2MB (or bigger)! This is optimum in terms of sizing.
HOWEVER, we have printed books with smaller images (usually we'll create a grid of 9-12-15 images on one page, if the pics are too small).
Most smart phones these days should be taking pictures of around 1-2MB, so we should be good to go.
3. How many pictures do you need?
If you are ordering a 60 page book we need a maximum of 240 images (20 per month).
If you are ordering a 100 page book we need a maximum of 360 images (30 per month).
The minimum amount you can send through is 150 images.
We will ask you to please include 5-10 extra images per month so that we have a little bit of room to breathe in terms of the design, and just in case any images are too low resolution we can substitute them with another.
Please do note that not all of the images that you send through will be included, if they are too low resolution or do not fit into the design.
4. Can I email you the photos?
Nope! We're talking about 240 to 360 pictures here! That's a LOT of emails, and most servers will try and compress the images, which means the photos will be pixelated and bad quality when printed. Please do not email us your photo book images.
5. How do we send you the images?
Please separate your photos into labelled folders with each month as the name of the folder. So ideally you should have twelve folders, each with the label, "January 2016", "February 2016" etc etc. Each folder should contain 20-25 images (if you're doing a 60 page book), or 30-35 images (if you're doing a 100 page book).
We do prefer if you would submit a few extra images per month, just to give us a bit of room to play around with the ideal layout. It also means that if an image is too low res to be printed I can easily replace it with another image.
Images must be submitted via Dropbox, Google Drive or Wetransfer.
6. How do we get the pictures off our smart phones?
The best idea is to google the exact directions for your type of phone!
But two quick methods:
1 Plug your phone into your computer and transfer the images to your computer. Then upload to one of the above file-sharing programs.
2. Download Google Photos/Dropbox directly onto your phone. Create a new folder within that app. Upload the photos directly from your camera roll into that folder.
Remember that Facebook and What's App compress images when you send them, so please do not include photos from these apps.
7. What should the pictures be of?
This is the fun part - you get to pick and choose the favourite images of your year! And they can be everything from the in-between moments - bath time & bedtime; to the celebrations - baby showers, birthdays; to the milestones - first steps, first days at school.
We're also throwing in five scannable documents as part of this promotion. This can include a hand-written note from a cherished grandparent, an artwork by your little one or a sonogram for example.
These are also not just for the little kids - other fun things to include can be a first year of marriage, a fun year of travel and adventures, a last year of high school, the first year of university etc etc! Life should be celebrated in all forms! :)
8. What if I don't have pictures from one month of the year?
Maybe you had a boring March, and barely took a single picture, that's cool. We can then put the 20/30 images from that month into another month - maybe the month of your little one's birthday, or the month when you went on an epic holiday to Mauritius.
DESIGN
1. How does it work in terms of pages and spreads?
A 60 page book is a 30 page spread.
A 100 page book is a 50 page spread.
2. How does the layout of the book work?
In order to keep our hourly costs as low as possible we have 2-3 design templates that we use for these photo books, depending on the size and type of photo book.
These templates have been designed with a modern feel, while also with a focus on simplicity and timelessness. Requested changes to the design templates will be billed (prices on request).
3. What will the cover image be?
The Year In Your Life books all have printed covers, and are hard cover, just like all the sample images in this post.
If you like, you may select the cover image yourself. Alternatively our design team will go through the images and select one that works the best in terms of design. We do have a good eye for these kind of things :)
4. What will the title for my book be?
We suggest using your child's name, or family name, and the year. We're happy to chat about this.
5. Can we add individual captions to each of the photographs?
Yes, absolutely, but please do note this is an extra charge! Please contact us for the costs involved..
PRICING & DELIVERY
1. How does the pricing work?
Please contact us for a price sheet. The pricing is divided up into the cost of the actual book and it's printing, and then the design fee. These books are exceedingly important to us, and our team spend HOURS carefully curating them and designing the final product. The design fee reflects the heart and soul we put into each and every order we receive.
In order to work out the final cost of your book, please add the book fee to the design fee.
2. How does payment work?
Payment is required in full upfront at the time of your order being placed. This fee is non-refundable.
3. Can we order multiple copies?
Yes! The design fee is only charged once. And then you can order as many copies as you like. We also keep a digital copy of the book, so should you want to order a few more copies at year end in time for gifts, just let us know and we can place your order.
4. What about the delivery fee?
This will be outlined separately on your invoice.
5. When can we expect our book(s) to arrive?
We aim to keep processing, printing and delivery times down to 2-3 weeks. Should you need a book more urgently please do let us know, we charge for rush orders.
Please note printing and delivery times will be longer around peak periods (December for example), and it is necessary to get your order in far in advance to avoid disappointment.
ADDITIONAL QUERIES
1. Can we use images from another photographer?
We have absolutely no issue with including pictures that another photographer may have taken of your family at some point along the line. It's always a good idea however to check with the photographer beforehand.
2. How will my book be different from the sample books in the videos and pictures in this blog post?
Please do note that the sample books we created for this post were either from images that we took ourselves during photo shoots or from the Kimmy & Bear team of mom bloggers, who have an amazing eye for design. They edited all their own images before submitting, which gives the sample books a cohesive, designer feel.
3. Will you edit my images please?
Absolutely! We love how much more cohesive a book looks if all the images have been edited in the same style.
Should you like basic edits done to your photos (contrast, exposure, crop) this will be charged. Should you like further edits done (skin clearing/softening, removing of objects, advanced photoshopping) this will also be charged.
Please contact us for costs.
4. Can we sit down and have a consultation meeting?
Yes we can! Consultation meetings are also charged. Prices on request.
5. Can we view the book?
We will send you a sneak peek of three double page spreads before we place the order, just to give you an idea.
6. Can we make changes?
Should you like to make changes at this point we can send you a PDF of the whole book and you can send us a list of changes. This process adds an additional two hours of labour time to the design, and is charged at R350/hour (minimum two hours).
I'm ready to order, what do I do now?
We need the following order details from you. .
STEP ONE
Number of copies:
20x20, A4 or A3:
60pg or 100pg:
Content (what would you like in your book):
STEP TWO
Design template (classic OR trendsetter):
Please send us an email to hello@robyndavie.com
Please note that by paying for your photo book you agree to the information outlined in this blog post and accept it as one would accept terms and conditions.
Would you like to see more photo book options? Head over to THIS OVERVIEW to get an idea of the different styles of photo books that we offer.