Summer has passed, leaving you with gigabytes of photos stored on your computer. To keep those memories intact, there is one solution: Design and print your own photo book.
In the West, standard paperback photo albums went into oblivion a decade ago.
A couple of online photo services helped to replace rectangular prints with picture books, where pages come already embedded with photos, instead of sleeves to fill in. FineBook, CyfroBook and SuperPhoto are three common websites in Ukraine that should help you write your own photo novel.
Apple’s application for organizing, editing and printing photos, iPhoto, is not yet accessible in Ukraine, so stick to our instructions to get the most out of the local web pool.
Photo albums have gone digital and online, with a host of new services to preserve memories in an Internet age (www.finebook.com.ua).
FineBook
The FineBook service seems the easiest of them all and offers a special anti-dust hardcover in good quality. The service is user friendly but it’s only available in Russian. Follow these three steps to create your own photo book.
At www.finebook.com.ua, download and install the free FineBook program. Secondly, design a photo book using this program. You will have to make a selection from ethnic, photo album, portfolio, pictures, wedding, travel and graduation types. For sizes, choose between 20×15, 25×20 or 28×28 centimeters.
Then, select the photographs you want to print by dragging and dropping them into your photo book. Add descriptions to the photos if you like. The standard size is 20 pages, but you may beef your book up to 60 for an additional cost.
Thirdly, order the photo book with a single click and wait for a FineBook representative to call you. If you live in Kyiv, your memory album will be delivered in about five days. You can pay the company representative on the spot.
Hardcover, 20 pages:
20x15cm, landscape – Hr 175
25x20cm, landscape – Hr 250
28x28cm, square – Hr 300
FineBook has a pretty good discount system if you order more than five books.
www.finebook.com.ua
CyfroBook
CyfroBook is the cheapest hardcover on the market. It costs from Hr 99 to Hr 212 for basic 24 pages. You can go up to 96, though. A key disadvantage to their service is long-winded instructions in Russian that may get you confused. A special editing feature, Cyfrolab Professional, will put a smile on your face if you are an advanced user.
Hardcover, 24 pages:
20×15, portrait and landscape – Hr 99
20×20 – Hr 115
20×30, portrait – Hr 121
30×20, landscape – Hr 133
30×30, square – Hr 212
SuperPhoto
SuperPhoto offers the most expensive image program of them all. Apart from hardcover, you can choose between paperback and leather covers. The album’s pages are not stitched together: they are arranged like a glossy magazine.
SuperPhoto is Windows and Apple Mac OS compatible and can fit as many as 120 pages in your book. To download the program, you need to install Rar Archiver first.
Hardcover and leather-style, 24 pages
21×15 – Hr 195
21×21 – Hr 275
21×30, portrait and landscape – Hr 295
30×30 – Hr 515
Paperback, 24 pages
21×15 – Hr 105
21×21 – Hr 135
21×30 – Hr 195
PhotoBook
PhotoBook service is available in English. Windows and Mac OS are both compatible with the program, but you’ll have to register to start copying and pasting. The cover, however, will be old school again: PhotoBook comes with a front page sleeve where you can paste a photo of your choice. Otherwise, go with a standard, no-image cover.
Maximum number of pages is 40, and the book can be as large as 42×30, or A3 size.
Spiral and paperback books are also available as well as calendars, postcards and posters with your photos.
Hardcover, 20 pages:
21×15, portrait – Hr 130
30×21, landscape and portrait – Hr 230
42×30, landscape – Hr 260
Spiral, 20 pages
21×15 portrait – Hr 100
21×30 landscape and portrait – Hr 150
42×30 landscape – Hr 240
Paperback, 20 pages
15×21, portrait – Hr 130
21×30 portrait – Hr 150
Albomchik
The service of albomchik.com.ua is limited to Russian at first glance but you can switch its software to English when downloading. The program is available both for Microsoft and Apple Mac OS.
Hardcover, 40 pages:
21×15 – Hr 220
21×21 – Hr 320
30×21, landscape – Hr 340
21×30, portrait – Hr 350
30×30 – Hr 590
Leather-style cover, 20 pages:
21×15 – Hr 195
21×21 – Hr 280
21×30, portrait – Hr 300
30×21, landscape – Hr 320
30×30 – Hr 450
Paperback, 8 pages
21×15, landscape – Hr 59
21×21 – Hr 89
21×30, portrait – Hr 99
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna may be reached at [email protected]
