The 21st century dark room
20 July 2007

"this leaves you having to scale and move images to chop off part of the picture. Not ideal when you've taken the trouble to shoot the original with decent composition in mind."

After each holiday we've spent together, my wife Melanie and I have always taken the time and trouble to put together a photo album of the trip. It's something that's easily forgotten about - how many of us just throw pictures in a box or (thesedays) leave them languishing somewhere on our hard drive? Looking back over 17 years of such holidays we've built up a nice collection of pictures and some very nice memories to go with them.

Thesedays, of course, the albums are more high tech than the old days. After trips in the early 1990's we'd trundle off down to our local photographic shop and get the 35mm pictures back after a few days. We'd buy an album (usually for 7x5 size pics) and I'd create some nice labels to slot in to create sections for each day or place we'd been to during that holiday.

By the end of that decade this had changed when I'd "gone digital". I was able to print out pictures, take a memory card to the shop or upload files to an on-line service provider to print. The end result was the same although I now produced the headings on the computer and these now made the album look a bit more professional.

Roll on to more recent history now. Last October, after a visit to Bruges, Belgium, I decided to use a new on-line offering for creating a photobook. A whole album perfect bound including my pictures. I was delighted with how this came out as was everyone I showed the book to. Of course, being a Mac owner I should've realised that this service has been available to owners of Apple's iPhoto application for several years.

After our holiday this year, I decided to give the iPhoto version of the photobook a go. First off, it's great to get stuck in to the creative process without first having to upload any pictures. They already all exist in iPhoto and at the click of a mouse I was able to generate my book and change quickly between the various impressive looking templates on offer.

Only when I'd finished creating the book did I need to upload it. But I'd finished working then so was happy to leave it while I went off and drunk beer. :-)

The cost of a basic 20-page book is the same as the on-line service I used for my Bruges pictures last year. However adding extra pages was very slightly more expensive. The quality of the templates on offer, however, is excellent and the software is easy and enjoyable to use. I was even able to flip in and out of Photoshop making picture amendments while I was in the process of working on my album - something you can't do with an on-line service.

The book arrived in a week and was, as you expect from Apple, beautifully presented. It comes in a cardboard folder emblazoned with the Apple logo. The quality of reproduction was second to none and certainly as good, if not better, than the book for Bruges.

My only complaint (and this applies equally to the competitor on-line service) is that the templates on offer are all geared towards 35mm aspect photographs. Digital camera produce a slightly wider aspect (closer to 6.5 x 4 rather than 6 x 4, for example) and this leaves you having to scale and move images to chop off part of the picture. Not ideal when you've taken the trouble to shoot the original with decent composition in mind.

I can see myself using the iPhoto service again in the future, but I'll keep an eye on the on-line services deciding which suits me best for each project. The benefits of working on your local machine and therefore the ability to correct and enhance every aspect of your pictures and album before you upload anything is a very real advantage to the process.