Prints! (Shutterfly questions)

[Kwenami]

I was recently gifted a card for Shutterfly, and was thinking of making a little photo book with it. I've never done prints before, and if I'm being honest I'm fairly new to DSLR photography to start with. I am excited to see how this turns out, though, and maybe it will inspire me if I ever go on vacation or photograph an event or the like. The software seems really easy to use from what I've played with so far-I created a mug that would be nice, but I'm not settled on it yet.

Some ideas I've had but am not settled on:
-Book of pet photos (I have old photos, resolution may not be the best/I've learnt a lot since then....I do have new ones, but wouldn't want to exclude any)
-Book of me growing up/family (my parents are split so photos are everywhere, but I may have a 'book' or two of old photos that I would need to scan and edit)
-Book of new photography? Show some of the things I've done in the past, and how I've gotten better. It would be totally random subjects, so I think chronologically would have to be the way to go. A mix of objects, textures, people, pets, landscapes.
-Something for a coffee table. Maybe jokes, humorous photos? Or something motivational, with quotes from people I find inspirational? I am liking this last idea...

...or I could do something else, if you want to offer any suggestions.

I have under a month to put something together, but if I focus on it evenings after work and weekends I think it could be a project I could complete from scratch, start to finish, if I weren't super picky about location. The book size minimum is 20 pages, and I don't think I would want to go over that without a specific reason. My biggest issue with using old photos is resolution-a book of blurry photos would be odd. I do have a decent scanner but it is slow. It will be for personal use/to get a feel for shutterfly in general, so if it turns out less than perfectly I won't be at a loss but I would love to take this opportunity and run with it. I'm just not sure in which direction yet...any suggestions or comments on how to go about this are welcome!!

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For editing, how much do I over sharpen for print, or is that not as necessary for this type of project? Are there any other editing things I should do differently, other than saving in the highest resolution (though since it's a book, they will be compressed...)? What about file format, colour, etc? I want to stay consistent from start to finish

Thank you for reading this ridiculously long post, and for all your suggestions and advice in advance!!

 

[ThroughTheIris]

Maybe use it for a portfolio of your best work?

 

[dennybeall]

Sounds like a list of projects that all should be done so list them and assign a ranking to each.
Do you have an upcoming event, like a reunion or family visit, that would move one thing to the first slot?
To me, scanning all the photos I had, and all I could get other family to loan me, and making DVD copies of the set for all the kids to have was first in line. Then my HS Reunion came up so doing a Memorial Video became most important for a time.
Guess what I'm saying is that only you can know what to do first.....

 

[Kwenami]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I have enough work that I really love yet to use it as a portfolio-but that is a wonderful idea. I sort of think combining this with my 'motivational quotes' idea would be awesome, but maybe that's in the future.

I don't have any upcoming events, other than potentially getting a job and entering the workforce. I'm not sure that is worthy of a whole book! Lol. But it has definitely been a challenge to get a book of my baby photos and the like together, so maybe I will go that route.

 

[SquarePeg]

A few years ago I made photo books for each of my brothers of pictures from when we were younger and the few family photos we have of the previous generations. They were a big hit and it got me moving on getting all my mom's photos organized and scanned. I ordered them through Shutterfly and they came out great. If you have a gift card and can wait a bit, they usually have a buy 2 get 1 free photo book offer a few months before the holidays.

 

[Kwenami]

A few years ago I made photo books for each of my brothers of pictures from when we were younger and the few family photos we have of the previous generations. They were a big hit and it got me moving on getting all my mom's photos organized and scanned. I ordered them through Shutterfly and they came out great. If you have a gift card and can wait a bit, they usually have a buy 2 get 1 free photo book offer a few months before the holidays.

They actually have a half off sale RIGHT now, so if I get my act together I can try making something simple to try it out. I think it's the same company my uncle used to make a family album, too. I'm working on finding the images now! Super exciting.