*Please note, I was provided this photobook free of charge from Saal Digital for use in this review*
In todays modern age, I work mostly in a digital world, displaying my photos online here and on my social media. However the idea of a printed photo book to capture some of my favourite images has always piqued my interest. Albeit not one I invested into due to worries over the quality of the end result, compared to the crispness of online displays.
When offered the chance to trial a new photobook from Saal Digital I jumped at the opportunity and I can happily say my concerns in this instance needed not exist.
Photobook Software
The first step was to download the free software which provides us a design platform to create our product. Of which I can say is genuinely intuitive and easy to use. In this instance I chose the “30 x 21 Photobook XT Professional Line” Photo Book, with an acrylic and leather finish.
After selecting our product, the software opens up to allow control over everything we need to customise our book, exactly as we’d like. From number of pages, paper and cover type along with the layout of each page. Inbuilt templates can be used to speed up the creation process or each page manually designed with images, text, backgrounds and much more.
As the below images show, I went for an alternating layout of 1 large photo and three smaller ones per double page. The ability to save custom templates was extremely helpful here, allowing me to create my layout only once and then repeat it easily onto each page in the book.
Although the number of control and options here are vast, I very quickly became accustomed to the interface and found editing the book a great experience overall.
After spending a couple of hours working, tailoring my book to my exact requirements, I was ready to complete my order which to my surprise was also streamlined within this software. This sort of directed approach to creation > ordering was greatly appreciated.
Following completion I received a trackable order confirmation, where I could check at what stage my order was at in the process. At the time of writing this review, many production companies are being affected by the pandemic, however I can safely say the delivery turnaround of the book was still great, arriving around 1 week later.
The Photobook
The book arrived very well packaged; which was one of my initial concerns as I had chose an acrylic cover which I didn’t want to arrive scratched or damaged, of which it arrived with no marks at all. When spending a fair price on a premium product like this, it’s a great assurance to know this much care is provided.
If I had to summarise my opinion of the photo book, I’d have to say: beautiful.
The detail of the prints we’re great, with bright and sharp colors and akin to my digital images which was my key measure. The acrylic cover really accentuated one of my favourite photos of the Ladybird Reflection, greatly adding to the color in the image and adding a great finish to the front cover.
As you can see in the images above, the cover is quite thick but this only adds to the quality in my opinion, along with the sturdy quality of the page material used. One other great feature I can’t skip over, is the ability for these books to lay flat when opened up. This allows the images to be displayed perfectly straight without my interaction, which is great for when letting people look through the book.
Summary
As this review has hopefully shown, I’m very happy with the end result and will happily use them again in the future should I want another photo book designing.
With an easy to use software package, quick delivery turnaround and high quality end product, this makes Saal Digital an easy recommendation for enthusiasts and professionals alike. You can find more information on there website: https://www.saal-digital.co.uk/ and please let me know should you try there product yourself.
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