What is you mark up for your albums? Anyone charge 2x cost, 1.5x, etc?

We charge 2.5x

Janey had a rocking print order for 4 grand a couple of weeks ago! She's brilliant!

2x. I always do 2x so I can remember everything. lol! I double EVERYTHING!
~Alisha

Hello Alisha,

I know who DJ uses for his albums. Question for you... Do you offer albums in your wedding packages and when you double the price, are these any matted albums that you put together?

So far all of my brides like the matted albums, so the work involved in putting one together is not a lot but time is involved and I was just wondering if double the cost is sufficient.

Thanks,
Jerome

Don't offer albums that you have to put together! Let Zookbinders (or someone) do it for you. They look much better and more finished. With a couple programs out there with the mats installed, putting them together is a piece of cake. Just drag-n-drop, say OK, and off the order goes to your lab. You still have to put the photos in order and number the backs before you send them to Zook but it's way easy.

Also, keep in mind that when DJ charges 2.5x the cost, he's using a full-service design-and-build album mfr. He's not wasting time on the design, like we are. ;-) So his albums are probably costing 3 or 4 times what ours are.

But really, don't waste your time assembling albums. Use up the mats you have and go with another brand.

[quote=asquier,September 2 2005, 11:25 AM]
Don't offer albums that you have to put together! Let Zookbinders (or someone) do it for you. They look much better and more finished. With a couple programs out there with the mats installed, putting them together is a piece of cake. Just drag-n-drop, say OK, and off the order goes to your lab. You still have to put the photos in order and number the backs before you send them to Zook but it's way easy.


But really, don't waste your time assembling albums. Use up the mats you have and go with another brand.

Adam, how is it going...

I know the new thing is digital albums, I looked online I didn't see a mat version. Is that the only album you offer? Also, do you include an album in packages?

Thanks, Jerome

That depends on what you call a "digital album." If you mean that is uses digital images for the prints (not film) then, yes, that's all we offer. What I think you probably mean is a flush album (or storybook album or collage album, etc.).

We use a program called LabPrints that lets us design matted albums as well as flush albums. You tell the program what album mfr you're using and it shows you all the mats you can use. Then you drag-n-drop (watch out for the dragon droppings!) your files from a virtual light table into the mats. You can crop, rotate (within the mat) or whatever you want.

When designing flush albums, the program sends the layered file and the lab can color/density correct each image individually -- not just the flattened file. This is really, really cool for those of us who sometimes make mistakes in exposure.

Of course the lab must be capable of accepting the files. But check out the LabPrints Web site to see how many labs do support it. A lot!

It's not a cheap program but we can do all of our ordering through it. Not just albums, but all our print orders, too.

[quote=asquier,September 2 2005, 02:06 PM]
That depends on what you call a "digital album." If you mean that is uses digital images for the prints (not film) then, yes, that's all we offer. What I think you probably mean is a flush album (or storybook album or collage album, etc.).

We use a program called LabPrints that lets us design matted albums as well as flush albums. You tell the program what album mfr you're using and it shows you all the mats you can use. Then you drag-n-drop (watch out for the dragon droppings!) your files from a virtual light table into the mats. You can crop, rotate (within the mat) or whatever you want.

Adam, thanks fpr the info yes I do mean the flush mount albums. I looked online at the company sound pretty good. Although my lab is not a participant, what lab do you use?

Jerome

I'll answer for Adam -- We use Millers Labs. They are a great lab. Really good customer service, good product, all items shipped overnight at no additional charge (as long as you meet minimum order requirements), fast turnaround.

Speaking of albums...how much is reasonable to expect to pay for album design...we've been paying just over $200 but I'm talking with a designer who will be a bit more pricey but I think it'll be well worth it given all the albums will be custom done to my specs and done immediately after the wedding so I can sell the couple on a bigger album. I told her I could probably get her some more work, if any of you are interested, and maybe even get her going full time...but I'd need to team up with a bunch of you to make it worth her while.

Just something to think about.

Can you give us more info??? I am currently our designer,and will have to be for another moment or two... but would love to know more about what kind of money we would be talking about (is this someone that we all know and love???)

This is somebody that I know and love but she's married and I shot her wedding! ... She went to brooks and has a great eye for classy and simple designs which is exactly what I'm looking for. The week after PartnerCon we're gonna sit down together and see if we can bust out a couple samples for us and of course I'll show all of you!

Just curious what album companies everybody uses?

...and how many of you are doing Flush books vs. Matted books or what %

ok...sorry to run but I gotta get some stuff ready for tomorrow!

xoxo,
DJ

Classy and SIMPLE... that's the key. Most albums these days are way too busy for my tastes...

We are currently including flushmunts from Zookbinders as standard with our packages... and matted from QB as an upgrade... lots of interest on the upgrade so far

Very interested in seeing what she can do!

I use Zookbinders and Asuka and am considering Queensberry. I do offer albums in my packages. I have found when I do not do this brides think i'm cheap. If they jsut want time then they pay a-la carte. I do offer zookbinders matted albums but I mark them up so high cause I hate them. I have found however, and Zookbinders did a study on this, that 50% of brides still want the option of a matt album.
~Alisha

We use Zookbinder's matted and flush (the Zookbook version of the flush). I just went and checked the percentages for each. A year ago we did about half of each. This year it looks like only about 20% or less of our albums are matted, the rest are flush. We are the opposite of Alisha, we sell the flush as an upgrade. It takes me about an hour to design a matted album, including cropping all the photos. Then I just click a couple of buttons to submit the order. It takes us much, much longer to design a flush album. We are also planning to offer the Asuka books. I just started designing our sample for the Asuka last night.

DJ - I would love to know more about your friend's album design services.

Lynn

I only carry the Seldex line from Art Leather. Clients just love them and want the mat albums. They have these great gatefold openings, flip pages, etc. Once in a while they ask about the flush pages, but for the most part they like the classic feel of the mats. But the process is taking to long on our end since we do it all in house.

I use Photojunction's software to drag/drop the album design, I send them a slide show set to music to view on the web, they approve it, we order the prints and then my assistant puts it all together. Ugh. It's to much work! And it freaks me out to have these expensive albums out when we're working on them (even though they are in my office) and think that all I need is Pascaline to walk in here and spill her water. Don't like the in house thing, but I like it better than the other places I've looked into.


So...I'd be really intersted in what you and your friend come up with. But it needs to have a classy feel and not trendy if that makes sense.