Blurb introduced their layflat photo books late last year, and I've been keen to try them. When Blurb reached out to me recently to review another one of their products, I was keen to take them up on the offer.

We enjoyed a family holiday in the state of Victoria earlier this year, so I created a photo book using photos from that holiday. The book was created using Blurb's BookWrite software, which has improved somewhat since I previously wrote about it.

A couple of restrictions that I encountered with Blurb's layflat photo books:

• The only paper option is the "Standard Layflat" paper; you cannot select any other paper type.
  
  
• There's no option for a black logo page. As I wanted the pages in my book to have a black background, my only options were to have a white logo page at the end of the book (which would look weird), or pay an extra $10 to remove the logo page.

I ordered the layflat book using the economy shipping method (the cheapest), and it took one month for the book to arrive, with the ebook arriving on the exact day that Blurb indicated it would.
In comparison, a non-layflat photo book from Blurb, ordered at around the same time, took just 16 days to arrive.

front cover

front cover and spine

The book was securely packaged in a plastic bag, and then in a robust cardboard packing sleeve. After unpacking it, and looking through the book, my first impressions were:

• The cover has a soft "rubberish" feel to it. It's hard to describe, but it is nice to touch.
• The pages are much thicker than non-layflat Blurb photo books.
• The layflat book feels and looks much more "luxurious" and higher-end than regular (non-layflat) Blurb photo books.
• The surface of the pages is fairly matte - especially when doing a direct comparison to the premium lustre paper that I normally use for other Blurb (non-layflat) photo books.

the colours and quality of the prints on the pages are great

a photo spanning two pages in a spread (Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia)

One of the benefits of a layflat book is the ability to have content spanning both pages in an open spread. This means you are no longer limited to placing content on the individual left and right pages, but can have a large photo spanning both pages, or smaller photos that span across the middle of the pages.

The pages in a Blurb layflat book are a lot thicker than in a regular Blurb photo book. In the photo to the right, I am holding a regular Blurb photo book with 38 pages (and a logo page) on top of a Blurb layflat book with 32 pages (and no logo page), and you can see just how much thicker the layflat book is.

The thicker pages make each page much more rigid - but also mean that when the book is open, the pages are less likely to flip over by themselves. When turning pages, it often feels like you are flipping multiple pages due to the extra thickness, and at first I found myself constantly checking that it was just a single page I was turning.

It wasn't all great. There were some printing defects with the layflat book I received:

• The edges of the pages were not cut neatly. The black background on the pages of my book really made this stand out.
• The bottom of the first page was stuck to the front cover.

Refer to the images below if you want to see the issues with my first layflat photo book.

photos showing the manufacturing defects in the first layflat book I received

I emailed Blurb support, describing the issues, and included those photos in my email. I was surprised to receive a reply within 6 minutes - on a Saturday afternoon! The support person was very apologetic, and offered me a coupon code to reprint the book at no cost to me, with the cost of express shipping (with tracking) included in the coupon.
Once again, Blurb's support staff exceeded my expectations.

When ordering a replacement book online, I took note of the shipping options for my layflat book (32 pages with no logo page):

• priority shipping, trackable, AUD$52.79 - 17 days
• express shipping, trackable, AUD$35.19 - 19 days
• economy shipping, non-trackable, AUD$17.59 - 38 days

The replacement layflat book with express shipping was delivered just 11 days after it was ordered, 8 days earlier than expected. The issues identified in the first book had been resolved - all page cuts were much neater in the second book.

In conclusion, Blurb's layflat photo book definitely feels more "higher-end" and luxurious than their normal (non-layflat) photo books. I would suggest they are very suitable for wedding photo albums and other similar "formal" type photo books. For family holiday photo books, I don't think it's worth the extra cost for the layflat photo books, as they are about double the cost of a non-layflat photo book.

Using a black page background isn't ideal with the layflat books, as it highlights any irregularities with the page edges. In my case, I was unlucky that the first layflat book I received had some manufacturing issues with the neatness of the page cuts - and Blurb quickly offered to replace it for me at no cost. In regular use, I believe the edges of the pages will see some wear from handling and page turning, and this will be particularly obvious because of the black background on a thick white page. Using a white background on all pages will help avoid this from being as obvious.

It is also worth noting that you cannot order a layflat book with a black logo page. Your only options are to have a white logo page (not much of an issue if your pages have a white background), or pay an extra $10 to remove the logo page.

You cannot upgrade the paper to some of the higher-end options when ordering a layflat photo book. The only option is the "Standard Layflat" paper.


Check my Blurb discount coupons for a discount code to save some money when ordering a book through Blurb.

If you have been considering creating a photo book too, then don't keep putting it off, but get started! Based on my experiences, I can certainly recommend Blurb's service and products.