Do you take tons of photos of your dog? Of course you do. How can pass up the opportunity to capture your dog’s adorableness, sunny days at the dog park, and those times when she’s curled up sleeping peacefully? Here’s what to do with them.
Just where are all of those photos of your dog? Maybe you have printed copies of some and hopefully, have a few framed ones in your home, but if nearly all in your phone, camera or on your computer, here’s the best thing you can do with them: Create a photo book!
Whether it’s a book you create for yourself so it’s easy to show off your dog’s good looks, a book to honor a beloved dog that has passed, or one you design for a dog lover in your life, it’s something lasting that you or your recipient will treasure.
I created a hardcover book chronicling as I call it ‘the early years’ of my dog Larry – from puppyhood to the handsome dog of nearly he is today. It’s a gift for my husband who is crazy about Larry and I know he’ll love it (and shhhhh, it’s really for me too!). I created the book at Blurb.com in a matter of hours, where anyone can make beautiful bookstore-quality books of all types and regardless of their level of computer and design skills.
Full disclosure – I used to work for Blurb! Still, this is not an advertisement because I’ve seen hundreds of incredible books of all types and on all topics created and printed with Blurb, and I’d definitely recommend it whether I worked there or not.
Briefly, here’s how it works using Blurb’s online bookmaking tool and some tips for getting started:
- Go to blurb.com and create a free account.
- Choose your bookmaking tool. I used the online tool that lets you import photos from your computer, Instagram or Facebook. You can also use their downloadable tool or choose the PDF to book option if you’re a design pro.
- Choose your book size – from a smaller 7”x7” book (starting at $14.99) and up to 12”x12” in various square, portrait and landscape options.
- Upload your photos from your computer, or from Instagram, Facebook or other sites. I found it useful to create a folder of all of the photos I wanted to include before beginning my book, and I then selected all the photos at once to upload. Of course, I went back and added more – so many times that my book became an 80-pager with over 100 photos!
- Next up, choose to ‘drag and drop’ your photos to place them in your book or get a head start by letting Blurb drop them into the book pages. I chose the latter, and then easily rearranged the photos. All of the photos you upload appear below your book pages and are checked off as you add them.
- From this point, you can arrange your photos and the placement, add text, change the layout and background colors and much more. You can even move entire pages and spreads as you choose – it’s all very user-friendly. Keep in mind, you can also keep it super simple and place one photo per page and be done!
- You’ll also get to choose from hardcover and softcover options, and add front and back cover photos and a book title to the cover and book spine.
And that’s how easy it is! The best part is once you finish, you can ‘flip’ through the pages of your book online, as well as share it via email, on Facebook and Twitter, or on your website or blog (as I’ve done below) with Blurb’s BookShow widget. You can even sell your book on Blurb and invite others to buy it at cost, or at a set price over the cost to earn money on your book sales (or choose to donate proceeds directly to a charity you choose).
Last but not least, you can buy your book online, and receive a printed copy in about 10 days. You and your dog will love it.
(Click the arrow on the right to flip through the pages of the book!)
The Scoop:
Learn more about making your own book at Blurb.com.
Post any questions you may have about Blurb and bookmaking in the Comments section.
