Making Memories - On a Dime

Ever wonder what you can do with all of your photograph and document files on a budget, and yet make them into a permanent print file that wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg?

Well, here is one solution that I have used.

 

I worked with Lulu.com on many different projects. They are a POD (print on demand) company, that offers both high end and economical prints. I did the above book, which is a compilation of photographs for our family (made a super nice gift for the reunion, and for holidays).  

This book is 650 pages full of photographs of our family. Yeah, jam packed full!

 It is a soft cover book.

Now, to have done this book in color print would have cost over $200 a book! (Unless it was purchased in a large quantity, and would still have been over $100 each!)

However, by using a soft-cover, going with standard paper pages, and using black and white print (rather than color photos), I was able to cut the cost down to only $16.40 a book at my cost. 

See what I mean? High end style on a dime!

Family have been stunned to own a copy of this book! Photos many would never have otherwise seen, or known, are known made available to anyone who wants them.

Because the book contains photographs of both the dead and the living, I have made it accessible or by direct URL, so it isn't available to the public at large. And I was careful to ask permission to include all of the photographs that were used of the living. So, should you choose to do this, make sure you get permission first, to use photographs of living subjects!

I have used Lulu.com for printing of clients histories as well. (I've got over 300 private access family history's on Lulu.com right now.) Some have been retired, which means there have been more! But I find that depending upon the price the client is willing to pay, I can print cheaply, or I can spend a little more, and provide them with a quality printing that they are sure to enjoy for many years to come.

You can also use Lulu.com for smaller printing jobs. I have used them to print out pamphlets, or small booklets when speaking at the historical society. I've printed agenda's with just a few pages, and short history's on a location, in spiral bound (coil) books. You can even publish eBooks. And you can publish directly to online bookstores like Amazon.com from the printer as well.

So, go ahead and give them the chance to prove to you just how economical they be! And what a great job that they will do for you!

Lulu.com