Aperture and the new iPhoto 08 books???

Recently - in the last couple weeks, in fact - I spoke with Apple employee at one of Apple Stores re the printing of books via iPhoto/Aperture .... when I mentioned that I had read that Apple books were printed via Kodak, he confirmed that indeed they are -and he seemed to be on the ball. Not sure though re my other comment that 'all' books regardless who provides the service go to Kodak for printing ... but, I recall once getting this info off a reliable Internet source ... unfortunately, I don't recall who/where ... it would not surprise me if Fuji or Agfa ... just to name a couple of other well-known names ... if they too were also providing this service ... I would think there is a need for competition for this type of service .... if not now, should it catch on big, there certainly will be other players ....
so, really, I too would like to know if to date Kodak is the primary player in the digital book printing business so far?
ApB

Barry Fisher wrote:

In fact, I recall that somewhere I have read that all such books, regardless who >offers this service, are printed via Kodak ...

So you think Asuka and the other direct digital to book outfits are all sent to Kodak? That's pretty interesting. I didn't get that sense from Asuka. Do you recall where you read that? I'm a little skeptical because some of the companies like Asuka (the only one I can remember) have very specific layouts and people talk about quality differences in printing and in the covers, etc. Still, very interesting.

Hi!

NO!!!! Asuka do NOT get their books printed by Kodak. I work with them all the time (I'm a book designer and they are one of my main suppliers) and they have their own factory, where they do their printing and their binding.

And the quality of their books and printing is WAY above the books you get from Mac - reason why I don't use Apple's printing services 🙂

I would like to try the new products though, but as long as Aperture doesn't offer them... I can't.

Hope this helps 🙂

DEEMC,

Thank you for your reply and useful info .... I checked Asuka's web site and certainly it appears that the service they provide is quality stuff ... unfortunately for me, I am not a 'professional' photographer with a customer base, etc ... I, however, am a long-time photog buff who has from time to time dabbled with business matters - nothing too serious. Mostly I am a serious amateur ... I have done books via iPhoto, with very nice results .... but, looking for more professional products ... i.e. books that will survive man-handling ... or, kid-hands, etc ... binding that will hold ... and choices of designs and illustrations, etc - and of course without astronomical costs to (wishing and hoping?)... Asuka's line of products is appealing .... BUT ... one must register first to have access to these products ... the registration form clearly states one must sign off stating one is a professional photographer if one is to be eligible for their services .... However, my next question to you is do you know if there may be 'mitigating loopholes' to this eligibility standard? That is, would they consider a 'serious amateur' to be a 'serious contender'? Since you have had prior prof contact with them, could you please provide me with a name/email address to whom I could ask such a question.
ApB

Small note: Yes, in fact, Aperture does not support the new iPhoto book templates or ordering features.

I even went so far as to open the iPhoto Package contents, locate the template resource files, and attempt to install them in Aperture. No go. Aperture won't even read the files.

And, yeah, it kind of ticks me off that a $100 everybody-can-use-it program has features my pro version does not. But then again, from a consumer standpoint, I can see why Apple continually screws professionals.

Time to submit yet another request.

I haven't delved into the details of this, but since iPhoto will 'see' Aperture libraries, couldn't one just build a book using Aperture photos but composed in iPhoto?

Of course, if you've got a book in progress (like I have) in Aperture, then this won't help much. But for a new book it might.

Hi!

I don't know where you are located. I work their European office that you can directly (contact info at http://eu.asukabook.com/index.php?lang=en&page=contact). They are very friendly and helpful. You will want to talk to Glenn or Chris.

You might also want to consider http://www.cmykbooks.com who are based in the US and sell to all photographers/artists/designers. You just need to sign up and send your order. I haven't seen their products yet, but am planning to order one soon to check them out!

I hope that this helps and let me know if you get a CMYKbook what you think of it!

Kind regards,

Danielle Libine
www.books4pros.com

Hi. I have iphoto 08 and aperture and have designed a book in aperture. Someone mentioned earlier converting the pages and saving them as jpegs/tiffs and then loading them into iphoto to get the new type of book. I generated a PDF of the book, then opened the pages in preview and saved them one by one as jpegs. When I looked at them though I realised that some pages had larger margins (presumably something that aperture does so images aren't hidden at the spine? or cut off) but for some the larger margin seems to be on the left and for some it is on the right (but not on alternating pages eg pages 4 to 8 have it on the left and then 9 to 12 had it on the right).
I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I might be doing wrong or has any ideas on how best to convert things to try in iphoto?

Thanks very much for your help.