Saal Digital - Photobook Review
For transparency, this photobook was provided to my own specification free of charge for review purposes by Saal Digital. I am not being paid in any way to promote them.
There is nothing quite like seeing your photos in print. I personally believe that however good modern screen technology gets, it will never fully replace the feeling of a well printed image on high quality paper. More on the quality later though.
Firstly for the purposes of putting the book together I left my usual processes to one side and took their own design software for a spin. I found it easy to navigate and choose the product and sizes available, I opted for the padded cover, matte pages and 21 x 28 portrait orientation to best suit the images I chose for the demonstration (a selection from my recent work with Beth Patten, we worked together to create a modelling portfolio so a perfect reason to have a book printed).
I would normally start with a blank template and spend a long time tweaking the layout to my satisfaction but, based on the assumption that most people using the service casually wont go to this level of detail, I left my comfort zone again to go with one of their own themes. They offer a range of choices here with different styles to suit the mood of the images and I found the options to be quite detailed and helpful.
The design itself went smoothly once I got accustomed to the interface, they have some slightly odd ways of panning and fitting the images to the space available but once I had that figured out, everything else was a breeze. Apparently they offer a soft proof PDF version of the book to review before you order, I must have missed this and just went ahead and sent it off. The check out was simple and easy as they offer a range of payment options including PayPal. This particular book was free but I don't foresee any issues with payment next time. I will say that the price point on this service isn't the lowest you can find, not the most expensive either but certainly not a budget option.
The book itself arrived only a few days after I ordered, impressive considering it was printed in Germany, the turn around to delivery was fast and professionally handled. When it arrived the packaging was secure, well wrapped and not too bulky. It was clear that some thought and care has gone in to ensure their product arrive undamaged, a small point but one well worth considering for those of us who have received damaged prints shoved through the letterbox.
Out of the packaging the book itself was beautiful, I was deeply impressed with the quality of the finish, pages and print. The padded cover feels nice in the hand and the image manages to have a lovely gloss look without getting covered in fingerprints. Inside the book the matte finish looks great and, much like the cover, doesn't collect finger prints with ease. The pages have a real quality feel to them, it's very clear that they print to professional photographic paper and the pages have a lovely thick feel to them that lays flat and shows the double-page spreads without an obtrusive seam in the middle.
I used sRGB colours as usual and found the colours rendered accurately and without issue. My one and only problem is that some (not all) of the images seemed to be slightly blurry as if the shot was out of focus. I know for a fact that the images I uploaded were sharp but somehow they didn't print very well, with this said however due to the fact that most of the images were fine, I think this can be put down to user error. I am used to starting with a blank canvass and different design software, they do offer a PDF preview to spot any mistakes like this but I just happened not to notice this option when I was completing the order.
In conclusion I think this is a superb product and well worth the money I would have paid for it. Yes, you can certainly find cheaper alternatives on the internet but in the world of "you get what you pay for" it is refreshing to find a service that actually offers a little more than the cost suggests.