I’ve been planning this group cookbook project for some time now with my friends. You may have seen the first post I did on this project back in November when I was putting together the framework, and finally the book is in my hands!
First off, here’s the stats for my Mixbook photo book:
| Book size: | 11 x 8.5 (width x height) |
| Cover: | Hardcover – Glossy Laminate Custom Photo |
| Pages: | 47 (double-sided) |
| Binding: | Case Bound |
| Price: | $56.99 + $12.99 (2nd Day air)Total: $69.98 less $50.00 GrouponActual Out-of-Pocket after all discounts = $19.98 + $15.00 for Groupon
Final Cost: $34.98 |
| Ordered/Shipped/Delivered: | Dec 30 / Jan 5 / Jan 7 |
DEAL ALERT! By the way, as of the date of this post, the 70% Mixbook Groupon is available through Sunday (today!) by 11:59pm EST. You can make a cookbook just like mine with ground shipping for less than $30.00! (Friends and recipes not included! LOL) You have one year to use this Mixbook Groupon, so no worries – you have lots of time.
Mixbook Software Review
Mixbook’s software works online, so there’s nothing to download. Having the software online has some advantages – you can work on your book no matter where you are on any computer and if you’re working on a project with friends or family, they are able to access the same project from the comforts of home. Note that only one person can be editing the book at any given time. If someone is currently working on the book, you can view the most recent saved version, but will have to wait until that person closes the software to actually make an edits or contributions, so it may take some coordination.
Because this was a collaborative project, I was able to get feedback from my friends who signed up to work on the book. Some friends told me that they found the software slow and very laggy – preventing some from being able to add their recipes. Other friends said using the software was easy and they had no issues. For the most part I had no problems working on the book, but there were a few occasions where the software would lag and I would be dragging or moving a box or photo and it would move where I hadn’t intended. This is where the “Undo” button became my best friend. I don’t know if the lag had to do with how many people were on Mixbook’s servers at any given time, but my AT&T DSL is reliable and upgraded, so I assume it wasn’t on my end.
With some friends, it was impossible to cajole them to sign up to work on the book, and some said they don’t cook, so I ended up asking them to e-mail me their responses and photos, which worked fine. In addition to this being a cookbook, it was a yearbook of photos from the past year. We had lots of photos and a section called “Meet the Chefs” where we asked everyone a short list of food related questions like “What’s your favorite food related childhood memory?” or “What would you last meal be?” That way those who don’t cook could still be a part of the book, since it was also meant to be a 2010 yearbook as well.
If you are planning to do a joint project, I suggest that one person take the lead and create the templates and basic layouts. That way it’s easier to get participation and it adds some cohesiveness to the design. If you’re working with a group of folks who have done photo books before, it may not be necessary. Note that once you get a few templates that you like, you can easily duplicate the spread, change the background and you instantly have another spread created without much effort.
If you’re interested in the other basic software stats – here it is in a nutshell…
Did you know that we have these Quick Specs for every company in our database? (Click on the link to find each basic company review by clicking on the company logo. You’ll also find links to my reviews and coupons for each company on that page.)
Mixbook Is Great for Digital Scrapbook Enthusiasts
As I’ve mentioned before, the standout feature of Mixbook’s software are their embellishments and clip art. I’m not a huge fan of clip art generally, but this clip art was actually “non-cheesy”. Mixbook would appeal especially to traditional scrapbookers who have made the transition to digital scrapbooking as it has the most scrapbook-look in my opinion out of all of the photo book companies I’ve tried. Everything that you see on these pages other than our personal photos are free to use within the Mixbook program.
There were several fonts I liked. I used “Lilly”, “Domestic Manner”, “Windsong” and “Adler”. For this sized book, the font size for most of the text body (versus headings) was done in Lilly in 9 pt. font. (It can be hard to gauge font-size but the best thing is if your screen is large enough to get a preview close to the final size – that is usually the best way to tell if your text is readable.) I normally only use one or two fonts for my photo book projects, but this was meant to be a fun scrapbook type project – the various fonts give it more character.
Mixbook Photo Book Quality Review
Print Quality and Book Construction
The book comes in a plastic sleeve and packaged in a compact cardboard box. My book shipped from San Jose, CA via upgraded UPS 2nd Day Air. It was $12.99 to ship my book, but you could get basic shipping for $6.99. I was happy to see there were no dinged corners (a common problem with many companies). The custom cover is very glossy and I found it very similar to the covers printed by Shutterfly, Snapfish and Picaboo. (Clicking on the links will take you to my reviews of those companies.)
The book was constructed neatly and I liked that you could title the spine. (You can also title the spine with Snapfish and Shutterfly, but not Picaboo (however see my workaround for titling Picaboo books). There is a plain white piece of paper inside front and back of the book which gives it more finish.
The paper is 100 lb. archival silk, semi-gloss and is of good weight. In comparison to Picaboo, the paper feels very similar in weight, but Mixbook’s seems slightly stiffer. Snapfish’s paper is very similar as well. Shutterfly’s paper feels the thickest out of all four companies. They all use 100 lb. paper according to their specs, but the numbers don’t mean the paper feels the same, since they don’t use the same paper stock.
Overall the print quality was very good. My photos reproduced well and as always, the brighter the original, the better the result. I saw no issues with bleedthrough as the paper had good opacity. There was no banding or streaking. This is the first time I’ve done a book with more text than photos and I found the text crisp, clear and easy to read – essential for a cookbook! Interestingly the text is raised, meaning you can feel the text when you run your fingers across the page. For the most part, the preview matched the print results, except that I was bothered by the misprint of some of the pages where I used ribbon embellishments to run across the entire page. I had made sure to extend the ribbons past the edge of the page to allow for some cushion, and in the preview there was no indication of an issue, but when the book printed, there were several pages where the ribbons didn’t extend the full length of the page – leaving an odd gap. I’m debating whether to contact customer service about it, but it does bother me when the preview doesn’t match the result.
UPDATE: I did decide to contact Mixbook via e-mailing customer service. They asked me to send them a couple photos of the issue. They explained that the alignment was off by 1/16 inch when they bound the book and offered to readily reprint the two copies I had printed. They sent the books to me via 2-day air and they came out just as they looked in the preview. All’s well that ends well!
Here’s the preview, followed by a photo of the final book:
After I received the book, I made a duplicate copy and added even more length to the decorative trim on all the affected pages (there were about 7 pages where that happened) so that when my friends order, that problem should hopefully be eliminated. Make sure to extend your embellishments a good ways off the page (about 1/2 inch to be safe) so that the same doesn’t happen when you get your printed book.
Cost
If you haven’t used my handy dandy Photo Book Wizard, check out these results below. This list is sorted from cheapest to most expensive.
The inputs into the Wizard were: Hardcover, Landscape, Medium. I then eliminated the ones that were not similar to my Mixbook project and I could even input the exact number of pages to get an accurate price comparison. Below is just a screenshot of the results, but if you try the Wizard tool, you can sort by any of the columns and eliminate the ones that don’t apply, to get a good overview of your options.
As you can see Mixbook is in the middle of the pack in terms of cost. What differentiates Mixbook from similarly priced books, would be customization (fully customizable layouts), lots of cool embellishments and the ability to collaboratively work on a project with a group. The collaborative nature of Mixbook was the main factor in choosing the company for this cookbook project.
Obviously when we look at cost, the Groupon makes a huge difference, just as it does with Picaboo and Photobook America. For $15.00, you get $50.00 worth of credit – that’s 70% off!
Summary
In all, I am pleased with the software and the book, but I’ll probably contact customer service about the pages that didn’t print properly. I’ll let you know what happens. (See UPDATE above in green.) Overall, I like the flexibility of designing my own layouts and surprisingly I love the clip art. It reminds me a lot of the traditional scrapbooking that I used to do, but so much more efficient and cheaper! Be sure to use the shadow tool to give your photos and other elements dimension. It makes a difference in the final result. There’s lots of pre-made layouts and templates to choose from if you want to make a quick and easy drag and drop book – in fact I looked through a lot of the templates to get inspiration for this book. In particular, Mixbook is unique among photo companies in its focus on collaboration.
Other than a group cookbook, it would be great for:
- Group fundraisers
- Club or sports team yearbook
- Family reunion book
- A fun project for bridesmaids (suggested by a Photobookgirl reader)
If you’re ready to get started on your Mixbook photo book or you want to check out other fun book examples, click here to go to Mixbook!
I have had the same alignment type problem with Mixbook for a few of my projects with them, all during 2010. In fact I actually read this article to see if you would in fact mention such an issue. The preview shows perfection but the printed book is shipped with border and alignment problems. Complained and got replacement books the first two times. The third time I just gave up and decided not bother using them again.
Yes – looks like we had the same problem. That was the explanation given by customer service. They said it was shifted 1/16 of an inch so more of my pages fell into the gutter and the outside margin (not visible in the preview) ended up showing in the final product. They did readily offer me a reprint after asking me to send a few photos of the issues, so that wouldn’t keep me from using them in the future. In fact, I have yet to find a company that has turned out a book 100% perfectly, 100% of the time, though I have to say I have no issues with my MyPhotoCreations flush mount (but that was a much pricier book in comparison mind you!) It’s understandable that if it happened more than once it would be troublesome. I hope that the extra adjustments I made to extend the ribbon trims further for the reprint will allow for some additional cushion. Since I see you’re a pro photographer, may I ask who you print your books with currently? Any faves?
Was wondering what companies do NOT print their name on the books? Do you have a list of these?
We have a database of 29 companies so far – and I do have that information in the software database, but at this point it’s not searchable like other criteria, as there can be some differences depending on the exact book you end up choosing even within the same company. For the most part however, that info is in the “Quick Specs” chart. You can access a list of features for each company on this page: https://www.photobookgirl.com/software/
Just click on the logo to check that company. Offhand I recall these companies do NOT have logos on their books: Photobook America, AdoramaPix & MyPhotoCreations.
Blurb – removable with a fee and Inkubook – removable by request.
MYpublisher also lets you remove it for a fee!
I have a coupon for Mixbook. Can’t wait to try!
I just ordered an album from mixbook and they still appear to have issues with their preview not matching the printing. On 4 pages I had clipart that I put right along the edges of the page but when it was printed there was a gap between the clipart and the end of the paper that was filled with the background color.
This was my first time doing a digital albums and I was assuming that they would crop more of the image than I expected. I assumed this especially because if you add a text box and bring it near an edge, it shows an outline of where the text might be cropped. Because of this assumption I didn’t extend all the ends of my clipart and on one of the pages you can actually see the random text I used in a textbook when I was testing where the cut off limit maybe. You could not see this text in the preview. I am going to contact them and see what they do.
Yes, even when I had extended my clip art past the edges, it still got shifted (I think during the binding process). The preview should be WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), so it’s important for the preview to give you an accurate representation of what will print. Good luck with customer service – they did reprint mine for no charge. 🙂
Random question — for your Mixbook Groupon, when you got a code from Groupon, was it a “Discount Code,” or was it a “Gift Card” number? Another way of asking the question is this: would you have been able to combine the Groupon with another coupon discount code? Or is it only one or the other? Thanks very much (and thanks for the helpful, detailed reviews).
I don’t believe you can combine the Mixbook Groupon with another promo code. To my knowledge, none of the companies issuing Groupons will allow you to combine them with other codes. You can always check with the company, but I’m pretty sure that you cannot (though it would be nice!)
I recently did a Mixbook photobook (4th of July weekend). It was about 50 pages and one page had a text printing issue that did not display on preview. Until reading this blog, I thought I had to live with it, but I will contact customer service and see what happens.
Thank you for this blog.
Did you have a problem actually editing your Mixbook on their website? I’ve been trying to load my book all afternoon and have gotten nowhere. Any trouble loading the software?
Since the software is online, you may run into issues depending on the speed of your computer, internet, etc. There were a few times I recall having some issues, where I had to save and reopen the file cause it lagged a bit and some friends said they were unable to get in to edit the book (I believe I wrote about that in the review.) It may also depend on traffic to the site and whether they can handle the volume of folks working on their books at the same time. I’d say save often and give it another shot. I also believe they have a chat function with customer service so I’d give them a try.
Hi, do you know if you can get leather covers with Mixbook?
No, don’t think they have leather covers. MyPublisher, Photobook America, Picaboo are some that I can think of that do…
They now offer leather
Hi,
Wondering if you have ever tried the digital Creative Memories digital books…if so- what do you think?
Love the simpleness of Mixbook. Just ordered my 1st book this a.m. hoping it turns out well!
thanks for all your wonderful dedication to detailed information on digital photobooks! kudos to you!
much appreciated!
Hi Michelle,
No I haven’t tried out Creative Memories yet – I intended to, but found out their software (the paid version) which they were running a sale on, would not be compatible with my new Mac which was a disappointment. It might be available now, but I haven’t looked into it. Mixbook does have great clip art and I like how you can have your design cross over the center/gutter of the book – that’s not commonly available with other companies. I hope you love your book!
Just went to the Mixbook site to check them out after seeing today’s Groupon deal, and I saw that they now offer leather covers for $19.99, and you upgrade during checkout. Hope this helps!
Creative Memories hasn’t updated their Mac software (sbcStudio) to work with Lion yet. The software in it’s current state is buggy and very difficult to work with (using Snow Leopard). They are supposed to be updating it to work with Lion sometime in the first half of 2012. They usually have a 30 day free trial for the software, so you can try before you buy. (I bought it without trying it because it was on sale, and I’ve been sorely disappointed).
Creative Memories dropped the mac support. So it is only a PC version. I have seen and held their books before. They are nice books. Price is the main issue with them IMO.
Yes, I heard that as well. I haven’t done a book with them, but they are more expensive. What do you think of them compared to MyPublisher or Shutterfly (if you’ve used them before)?
I recently made Christmas cards with mixbook. I was satisfied with the cards. The order arrived in a timely manner. However, I was very dssappointed when I went to the post office to mail my 100 cards and was told my 5 X 5 cards will cost an additional $.20 postage. Consequently, the money I saved with the Groupon on the cards was spent on postage. I wish I would have known 5 X 5 cards cost more to mail. I will never pick that size again. Mixbooks should post a disclaimer in bold red letters that tells everyone 5 X 5 cards will require extra postage.
yes I recently ordered square cards from Tiny Prints and they did mention the extra charge and provided an option to get special rectangular envelopes that are modified inside to fit the square cards at no extra cost. I would recommend if you want, to let Mixbook know so that they can fix that. I often see folks post on the Facebook wall of the company to get messages to them. I think that would be a good idea – I think companies don’t think of those things until a complaint is made. Anyway, I liked my cards from Mixbook – cause I was able to completely customize the card. I actually uploaded my own design, something that the other companies I tried didn’t allow for. 🙂
I am having a problem: I can’t move my photos onto a page. A red circle with a minus sign in it appears and I don’t know how to get rid of it and prevents me from moving my photos.
Sorry Beverly, I haven’t encountered that before. Perhaps that page is a locked page (is it the one with the Mixbook logo on it or an end page)? If you aren’t allowed to put photos on a page and it’s one of the interior pages, then something does sound unusual. If you need help, feel free to send me a screenshot of the problem and I can try to see if I can help if you aren’t getting assistance from Mixbook support.
The red cirle with the minus sign is to allow you to delete the photo from your uploads.
I used Mixbook for the first time this holiday, creating a nostalgic book for my parents (yes, Mom cried when she opened it!) The 2 copies I ordered were perfect…internally. My only issue is with the covers. I used a black background, but found that both glossy covers looked scratched up when viewed in a good light. As long as the light isn’t too bright, the reflective cover looks OK. I really wish Mixbook had the option for a matte finish cover or at least they could somehow avoid the fine scratches. Maybe the scratching occurred during shipping. My books were not inside a plastic sleeve as was mentioned in the review. Other than this problem I’d give Mixbook an A.
Thanks for submitting your review! Yes, I prefer matte covers myself, but I guess I’ve seen those get scratched too. Most if not all of my books from any company come shrinkwrapped at a minimum – did yours come shrinkwrapped?
No shrinkwrap. My 2 copies were just slipped into a cardboard box. Luckily no dinged corners, though. Maybe Mixbook was cutting corners due to the holiday rush.
Hi!
I just ordered a couple of calendars from Mixbook. I LOVE them. I love that they are so customizable. I love the weight of the pages. I used pics from my iPhone and they all look great. No alignment issues with the calendar. My only complaint was that I was expecting them to arrive on Jan 10th (as it said when I checked out, and why I opted for a more expensive shipping), and they arrived a day late. Not the end of the world, but could have saved myself a couple bucks, and I was just so excited to get them! Anyways, I was not disappointed when I received them. 🙂
And I have bookmarked your page here. Thanks!!
Good to hear! I’m making calendars for my family – I’m a little behind in ordering them, but I hope mine turns out nice too!
I am a photographer in Canada. I recently received my order of 3 photobooks from Mixbook.com. Can’t wait to share my experience… They are extremely good, not only in the quality of the books at this price but also the services in the support centre… very professional; prompt delivery. Really an asset in the economy!!! No other place you can get your photobook but Mixbook.com!
Thank you, Mixbook.com!
I am in Montreal. How long did it take you to receive your photo book?
Thanks for the great review of Mixbook! I’m almost done a 12×12 album but I’m a bit concerned about font size. I have a lot of writing in this album and I want to try to use the least number of pages as I can, without sacrificing the look. I’m not sure what the smallest font size I should use is while making sure that it’s plenty big enough to read even as I age haha. I know you mentioned using 9 point Lilly but I don’t like that font style for my specific book. Have you had any experiences with other fonts in print?
Thanks so much!
I used 8 pt and 9 pt. Adler, 8 pt Lilly and 9 pt Domestic Manners, and all were readable when printed. So, if you don’t like Lilly, just try it alongside the font you do like and that could give you an idea of readability. You could also zoom so the actual print size matches what you see on your screen (if your screen is at least as big as your book size), to get a rough idea – it’s not perfect, but may help. 🙂
If you want to know what the text size will look like in relation to your book size use this tutorial from Mixbook-
http://blog.mixbook.com/text-toolbar/.
I have ordered 2 books and one calendar. Their customer service is wonderful. The first book was my daughter’s wedding album-noticed a piece of dust embedded on a couple of pages – not a real big deal but they replaced the book!!
Hi, PhotoBookGirl!
Thanks for just being on here. I don’t remember how I discovered Mixbook, but I have now made three books. They are not too complicated yet, but I’m getting better, I think. I have enjoyed the outcome and everyone just thinks these books are fabulous. I have not had the edge issues you have mentioned, but I also have not tried a lot of unique ideas. Still in all, not having seen any of the other companies, I shall stick with Mixbook since I am so pleased with the ease of manipulation (most of the time) and the quickness of shipping and receiving and the quality of the book.
Sincerely,
Stefani Singer
Thanks for your review Stefani. Yes, I’ve had lots of fun making books on Mixbook – they have very interesting and unique clip art which can make for a fun book. I’m thinking about making another collaborative book again since it was fun to see the final product and share that with friends. Stay in touch! 🙂
Hi, I tried to order mt 57 page book from mixbook and then I saw that after clicking on order 24 pages had been lost. I haven’t been able to contact customer service or chat. Do you know if they can recover the pages or if they are permanently lost?
I notice that it auto saves, so before you think it’s lost, make sure to log on again and check your projects to be sure it’s not actually there. It may be there – I hope so and good luck 🙂
I’ve been a Eurobook user for years now and I love them, but they are not very scrapbook-y in nature and I want to try something new. However, I LOVE the fact that Eurobook lets me use the software on my laptop, not on the website, and that means I can ORGANIZE my pictures. I’m having real problems doing that on Mixbook. I put a TON of pictures in a lot of my books, and I am having a lot of issues with the fact that I can’t organize them into folders. Any ideas? Thanks!
If possible, I would organize them into folders before the upload and then just upload a batch at a time. If I do a trip for example, I usually have them chronologically organized by day, so I just upload one day at a time and then lay them out before uploading the next batch. I don’t know if that will work for the book you’re working on, but that’s what I do 🙂
Hi, I just came by to view this website. It is really good and I enjoyed viewing it, thank you very much for the great information!
Mixbook was my very first photo albumn book and I had so much fun creating this book for my oldest daughter’s 40th birthday! I learned alot! Mixbook was excellent to work with. They emailed quickly answering any questions I had. Once I receive the book, I contacted them regarding the “color” of the pages AND one page had a thick black line running down the side. Mixbook explained that their color was truer to Mac users AND apologized for the line….AND sent me a new book w/o the line! Fabulous!
I’m an avid photo book maker- I have made over 50 on shutterfly, but their lack of search feature on their embellishments is driving me to mixbook. I love that they let you have a LOT of pages in their photo albums. Do they also have the storyboard feature similar to Shutterfly? I don’t want them to autofill my pages, I want to fill them myself in a manner similar to storyboard- where I can see all my pictures and pages at once and move pictures around easily.
Hi Meagan,
I don’t think there is a storyboard feature. Hmmm…I never really use storyboard in Shutterfly…sometimes I get stuck in my old ways of doing things… Mixbook has a ton of stickers and I like that it’s all free and I don’t have to worry about picking a storytelling item 🙂
Great job PhotoBookGirl! It is so helpful to see your comparisons of photo book companies…Your review helped me select Mixbook for my first ‘self-created’ photo book! I would love to create a family recipe photo book in the near future!
hi, thanks for this site! very helpful 🙂 this is my first time using mixbook. i’m creating a hard cover 8.5*8.5 and i’m wondering how much space i should leave for the gutter area? i have at most 50 pages i think. i’ve tried contacting their customer service numerous times, asking if i should leave an inch, half an inch. none of them could answer me. so i was wondering what’s the gutter area margin that you used for this book in the design and how was the outcome. thanks so much.
Hi Sheren,
I just use the preview. If it looks good in the preview, it should be good when it’s printed. If it isn’t, it’s easy to show customer service that it doesn’t match what is shown in the preview and they should readily reprint. Hope that helps! b/t/w be sure to extend any borders or embellishments that you want to go to the edge of the page, PAST the page so it goes all the way to the edge when it prints.
Mixbook is my go to company if I’m interested in more of a scrapbook feel book. I would not to say they are the best out there, so I don’t use them for really important events. They are great for fun photobooks
Have used Blurb in the past for my holiday travel books but the capacity for imagination is somewhat limited when compared with other software. Thought I’d give Mixbooks a go but my book will be in excess of 250 pages. Is this possible with Mixbooks?
Mixbook goes up to 399 pages! See my chart here: https://www.photobookgirl.com/Mixbook-reviews/
I have been working on my Paternal Line Family Tree Book now for almost two years, a lot of work, a lot of family. It scares me no end that I can’t make a back up copy anywhere. I normally would never attempt a project of this size without having a back up. Comments? Anne
Anne,
I know what you mean. If you’re working on a big project, I’d really recommend that you purchase your own software. I know it’s kind of late now, but you do have a valid concern about your project since it’s long term. I wrote a series of posts on that here. https://www.photobookgirl.com/blog/using-external-software-to-design-your-photo-book-layouts/
There’s a range of prices for buying your own software from about $30 to $200+ just depends on the features. I use Lumapix Fotofusion myself… Sounds like a wonderful project!
This was my first year with Mixbook as I usually use Shutterfly, but needed more than 100 pages. I haven’t ordered the books yet (213 pages, 5 copies), because I cannot get over the price, even with a 40% off coupon ($200 each vs. $50 if I’d used Blurb). What’s the best deal you’ve ever seen, because I’m willing to wait it out? I think they should have a running total at the top because they make it so difficult to delete pages…
I can not figure out how to put color behind the text on the spine.
Can you change the size of an already created book in Mixbook?
Yes I believe so, but if the layout is not the same orientation, you may have to redo them. If it’s the same orientation i.e. Smaller Landscape and bigger landscape the layouts should transfer – I’d make sure to check every spread though to be sure.
So is there any way to have a book without logo pages thanks
To my knowledge, they do not offer the option to remove the logo.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I eally appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting
for your next write ups thank you once again.
So we are putting together a mixbook for our vacation for us and our friends. We added about 8 pages to the book that were just me and my husband that we planned to delete for our friends. We ordered our book which had 59 pages and my husband went to take out the pages of us to order more for our friends and it changed our original order to only include the 51 pagees and we cant seem to recover the other 8 pages. Any advice? We have cintacted customer service but have not heard back
It’s hard to say when it comes to technical issues. Did you generate a copy of the book separate from the version for your friends? I usually will make a copy of a whole project and then just alter the copy leaving the original alone. If you did that it should still be there. Hope their customer service can help out.