Linisus Blog

I’ve been assembling my 2007 Linisus Annual (a personal yearbook), and while planning it out with Blurb’s Bookmaker, I’ve come to a rather depressing realization:

I can’t print the bigger photobook that I wanted to this year.

Now, its not impossible, in any sense, to make the 13×11 photo book (fyi reference: a sheet of paper is 8×10). You can easily make a 13×11 photobook with two-or-more photos per page.

But I need those full-bleed shots (pictures that go from left-to-right and top-to-bottom) of my favorite, enlarge-worthy shots. And with my old six megapixel D70, I’m barely meeting the dimension requirements to do a crisp 8×12, let alone crisp 13×11. If I wanted to sacrifice image quality for the a full-bleed shot on the book, I can technically do it… But I won’t if I’m putting my name to the picture.

For reference, a six-megapixel image (Nikon D70) dimensions are 3008 x 2000, while a twelve-megapixel image (Nikon D300) is 4288 x 2848. I guess to be rational, Bookmaker will never be satisfied with the camera of your choice until you hit fourteen or sixteen megapixels…

In short: if you are making a photo book and wanted to do full-page bleeds, make sure you are aware of your 1) picture’s quality and 2) picture’s dimensions. Blurb (and MyPublisher) prints at 300 dpi, so its always good to compare your camera limits vs. the book’s specification - Blurb has more information on their Help & FAQ.

(Note the key word is crisp - I’ve done 11×14 blown up before, but there is a lot of compromise in terms of clarity - If you’re putting a photo up on a wall that you stand back and admire, a six-megapixel shot more than adequate.

But when it comes to coffee table books that are viewed at less than a foot away, crispness is critical.)