How do you charge for "scrapebooking?"

[DizzyV6P]

I recently finished making a mother's day gift for my daughter's 2 grandma's, 1 godmother, and my wife. I used the layout from mpix.com's book making software and used my shots of Disney and my daughter in various princess outfits and poses in Disney. She's 3 BTW.

After it came in the mail and my wife presented it to my daughter's godmother, it brought tears to her eyes. She mentioned to my wife that I could make some money doing this on the side. LOL.

After showing the finished products to a few collegues and friends, two of them asked if I could do it for their children as well. As much as I enjoy doing this, the time it takes to create a 24 page picture book is quite long. I was wondering what one would charge for this "service"

I am by no means a professional...more of a obssessd hobbiest looking for my next expensive hobby after giving up import tuning :) But I think I did a darn good job and my pictures and post-processing have gotten better and better over the past year.

I could forsee a few problems as well. All the pics will come from other people, in which I had no control over the pictures. Most will probably come from P&S cameras at default settings and many photoes in jpg under 1meg in size. I really don't know how others will feel about what I choose for background pictures, placement, etc... It's not like I'm working on my own child and know exactly what my wife would like to see, what i would like to see, and have the option of digging through 1000's of photos to find the perfect one. For others to give me their collection on CD's, WOW...that's quite a lot of work.

Or, maybe I should just direct ppl to mpix.com and they can make their own :) That's what I did with a few other friends.

Thanks for any suggestions on this "crazy" idea of mine. LOL.

[beichh4046]

I have thought about doing the same thing. But ended up with the same potential dilemna. I just completed a book for each of my three kids for my wife for mothers day. From the time they were born thru age five. Each book was about 60 pages long. The process got easier as I went along but there are many hours put into it that you do not see in the final product.
I don't see how I can do a book for someone else that they will not have a gripe about. Whether it is using the wrong picture in the wrong spot or using the wrong background or having a typo. Just seems like the headaches outweigh the benefits. What I have thought about doing is having a class on how to do it. I have an office that after hours I could hold a one hour class or so. Show them how to set up an account and do the scrapbook themselves. That would remove all the headaches.

[DizzyV6P]

Hmm....now THAT would be a much better idea! LOL. Teach THEM to do it themselves. Thereby removing the griping issues. Hmm.......$$$$. ;)

[cdifoto]

Charge like it's a wedding album. For me to do one it'd be $600 minimum and I'd use AsukaBooks.

Having said that, I probably wouldn't do one in the first place. I'd politely decline. I don't do scrapbooks.

[RichNY]

From the people I've seen who do scrap booking they all use embelleshments (glitter, button glue ons, etc.) to their pages. There is an amazing industry built around this 'hobby' selling specialty products, scrap book weekends, etc.

A flat 2D book, even a high quality one like the Asuka, doesn't turn out a product that can offer the same degree of quality as the better hand made one of a kind books.

On the other hand, it is the only way to get multiple copies of a book if that is needed which opens up a whole other market similar to the wedding business like CDI said.

[DizzyV6P]

Holy Mackeral!! Asuka Books looks incredible!! Hmm..looks like I just found my next project. hahahaha. How much does that 8x8 20 side laminate EX cost? wow.... Looks like I need to register is a "pro" LOL.

[liza]

A lot of people charge $50 per page for album design, although I'm referring to pro albums like Pictobook or Visionart. I'd price it downward from there, taking into account the quality of the book publisher you plan to use and your own level of expertise.

And we can't tell you on a public forum how much an album costs. That's done only via PM. :)

[strmrdr]

http://www.solarflairdesigns.com/custom-scrapbook-rates.html

rates are simular to what iv seen around.

[cdifoto]

And we can't tell you on a public forum how much an album costs. That's done only via PM. :)

I don't even tell people via PM. I inform them that they have to sign up for a account like I did.

[beichh4046]

I think there is a market for this type of service. I am not one to sit down and do the traditional scrapbook. For me the idea of giving a digital scrapbook came about because A) I wait until the last minute to buy my wife a christmas present. 2) I have some PS knowledge and could put it to good use. 3) I did not have to leave my house to buy a present. 4) I knew she would think it was a thoughtful idea and really appreciate it. 5) I don't have to worry about pictures falling out of a regular photo album. and 6) I know what I am getting my wife for Christmas next year and the year after. By the way the present was "The year in review for 2006" of our family.

I just gave my wife the three books for Mother's Day for each of our kids. It went over really well.

I believe there are guys and girls out there who like me are not creative. But can drop an image into a page and decide on a background theme. It doesn't take a lot of knowledge. I just think some people have to be shown how. Thats why I thought of having classes where I teach them how. Show them the basics and then they can finish at home or if it is to be a present they can rent time from me for use of a computer or they can use my office as a group as an outlet to get away.

I would be curious as to that idea by some other members.

[Racer23]

Funny, I saw a photobook / scrapbook from a neighbor at work. Looked upp Picaboo and downladed their software.

20 page books around $30 but could easilly be marketed at $50++ with your photos.

It doesnt have that scrapbook look to it, it looks more like a wedding album. I thought about offering it up for people I shoot at the end of the year.