Asuka Books

[Anzxio]

Hi,

I'm just putting together my first Asuka book in PS at the moment. It's taking forever, but it doesn't help that i only do 20mins at a time, and it is 60 pages :D I was just wondering whether there's a company in the UK who will do the same books as Asuka? or should i just order from Asuka and wait patiently?

This is probably a long shot, but does anyone have any photos, or just experience, of the matte and glossy finishes, as i'm really torn on which one to go for! On one hand i really like high colour images that pop out at you, which points me towards glossy. But on the other hand matte generally looks a lot more professional and usually feels better! I was never one for these complex kind of decisions!


Thanks

[Banbert]

Asuka books are printed in Japan, Everleafpro is the UK company that I am buying mine through and they have been absolute stars as I have been putting my first one together, lots of hand holding from a great guy called Andrew they have there.

http://www.everleafpro.co.uk/

Cant say about the pages because I am waiting delivery of my first one now but if you search the forum you will find trheads discussing the papers and differing opinions on them.

Try fotofusion if your struggling with your designs as they have templates for layouts and you can set your page sizes specifically for Asuka books

http://www.lumapix.com/

[Anzxio]

I have a Mac, so can't use that :)

I'm not really struggling with the layouts, i'm just struggling with sticking with it for long enough in one stint! Doing a 60 page book takes a while! My layouts are only really very basic, just black pages with big photos and white text for the titles!

I'll send those guys a message. I assume the template files are the same as the Asuka one's? Do you happen to know delivery times?

Thanks

[tim]

I've had both, I liked glossy.

I 2nd the recommendation of FotoFusion from Lumapix, trying to put together your first album in Photoshop is just too hard. Even if you get the trial of FF, lay it out, then manually remake it in PS you'll save time.

In PS try smart objects.

[Banbert]

I have a Mac, so can't use that :)

I'm not really struggling with the layouts, i'm just struggling with sticking with it for long enough in one stint! Doing a 60 page book takes a while! My layouts are only really very basic, just black pages with big photos and white text for the titles!

I'll send those guys a message. I assume the template files are the same as the Asuka one's? Do you happen to know delivery times?

Thanks

Aye were lucky in that because were from the IT industry we have Mac and PC and tend to swap between them depending on what were doing .. tis a shame they dont do a mac version.

I would assume the templates are the same and certainly the end files you send them should be, delivery time I have been quoted is 3 weeks.

Everleaf is one of the best companys I have dealt with (so far) since getting into this industry, they really did hold our hand through the first book and point out our stupid mistakes and advise us the quickest way to fix them.

[Anzxio]

Do Everleaf offer 50% off your first order? If they don't i'm going to have to go with Asuka, as that's quite a discount really :)

[Banbert]

Everleaf offer a discount for the first order but its not 50%. Asuka books from the USA look a bit cheaper than buying them from the UK (as is always the case with the current silly exchange rate) but I arent sure what taxes and import duties you may end up paying getting from the USA which is partly the reason we decided to deal with everleaf.

[litwinphotography]

The Matte is gorgeous and DOES NOT fingerprint at all! We only print in matte because the glossy pages get grimey and greasy looking VERY quickly!!

As for layout, Im on Mac and use photoshop, but we use Kevin Kubotas Auto Album and it makes the job like 2-5 minutes per page! SOOO FAST!! It is the most valuable kubota tool we have right now in the peak of wedding season! We do 2-3 weddings per weekend in our studio and proof are out by the friday after the wedding and books are designed and sent to Asuka by the following week. This is all with an office staff of TWO people!

Thank goodness for David Jay and Kevin Kubota, They are the men of my dreams :O)

[Anzxio]

What are the colours like with the matte though? Are they a lot more muted, or do they have some vibrancy to them? I ask because i love vibrant colour in photos, and don't really want to lose this :)

[mizuno]

What are the colours like with the matte though? Are they a lot more muted, or do they have some vibrancy to them? I ask because i love vibrant colour in photos, and don't really want to lose this :)

The colours still look great. :cool:

[litwinphotography]

Yeah, they still *POP*

[islandphoto]

As for layout, Im on Mac and use photoshop, but we use Kevin Kubotas Auto Album and it makes the job like 2-5 minutes per page! SOOO FAST!! It is the most valuable kubota tool we have right now in the peak of wedding season! We do 2-3 weddings per weekend in our studio and proof are out by the friday after the wedding and books are designed and sent to Asuka by the following week. This is all with an office staff of TWO people! That's good to know that you are pleased with them... I read some bad reviews on kubota's autoalbum on this forum - from Kathy I believe.

Do the layouts have the options of using different backgrounds and customizing the templates? Thanks!!

p.s. Your business sounds like it's doing terrific with all those weddings! Good work :)

[litwinphotography]

That's good to know that you are pleased with them... I read some bad reviews on kubota's autoalbum on this forum - from Kathy I believe.

Do the layouts have the options of using different backgrounds and customizing the templates? Thanks!!

p.s. Your business sounds like it's doing terrific with all those weddings! Good work :)

We totally customize the layouts of the album template pages actually. Just throuw on smart guides, change things around to make the work for our clients needs and away we go! Still just about 2-5 minutes per page!! You can also absolutely put in background images of different opacities etc.

I think that I use it with such ease because I was taught personally by KK at the WPPI convention at his booth, so I picked up a lot of little tricks nad tips for it.

And thanks! Our business is BOOMING this summer, we have 26 weddings this year between Jan01 and Dec31 so things are nuts. I had to hire 2 more staff this summer so we are up to 5 total now!

PLUS Im pregnant this summer so I'm HOT and exhausted and getting too fat to have somehwere to rest my camera when it has my 70-200IS Lens on it! LOL I went from a tiny 5'2" 100lb girl to a bulging 115lbs in my first 4 months! LOL

[islandphoto]

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!! How far into it will you work? This is something that I will have to decide soon too (hopefully :) )