Review: Saal Digital Professional Photobook
My opinions on a high quality photo book and the software to create it
Pretext
I came across an ad on Instagram for the opportunity to get a free photo-book. I tapped it and entered the required details. I got an email letting me know that my application has been submitted and a day later I was informed that I was selected and was given a voucher to create a Professional Photobook from Saal Digital.
The Software
I have a Mac mini so parts of section of the review may not be applicable to Windows. The monitor I’m using is a Dell P2715Q.
The download was super fast, at 22MB which then extracted into a very lightweight 50MB application. Upon start up macOS informed me that the Saal Design Software wanted to access Photos and the following folders:
- Desktop
- Documents
- Network Volumes
- Removable Volumes
The Saal Digital Software did not ask for access to my contacts, calendar, or location information, microphone, or camera. Super!
Starting a Project
Once the software boots up you’re presented with options lined in a grid. For this review I’ll be reviewing the Photobook Professional Line so let’s go through this selection process.
I debated on what size I wanted to do, I eventually settled on the 12 x 8 because most of the photos I’m printing in this book are in landscape orientation. Additionally, I can have multiple vertically orientated photos on a page.
Once I select a size, I’m able to select project specifics such as the cover material and the paper the photos are printed on. We can even select a gift box, which I opted to forgo. Hovering over the options brings up a little tool-tip about the option.
I really wish the “preview” on the left changed with the selections to give a more accurate representation. Additionally, the icons for the options are pretty low quality on my HiDPI display, but the images for the tool tips (which are larger photos) are super sharp so I’m not sure if it’s a downsize issue or if the software uses small icons that don’t scale up very well when presented with a higher DPI monitor.
If you don’t wish to continue with your product choice, you can click your navigation choices at the top (also known as breadcrumbs). For example, clicking “Photobook” will take you back to the individual photobook selection so you can choose the Extra Thick (XT) line or perhaps the photo booklet with the spiral spine.
This is changeable after you start your project but formatting is likely to change so be sure to look over your product to ensure all your photos are accounted for and aligned correctly.
Extra Thick vs Regular
The difference between Extra Thick (XT) and Regular is page thickness. The XT is printed on a durable card stock that’s approximately 1.1mm thick. The regular photobook is printed on regular photo paper.
The second difference is page count. The XT line currently supports 46 pages while the regular line supports up to 130. It’s worth mentioning that 46 “pages” is really 23 individual pages, including inside the front cover and rear of the book.
I’d choose the XT if I were presenting a portfolio of images, where you want to showcase your best work on a subject. The XT Line would provide that extra durability and sturdiness to impress clients during a consultation meeting.
Since I’m making this photobook for myself, and not to sell my services the regular thickness is perfect.
Creating the Book
The application itself is incredibly robust. It’ll automatically alter the layout as photos are added but I did feel limited in the options the software provided.
Customization
You can “Deactivate the AutoLayout” to tweak things more granularly. Also, it shares a feature from Adobe Photoshop where you can drag guides out from the rulers so you can ensure photos are all equal or exact sizes. Another feature you gain from disabling the AutoLayout is the ability to tweak the shape of the images, masking them behind an oval, hexagon, stars, and other fun shapes and patterns.
You can also save your custom layouts in the software, as seen in Figure 6 below. Through the Design Manager, you can edit and delete your custom designs. This is where those guides will come in handy. Remember, custom layouts are only possible when you “Deactivate the AutoLayout” function. The moment you reactivate the AutoLayout for that page, your custom layout disappears and is replaced by the AutoLayout; your custom layout will not be selectable nor will it be visible, until you deactivate the AutoLayout again.
If you need help on certain aspects, Saal Digital has a wonderful video FAQ.
Changing Your Mind
As you’re working the Photobook it’s possible you may change your mind in regards to the design or even the size and product. Both of these are changeable.
The design is a little more labor intensive as you’ll need to change each page individually but to change the Product, or as they call it the “Article” click the article text on the right — you can spot it in Figure 6 above the Layouts, Cliparts, and Layers text — and at the bottom of the section select “Convert Article.” Converting the product to a different one is not a process you can undo, so the software advises you to save first. Once the product is converted to a different one, check your pages to ensure everything is still formatted as you want and as you expect, as photos may be moved or cropped differently to accommodate the new product dimensions.
Background Colors
While I stuck to a white background for all my pages, you can choose and select solid colors, gradients, patterns, and even images. Selecting images could be useful if you want to upload a blurred version of an image on the page as a faux border.
Checking Out
When adding the Photobook to your cart, you’re once again presented with the option to select the material used for the surface and rear of the Photobook, the paper used for the pages (glossy or matte), and whether you want to include a gift box.
Clicking “Add to Basket” brings up the Gift Box option more prominently. You’re presented with a check box to hide this in the future, after proceeding you are promoted to Save again (if you haven’t already). I saved my PhotoBook with the word “Final” attached, so I knew this was the one I sent to print.
Once saved you add your delivery address, select shipping, and add your payment details. The only delivery option I had was DHL Express.
I placed my order on January 27th, 2020. I was told that my PhotoBook would be delivered by “04/02/2020.” I thought to myself that was quite a ways away but didn’t question it as I figured a quality product would (1) take time, and that (2) Saal Digital were setting up some US based suppliers prior to printing and shipping.
My Photobook was shipped on January 29th, 2020 and delivered January 31st, 2020.
Turns out, as an American, I was reading the date provided in Month/Day/Year format when it was really in Day/Month/Year. This was an incredibly fast product turn around from Germany.
The Product
The packaging was tight and succinct.
While there was a little bit of damage to the lower right corner of the packaging, my Photobook arrived in fantastic condition.
A product label was affixed to the front of the book and I was a little worried it’d be super hard to peel off. Thankfully it was super easy to peel off and left no residue. Also a rather noticeable, but light, scratch on the front already that continued underneath the label.
I wish that the Photobook had some sort of protective film on the front, much like a new TV will have a film over the plastic trim. It’s not clear where these scratches originated from but it was a bit heartbreaking to discover these on my newly minted book. Regardless, it’s not the end of the world as the Photobook will be left on my coffee table for all to pick up and flip through. It’ll travel with me and serve as a conversation starter to my hobby and passion so it’s going to get scratches and dents.
Impressions
This Photobook is phenomenal: the cover photo looks out of this world, the colors are accurately represented as my screen displayed, and the pages the photos themselves are printed on are quite sturdy and thick — it’s clear now that this is more sturdy than regular photo paper, I feel like the XT line would have been too thick. The pages still “bend” but they are more resistant to it, you can get a good idea of this in Figures 16 and 17 below.
The photos are incredible. Some of my photos had noticable noise on screen but once printed look really clear, as the noise blends in to the texture of the paper. A few photos appear to be darker than intended, but I’ve only noticed it on 2 photos. I’ve read that some photographers bump up their exposure by 1/3rd of a stop to account for the ink darkening as it dries but I’m not heavily familiar with printing so decided to take the risk and not bump the exposure for the prints.
The book lays pretty flat when looking at photos and the seam isn’t an issue on photos that span across two pages.
Lessons I Learned
You should not put a photo on the first or last page of the Photobook, it’s best to save these pages for opening and closing words.
It’s not as obvious in photo, but towards the spine of the book, there’s a raised bump where the leather backing of the book meets the acrylic cover, and this first page is glued to the back of the cover. It’s not photo ruining but it’s something to keep in mind. Also note the white border towards the bottom of the image, that’s because the cover is slightly larger than the pages.
I strongly recommend using this first page as an introduction to your Photobook. What you do with the page across is up to you.
Yes, this same bump exists on the very last page. The last page doesn’t have the white border but that’s because there’s no acrylic, the back of the acrylic cover is white because the cover image is printed on a white paper. It’d be nice if the backside of the cover image could be coated in the same color as the book material so it blended in better.
I brought the photo book out to a local Cameras & Coffee event and the quality far outshined the other books at the table. The attendees had positive words to share; one of the members even started making their own Saal Digital Photobook a few days later.
Conclusion
This is a very attractive book for the price. Even with the minor issues I strongly recommend other photographers to get their work printed onto a Photobook Professional Line by Saal Digital. You’re not going to regret seeing your photographs printed on quality paper.
The software is robust and feature rich, there are quirks but nothing that impacts the process. One of the biggest quirks is that the software always asks you to name your project when you save. Not something to complain about and it actually reminded me to rename new drastic changes as a new draft, so that I could easily go back to previous layout or photo order pretty easily.
With some time, a photographer can create truly unique products for their clients by utilizing custom layouts, custom fonts, and more through their library of custom template pages; photographers will be able to deliver their branding and style over and over again.
I look forward to shooting more photos and creating another Photobook with Saal Digital in the future. As a bonus, the company has been responsive to my inquiries so their customer service has been great to work with.
The date is now April 7th, 2020. A few days after I originally thought I’d receive my book and it still looks like the day I got it.
