{"id":1593,"date":"2013-11-04T14:40:35","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T22:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2023-03-30T13:06:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T20:06:59","slug":"lay-flat-photo-books-a-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/lay-flat-photo-books-a-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Lay Flat Photo Books: A Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/guide-lay-flat-photo-book-companies.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1599 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/guide-lay-flat-photo-book-companies.jpg\" alt=\"Guide to companies offering lay flat photo books\" width=\"600\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/guide-lay-flat-photo-book-companies.jpg 600w, http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/guide-lay-flat-photo-book-companies-300x125.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a>Photo Books With Lay Flat Pages<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Lay flat photo books<\/strong> are becoming mainstream as more and more photo book services come out with this style. It used to be that they were primarily for the wedding album market because they were so monstrously expensive. I love that now there are affordable lay-flat books for all of us. They\u2019re a spectacular way to showcase special photos and I especially love them for travel, baby, and wedding books, as well as portfolios.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>There are several different styles of lay-flat books, but first I wanted to give you the basic definition. In general, it means that when you open your book the pages lay completely flat, they don\u2019t flip back up, the pages don\u2019t wrinkle or crease, and most important of all, nothing gets lost in the gutter down the middle. One of the main advantages of lay-flat photo books is that you can spread a photo so it flows across two pages in a panorama. It also means a step up in paper. It\u2019s usually thicker and heavier than standard photo book paper, but the firmness and weight vary quite a bit from company to company. Sometimes these books are entirely separate products, other times they can be an option you can add on during the order process.<\/p>\n<p>It can get a bit confusing because there are several book styles that \u201clay flat.\u201d\u00a0 One isn&#8217;t necessarily better than the other, because there are so many variables between paper and printing as well as binding among online photo book services. It comes down to what is best for your specific book and your pocketbook. Having said that, there are three main categories<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Seamless Lay Flat Binding<\/strong> (gutter-free) &#8211; These have facing pages (two-page spreads) that are printed on one continuous sheet, there is no gutter or break in the center. There will be a slight crease in the center because, after all, you need to be able to close the book. The paper weight and thickness vary between photo services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hinged Lay Flat Binding<\/strong> \u2013 This is a flush mount with a hinge in the binding that enables the pages to lay flat, but there will be a tiny gap in the center, usually about 1\/16\u201d and it really doesn\u2019t interfere with the spread, other than you may not want to put text right smack in the middle. The paper will be sturdy enough to lay flat and can vary depending on the company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Flush Mount Album<\/strong> &#8211; This is the traditional style used for high-end wedding albums. The images are printed on very high-quality photographic paper and then mounted on super thick mat board and there is a very small gutter, or space down the center, about 1\/16\u201d. These albums are usually hand bound with leather covers and are so thick there are maybe only 10- 20 pages, not 100. These tend to be extremely expensive ($300 and way up). You can often get upgrades such as silver or gold stamping and gilded edges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Below is my survey of popular photo book services that offer lay-flat books. While most companies offer multiple sizes, I am using 11&#215;8 (or closest size) for my examples. In this post I am not going to cover the super high-end flush-mounted wedding albums, I will save that for another post.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shareasale.com\/r.cfm?b=312685&amp;u=127549&amp;m=19751&amp;urllink=&amp;afftrack=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" style=\"border: 0px none; padding-bottom: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.shareasale.com\/image\/19751\/MixbookLogo88x31.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"88\" height=\"31\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a style=\"text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/mixbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mixbook<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong> Premium Lay Flat Classic Landscape 11&#8243;x8.5&#8243;<br \/>\n<strong>Price:<\/strong>\u00a0 $89.99 for first 20 pages + $1\/page for additional pages<br \/>\n<strong>Max pages:<\/strong> 99<br \/>\n<strong>Sizes:<\/strong> 8.5&#8243;x8.5&#8243;, 12&#8243;x12&#8243;, 11&#8243;x8.5&#8243; Landscape<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1594\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1594\" style=\"width: 545px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/mixbook\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1594\" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/mixbook-lay-flat-photo-book-pages.jpg\" alt=\"Mixbook has photo books with pages that lay completely flat with no gutter.\" width=\"545\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/mixbook-lay-flat-photo-book-pages.jpg 545w, http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/mixbook-lay-flat-photo-book-pages-300x146.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 545px) 100vw, 545px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1594\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mixbook offers premium lay flat photo books with seamless pages, printed on premium semi-gloss paper backed by thick, 12pt card stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for a custom photo book with hard, super thick, sturdy pages, <a href=\"\/blog\/mixbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mixbook<\/a> is for you. While it\u2019s a considerable step up in price (a standard 20-page 11&#215;8.5 book is $34.99 vs $89.99 for lay flat) it is well worth it for a special occasion book. These are true lay-flat pages, where the two-page spreads are printed on one large, continuous sheet so there is absolutely no break in the image. You can put photos, text, or embellishments in the center without losing anything when printed. This is a pretty unique feature offered by just a few companies. Each spread is printed on premium, acid-free and archival paper (65# cover Mohawk Navajo Brilliant white, semi-gloss finish) and mounted on a 12pt board.<\/p>\n<p>This makes the pages very thick: a 20-page book will be \u00a05\/8 inch thick and a 50-pager will be a whopping \u00a01 1\/8 inches. It\u2019s heavy, too! \u00a0A 50-page 11&#215;8.5 \u00a0lay flat book will weigh several pounds (thank goodness shipping is a flat rate and not based on weight!).<\/p>\n<p>The image-wrap hardcover is printed on SoftTouch Matte which has a matte, almost velvety finish. Due to the page style, there are no endpapers. These books come in a nice presentation box. While not cheap, <a href=\"\/blog\/mixbook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mixbook\u2019s lay flat books<\/a> are economical alternatives to high-end flush-mount wedding album-style books, which are printed on photo paper and can run hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>I love Mixbook for many reasons besides their books with hard pages, most especially for the total customization you get with their web-based photo book creator. There are frequent photo book sales that can help with the cost. \u00a0I\u2019ve <a href=\"\/blog\/mixbook-review\/\">reviewed all of Mixbook\u2019s features here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><a style=\"text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"\/blog\/shutterflyphotobook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shutterfly<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ad.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/show?id=9AqQ8IIlvfw&amp;bids=253410.1&amp;type=10\" alt=\"icon\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong> Classic Hardcover 8&#215;11 with lay flat upgrade<br \/>\n<strong>Price:<\/strong> $69.99 for first 20 pages ($39.99 + $30 upgrade per book for lay-flat pages \u2013 the upgrade is $25-50 depending on the book size), $1.00 each extra page<br \/>\n<strong>Max pages:<\/strong> 100<br \/>\n<strong>Sizes:<\/strong> 8&#215;8, 8&#215;11, 10&#215;10, 12&#215;12, and 11&#215;14<\/p>\n<p><strong>Premium Line<\/strong> with hand-stitched leather cover from $124.99<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1596\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1596\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/shutterfly-layflat-book.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1596\" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/shutterfly-layflat-book.jpg\" alt=\"Shutterfly has a loay flat photo book upgrade and a premium book\" width=\"550\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/shutterfly-layflat-book.jpg 550w, http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/shutterfly-layflat-book-300x127.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1596\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Shutterfly gives you the option of choosing lay flat binding via their Custom Path and also offers a premium product.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/shutterflyphotobook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Shutterfly<\/a> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ad.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/show?id=9AqQ8IIlvfw&amp;bids=253410.1&amp;type=10\" alt=\"icon\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/> has two separate lay-flat options. The first is an <em>upgrade<\/em> to their standard book available through their Custom Path photo book creator, and the second is their <strong>Premium<\/strong> line with a genuine leather cover.<\/p>\n<p>During the photobook-making process, you can add lay flat pages as an optional extra for a flat rate of $25-50, depending on book size. \u00a0The paper is described on their site as \u201cdouble thick, premium professional-grade paper with a satin finish\u201d and is seamless across the pages. The pages are thick and firm but they do have some give. Customers say they appear to be of higher print quality than the standard books; you don\u2019t see the dots and the images reproduce nicely with vivid color.\u00a0 There is no gutter in the center so you can span an image across two pages without losing any portion of the image. Shutterfly recently improved its photo book-making software to make it easier to span images. The cover is the standard glossy hardcover with image wrap.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1619\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1619\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/shutterfly-premium.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1619\" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/shutterfly-premium.jpg\" alt=\"Shutterfly's gutterless premium binding\" width=\"190\" height=\"153\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1619\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Shutterfly offers gutterless binding on their Premium leather-bound photo books<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Shutterfly also has a line of <a href=\"\/blog\/shutterflyphotobook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">premium photo books<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ad.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/show?id=9AqQ8IIlvfw&amp;bids=253410.1&amp;type=10\" alt=\"icon\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/> that come with lay-flat binding, as well as a hand-stitched genuine leather cover, starting at $124.99 for the first 20 pages. These impressive books are assembled by hand and are perfect for weddings, portfolios, and special occasions.<\/p>\n<p>You can read more about <a href=\"\/blog\/shutterflyphotobook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Shutterfly&#8217;s photo books<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ad.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/show?id=9AqQ8IIlvfw&amp;bids=253410.1&amp;type=10\" alt=\"icon\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/> and Custom Path book creator in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/shutterfly-photo-book-review.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">my detailed review<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1606 alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/picaboo-logo.png\" alt=\"Picaboo\" width=\"148\" height=\"55\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a style=\"text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Picaboo<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong> Classic Hardcover 9&#215;11 with Lay Flat pages<br \/>\n<strong>Price:<\/strong> $69.99 for the first 20 pages,\u00a0 $1.00 for each extra page<br \/>\n<strong>Max pages:<\/strong> 90<br \/>\n<strong>Sizes:<\/strong> 8&#215;8, 8&#215;11, 11&#215;9, 12&#215;12, 14&#215;11<br \/>\n<em>Free shipping on all products<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Prestige Line available with lay-flat pages<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"font-weight: bold; display: inline !important;\" href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1620  \" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/picaboo-hinged-lay-flat-binding.jpg\" alt=\"Picaboo offers books with hinged lay flat binding\" width=\"500\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/picaboo-hinged-lay-flat-binding.jpg 500w, http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/picaboo-hinged-lay-flat-binding-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Picaboo<\/a> <em>has hinged lay flat photo books plus a line of high-end Prestige books<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Picaboo<\/a> has a Classic line and a high-end Prestige line and both offer lay-flat photo books. The paper includes an integrated, flexible hinge that allows your book to lay flat. There will be a very narrow gutter. You can add the lay flat option to your Classic book after you choose a book size. Picaboo uses heavy-weight, glossy paper described as 100-lb, archival-quality, acid-free text stock.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Prestige<\/strong> line is meant for really special books, such as wedding albums or portfolios. The Madison style is an intermediate product printed on a heavyweight museum quality page with lay-flat pages, starting at $199.99 for an 11 x 9 20-page book; $2.00 for each additional page.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Picaboo<\/a> also offers high-end, flush mount lay flat albums that are bound on the edge of each page so there is no gutter. They are \u201chand mounted on thick gilded masonite board printed on Kodak Endura paper\u201d and start at $399.99 for an 11 x 9 book and $10.00 for each additional page.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"\/blog\/picaboo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Picaboo<\/a> is now offering free standard shipping on all its products, which translates into nice savings. They also offer frequent sales of their photo books. You can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/picaboo-photo-calendar-review-2014\/\">read my full review of Picaboo here.<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/blog\/snapfish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" style=\"border: 0px none;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lduhtrp.net\/image-1450655-10878916\" alt=\"\" width=\"120\" height=\"60\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><a style=\"text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dpbolvw.net\/click-1450655-10831317\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Snapfish<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.awltovhc.com\/image-1450655-10831317\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong> Standard Custom Hardcover 8&#215;11 with Lay Flat upgrade<br \/>\n<strong>Price:<\/strong> $69.99 for the first 20 pages,\u00a0 $1.00 for each extra page<br \/>\n<strong>Max pages:<\/strong> 90<br \/>\n<strong>Sizes:<\/strong> 8&#215;11, 11&#215;14<\/p>\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong> Premier Lay Flat 8&#215;11<br \/>\n<strong>Price:<\/strong> $69.99 for the first 20 pages,\u00a0 $1.00 for each extra page<br \/>\n<strong>Max pages:<\/strong> 100<br \/>\n<strong>Sizes:<\/strong> 8&#215;8, 8&#215;11, 12&#215;12, 11&#215;14<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1602\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1602\" style=\"width: 574px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/snapfish-premium-lay-flat-photo-book.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1602 \" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/snapfish-premium-lay-flat-photo-book.jpg\" alt=\"Snapfish offers optional lay flat pages as an upgrade plus a premium line with continuous pages and no gutter.\" width=\"574\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/snapfish-premium-lay-flat-photo-book.jpg 574w, http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/snapfish-premium-lay-flat-photo-book-300x96.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1602\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Snapfish offers an upgrade to hinged, lay flat binding and a new Premier product with seamless pages printed on continuous sheets.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/snapfish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Snapfish<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.awltovhc.com\/image-1450655-10831317\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/>is a newer entry into the lay flat photo book arena. They offer two different lay flat products and they are quite different. The Standard Custom books are offered with optional lay-flat binding. They are hinged papers so you will see a slight break down the center, but they are still great for a two-page spread. The paper is 100 lb. Snapfish has upgraded its book-making software to make it easy to span an image across two pages.<\/p>\n<p>The new <a href=\"\/blog\/snapfish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Premier lay flat book<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.awltovhc.com\/image-1450655-10831317\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/> has extra thick, premium paper and a matte photo paper cover. They\u2019re printed on <em>continuous sheets<\/em>, so the spread is seamless without a gutter in the center. The pages are printed on premium heavyweight paper with a luster silk finish. This offers super-saturated color, so images will be really vivid. The matte photo cover doesn\u2019t have a bar code on the back, which is great if you are making a wedding book.<\/p>\n<h3><a style=\"text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"\/blog\/printique\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Printique<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong> 8&#215;10 hardcover photo book<br \/>\n<strong>Price:<\/strong> $56.95 for 26 pages<br \/>\n<strong>Max pages:<\/strong> 76<br \/>\n<strong>Sizes:<\/strong> 6&#215;4.5, 6&#215;6, 6&#215;7.5, 6&#215;9, 8&#215;6, 8&#215;8, 8&#215;10, 8&#215;12, 10&#215;12.5, 10&#215;10, 12&#215;15, 12&#215;6, 12&#215;9, 12&#215;12<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1603\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1603\" style=\"width: 505px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/go.digitalphotos101.com?id=41769X1133664&amp;xs=1&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adoramapix.com%2Fapp%2Fproducts%2Fbooks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1603\" src=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/adoramapix-lay-flat-photo-book.jpg\" alt=\"Adoramapix's photo books come with lay flat pages as standard\" width=\"505\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/adoramapix-lay-flat-photo-book.jpg 505w, http:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/adoramapix-lay-flat-photo-book-300x131.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1603\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">All of Printique&#8217;s photo books come with lay-flat pages as a standard feature.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"\/blog\/printique\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Printique<\/a> is a higher-end photo book maker. <b>All <\/b>their books are printed on <b>real photographic silver-halide paper<\/b> with a lustre finish, which offers brilliant saturated color and natural skin tones. There is also an option for fingerprint-resistant HD Glossy Album Paper. All their books come with <em>gutter-free lay flat pages<\/em> using a Leporello binding system, which is an accordion-like binding. Each spread is a single continuous sheet of archival photo paper, it does not use two separate pages with a hinge.<\/p>\n<p>Printiques\u2019s online book creator software makes it very easy to make an image span two pages. The pages are nice and stiff with a bit of heft to them, and your book will be nearly twice as thick as a standard book. The logo is printed on the inside of the back cover, leaving the outside of the back free for your photo.<\/p>\n<p>These are very high-quality books using real photo paper (most standard companies don\u2019t use real photographic paper) so your images will more closely match the originals; \u00a0colors will be vivid and pages have that beautiful photographic gloss.\u00a0 These books are ideal for wedding books and panorama scenic shots. Leather cover books are also available, in addition to optional cover stamping in gold or silver foil. <a title=\"AdoramaPix Photo Book Review \u2013 Making a Lay Flat Book\" href=\"\/blog\/a-review-of-adoramapix-layflat-photo-book\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read my experience with Printique here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Get the Best Deal on Photo Book Printing<\/h2>\n<p>Lay-flat photo books are definitely more expensive but can be well worth the extra cost. The good thing is all of these online photo services have frequent sales, so you should be able to save some money, at least 15%.\u00a0 To help you save money and get the best photo book price possible, I track and post all the sales and promos I can find, including coupon codes, on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.photocoupondeals.com\/weekly-promos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">my photo deals page.<\/a> Be sure to bookmark it so you can check the latest offers when you\u2019re making your next book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo Books With Lay Flat Pages Lay flat photo books are becoming mainstream as more and more photo book services come out with this style. It used to be that they were primarily for the wedding album market because they were so monstrously expensive. I love that now there are affordable lay-flat books for all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[209,78,211,207,206,214,212,76,16,213,136,208,21,22],"class_list":["post-1593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photobooks","tag-adoramapix","tag-binding","tag-flush-mount","tag-gutter","tag-gutterless","tag-hard-pages","tag-hinged-binding","tag-lay-flat","tag-mixbook-2","tag-mypublisher","tag-picaboo","tag-seamless-pages","tag-shutterfly-2","tag-snapfish-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>All About Lay Flat Photo Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All lay flat books have pages that stay open, but there are different kinds of binding. Before making your book you need to read this to learn the differences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalphotos101.com\/blog\/lay-flat-photo-books-a-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All About Lay Flat Photo Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All lay flat books have pages that stay open, but there are different kinds of binding. 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