Photo Book printing services

I’m looking for a place to print a photo book of my images. The book is a one-off and just for me. “Coffee table” size, bound pages. Other “requirements”:

Choice of quality papers for the book
Lay flat (“no gutter’, minimal gutter)
Choice of covers
Multiple layout choices, easy to use layout software
50+ pages
Color and B&W images
Cost is “irrelevant” (it matters but a quality book/papers matters much more)

Two questions:
What else should I be thinking about? and
Have you used a specific source that you are very happy with and can you post it?

I have always been happy with Blurb.

I am a long time satisfied customer of photobookcanada.com since 2009 and have made a stack of books for my coffee table. They have a full range of options for your book from books sizes (up to 17.5" x 12", which is rare) to paper thickness to paper finish to presentation case to binding (yes, lay flat too). They have different websites (and free software versions) for other countries so you can go take a look, choose your country, then download your specific software and give a try.

Any others with experience and positive recommendations?

I used to have all my books, calendars, etc printed through Apple printing but they no longer offer print services so I've explored other options. So far I have liked the results from Motif and from Adorama printing. I use Shutterfly for inexpensive little books for the grandkids, and those are fine, but I have not tried their printing using their more premium papers. Actually, with any vendor, choosing the better papers will obviously give you better results,

Bumping in the hope of getting more options that people really like…

Apple’s books were produced by Mimeo. Apple Picture Books: Where to Get Them Now

If you're just doing one copy and want the best quality, print the images on a good inkjet printer on the paper of your choice and bind them yourself.

www.handmadebooksandjournals.com/

I'm considering doing a very small print run for a very localized photography photobook. Are those good enough for those, or should I spend a few bucks and up the quality a tad. Think small town craft show market.

Two options I've used: Blurb and Photobox. Both do regular discount runs, which helps.

Amazon also have a print on demand service. I bought a book (by someone else) for about £7. It was a small softback and the paper quality, contrast and colour is a lot weaker than Blurb etc but it was about 1/6th the price of one-offs from the usual printers. Might be a trade-off worth considering if low cost is your goal.

There are more expensive solutions recommended by some photographers. They might provide a better result, haven't tried them. One is called Saal.

Lynne shows a SAAL Digital photo book here…

15:55 www.youtube.com/embed/MOvtnWy1W7g

Some say that Drop Shadows are now passé… but, be careful, many times they are just over done / too heavy.
Play around with Distance, Spread and Size in Photoshop.
The Opacity slider is important for a subtle effect.

In my opinion less is more.
I use a minimalist black stroke for (framing - separation) images on a white background.
Random forum example: dprevived.com/t/block-user-option/280/post/30975/

oh… Lynne’s landscape videos are worth watching.