I was assigned a project to build a very large (85 page) photo book for a long-time client with very little time to get it done. My priorities were (1) an easy on-line interface for building the book with lots of flexibility for the layouts, (2) a high quality printed product, (3) fast delivery options.

Mixbook has a great webpage that lays out when the book needs to be submitted for printing combined with different delivery options (budget, standard, priority, express) and the delivery date. It has ALL the info I needed to set my deadlines.

The interface for building the photo book is excellent! I've been working with Adobe products (Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator) for years and consider them to be 2nd to none. (They could use some improvement but no other company comes close.) Mixbook is also 2nd to none, right up there with Adobe. Is it perfect? No. But I was never frustrated during course of building an 85 page photo book. There were tons of headshots in the book and each one had a name label. Sometimes, it was tough to grab a label and drag it a different area of the page. But a little patience got the job done. I was particularly impressed with how quickly the system uploaded my images! It was pretty fast!

Mixbook's themes are a good starting point for designing a photo book but users aren't chained to page layouts. I was able to pick out a standard frame to keep all the headshots the same size. When I loaded photos of events, I easily placed them wherever I chose on the page and readjusted the size. For the theme I selected, there were a substantial variety of page backgrounds which can be reorganized at the user's discretion.

One aspect that impressed my client was that the system allows different levels of collaboration. I was able to allow the department manager access to edit the book and the CEO to review it without giving editing permission.

Customer service is terrific. Early on in the construction process, I had a minor problem with the interface. The chat support was quick and very helpful. We got it fixed. After I ordered the book, I received a notification that the book would be delayed. Given that the book needed to arrive in time for a special presentation, I panicked a little. (I had left a 5 day margin from the delivery date to the presentation date because we aren't located in an urban area. Winter weather and delivery systems can cause delays that would have been beyond Mixbook's control.) I called Mixbook's customer service and they made sure that the photo book would be delivered on time. There was no delay.

Working with Mixbook was a great experience and I will use them again for personal and professional photo book projects.