Professional Printing of Calendars

[baycruisers]

I'm selecting and editing photos for calendars that I plan to give as Xmas presents to friends and family. Practically all print services (Shutterfly, Kodak, Mpix, etc.) will print wire-bound wall calendars and for about the same price ($20 each, less for larger quanties). Since price isn't an issue, I'm curious if others have had particularly good or bad experiences with these services specifically with calendars.

Thanks in advance.

[BrianZero]

Hi
Why not print the pages yourself and get a place like Staples[UK] to do the wire binding [About £1.50 / $3 each ]

I did just that for the first time last year - worked well
[Problem is - now everybody wants one ..... ]
Paper costs whatever your preference is - [I used 160g/m2 card semi-matt]
[Probably more scope than Kodak etc]

This way you can really personalise the calendar
Front page -- Specially made for The Whoevers'
Like for January -- 'Happy New Year Wendy'
Note a Birthday -- Happy Etc ...
Different themes for different people ...
All with fonts as fancy and coloured as you want

With regard to binding, I made the calendars as landscape which didnt work well with the 'hanging loop' too loose between the two pieces of wire
Something to do with the standard length of binding wire

It might have been better for binding as portait format

Also
Does anyone know where to get calendar templates for 2008 ?

[tootie501]

I have used Shutterfly for several years and have been very happy with their final product. In addition to the wire bound calendars, I have also had the one-page "year-at-a-glance" ones done, and was equally pleased.

[baycruisers]

Years ago my wife and I printed calendars for the family. It took FOREVER. Granted, that was several inkjets and computers ago, but by the time you factor in the cost of ink, getting them bound, and the hassle, $20 seems like a pretty good deal.

You do lose the micro-personalization option, but for me that's not a huge deal. Personal preference.

Thanks for the info re: Shutterfly. My wife has an account there. I'll take a look at it.

[Byron Gale]

I had calendars printed by the Costco on-line service and they came out great!

[westiemom]

I had a calendar printed last year by Shutterfly and they did a wonderful job. I plan on having several done this year.

Anita

[kroberts]

Thought I'd add my 2 cents worth:

I've made calendars the past couple of years. Instead of binding them, I've left the pages separate and used the inkjet magnetic paper to print magnets to put the page for the month on the 'frig. My family loves them and often says, "That would be a good photo for next year's calendar!" Guess that means I'll have to keep making them, huh? I use a mix of recent and older photos of my family when we were much younger.

[baycruisers]

Hmmm..interesting concept. Hadn't thought of that!

I'll give that some thought.

We crossed the Bay (Chesapeake) yesterday in our sailboat. Much too rough to get any pix, but the marina and small town we're located in is very picturesque. May need to poke around with the camera today. More calendar possibilities!