Angelina Purpura
09-05-2011, 05:00 PM
<p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//wpt/auto/1314812065.usr126385.png" /></p><p><a href="http://www.poyomi.com/" target="_blank">Poyomi Photobooks</a> are a simple and elegant solution to the problem most of us have these days: What do I do with all of my digital photos? My own <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/daedrius/" target="_blank">Flickr</a> account alone currently has nearly 22,000 photos,and will surely exceed that soon. I love every photo I've taken, but not enough to print them all, and it's difficult to justify the time of moving all of my favourites to a USB drive and going to the photo store at the mall. But I do wish that I could have copies of some of my more precious images, to show my friends or reminisce over. What better way to order a physical copy of your photos than though your computer/the Internet, where most of them are likely to be stored? Better still, Poyomi allows to to print them directly into scrapbook form, saving you yet another time-consuming process. And for as little as $5.99 for a 20 page book, Poyomi has made it quite affordable too. <MORE /></p><p>Poyomi's interface allows you to access your online albums and then drag-n-drop the images of your choice into a cache to be arranged into book format. You can choose images from your computer/memory cards, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>, <a href="http://picasa.google.com/" target="_blank">Picasa</a>, and <a href="http://www.smugmug.com/" target="_blank">SmugMug</a>. At this stage I should mention my only grumble about Poyomi - the inability to search within your albums by keywords. I connected to my Flickr account only to find every image I have before me in chronological order. It wasn't very conducive to searching out those favourite images and, for a few minutes, I was stymied. I hadn't given much thought to what I wanted my album to be about and not being able to pick and choose with freedom put a damper on my enthusiasm. But then I had a brainstorm and was rolling again - I have a pretty extensive collection of photos of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/daedrius/sets/72157627397033680/" target="_blank">Japanese cherry blossoms</a>, and that is what I wanted immortalized in book form. To do that I went into Flickr and sorted them into a set, and then returned to Poyomi to select images from that set alone. Problem solved, I continued.</p><p>The next set is Organization - you can arrange the photos chronologically, by name, or in your own custom order. At this time you also have the option of tagging the pictures individually. I chose to opt out of captions, instead letting the images speak for themselves. The next step was Design - choosing the colour scheme of the book itself. You have a variety of tonal themes - plain white or black backgrounds, or background composed of blended colours taken from the images. I went with the blended colours, known as Fresh, and was delighted with the result. And finally I designed my cover - one of my images across two pages, with proper book-binding rather than staples. An interesting service Poyomi offers is a web address unique to your photobook, that you can share with your friends or revisit if you're not ready to print right away. <a href="http://www.poyomi.com/book/f6bbe57f51844a30837008beeaacfce8" target="_blank">You can view my photobook in its entirety here</a> (and I hope that you do - it is gorgous!) After previewing and approving of it there was nothing left but to request the printing and shipping. The final price for this work of art: $9.00! </p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1314816720.usr126385.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p><em>Figure 1. The finished product, in all its glory!</em></p><p>The photobook was delivered within days of the order, and came protected in cardboard packaging, saving it from travel damage. The paper is glossy and sturdy - similar to those of a colour yearbook. The printing is clear and without artifact. I really feel that it has done justice to my photos. I could not be happier with it - it now has a place of honour on my bookshelf.</p><p>The folks at Poyomi would like for you to experience the same joy - they've issued a discount code for Digital Home Thoughts readers. Simply go to <a href="http://www.poyomi.com/coupon/dht2011" target="_blank">www.poyomi.com/coupon/dht2011</a>. A 15% discount will be automatically applied to your session, and you can have your favourite photos in your hands in no time.</p><p><em>Angelina Purpura is a gadgets enthusiast, </em><em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/daedrius/" target="_blank">amateur photographer</a></em><em>, and an obsessive consumer of web media. She has a lot to say about movies and food, which you can read about on her Twitter </em><em><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/anzi" target="_blank">@Anzi</a></em><em>.</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//ppct/auto/1240336793.usr1.gif" /></p><p><strong>Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/reviewteam.php" target="_blank">Thoughts Media Review Team</a>! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/reviewteam.php" target="_blank">Then click here for more information.</a></strong></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//ppct/auto/1240336793.usr1.gif" /></p>