Chatbooks Photo Book review

The Chatbooks photo books service has got to be one of the most straightforward out there, making it one of the best photo books for beginners. If you’re looking for a convenient and simple photo book, look no further. As it’s so easy to use, Chatbooks is ideal if you regularly curate photo books to capture life’s biggest moments.

The images come out well, with accurate color reproduction for vivid subjects (apart from red and pink) and most skin tones. If you wish, the software can organize your images for you, making the whole process incredibly easy. And the best part? It’s totally affordable, with the books starting from just $15.

But it does have its drawbacks. If you have a precise vision for your photo books, this probably won’t be for you, as customization options are very limited. The paper is pretty thin, so the images bleed between the pages, especially in bright lighting. Bright red and pink hues appear very oversaturated, and the build of the book is a little messy.

Is this the photo book for you? You can read this full Chatbooks Photo Book review to find out more.

Chatbooks Photo Book review: Specs

Chatbooks Photo Book review: Price & availability

Chatbooks offers a reasonably affordable printing service, starting at $15 on the Chatbooks website. This will increase as you choose bigger sizes and add pages, and the hardcover option also makes the book a little more expensive. These price discrepancies will vary depending on your book choices.

Creating your own photo book with Shutterfly starts at $24, and Mixbook starts at $12, so Chatbooks sits at the cheaper end of the scale. However, with Mixbook, you have a lot more creative freedom.

For a more premium finish, you’d want to look toward Printique with square photo books that start from $45. You’re paying for the superior quality here, something that Chatbooks lacks.

I ordered a 10x10-inch hardback book with 20 pages. This is the biggest size, best quality cover, and the minimum number of pages, and it was $50. The price will increase when you add more pages, but this also depends on the size of the photobook you order.

Uniquely, Chatbooks also offers a subscription service where you can receive either 4, 6, or 12 photo books per year, at a starting cost of $12 per book (for a 5 x 7 softcover). The latter option, billed annually, costs $120, so you'd be getting your books for $10 each.

Chatbooks Photo Book review: Software & production

If you’re not fussy about customization and are looking for a straightforward, easy-to-use service, I’d recommend Chatbooks. I used the online web version of Chatbooks, but you can use the Chatbooks app if you prefer to upload the images directly from your phone. The app is more streamlined to use than the web editor.

The online interface is incredibly easy to use, but if you have a strong creative vision, this won’t be for you. I often felt like I was bargaining with the interface in trying to create a page that suited what I was looking for.

There isn’t much scope for layout and collage customization, and you have to work with what Chatbooks provides. There are other services, such as Mixbook, that give you far more freedom with your page design.

I uploaded all of my images to Chatbooks, which then immediately sorted the images onto single pages, which is a good option if you only want one image per page. After the website automatically sorted my images, I had to order them myself, which took some time. I also used some of the collage patterns on the site to add some variation to the pages.

You can add image capture date and your own captions, but Chatbooks is quite restrictive with the location of captions on the page, and you can’t insert text freely depending on the layout you’ve chosen.

Unlike other books, you can’t stretch a single image across two pages. I often felt like I was battling against the interface to achieve my creative vision, and this meant that the process was long and arduous.

You can’t add a back cover to these books, and you only have the choice of white, gray, or navy covers. Other services, like Mixbook, allow you to use images and freely customize your front and back covers.

Despite the restrictive formatting, it's not all bad. The Chatbooks software is ideal for beginners who might be overwhelmed by a flurry of different options. I wholeheartedly recommend this for complete newcomers or those who aren't overly familiar with design software. So if simplicity is what you’re looking for, then Chatbooks will be perfect.

Chatbooks Photo Book review: Print quality

I was initially impressed with the print quality of the Chatbooks photo book. Upon first glance, the book appears premium, but when I looked closely, there were a few little details, like small leaks of glue, that offset the quality. Even so, I like the cushioned feel of the 10x10-inch hardcover.

Other services like Mixbook, Shutterfly, and Vistaprint offer larger print options up to 12x12-inch hardback books. This gives a little more freedom with image spacing, and a larger book instantly feels more premium. But in the interest of space saving, if you’re planning on ordering multiple books, the 10x10-inch from Chatbooks works well.

When I was creating the book, some of the images I uploaded were flagged as being too low quality for printing, but all of the images came out perfectly. Chatbooks does this so you can decide whether to continue with printing certain images. Although the photo book has a matte finish, the image still appears incredibly clear and well-focused.

I do have a few qualms, though. As you can see from the images, the blue hues are especially well represented, but at times, more vivid pink and red hues appear oversaturated, such as in the below image of the pink flowers. This makes the image appear like the ink has bled across the page and ruins the depth of the original image.

I was also disappointed with the quality of the paper. Under bright fluorescent lighting, the image on the other side of the page bleeds through the paper, but this isn’t an issue when viewed under softer lighting and in day-to-day conditions.

This obviously isn’t what you want, especially when dealing with vivid colors. However, this isn't an issue on pages with more natural or monochromatic coloring. For a better quality finish, Printique offers a premium look, but it will cost a little extra.

The page compositions from Chatbooks were well-balanced to ensure none of the images were lost in the gutter of the book. This meant I wasn’t losing any of my images where the pages are joining in the book’s binding.

After flipping through the photo book a couple of times, I noticed the binding glue at the spine was coming apart. But this was only visible on three of the most central pages. That said, the book still feels well-made, and the colors of the images are very impressive.

Chatbooks Photo Book review: Verdict

Chatbooks is an affordable and reliable option for creating photo books.. I found the software easy to use on both the app and the online version. Additionally, the software automatically sorts images onto different pages, which helped me design the layout quickly.

Despite warnings that the images imported were of too low quality, they printed with no pixelation. Skin tone replication is also accurate, so portraits look good in the books, too.

But the service does have a few drawbacks. I found that most vivid, rich red hues in the images can appear oversaturated, especially in more vivid images. The paper is see-through, despite feeling high quality.

Although the book looks good, when looking closer, I could see some leaking glue where the book has been bound and on the corners. There also isn’t much scope for customization when creating the books. So, if you’re more creative and want a more personal touch, I’d recommend Mixbooks instead.

That said, Chatbooks is a great photo book service. I would recommend it for anyone who doesn’t want to spend too much time editing and is looking to quickly make photo books on a regular basis.