Saal Digital Photobook Review

I am a University Illustration student and amateur equine photographer. As part of my coursework, I wanted to submit a high-quality photobook featuring my best photographs. I ordered mine from https://www.saal-digital.co.uk/ and I was lucky enough to take part in some product testing for them. Here is my review.

I have never ordered a photobook before, and I was very pleased with m overall experience with Saal Digital. The product that I ordered was a 28 x 19 photobook, with 48 pages in the matte photo paper finish. I upgraded my photobook with a sapphire black leather front cover and I removed the barcodes from the pages.

Throughout the process, the team at Saal Digital were always in contact with me offering advice and recommendations which I found very helpful and added a personal touch to the experience. It was recommended that I use their Saal Design Software UK that offers various creation options and templates. There was also the option to design with InDesign or Photoshop which I thought was very useful and professional.

I used the Saal Design Software and found this very easy to use. You can work on multiple projects at once, which means that I could experiment with different layouts and choose my favourites. There was also no rush or pressure to design my photobook in one go, as you can save your photobook and continue designing it when you're ready.

I liked the preview mode in the software, as it meant I was able to properly visualise my photobook before ordering it. I also found the bleed warning lines and popups very useful in the software.

There were plenty of options for text without being too confusing or overwhelming, and it was easy to continue the same style throughout the photobook. I had originally planned to use one of my photos for the front cover but loved how professional the black leather looked. It feels very soft and is of high quality. It makes for a very smart and striking book.

Even though I didn't add the optional padding to the cover, the photobook looks thick and is very sturdy. It really invites you to pick up the book and is very nice to hold and look through.

I was torn between matt photo paper and glossy photo paper. Their website states that glossy photo paper achieves high-quality results and it is particularly suitable for bright and colourful images as it gives radiant colours a fascinating depth. In comparison, the matte photo paper has a semi-gloss surface has a fine but uniform structure. Fingerprints and reflections are thus reduced to a minimum.

In the end, I decided to go with the matt photo paper as the majority of my photos are black and white. I am also considering ordering a second photobook with my illustrations in, and I thought that matt paper would suit this better and so I wanted my books to be consistent. However, I would be interested to see how my photos look on glossy paper in comparison.

Saal offers sample sets which you can order before you order you photobook. This would be especially useful for freelance photographers who are offering photobooks to clients. This would allow them to demonstrate the available front cover materials from linen to leather and wood effect. There is a sample set available for purchase, and these demonstrate 15 different paper types. There is also a sample set for wall decors such as metal prints and acrylic glass.

The software was excellent for assisting in layout options. It automatically placed the photos for you, whilst suggesting alternative layouts at the side. You could disable this option and place the photos where you want. It is very easy to import a photo, change the background colour, align the photo and add text. I am very happy with how my photobook looks and my friends and family are all very impressed. My University tutors were particularly impressed with the lay-flat pages which meant it was very easy to place photos across both pages without worrying about the middle of your images getting lost.

I highly recommend Saal Digital's photobooks to anyone! They are perfect for people offering a professional photo service, to those who want to treat themselves to a photobook of their favourite photos and memories. I am thrilled to have some of my favourite photographs in print. Especially seeing as coronavirus has caused my university course to come to an end, I am grateful to have this photo book to look back on. Thank you to the team at Saal Digital for giving me this opportunity.

I look forward to ordering more products from you in the future! I have my eye on a calendar and business cards next...

After lockdown I would like to do an equestrian product photoshoot with this photobook as I am unable to do so at the moment.