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A&I Books
Categories: Local Services Printing Services Shopping Photography Stores & Services Event Planning & Services Photographers Printing Services, Photography Stores & Services, Photographers [Edit]
933 N Highland AveLos Angeles, CA 90038
Neighborhood: Hollywood
(323) 856-5280
Yelp Deals
$19.99 for a Personalized Photo Book (reg $30) at A&I Books
- Create and personalize your own 8.5x11 soft cover photo book - 40 pages of pictures and text, printed on heavy 80 lb. cover stock semi-gloss paper
- Receive a voucher for 25% off your next photo book order
- Photo books will be printed and can be picked up in store or shipped nationwide (additional shipping and handling is required per book if not being picked up in store)
- Customer service available 24/7 via email at support@aandi.com
- $19.99 for a Personalized Photo Book (reg $30) promotion lasts for 1 year from date of purchase. After that period, your Certificate is redeemable for the amount you paid, less any value you may have received. One person may purchase multiple Certificates for own use and/or as gifts. Only one certificate may be used per order. Not to be combined with other certificates, coupons or discounts. Subject to the Yelp Deals General Terms.
- Reg. Price $30
- Discount 33%
- Savings $10.01
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 9 am - 6:30 pm
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
45 reviews for A&I Books
Review Highlights
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"Beautiful high quality photos in a book." In 4 reviews -
"Cool place to process your film and make prints." In 9 reviews -
"The book turned out great." In 3 reviews
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45 reviews in English
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Review from Q D.
Northridge, CA
11/16/2011 9 Check-ins Here
A&I is my go to place whenever I develop my rolls of film. I would rate it a five but I've been told recently that they will cease developing E-6 film and they have their reasons which I do not know and can't think of any reason myself. I'll have to find some other lab that'll develop slide film after A&I ceases to.
Staff is great and they're timely with your photo needs with spectacular results. -
Review from Laurie G.
Springfield, VA
2/1/2012
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER.
USE: http://nationsphotolab...
Since I had a decent experience with using a groupon for a photobook, when I needed to, I ordered some large format photographs. They came back with crop marks up against the image, making them unusable since I had precut, signed mats and needed white space around the image. When I contacted the company, their "customer service" rep was snooty and obnoxious!! I "should have known" really? how? Nowhere on their site do they say there will be crop marks. He said very condescendingly that it was "Industry Standard" to put the crop marks on the image. To assume you want crop marks and give you no choice is ridiculous and can't possibly reflect I.S. -- And their site states they they do no trimming of the images themselves -- one would assume the prints would have white space around them, not marks. He said that I "should have told them I didn't want crops" -- really? That would presume that I knew I was going to get them.
Then he told me to download Dropbox and share the folder with them. After jumping through this hoop, Dropbox sent him an email saying I had shared the folder with him. He apparently did not see that email or the follow up email I sent 4 days later and acted like he didn't know what I was talking about when I called him today!! Then he acted like he was doing me a big favor to print them today after dropping the ball!! I had tried to call him several times before, always getting a recording -- today I called their Accounting office and had her put me on hold to wait for him since he wasn't responding to his email.
Even after I got him to agree to reprint for 50%, he stuck me with the full fee for shipping. I will never work with these people again.
UPDATE:
It gets better -- last night I get a forwarded email from the Art Director/Customer Service Rep as received from their Marketing and Development Director, entitled "crazy yelp review from crazy lady" -- super nice and extra professional!!
UPDATE on my UPDATE:
I found Nations Photo Lab -- they did a great job, cheaper than A&I -- professional with a quick turnaround. -
Review from Helen N.
Santa Clara, CA
1/5/2012
Snagged a Groupon last year for $10 for a soft cover photo book up to 40 pages ($30 value) and just ordered it a few months ago. In the end, I spent $25 because it's an additional $15 for shipping unless you are close to LA and can pick up in person. Shipping felt like forever cause it takes up to two to three weeks for arrival--I give 2 for being slow, 4 for handling with care and shipping through UPS.
For a soft cover photo book, I was surprised that all pages use the 8x8 dimension, so that's a good thing. I had no problems using the software but it did felt more manual than automatic--it's a bit old-g with workarounds when you want to change your book size and layouts... finalizing the book may cause problems if not in the right setting, cause the software auto opens your browser, you have to create an account, log in, and then close the browser, and then it refers back to the software to upload and complete the process... it's just odd but it worked, whew #1!
I like that all the pages are 80 lb paper, but I should have opted in for lay-flat cause the pages are kind of thick... as a result you can't open the pages too far apart (I can already see the staples from the binding of the last page cause I opened it too far in).
There is a minor two centimeter ink mark on all the pages in the same spot, possibly from the machine that printed the book cause I don't see the mark on any of my images on the computer. I used images as backgrounds for all my pages, so I'm okay with it as I can't tell unless I stare really hard to find it, whew #2!
I wanted to add a title to the spine... but I don't know if there is an option to as I couldn't find it -- so I had to pick an image that wrapped around the front and back of the cover.
On the last page, I had to add the AandIBooks logo, but it's okay (an old style logo in black and white) as long as I got to add an image as a background, plus I guess I'll accept it cause it's not an ugly barcode, whew #3! -
Review from kevin m.
San Diego, CA
5/15/2012
Their website and book offerings/prices/instructions are complicated and way over priced. Difficult to get in touch with and non responsive customer service.
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Review from andrea m.
Danville, CA
4/21/2012
I almost didn't use my groupon when I found out shipping for a paper book, which was 10 dollars, would be 15. What a rip off. For that alone I'll never deal with this company again. On top of the rip off shipping, the software is awful. I've used several types of bookmaking software, and this is by far the worst. I have not had to deal with customer service, so I can't comment on that, but if I had it to do over, I would never have bought this deal. It simply isn't worth it.
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Review from barb b.
Menlo Park, CA
11/17/2011
Service was excellent. I created my book on the easy to use site...bought it and then remembered my groupon that I had bought ages ago. Emailed them with the code and immediately got an email back from Vic saying he would be happy to apply it to my order. No issues. Awaiting my book and will review the final product. I have created many apple photo books and a and I site"compare well with apple and moreso...the backgrounds, page layouts and options to create a simple book..all the way up to flush mount leather bound...is great for the amateur or pro photographer. With all those digital memory cards full of yesterday's trips....I feel to have a quick and fun way to have them viable makes the journeys all the more real. Price is great.
Try it! -
Review from Corey C.
Marshfield, MA
12/28/2011
I will never order from this company again. The worst customer service I've ever dealt with. Their books are way over priced for the quality, and they screwed up my Christmas orders that were placed in advance with plenty of time for production and shipping, and then never called or emailed to tell me that "their machine broke down and that's why my orders hadn't shipped yet". Wasting your money here. I would recommend Snapfish over this company any day.
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Review from Edward O.
Los Angeles, CA
11/18/2011
I had these folks develop E6 film in the past--to excellent effect.
But they seem to be off their game.
Yesterday I uploaded some files for "Next Business Day" printing.
The email confirming receipt was timestamped 3:17 pm.
When I called the next day to confirm pickup, they told me the order came in at "4:58 pm." (I was not even at my computer at 4:58 pm.)
They suggested I pick up the order three business days later--on Tuesday when I uploaded the files on Thursday before 4 pm.
And then they asked me: "Do you really need it today?"
Is this really how they do business? "Next Business Day" means three business days--unless I beg? -
Review from Phillip N.
Los Angeles, CA
12/25/2010
My experience with them was great. I only got a photobook (medium size layflat, about 60+ pages)
Their prints are good quality. It's about choosing the right image to put into the photobook really. My sister choose some that were not high in megapixel and it shows. The ones that were high looks great. Our fault, not theirs.
I chose to pick up mine instead of have it shipped and I was very impress when I entered the building yesterday and saw their samples. I would use them again.
PS
The whole process of creating the photobook was also easy. I found it easier than kodakgallery and I liked the quality more. Of course, I also paid more here. Worth it though. Main thing they could improve on is have more options in terms of backgrounds and layouts. There's a good amount but more in this case would be great. -
Review from Irene Y.
6/6/2011
For product quality, A and I gets a 4 stars. They made my medium sized 40 page lay-flat engagement book and it was just as I imagined it. Beautiful high quality photos in a book.
However, the process to get to that point was less than desirable (2 stars). You have to know your book size before creating it, otherwise if you change your mind in the middle of the book making process, you have to start over. :( Also, the background templates that they provide is very limited. you can upload your own backgrounds, but oftentimes the ones I uploaded (unless they were photos) were not high enough quality. So, if I could give any constructive criticism, it would be to offer more choices! Lastly, it was impossible to find a background that was high enough quality to make on the outer covers (not even their own background choices were high enough quality). i settled with a white cover and a few small images. It looked classic, but I wish I had the option to choose something else!
Pricing was reasonable, but if you can get a groupon offer that's twice as nice! -
Review from Janet D.
8/4/2010
Used a Groupon coupon to create my first digital scrapbook (a big deal since I'm a seasoned scrapbooker). While the finished product had the potential to be great, several of the printed pages were different than both the working and the preview screens in the software program used to create the book. That simply won't do. I contacted customer service...no response...until I threatened a negative Yelp. Instant response! They kindly offered to resolve the issue...so, I did what I needed to do on my end to resolve the glitch, shipped them the original book (as a favor) to save them an entire reprint, and anxiously waited for my replacement book.
Strike two. Once again the printed pages did not match what I was seeing on my screen. I emailed. They launched an investigation and requested several bits of info from me...I was happy. Until...dead silence. Several weeks went by before I decided to call them on it. They had been mind-swiped...no recollection of me at all. Sorry...too much work for me. Digital scrapbooks are supposed to save me time... -
Review from Alice H.
Santa Monica, CA
9/15/2011
They offer a nice product, but try to contact them.
It is very frustrating when the only method of reaching them is through filling out an electronic form to have them contact you ASAP.
24 hours later I'm still waiting to get a call.
I've heard very good things about Blurb books - I think I'll try them on my next book. -
Review from rose S.
Los Angeles, CA
11/26/2010
A&I use to be one of the better places for professional work. They still may be for film but for their books on demand are awful, 2nd rate at best. (I probably would recommend Costco over them.)
The idea for them to do a general correction on my photos is unprofessional and down right insulting. They don't have an ICC Profile to give you. They have poor Q&A at their site. Any questions that I had about the process I had to go to their competitors websites.
If you are a professional DO NOT USE them. If you are a casual user then they are fine.
It is sad that they have switched their standards from professional to amateur. They obviously are trying to figure out how to stay a float in this digital age but I don't think that they needed to kill the messenger.
DANGER DANGER -
Review from Tatiana V.
Long Beach, CA
10/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
I ordered an A&I photobook through groupon and it came out beautiful!!! I was able to customize eveything online. Beyond my expectations for only paying $10!
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Review from C C.
Chicago, IL
3/4/2010
Gotta love Groupon for offering $20 for a $60 book. I was a little wary of how good it would turn out because the software used to create the book was not that great. There were very limited photo lay-outs and it's just not easy to manipulate. I almost abandoned the whole project to just order a book through IPhoto.
I am glad I went through with the order because the book turned out perfectly. The pictures look absolutely fantastic! I will absolutely be ordering other books in the future. -
Review from Chandra H.
Long Beach, CA
9/19/2010 1 Check-in Here
I purchased a groupon for this place ages ago knowing I would use it for my wedding album. Serious stuff, eh?
The quality of their printing services seemed to be much higher quality then any of those other online book making sites. Their program for laying out the books is easy and user friendly. I was able to customize it almost as well as I could have in photoshop. I've used the book editing program from shutterfly before and it is horrible and so in comparison this was fantastic.
I ordered the 12 by 12 layflat hard cover book with way more pages then the groupon covered. The price I have to say, even without the discount, was fantastic. It totaled about $100, or a little more then $1 per page. A tiny 8 by 8 book from shutterfly with only 60 pages will cost you around $70.
Their studio is clean and laid out very nicely on the inside with photos all down the wall and sample books laid out in the center. My photo album came out beautifully and I will definitely be coming back for my printing needs. Its worth the drive out to Hollywood! -
Review from Vi Y.
12/21/2010
I have had such a horrible experience with A&I...users beware.
I purchased a groupon for $20 for $60 worth of personalized photo books from A&I. This was to be used as a Christmas gift for my grandmother. Originally I thought all of the work could be done online, so my cousin and I could tag-team the work. However, you have to download their software to use.
So I download the software, hurry to finish the book myself in time for Christmas, and go to upload it on the final day for the 10 day Christmas delivery window....the program crashes, over and over. I got the IT guys at my work to look at the problem, and found the problem to be with the program and not my system. I contact A&I and each time, it takes them over 24 hours to reply. The first time I was told to install the latest updates for the program. OK, Done, still didn't work. The 2nd time, he says "keep trying again and again, eventually it may work". Ok, it didn't. 3rd time (total of 3 days in now), he says to upload it on http://dropbox.com, so they can view the files. I do this, thinking I'm done. 2 days later I'm contacted, saying the files did not show. Wait another day for them to tell me to upload all of the pictures to dropbox as well. Ok, done.
We're now 3 days away from Christmas, and throughout the whole process, I kept asking how much it would be to rush the order, so she can get it for sure in time for Christmas. First time I called the girl said it could be 50% or double the price of the book. Ok....then we called back and they said triple the price of the book for the rush, making it an additional $180 on top of the $60. Ok....then they email me saying it would be 100% of the cost of the book, so an additional $60. Their staff does not have their story straight, and do not know what they are doing.
As of this morning, 3 days from Christmas, the product is still not done, and we cannot come into an agreement or even any form of consistancy on the price of a rush delivery. I was really hoping my grandmother would have the photobook in time for Christmas, and would be able to look at it and share with the rest of the family flying in for Christmas together. It looks like this isn't going to happen, and she's going to be looking at the book a few months from now, alone.
Horrible, inconsistant customer service, slow response times. Program required to create books is horrible, and needs to be updated. I would never use them again, and would not recommend them to any of my friends on Yelp or Facebook. -
Review from Kim J.
Los Angeles, CA
7/8/2008
Thank you, A&I.
I hate processing B&W film. I don't mind printing it, but processing is so yuck! I tend to pinch the negative when I'm putting it on the spool. Don't even get started about medium format film.
I'm pretty new to the whole photography thing and I'm still shooting a lot of film. People go in there with all kinds of professional stuff and here's me with my class assignments or photos I've taken of friends and family and it seems like they treat everything with equal importance.
(The Santa Monica location is cool, too.) -
Review from Ed E.
Boston, MA
5/11/2010
I first found out about A&I through Groupon ($20 for a $60 book). I have used A&I books 3 separate times and have bought 5 books.
The first time I was not very impressed. It was after Thanksgiving 2009 right during the Christmas rush. Groupon offered a coupon and their website and staff were overwhelmed. They were not very responsive to my emails and only reached their voicemail when calling them directly. After many tries I finally downloaded their book creator software. I found it had limited options and was cumbersome. It took me a week to put together a book I was happy with using their software. To make the whole process even more unbearable, they shipped my book to the wrong address. The sales staff tried the best they could help me, but it took 3 weeks in total to get my book. It just barely got to me before Christmas. I ordered an 8x8 hardcover book. The book turned out to be better quality than Adorama or Shutterfly, but if it was not for the coupon would be more expensive.
My second experience was totally different. I created a family album in April 2010. They updated and improved their software (still lacking in certain features, but it is better now). I spent 2 days making my book using their software. I ordered a 8.5x11 layflat book. There was no problems with their website this time. They were more responsive this time emailing me during every step of the process: a confirmation of my order, when the book was completed, when it shipped, the tracking number, and finally a followup survey. It took me 8 days from ordering to receiving the book in my hand. The book turned out great. Everything from the printing quality to the binding was better than I expected from my previous experience.
My third time using A&I books was May 2010. Every time I use A&I they must read my followup survey because every issue I have is partially addressed if not totally fixed by the time I use the service the next time. This experience was the best so far. After learning the limitations of the software I did not use their templates, was more creative with layout and clipart, used different paper than the default 80lb stock, and Photoshop processed all my photos before using the software. It took me 1 day to create the book, 7 days for them to make it and 2 days for it to be shipped. I say this book beats any book that I have ordred from Shutterfly, Adorama, or Mixbook. It is more expensive then these services, but the quality is much better.
Overall I think A&I Books does a very good job with photobooks. If there is a Groupon being offered beware that their servers may be overwhelmed. You should leave a 2 week window from starting your book with their software to receiving it in your hand. New users will have a bit of a learning curve to be able to put together their desired project, but the results are worth it. -
Review from Chris J.
Los Angeles, CA
3/10/2009
I've never used their scanning service, but have printed brochures & hardcover books there. Amazing color corrections and great customer service, in person, on he phone and by email. I had a lot of questions and they were very patient. Our prints were very rich in color with dark, contrasty images.
Their software (free for Mac & Windows) is OK, I just plugged in my own designs out of photoshop) - easy upload.
I would definitely recommend them. -
Review from Julie B.
North Hollywood, CA
12/10/2010
I was pleased with the final product that I got from A&I. I ordered 3 5X7 soft cover photo books to send to family. They came out beautifully and the service that I got when I picked them up in store was great.
The only complaints that I have is with the software. Once I got the hang of using it, it worked well but the tutorial to use it could use some work. Specifically I had difficulty with enlarging and cropping photos in it. I also had difficulty uploading the final product to the site, I tried a couple of times and thought I had gotten it. But a few days later I got an email saying that it hadn't gone through. The email had instructions for how to try uploading it again and after following the instructions, I was able to upload it successfully.
At the end of the day I was impressed with the product that I got. The quality of the book is excellent and I know that the recipients will be happy to have them. I think I could have stayed for hours looking at the sample books and pictures displayed in the store. They are lovely. I will be using them again. -
Review from Barbara S.
Providence, RI
9/13/2011
I first learned of A&I through Groupon when I purchased a voucher for a small album. I haven't used that voucher but I decided to use them to print a wedding album for my son and his wife. The software was superb and even though I do not have a design background I was able to produce a really amazing album. The one requisite is high-resolution images. My album arrived today and I am thrilled - so much so that I am ordering 4 more copies.
A&I sent me messages when they received my order; when they shipped the order; and they confirmed tracking info. All in all it was an excellent experience.
After reading some of the other reviews I was leery about using A&I but I'm hoping that they continue to deliver. Thus far I am really impressed. -
Review from Sean L.
Los Angeles, CA
3/11/2009
I'm not sure what it is with this location, I've never had problems with Santa Monica Branch, but more than once have they mis-cropped scans on my photos wrong. Once they even gave me someone else's film which is the ultimate professional fail.
I imagine if it was a professional job I was developing and someone else received my film I'd be quite pissed. The more hands that film touches the more dust it accumulates.
Unfortunately, they have a more than fair price which is why I return here time to time. It's no Icon, but it's like a fast food joint... get's the job done. -
Review from dae m.
Los Angeles, CA
2/26/2010
DOHHHHHHHHH!!! They closed the Santa Monica branch, now all I got is the Hollyweird location? TOTAL INCONVENIENCE...other than that, great courteous polite staff who cater to students and pretty much the only joint around that'll do E-6 processing. Yes, my digital neophytes that's for film.
Long ago before the use of 0's and 1's to create photographic imagery, silver emulsion was used to create the delicious colors and imagery that are now being replaced by lame photos that are grossly produced by big-rimmed glass sporting, plaid flannel wearing, and skinny jean hugging dorks donning a Canon Rebel or Nikon D40 that swear they're the next Terry Richardson...yeck...
Long as they keep carrying my sweet sweet Velvia 50 and process it...that's all i ask! Pretty soon I'll have to convert my bathroom to a Dark Room...well at least I'll get a nice head rush from the chemicals once that goes into effect...*shrugs* =T -
Review from Nicholas M.
Los Angeles, CA
7/15/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Let me start by saying that I am a professional photographer with a graduate level degree in photography. Thus, my standards are pretty high. I haven't used their book service yet (but I do plan on checking it out), but their photographic services have been quick and top notch. The facilities are cutting edge and well maintained and the service was great. I can't speak for their online aspect, but going into the actual store worked out great for me.
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Review from Kim K.
Los Angeles, CA
3/13/2010
Edit! Changed to 2 stars, just because they're not ONE STAR bad. That would just be mean. Still, probably not going back.
I went here off and on for a couple months when I was in school. The customer service people were never really polite to me, but whatever. They got the job done.
Then I finished school. No more discounts. And they started charging a fee to drop off a lightjet order??? Way to drive away your loyal customers! I live pretty close so it's often easier for me to drop off a disc than to spend a super long time uploading big files.
THEN they tried to tell me I ordered metallic when I ordered matte. If I ordered metallic, why was I charged for matte? Why did my CD say MATTE on it? So much hassle for what should be really simple.
I hate driving across town, but I've started going to Icon. At least they're open later when traffic has died down. -
Review from Ryan Y.
Berkeley, CA
12/1/2010
The Quick and Dirty: Image quality is very good for the price and for one-off projects, however their customer service can use some new hires. Minus 1.5 stars for customer service.
Initial Thoughts:
I used A&I for their photobooks - they do a variety of services so you have to use their aandibooks website or specify when you call. I ordered an 8x8" hardcover layflat 40pg book, and it came out fairly well - after a ton of emails and calls.
I was very surprised to find they gave an option to submit files created in Photoshop or Indesign - this perked my interest. I gave their downloadable software a whirl just to compare to Shutterfly [ordered 3 books from Shutterfly] and their software does seem to give much more flexibility in terms of layouts and general designs, but I didn't explore it or much more than an hour or so. If you are planning to use their software, you can skip to receiving.
Custom Book in Photoshop:
The big thing about printing books, more than just straight prints, is that bleed zones, safety margins, and gutters are critical - you can't just chop it off after the fact. Add layflat binding, which makes 2-page image spreads practical, and your inside margin better be spot on. I conversed with them a total of 11 emails and probably 6 or 7 more calls to ask them the same simple questions about the aforementioned specifications. They pointed to their website and their PDF manual [both aren't completely clear], but when I asked them if they could just give me the numbers so that I can achieve a 2 page spread, they didn't pull through. I must have asked for bleed and gutter specs 4 times and got 4 different answers. They have a template with exact sizes for dust jackets depending on book size and page count, so I don't know why they can't provide a template for the actual pages!
Custom Book Ordering:
After deciding on a gutter spec, I finished my 40 page book + dust jacket and uploaded to Dropbox for them. Their ordering process was pretty sketchy - they claim it's a new system so they haven't worked out all the kinks, but really guys... really? Their entire order form gives majority of the space to Lambda prints and Inkjet prints, but for custom books they want you to write it in the special instructions box at the bottom. **When doing this, type out your entire instructions in notepad, then COPY it into the order form box. If you type something, click away from the box, and then click the box again, your stuff will disappear. I took me a while to realize this.** If you don't have it already, Dropbox is a neat program if you ever have to repeatedly send files to a friend [i.e. working simultaneously on a project, send to family, etc]. Also, make sure you can combine PDFs into a single file - this is required; Photoshop only makes single page PDFs, Adobe Acrobat Pro will combine for you.
Receiving:
I currently live in Norcal [I got a groupon from a San Francisco sale] so I wasn't able to personally pick it up, but my girlfriend lives close by so I can only give a first hand opinion on shipping and a second hand opinion on pickup. Shipping: They ship a single page, gently folded over in a rather large cardboard box, not a tube. My 11x17" test print was $11, but shipping was $14 - I strongly recommend picking it up in person if possible. Pickup: My girlfriend walked in and up to the counter. Apparently the employees were talking and didn't even greet her until she spoke up - even Aaron Bros greets you and asks if you need help, heck even WALGREENS is attentive. They took the invoice and traded it for the book [shrinkwrapped to a cardboard square] without saying a word - again my girlfriend had to ask if this was the end of the transaction, particularly the part where the invoice required a signature - apparently it didn't. She knows good customer service; she was not happy, and she just had to pick up a book.
End Result and Comments:
The book itself is very high quality - the hardcover is thick with a linen-like weave-textured surface, binding is neat, and dust jacket is fitted nicely. For some reason all the text on the left pages came out a bit fuzzy, yet the text on the right pages came out fine - I don't see anything wrong with my PDF so I'm not sure what happened there - this is gripe #1. #2: The 2 page spreads still didn't come out right - I will adjust for the next book. #3. Customer service isn't professional at all. Colors were vibrant and nicely saturated, I didn't have access to a color calibrated monitor so I can't comment on accuracy (no ICC profile or reference). Tonal range is decent, but gradations aren't perfect - this is only a problem up close so don't order a 4x4 book and expect dot-per-dot perfection. That said I do think that image quality wise this is about as good as it gets for one-off jobs at this price range. If you can deal with crappy service or are using their software, you should get good results - otherwise be wary.
THE END. -
Review from Gillian V.
Washington, DC
11/21/2011
I first heard of A&I from a Groupon offer. I downloaded their softward (I have a Mac) and made my first album. Sure, the software has a bit of a learning curve, but what software doesn't? They give you a lot of options for making it "yours", which I really appreciated. I used to do Creative Memories albums but gave that up due to space constraints. These A&I books are just as nice, and just as customizable. I had to contact them twice regarding other orders and their customer service people have always been helpful and accomodating. I've used them a couple of times now and will continue to do so.
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Review from anwar t.
Los Angeles, CA
3/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've had a couple books printed here. Customer service is okay. In terms of quality of the books, I think I'd get the same from one of those on line companies like shutterfly or target or whatever. If i want to print a book for my self, it's okay. But for a customer I wouldn't do it again. The quality isn't as good as I thought and it's not cheap. Also if I want to print the same book but only in a different size I would have to redesign the whole thing over again. Unfortunately I bought two groupons before all this so now I have two books to do. But after this I'll be taking my business else where.
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Review from Tu-van L.
6/1/2010
This review is for the A&I Books printing services. http://www.aandibooks....
Out of all the Groupon deals I got, $20 for $60 credit for book making from this business is by far the best deal I got. This company prints top quality photobooks. The 8x8 hardback photobook included cover sleeve and high quality thick paper for printed pages. Besides picking out the photos you want to include, making the photobook was very easy. You just download the book layout program, work your magic, hit the order button on the main program page and your work of art is sent to print. The program itself is easy to use and very versatile with options for either automatic page layouts or for manual page customization. While I wish they had more functions for page order rearranging and navigation, the program offers plenty of page layouts and versatile picture editing skills to get just the right effect. Even I was impressed with some of the page spreads I made, some which couldn't happen without the program.
I wish I had better photo-editing skills so that my pictures turned out slightly better on the page. I also wished I sprung the extra funds for glossier paper. Other than that I had no problems having my book printed and it turned out exactly as I had laid it out.
I can only compare the book making program and overall product with Shutterfly and I found A&I Books EXCEED Shutterfly. I am extremely happy with how it turned out and the photobook showcased my recent vacation absolutely BEAUTIFULLY! I've showed it to a few friends and they were impressed with the quality of the book while being wowed by my book. I couldn't ask for anything better than that, and I have A&I Books to thank! When I have another monumentous event to archive (regardless of having a Groupon) I will most certainly use them again! -
Review from Cindy D.
Chicago, IL
1/13/2010
I used Groupon for a $60 book for $20. I made one of my wedding books using their software. It's professional enough to crop the pictures to the perfect height/width and some effects. It was a bit annoying that you would have to upload the pictures each time, but it was totally worth it after I got the final result. AMAZING quality!!! I usually get shutterfly book and this does not compare. This is the legit stuff for some quality, professional books. For special project, spend the time/money and go with this print company.
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Review from Brian K.
Canal Winchester, OH
11/5/2010 3 Check-ins Here
I have used Samy's and Color Services in Santa Barbara and the service at A and I is comparable. I still prefer working with the employees at Color Services and Felix at Samy's but this place is fast for film processing and I think the next photo-book I do will be printed here.
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Review from doug s.
Los Angeles, CA
1/17/2011
Thank you for all your help today with making my book !!
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Review from Raphael Aizan S.
Torrance, CA
3/20/2009
Turnaround is 3-4hrs for color (135 and 120), 8 bucks a roll, high quality protective packaging. The minimum charge is $20, but they'll occasionally cut students some slack. When they don't, you can buy some film to make up the difference.
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Review from Luz V.
Los Angeles, CA
4/27/2009
I haven't been by in person, but have used their mail order services (I don't get out of work in time to make it before they close). The prices are reasonable and I love that they don't charge for cross processing like some other places do (there's no reason they should). Print quality is good and everything is always shipped back safely packaged. My only disappointment is that turn around time is so long. It takes two to two and a half weeks for my prints to come back. This may be due to their use of USPS. Because of this, I've started using a service in Santa Barbara that uses UPS and whose turn around time is 5 days. And it happens to be cheaper and even better quality.
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Review from Jim E.
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
10/5/2010
I had them print large format photographs from digital files. The results were spectacular. I could not be happier.
In the process of putting together my project, I swapped some nice e-mails with the staff. When I picked up my two large format prints, they were super nice about allowing me to lay things out, look things over, and all of that. The printer came over and talked to me to make sure I was totally happy.
I think it helps to do a lot of communication to make sure your expectations are properly aligned, and that you've done all of your work correctly before they print. -
Review from Blake T.
San Francisco, CA
5/11/2011
I've also had a bad experience with A and I.
I ordered the groupon twice. Hadn't used the first one when the second one was offered, sadly, so spent more with them than I would've otherwise.
In my first order, the text I put on the postcard book was all within guidelines and set up correctly. However, the final product was completely off, with the text on one side being cut off, and the other having a huge margin. I complained and they reprinted it immediately, without having to verify the problem. Which leads me to believe this happens a lot, or maybe the often skip the QA. The quality of the color was ok, but not great. But to their credit they reprinted it right away.
The second order was a disaster. They do not offer any kind of color calibration, ICC file, or any way to control color, only a note on their website to use sRGB. While this discrepancy showed a little bit in the previous order, it was acceptable. In this one, however, it was absolutely awful. White balance was completely off, the color itself shifted quite a bit. I am a professional photographer and so I know how to manage color. I wrote to them about the problem and was told I should be ordering a test version before I go to final print. But this is not specified anywhere on their website, nor do they offer a low-cost test print alternative. So we are expected to order a product twice in order to deal with color issues? That's not a good business model, espcially considering their prices. I asked them to review the prints and they said that it printed properly and there would be no re-print done. Despite the fact that they look terrible.
Needless to say, I won't be using them again. I'd recommend you stay away until they improve the quality of their products. -
Review from Ai M.
10/31/2008
I love the work I see displayed on the walls. I started using this place after a tip from a professional for a service that can do B&W printing, giclee, lightjet, and mounting. If you work internationally, they ship! The quality of their digital processing and finishing services keep me from moving my practice out of state. They accept ftp uploading, online orders and short run press projects.
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Review from Oshi Y.
Los Angeles, CA
8/6/2007
Cool place to process your film and make prints.
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Review from Chuck P.
Los Angeles, CA
1/7/2010
Good prints and decent service. Gorgeous building, too...
