Have you seen my baby's new book?
My son's almost 2, and I've been slow to go through the hassle of printing digital photos and mounting them in albums. But maybe I was smart to wait. I just completed both tasks in one step, using an Internet-based service called MyPublisher, which prints albums on long-lasting, acid-free paper. The result is a sharp-looking photo book bound in a linen-wrapped hard cover for $30 (plus $6 shipping, and $10 off for extra copies). That price buys 10 pages, which can hold up to 40 pictures; extra pages run $3 each. Two programs can help you lay out an album: Adobe Photoshop Album for Windows ($50) or iPhoto, which is free for Mac OS X users. It took a couple of hours to produce my first book with Photoshop Album. IPhoto is a bit easier to use. MyPublisher promises its Web site (www.mypublisher.com) will soon have a program that can be downloaded free. The concept is new (and impressive) enough that friends are even willing to let us show them our baby pictures. -David LaGesse
This story appears in the June 16, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.