Shutterfly Review

Tamara By: Tamara | Last updated April 12, 2017

happy family with kids looking at photo book, shutterfly

8.0 / 10

TRY IT NOW

Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.

PROS:

  • Hundreds of themes, fully customizable layouts
  • Your photo book can be made by one of the Shutterfly designers, for 9,99 extra dollars
  • Safe, unlimited storage for an unlimited number of photos

CONS:

  • Limited working hours for live chat and phone support
  • Limited shipping options for other countries than US (no expedited shipping, no tracking for Canada)
Show More

SUMMARY:

Shutterfly is a photo publishing that was founded in 1999, initially as an online social expression and personal publishing service. It made a partnership with Kodak in 2000, offering scanning services and film developing. It started its photo book services in 2004 and it currently has millions of customers worldwide.

CHECK PRICE

COMPLETE REVIEW

The company is based in California. Over the years it managed to increase its acquisitions list, buying several other companies: Kodak Gallery, Tiny Pictures, MyPublisher and more.

Shutterfly offers a wide range of products and services: photo books, calendars, gift certificates, greeting cards and others. They also offer photo printing on almost any type of product you could think of, from mugs to blankets, pillows, t-shirts, phone cases, magnets, luggage tags, coasters, etc.

It is a pioneer in the photo book industry and it has an online editor built to satisfy any type of user, beginner or experienced.

The interface is compatible with PC or Mac.

There are two ways in which you can create your photo books: through the simple path or the custom path. The simple path is useful especially for beginners. You just have to upload your photos and the editor will automatically arrange them in your book, using the template you have chosen. You can upload up to 1,000 pictures, and have as many as 30 pictures per page. There are over 40 styles to choose from, each with predesigned layouts and backgrounds. With the Simple Path you can create photo books in 6 available sizes, with prices starting from $15,99.

The more skilled users can opt for the Custom Path. As the name suggests it, the method lets you customize the book exactly how you want. There is an extensive collection of over 200 themes, backgrounds, fully customizable layouts and embellishments. You have the freedom to add and edit the photos and text. The books can also have up to 1,000 photos in them (max. 30 per page) and come in six different sizes. The prices also start from $15,99.

For $9,99 more you can also use the ‘Make My Book’ option and let a Shutterfly designer make the photo book for you. You just have to upload the photos and let them do the rest.

For more information on the pricing and photo books types, go to:

https://www.shutterfly.com/

Your photo book can have between 20-110 pages. The six available sizes are the most common ones: 7X9, 8X8, 8X11, 10X10, 11X14 and 12X12. You have 12 cover options at your disposal: hard cover, soft cover, fabric, leather, suede, satin, cloth, matte, padded, glossy, etc. The pages can be standard, lay-flat or glossy.

The editing features are complex. You have a lot of picture effects: auto, B&W, sepia, sunshine, vintage. There is also a red-eye removal and you can resize, rotate, adjust the saturation, contrast, color tone, etc.

You can add and edit text boxes, clip art and other embellishments, but you have to pay attention because some of them will cost you extra money. When you see content that has a small ‘s’ in the corner, that means it’s premium material, so it will cost you additional money.

With Shutterfly you can upload your photos directly from your hard drive or from Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, ThisLife and share sites by Shutterfly.

You can share your project with your friends or family at any time, via Facebook, Blogger or by email and you can export it as PDF and print it wherever you desire, which is pretty cool.

There is also the Smart Autofill feature, which arranges the photos in the order they were taken and a Storyboard function, which is pretty similar to Autofill, only it gives you more control. Just drag and drop the pics to the Storyboard in order to determine which photos to be placed on a particular page. The selected photos will be placed automatically into an appropriate layout.

Another useful thing is the fact that Shutterfly lets you make changes even after your photo book is already underway, without making you start over. You can change covers, styles or sizes at any time.

You can add a logo on the last interior page or order a memorabilia pocket to be attached to the inside cover (to the front or to the back).

The service also allows unlimited storage for your photos, with no extra charge and for an unlimited period of time. The photos will be securely stored at the resolution at which they were uploaded.

Shipping and return policy

If you are not pleased with the product you received, Shutterfy will take it back but they will apply a 50% return fee for reasons other than errors on their part.

Shipping is not really their best quality. They don’t offer expedited shipping methods for any country outside US. Orders to Canada only come with standard shipping and don’t have a tracking number.

The expedited shipping time takes almost a week, with processing time included.  

Pricing

With the Simple Path you can create photo books in 6 available sizes, with prices starting from $15,99.

For $9,99 more you can also use the ‘Make My Book’ option and let a Shutterfly designer make the photo book for you. You just have to upload the photos and let them do the rest.

For more information on the pricing and photo books types, go to:

https://www.shutterfly.com/

Help/Support

Shutterfly offers customer support by phone, email or live chat. However, the phone and live chat options are not available 24 hours a day. There are specific chat and phone hours listed on their website. The email service is available 24 hours a day.

Phone: 888-225-7159

Social media: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Instagram

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shutterfly/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shutterfly

There is also a self-service where you can find answers (related to photo upload issues, order tracking, image resolution tips, delivery options and others) and a user forum.

Customer support doesn’t just have positive reviews among customers. There are a lot of complaints about its quality, especially regarding the way they handle order issues (delivery time, production errors and refunds).

Rate this review!

CHECK PRICE

Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Best Review Guide may earn money when you click on links. Read our advertising disclosure.

SEE ALTERNATIVES

Mixbook
Mixbook
Read Review
York Photo Labs
York Photo Labs
Read Review
Snapfish
Snapfish
Read Review

CHECK ALTERNATIVES

Photo Book Our top picks

BEST IN CLASS
1
9.7
Mixbook
Read Review
BEST VALUE
2
9.5
York Photo Labs
Read Review
RUNNER UP
3
9.3
Snapfish
Read Review
4
9.3
AdoramaPix
Read Review
5
9.3
Blurb
Read Review
6
8.8
Picaboo
Read Review
7
8.7
PrestoPhoto
Read Review
8
8.4
Montage
Read Review
9
8.1
Photobook America
Read Review
10
8.0
Shutterfly
Read Review

SUBSCRIBE