Customer Reviews

Epson StoryTeller Photo Book Creator - 8in x 10in (20 pages)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the idea of this product, and I loved working with it. I created a great layout that looked fabulous on screen. But unless you have an Epson printer, it is very difficult to print out a great copy. My hp deskjet could not handle the supplied photo paper, so a friend printed on his Lexmark for me. It worked better, but still had a few problems. More paper should be included in the package in case of printing problems because after several printing problems, we ran out of paper and I could not find the same photo paper in any store; I ended up buying a second package just to get more of the same paper.

Next time, I will make a book using the ofoto site -- much more professional looking (2-sided) and just as cheap.

Storyline can be created easily. Captioning is easy. Took about 3 hrs to put togther a 20 page storyline, caption and print the pages. Ability to zoom and pan photos is useful. The resulting book looks very good and vibrant.
Negative - Software uses a lot of system resources. Wish the sheets were double sided rather than single sided. Would like to see more themes and the ability to have an introduction page primarily based on text. Refill kits (without the s/w) would be great as well.

This is an extremely easy to use program and it's quite a lot of fun to work with! The end product is a stunning library type book that you are more than proud to share with family and friends. I chose not to tear out the extra mounting pages but used them to display extra photos. I have purchased a second one to use for our next vacation.

I recently purchased and completed my first book using StoryTeller. It was fun to produce, a bit tedious and labor intensive but the result was a beautiful book.

It would be nice if the book could use two-sided paper and thus look more like a real book. That might be difficult to accomplish. On the other hand it would be easy to offer more than one font for captions, titles and such. It would also be nice to have more control with captions such as italizing or underlineing individual words. The buyer should be aware that this produces a very large file and even a fast computer is slowed considerably.

Regardless of minor drawbacks, I think it is a great product and I'll probably buy several to use as very personalized Christmas gifts.

I wanted to make a children's book for somebody, using my own artwork, scanned into my computer with my own text. I downloaded the software but was disappointed that it did not leave me the freedom to compose my own layouts, but rather had a strict format that had to be used. You could use your own photos, but with somebody else's layout design. So the software was of absolutely no use to me. The book comes with glossy paper, so you can make 20 photo pages that are blank on the back side. That was useless too. I never used the paper. Also, I couldn't get the printer to accept 8 by 10 rather than 8.5 by 11.5 paper. I ended up buying double-sided matte paper, printing on both sides and having a 40-page book. I couldn't get the cover to print straight either, so I finally printed my cover design on a piece of glossy paper and glued it on. It looks nice, but I essentially paid the money for the book alone. The software and paper were a waste. I wish the company would make software that can be used by us more creative types for a book of our OWN design. I also wish Epson would make a 25-page book, so I could make a 50-page story.

The idea of this book is great, but there is no room for creativity whatsoever. If a page has space for 11 photos, you have to put in 11 photos. If you like the layout, but only want to put in 9 photos, it won't adjust itself. If you're supposed to put a date somewhere, there is no room for more characters than a date would require, and it is not adjustable. You want to move a photo up a bit, out of luck. I got so frustrated using their software, that I will be doing most of the layout work (except the cover) in Adobe Illustrator, which is obviously more flexible, but will require more of my time. This is for someone who likes to be told how to design their custom-designed book.

This product was very easy to use. I used it to make a wedding album for our daughter and they were very exicted about it. The only thing that I was not happy with was the lack of horizonal frames to work with. You can only do so much croping to make a horzonal photo fit a vertical frame. I didi appreciate the extra paper that included.

I used the StoryTeller Photo Book to create a keepsake of a family reunion and visit to see my new niece. The StoryTeller Photo Book was very easy to use and created a near-professional looking product. It included simple photo correction capability, wonderful layout templates, and everything you need to make a book in a few hours or more. The long cover and 8x10 pages printed perfectly on my HP Photosmart 2610 printer. I gave the book to my mother and she absolutely loved it. It is a much better than a photo album for displaying photos.

However, the software is somewhat limiting. Even though the book styles and artistic layouts are good, it would be great to have more variety. You cannot limit the number of photos in a given layout or resize the area of a picture on a page. If you need full artistic control, you may find this frustrating. As others have mentioned, you must buy the software along with the book materials for each new project. Limitations notwithstanding however, I intend to buy a few more and then wait for product improvements.

This product, in my opinion is maybe for an Epson printer. When you try to configue it for any other brand, it is not happy. It is very difficult to deal with. if you have he patience, however, it is worth thetrouble.

This has been well worth the money. It is a program that is easy to use and the results are beautiful. I put together a book full of memories for our 1st wedding anniversary. I have purchased more since then. They make great personalized gifts for everyone. I love this product.