Organize Photo Clutter by Creating Personalized Photo Books

Blurb is a photo book maker that can make more than just photo books. With Blurb, you can also create eBooks, magazines, brochures, notebooks, and planners.

Blurb is easy to use and has lots of design templates to choose from, which means that your vacation book this year will look nothing like last year's.

Also, you can upload your photos from various sources, which means most of us can stop procrastinating. All of our photos from Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr can be easily uploaded to Blurb.

Blurb is even built into Adobe Lightroom, so serious photographers can make a picture book using the software they already have installed on their computer.

Blurb is very user friendly. There are tips and tutorials that can take you step by step along the way if you're stuck, or even if you need a little inspiration.

If you're a fantastic photographer, an amateur writer, or even a blogger, you can use Blurb to self-publish your book. You can even sell your book through Blurb using their online bookstore.

Pricing for your photo book is dependent upon the size and style of book you create. The cheapest option I've seen is $12.99, and the most expensive is $76.49. There's a whole host of options and prices in between, so it's best to check out their pricing guide to see if Blurb is the right photo book company for you.

Foto.com offers the widest choice with the lowest prices. A bonus for those of us who have boxes of pictures to make into books.

Like Blurb, Foto.com offers the ability to use pictures from more than just your camera. Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa pictures can also be uploaded. You're also able to create more than just photo books. You can also create personalized cards and calendars, as well as order prints from your digital images.

Foto.com also has a lot of fun and funky templates you can use to make your picture book. When you're there, be sure to check out one of my favorites: colored pencil shavings.

The beauty of Foto is that they are international. If you live outside the United States or you would like to send your personalized photo book to friends and family living overseas, Foto.com delivers to 186 countries.

As far as photo books go, I've found this company has a wide variety of sizes, covers, all at reasonable prices. Their cheapest book is 12 pages and only $6.79. There are larger books that cost a bit more, of course, but their prices and options are still the best that I've found.

They have a really helpful comparison guide that shows the price, pages, size, and cover all on one page, which makes it easy to decide whether they're right for you.

Snapfish has a lot of extras. A lot.

It allows you to do so much more with your photography books to make them look personalized and professional.

They offer something called embellishments, which is really a type of clipart that can be customized however you wish. You can add text to a speech bubble, to a medal, and to most of the clipart. You can also type in text directly over your photos, as well as anywhere on the page.

So many photo book publishers only allow you to use a template in which you drag and drop your photos into preassigned areas. With Snapfish, you can place your photos anywhere on the page and even rotate them to your heart's desire.

Snapfish accepts uploads from Facebook and Flickr, as well as from your memory card. Also, if you're not sure how your book will look once it's finished, it even has a print option that allows you to print your book out at home before you place your order.

Snapfish's average price falls somewhere between Foto.com's and Blurb's, but it is still affordable. The cheapest price for a small book, which is what I would call party favor size, is $5.99. The average price of a mid-sized book is around $30. There are many sizes and prices available though, so compare using their pricing and selection list.