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Want to relive your travel, reminisce about a special occasion, or celebrate a loved one? Personalized gifts are a unique way to showcase life’s favorite moments on products for yourself or others.
With Shutterfly, you can create everything from custom phone cases to pillows, pint glasses, pots, photo blankets, puzzles, paperweights, plates, and more. The ideas are only limited by your imagination.
One of Shutterfly’s most popular products is its photo books. I’ve personally used Shutterfly’s services to create annual photo books and affordable photo book gifts. I also tested Shutterfly’s Make My Book service and provide my feedback.
Product Name: Shutterfly
Product Description: Shutterfly offers customized photo books, wall art, puzzles, blankets, and many other products.
Summary
With Shutterfly, you can create your own photo book. Choose your design template, album size, orientation, cover style, and other design embellishments. Shutterfly also offers a free 24-hour design service to make capturing memories a breeze. Shutterfly is a top-rated photo book company but they print much more than just photo books (and photo prints). Design and print anything from Christmas cards and invitations to calendars and canvas prints.
Overall Score
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Quality
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Pricing
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Customer Service
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Overall Value
Pros
- Intuitive web interface
- Free unlimited photo storage
- Import photos from Instagram, Facebook, or other photo services
- Free photo book design service
- Good customer service, including phone and 24/7 chat support
Cons
- Slow to load images for projects
- Mediocre print quality
- High shipping prices
Consumer Reviews
This is the aggregate score of reader reviews we’ve received. Have a good or bad experience with Shutterfly? Feel free to leave your own review in the comments. Please note that only ratings with valid review content will be published and counted.
10 Key Features
- Free unlimited photo storage with folders to organize into albums
- Shutterfly app lets you create products on the go and upload photos from your phone
- Offers a variety of templates and customization options
- 24-hour design service selects a designer to create a book for you
- Import photos from Instagram, Facebook, or other photo services
- “Photo Story” iPad app and Shutterfly mobile apps
- Design studio to get styling ideas, tips, downloads, trends, and more
- Share online projects with others
- Large selection of customizable gift options
- Competitive pricing on a wide range of home goods and wall art
Shutterfly Photo Book Review
I’ve personally used Shutterfly since 2010 to order prints and photo books. I created my wedding photo album using one of its wedding templates and have made anniversary books every year since. I’ve also used it to create a couple of birthday photo books and a calendar to give as gifts.
While I don’t have experience with Shutterfly’s other custom products or home goods, I have been satisfied with the quality and speed of production and shipping. My orders arrived as scheduled (if not ahead of time), and I have yet to experience any issues using their online design tool or photo albums. The quality could be better, but you definitely get a good-quality product for the price.
I accidentally sent my book to the wrong address once, and Shutterfly re-printed/shipped it for free. Its customer service is fantastic.
Shutterfly Make My Book Service
Shutterfly let me try the Make My Book service in exchange for an honest review. For the most part, the service did a decent job, and I was impressed with how it grouped together photos by event without knowing any context. However, the cover completely missed the mark by using a photo of my husband with the caption “Happy Father’s Day,” even though I said it was an anniversary gift in the instructions.
You can say what layouts you prefer and how many embellishments are okay, but it would have been nice to note color preferences, too, since the dark purple and greens used are not our style at all.
Overall, though, it did save me a bit of time from having to lay out the initial design, and now I just need to tweak and fill in some of the blank spots. The book was lost in transit and thus didn’t make it in time for my anniversary. However, Shutterfly re-printed the book for free, provided free expedited shipping, and refunded the expedited shipping costs for the inconvenience (which was greatly appreciated, especially given it was UPS’ fault).
Shutterfly Photo Book Pricing
Shutterfly’s prices range depending on the product, but Shutterfly photo book prices start at around $25. Click here to see all options.
Shutterfly Helps Bring Memories To Life
Watch this step-by-step video that shows how to make a custom photo book from Shutterfly.
Shutterfly Cards Review
Shutterfly offers a wide variety of card templates, from wedding invitations and thank yous to holiday greetings and graduation announcements. You can also upload your own design; Shutterfly accepts JPG, JPEG, HEIC, BMP, or PNG file formats for uploads.
To print cards via Shutterfly, choose a template, upload photos, and personalize your design. From there, you can select your paper choice for print. Shutterfly offers four paper paper options:
- Standard smooth cardstock: This budget-friendly option has a matte, smooth finish.
- Signature smooth cardstock: Shutterfly’s best-selling cardstock is thicker than standard cardstock and features a matte, smooth finish.
- Pearl shimmer cardstock: An elegant cardstock with a hint of shimmer.
- Luxe double-thick cardstock: Shutterfly’s thickest cardstock features a matte, smooth finish.
Pearl Shimmer Vs Signature Smooth Cardstock
The signature smooth and pearl shimmer cardstock are two popular paper options offered by Shutterfly. Which one should you choose for your prints?
Signature smooth cardstock has a smooth texture and matte finish for sharper photo quality. It is made in the U.S. with responsibly-forested materials and renewable wind power. This paper is a customer favorite because it’s a thick cardstock without the premium price tag. Choose this option for greetings, thank yous, and even holiday cards.
Pearl shimmer cardstock is made by the Italian specialty paper company Fedrigoni. This photo paper has a hint of shimmer for a luminous appearance. Choose this option for weddings and other invitations for an elegant look.
Shutterfly Cards Pricing
Shutterfly sells photo cards starting at $3.08 per card for up to 30 cards. Click here to see all options.
Shutterfly Puzzle Review
Shutterfly offers a variety of unique gifts, but one of our favorites is the jigsaw puzzle. Choose between 60 to 1014 puzzle pieces and 1 to 5+ photos to create a custom puzzle. It’s such a unique gift—great for the puzzler in your life.
As with other Shutterfly products, to create a puzzle, select the template of your choice, upload your images, and personalize text, colors, and more.
Shutterfly Puzzle Pricing
Puzzles start at $32.98 for a 60-piece puzzle. Prices for rectangular puzzles are below. Shutterfly also sells circle and heart-shaped puzzles. Click here to see all options.
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 60 Pieces (10×14″) | $32.98 |
| 252 Pieces (10×14″) | $32.98 |
| 520 Pieces (16×20″) | $42.98 |
| 1014 Pieces (20×30″) | $52.98 |
Shutterfly Blanket Review
Check out Shutterfly’s photo blankets if you’re looking for a unique gift that requires absolutely zero work from the recipient (we know some people don’t like puzzles). Choose between five materials: sherpa, plush fleece, microfiber fleece, sweatshirt, and woven. Blankets are entirely customizable and come in three sizes. Plus, they’re machine washable.
Reviewers praise the quality of the blanket material—though you’ll want to ensure you upload a high-quality photo for best results.
Shutterfly Blanket Pricing
Blanket costs vary based on material and size. Pricing starts at $69.98 for a 30″x40″ microfiber fleece blanket. Click here to see all options.
What Do Customers Think Of Shutterfly?
We found a variety of feedback for Shutterfly’s services, both positive and negative. While reviewers enjoy the unique printing services, many users complained about the mobile apps’ functionality.
Shutterfly recently partnered with Costco to become its printing service. Many Costco customers report a quality reduction now that Costco has outsourced its printing to Shutterfly.
Praise
Using this app is easy. Their ordering process is a pain. It’s easier to order from a computer than a phone but you don’t always have your computer with you. However, storing and organizing your photos is very easy and completing the various projects is fun and useful. I do a book of all our trips and also as a photo reference of my paintings each year. The options are endless and the books look completely professional. The gift options are great from plaques to cups to pillows.
– Sally B., Google Play 12/08/2023
I have been a Shutterfly customer for years and done multiple books and have been very satisfied with their quality. When Costco photos went with them and I was reading the reviews, I was disappointed because everyone said their service took a nosedive. Not so. I just ordered two small books for my grand-daughters. They turned out great quality, they were shipped promptly and I was thrilled with them. Can’t speak for others, but my experience with this company has always been great.
– Michelle Morrow, Trustpilot 03/23/2023
Complaints
The challenges with this app make it a waste of precious time. I had to select photos so many times before they actually went into the project. I cleared the book to make it as I wanted and when I came back to work on it, the photos selected were also gone. Promo codes can’t be combined and shipping is expensive… makes the promo codes essentially obsolete.
– Jill Smith, 12/10/2023
The photo book produced poor quality prints. It’s as if the resolution was greatly reduced during their printing process. They offered to reprint my book at no charge but could do nothing to improve the quality, so why would I want a second copy?
– Janis Metz, Trustpilot 11/27/2023
The “100% satisfaction guarantee” falls far short. Something in their production process is flawed. I won’t ever again spend many hours carefully creating a book using Shutterfly.
Need Some Help Creating New Memories?
Do you need some inspiration for your next photo book? View our top picks for the best adventure travel companies, cruise lines, and travel booking websites.
