Photobook Follow up: Review of Paper Coterie

A short time ago, I wrote about trying out a new place to publish photo books. I purchased a 5″x5″ coil bound book from Paper Coterie which I finally received about a week and a half ago. Initially I was pleased with it. It has a very unique look with the paper they use. It is recycled fiber paper, and it is pretty stiff. It makes a nice matte look to the photos.

front of photobook
nice frosted plastic cover
easy 2 page spread
lovely recycled fiber paper

However, after having it a couple days and having the uniqueness of it wear off, I am quite sure I wouldn’t pay full price for these books. Remember, I only paid for shipping, so this was definitely worth the trial run. For one, you can see where the cuts have been made on the paper at the top, they’re a touch frayed. For another, I have ink speckles throughout my pages, which lends itself to a classic, old fashioned look but not my cup of tea, so to speak.

not so nice cutting... this is also a good close up of the paper quality though
another look at the poor cutting on top
the cutting on the bottom of the book is perfect
odd speckle on Jameson's poor forehead
raw edge of elastic showing on the back (ignore my dust speckles, the back cover is nice quality plastic)

Remember, I purchased two of the same photobook. My second photobook had similar defects. In the second photobook, the frayed edges were on the side and a little less noticeable. The clasp of the elastic in the back was much nicer too – the raw edge did not show. Speckles were there, but not on Jameson’s forehead 🙂 The difference in quality is significant enough though that I wonder if one of my photobooks came from a poor run? Regardless, inconsistent quality is not a good sign.

I would like to add that their use of facebook is entertaining and clever. Their motto is capturing moments, and their photos are cute. Customer service seems wonderful. Definitely unique and easy to use. I would keep them in mind for their other products, the calendars and growth charts, which would be absolutely stunning in this style paper, but not quite up to my standards for photo books.

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