Before you get to the article: if you are looking for information about photo development, in this mega guide you will find all the additional information you need.
One day, browsing through Instagram, I saw an ad for Saal Digital where they asked for testers of photo albums and there I started to try, because I was not entirely convinced with the last supplier and so he also encouraged me to finally make the album for my little one that I have pending since he was born (at the blacksmith’s house …).
Today, with the album in hand, I tell you about my experience with them and my impressions. If you are looking for someone to print your albums with, if you are not entirely convinced by who you work with now or would like to try something different, stay, what I am about to tell you is of interest to you.
Customer Support
I start with customer service because I think it is essential when buying any product or hiring a service, which sometimes makes you want to cut your wrists (sorry for the exaggeration 😉 ). I have to say that I haven’t had any problems with the final product and I haven’t been able to test any claims, however, I have had the opportunity to come across several emails and their attention has been impeccable.
I’ll tell you briefly, they gave me fifteen days to place the order with the test coupon and just when I had it halfway through I was caught moving house and city, so suddenly and with a few days, you can imagine that I couldn’t do it. I wrote to them saying that I had not been able to place the order but that I still appreciated his offer. They wrote to me, very kindly, giving me more time and, since I’m a bitch, my computer broke, for many weeks I had to work with a broken one and I couldn’t download the program.
They had the patience during that time to take an interest and remind me that when they became available they would send me another coupon. Until I got a new computer (finally). I don’t mess around anymore. They could have ignored me with the hundreds of requests they will have to get a “free” album and not been hanging around with me, and yet the whole time the treatment was exquisite.
Program Download
Downloading (when you’re not working with a computer that’s locked up 😉 ) is very easy and fast, all very intuitive, you don’t have to be a technology ace.
Products
I will tell you about the albums, which is what I have tried, although they also offer photo prints (with many options), photo gifts, calendars, cards, business products or paintings.
I opted for a digital album. I didn’t pay much attention to the difference between digital and digital XG (extra thick) and when I saw the Correos package I almost told him that he was wrong, because I saw it so thin… Then when I saw what the paper was like I was grateful. I have to say that I like it better, at least for the album I created this time.
The option of gift box It is very good for delivering professional work, for the album of the first three years of my little one it did not make much sense, but if you do a report of a baptism, a communion or a wedding, it is something to take into account.
When you enter the digital albums section you find different products, depending on the shape and size:
In my case, I chose the 21×28 cm size, not because it was on sale, which it wasn’t when I ordered it, but because it was the one that fit me the most. I’m glad of this decision too, it’s just the size I wanted.
I chose a glossy cover, which allows you to put the cover photo you want, although for other types of albums you can choose between imitation leather cover, blackboard and many other possibilities. And I selected it to be non-padded, because it was cheaper and I could add more pages and because, personally, padding, although it is more elegant, is not something that excites me and in this case I did not see it necessary.
At the same time you can select if you want to add a barcode or not. For a personal album it is not necessary and you save a little money, if it is a professional issue and for sale it is an interesting option.
Before continuing, it also asks you to check if you want glossy or matte pages, the glossy ones are a little more expensive, and I think it’s worth it, as long as it’s not an album for a three-year-old girl to fumble with, because yes, my idea was that it be her album and that she could enjoy it, so I asked for it matte. You can also modify these options on the fly, while you are creating the album.
You can choose between 26 and 120 pages, although you can add or remove sheets depending on your needs.
album edition
Let’s get a little more into the matter. First you choose if you want a blank template to assemble everything from scratch or default templates with an autofill option. Editing your album can be as easy or as difficult as you like, depending on how much time you want to spend on it. You have the option to make a random album, either create it to your liking. Well, this is nothing new under the sun, but this option is appreciated for people who are less used to dealing with technology or those who do not have a lot of time.
I’m more into working on it, besides, it was about testing, so I also wanted to see what the process of “putting together” the album was like. On the other hand, even if you autofill and save time, you can’t trust the program completely, because it doesn’t take into account the format and just places a vertical in a horizontal one and the photo is cut in the least expected place, example of autofill without touching any:
I found an advantage over other programs or providers, you can sort chronologically the pictures. Bearing in mind that it was a three-year period, this option greatly facilitated my task, otherwise I would have had to do previous numbering or similar work. To select the photos you can do it in enlarged view, small or medium icons and list. It offers the possibility of showing or not the title of the photo.
It tells you if the quality of the photo is good for the size in which you want to insert it or if it doesn’t have enough resolution, that sometimes we get excited and want to put a giant-sized smartphone photo and, no… it’s not a good idea . The manager notifies you in case you miss any ;).
What I didn’t like was that I couldn’t change the photos from one image frame to another, something that I had been able to do in other albums, I could only delete and upload again, it’s silly, but if you are not convinced how they are positioned two photos and you want to change them, it is easier to change than having to delete and re-upload, I put it as a suggestion for improvement for Saal Digital’s computer scientists ;). On the other hand, it does offer the option to randomly change the position of all the photos on the page.
edit: They write to me from Saal Digital to tell us that this option is possible and tell us how. You select both images with the mouse and the option to swap or delete the selection appears. (I have already warned you more than once that technology and I collided a bit, I apologize for my technological lapses 😉 ). I attach a screenshot so you can see it better.
As for the predesigned images, I must say that there is a great variety, personally I was not very convinced, but because I never like them. I prefer albums without cartoons or anything like that. I think that the leading role should be taken by the photos and that these drawings are distracting and go out of style. But, I insist, it is a personal opinion, for those who like them there is a great variety and very different themes, come on, what is there to choose from.
Something that cost me was the issue of choosing templates. There is a great variety, in terms of shapes, number of image frames, with decorations (easily removable if they have few elements), and you can select them by theme or color, for example. Now, this topic got a bit stuck for me and I had a hard time finding the templates, they didn’t appear or sometimes I saw a lot of options and other times only a few. I don’t know if it was a clumsy problem on my part, if the manager didn’t work well for me or if there was a goblin complicating my task. It seems very easy to you and you don’t have any problem, but I’m mentioning it in case someone else has experienced it and we have another suggestion for improvement. I have to say that it is the only downside that I have found.
Over the money, I am a classic of plain backgrounds, but I understand that sometimes another touch is necessary and here you have numerous options to choose from, plain prints, modern, classic, children’s, adults and whatever you want. You can also customize the color, insert textures or color gradients. The combinations are endless.
According to the photo editing, gives you the option to edit individually or apply the same edit to all images. You can apply different filters (don’t think you’re going to come across Instagram-like filters 😉 ), edit the brightness, contrast, saturation and tone; modify the opacity and size of the picture box; enlarge the image, reduce it or rotate it; perform an automatic enhancement or include borders.
I was surprised by the amount and variety of available fonts for the pictures of text. And what I didn’t expect was that it would apply a spell checker!
Aligning the image frames is easy with the marks that appear to fit with the rest of the photos.
And finally, although it is very intuitive, in the top menu you have a “help” section, a quick guide to how the manager works.
Shipment
Less than 48 hours passed from the moment I placed the order until it was shipped. And the package arrived after four days (well, it took me a little longer to get my hands on it because it caught me on a trip 😉 ). Shipping is done by DHL.
The packaging is very careful, the album is wrapped in plastic to protect it from the rain and then in a thin padded bag, all inside the cardboard.
Prices
It seems to me that they have very competitive prices, from 19.95 euros you can have your digital album, depending on the size and number of pages.
In terms of value for money, I think it’s the best I’ve tried so far.
Final product
I introduced camera photos and mobile photos to see the difference in quality and I have to say that both have completely convinced me. The only thing that in some photos I think I left, without realizing it, the option of automatic improvement and, of course, this increases the sharpness and with it the imperfections. The problem is not Saal’s, but mine, because I didn’t have time to edit the photos, it already cost me to select them among the million and a half that I have to start editing them, now it doesn’t give me life, and when enlarging them these imperfections are noticeable plus. Beware of extensions and the option of automatic improvement (personal advice).
The opening it is really 180 degrees, so you can put an image on a double page without fear. Now, my advice is to be careful where you place the center, because, no matter how much it opens completely, the line is not invisible (that’s impossible), try not to go through an important area of the image, a face, the eyes, the mouth, etc., because, no matter how…