2009 Is Coming - Part II

I've been poking around looking at options for having calendars printed. I'm interested in doing some my self, and perhaps selling some custom ones to clients of some photography that I'm doing.

While poking around I've found two more vehicles to have custom calendars printed. The first, VioVio, is my favorite place to have on-demand books printed. I've had a couple of books printed by them and they are of excellent quality and the most reasonably priced of any of the places that I've investigated. The disadvantage with them is that you have to do all the layout yourself if you want a completely customized book with text. They do have a fairly new feature that will layout a book automatically from images that you upload. They even have an interface to take images from your Flickr account. I have not used this feature, so I can't speak to it. As for the calendar, you have to do all the layout yourself, including the month grids, and then choose a calendar binding when you order the product. Not the easiest, but it is an option.

The option that looks like offers the most flexibility is Costco. You upload the images that you want to appear in your calendar. Then, you select the size, 8.5x11 or 11.5x14. You can choose from a variety of styles, or plain if you choose. Then, you select the image(s) for the cover and months. There are several layout options for the cover and for each month. IOW, you aren't limited to one image per month. You can use their layout options, or create a full page layout of your own and use it. You can optionally add text.

The best part? The cost for the 8.5x11 is $9.99 plus tax and shipping. The cost for the 11.5x14 is $17.99. Very reasonable, IMO.

So, now you have even less reason to complain about other calendars and how they are created. Take charge and print your own calendar. I bet you find it a liberating experience.