See what MNers think of CEWE PHOTOBOOK– Nikon Digital camera (RRP £169.99) prize draw for testers’ feedback!NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

This thread is for the 250 Mumsnetters who tried the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK.

Here’s what CEWE say, “The CEWE PHOTOBOOK is Europe’s no. 1 photo book and recently was rated the UK’s best. With more sizes and formats to choose from than any other, the CEWE PHOTOBOOK offers a solution for everyone for all occasions.
“With our easy-to-use free software, you can create your very own personal book capturing forever those precious moments. You design the book yourself adding text, maps, clip art and even video alongside your images.

“Just recently we have launched our brand new True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK. True Matte is unique in the photo book market and offers a luxurious finish to bring out the very best of your photos.
“Whether you want to chart the early years of your little ones or capture this summer’s fantastic family holiday, there is no better way to display and share your wonderful photographs. We are proud to provide the personal touch with a professional finish, giving you a True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK to treasure forever.”

Testers, please provide your feedback by answering the following questions. Feel free to also add any other comments you might have.

Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

Please also remember to complete the short survey we sent to you!

Everyone who adds their feedback will be entered into a prize draw to win a Nikon Coolpix S5300 Digital Camera (RRP £169.99).

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[milkpudding]

1. I had mixed impressions. I liked that I could design it myself and it comes in the post, rather than having to print it myself or go anywhere. But I found the software really difficult to use.
   

1. I found the software poor. It took a long time to download and load. A web based software would be better, as it is not something most people would use often enough to warrant the hassle of downloading.
   

I liked the feature of using Facebook pics, but unfortunately although I selected some, the software would not put them into my book. Very frustrating, I ended up having to save each photo from Facebook to my hard drive first.
A feature to insert photos from Google Drive would be useful, as many people store their photos there.
Too many buttons across the top when editing your book- better to have drop down menus- who will remember what all those symbols mean?
I was happy with my overall book, it just took hours as my Facebook pics wouldn't insert, if I had been paying for it I would have given up.

[nerysw]

Oh, milkpudding - I'm so glad someone else found it difficult to use, I've been feeling like a dullard since I started the very lengthy process of getting the blooming thing done last night.

1. I haven't received it yet but am looking forward to getting it as it's been a labour of love to create. I think it will actually look pretty good when it gets here.
   
2. I found the software difficult to use. I had to have a few goes at downloading the Mac version and it crashed several times when I used it. This was really annoying, especially as I'd not saved as I was creating (schoolgirl error) and it didn't recover what I'd already done. I take most of my photos on my phone and it auto backs-up to Google but as this wasn't an option I had to use photos I'd already moved to Facebook and my laptop. Logging in to Facebook worked fine but it did not retrieve all of the photos in each Facebook album (eg an album with 200 pics in only came up with about 20). This meant I had to go through the long and boring process of saving them again on my hard drive. I think if you are more organised that me and have all of your photos stored in albums on a computer you would have less hassle.
   Putting the photos in is a bit fiddly, you have to toggle between the page layout and photos constantly. I had tried the Photo Assistant but this put my photos in a layout I wasn't keen on so did it all manually.
   
3. Although it's a bit pricey I think these would make a great present, especially for grandparents. I used mine to make a holiday album from our summer holiday and it will be a nice change to have non-digital copies of our photos. However I would have given up if I was paying for this as the software was frustrating and not as user friendly as it could have been.
   
4. I may recommend this but only to my most tech-savvy and organised friends.
   
5. I generally prefer matt finish so think I'll like the finish when it arrives.
   
6. I've never made a photobook before but hopefully if I do so again it won't take me as long!

[UniS]

DoWnloading software for Linux was not easy either. Had to get tech support dh to help.
Currently still compiling photos into a directory on my hard drive from phone, g drive, f book etc.
Like the look of the letter shaped frames...

[del2929]

Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

really frustrating and gave up 3 times before finally finishing. the software would 'freeze'. i found it was easy to add photos to your book and you coulddo this via different channels eg. social networks etc. i loved the fact you could add clipart to your photos too, this was my fave part! iv had an email to say my order has been dispatched. will add further comment when it arrives.

Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

after the initial issues of it freezing up it was fairly easy to use, simple to add pictures from a varitety of places, however i gave up many times and then went back to it after a few days.

Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

i think it is reasonably priced compared to other places. i have ordered photobooks before from other sites and the price is around the same. if the software didnt alwys freeze i would think about ordering again.
Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

i dont mind either to be honest.

Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

iv used many sites for ordering photobooks and other photo items. crewe was a little frustrating to begin with as iv said many times above lol

[ChaffinchOfMegalolz]

Hi, mine arrived today, thanks very much for letting me try this test.



Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

I have ordered photo products from photobox et al many times so am fairly quick with this type of site. I think my mum for example would really have struggled, it wasn't very easy, took some working out via trial and error, I selected loads pics, then realised had to choose product first, selected pics again, for example, wish it had saved the first lot.
loved the amount of choice in the creating, but wouldve liked simpler tools, only be accident I found the letter option to have the pic made into a letter, which looks ace as the back cover by the way -
wouldve liked the mock up books to be clearer to help with choice, showing an actual pic instead of grey squares
the text boxes needs a centralizing doohickey too, I had to do it by eye to get it in the middle, also more font options, clearer too. i am not scared of trial & error though, others would possibly give up as so complex
the book itself is lovely, rather wish my photos were better as dont think theyre good enough for the honour of being in a book LOL
front cover colours muted? all looks rather muted but that's probably my phone camera TBH
quality of paper is nice


Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
software design quite masculine, complex, not easy to see all of the tools, a quick wizard at start showing all the possibilities would be good, easier text box controls, putting an actual pic into the sample books for layouts wouldve helped me, hard for me to visualise grey boxes and the styles thing...randlomly picked ''white shadow'' as had no idea what the black lines wouldve looked like for example



Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

this is a fancy high end product, for a book I would expect the £20 mark to be appropriate for a special present, £40 sets it out of my budget TBH



Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
they are all going to be blown away by this one, but they will all want me to create them as the tech side will be beyond them maybe for special gifts, I havent got enough good pics on my laptop - need to get clicking with my phone



Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
controversial maybe but can't really tell?? is that what makes it look more muted?? Am I am old fashioned gloss lover?


Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

Ive done diaries and calendars, which are good as have a real use. to create a book like this to look at which is not functional in any other way it needs to be a v special event ie new baby, or a wedding, or a milestone birthday. not an average gift in my opinion, very special.

[Tyranasaurus]

Have order but not received yet- will update when it arrives.

Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

Ordering was fine- I was initially wary of something that makes me download software before I can do anything, and this would've put me off if I weren't getting a free book.However, given how powerful the software is I understand why it needs to be downloaded.

Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

I found the software easy to pick up and use. I liked that I had so many options to change things and set them up just how I wanted. The drag and drop functionality was good and I particularly liked the layouts. I found designing my own layout easy and that was something I definitely appreciated.

There are many, many ways you could make your book naff, with hundreds of different backgrounds, masks, clip art, etc and it took me a little while to figure out how to set things up to be 'tasteful'. Not really a criticism of the software, though maybe some 'themes' to get you started might be nice.

The one glitch I found was that I store all my photos on my onedrive which I couldn't access from the file menu on the photos tab- but I just dragged and dropped them from Windows Explorer.

The software was great for me- but I could imagine someone less computer literate would really struggle with it.

Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

The 42 page one we were trialling was closer to £50. I don't know about the average price of high end photo books but I don't have the disposable income to spend £50 on a photobook. However I have already ordered two smaller cheaper copies for Christmas presents.

Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes- though not to anyone who isn't good with computers.

Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

Will have to see when it arrives- without seeing I think I slightly prefer glossy.

Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

N/A

[TheHatInTheCat]

Haven't been able to download the software so far.
It's saying it can't open as it's not a supported file? No idea what that means, v frustrating.

[lpbarton]

Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

It did take a while to download and personally I would prefer something web based that I could easily save and comeback to. There seemed to be A LOT of buttons at the top and quite frankly I had no idea what to do with most of them however once I'd eventually got started and got my head around it it was quick. It would have been nice (now having received the book) to have been told if in a image perhaps wasnt high enough resolution to go in iy.

Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

It took a little bit of getting used to. I found there were a lot of buttons which didnt use what the universal picture or image that I was use too. It took a little of getting my head around the way it worked. The fact that if you want the pictures in a certain layout you had to drag that layout to the book rather than just clicking on it for example.

Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

By the time I had finished it came to just under £50. Personally I probably wouldnt pay that much for a photo book as its at the higher end of my budget and for what you were getting for that price I think let it down slightly. Some of the pictures I wish I hadnt put in as they arent high enough resolution and unlike some other companies it didnt tell me this.

Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes I probably would.
Its a great idea as a present for someone who doesnt seem the children that often. The book quality - paper, binding etc is very high quality and I think with the right images for a special occasion it would be a lovely present. (make sure they up on the tech though!)

Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

I think I might be old fashioned but I prefer the gloss.....As Chaffinch said above they seemed a little muted. Its a personal preference though and I know my sister in law would LOVE the matted apprearance!


Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

Again I would want something which let me know if my photos would good enough for that size book. Its a bit disappointing if you were paying that much that the pictures which look lovely on the screen arent good enough for paper that size. Also I found the sheer amount of buttons a slight put off. It would be nice to have drop down menus where you could clearly see what everything meant. Would I switch? Hmm currently not because I tend to make the books for my grandparents and I struggled with the images and matt but if I were to make a ten year anniversary present for my sister in law whose more modern and less traditional then yes. Is that too confusing?!

[TheHatInTheCat]

Trying on the iPad now, not letting me choose Matt. This is so frustrating I really want to give up.
Rung the help line once, couldn't solve the issue.

[supermariossister]

I think on the previous thread mumsnet had commented with a message from cewe that you couldn't choose matte on the iPad and it would need to be done on a laptop/desktop. don't quote me on it though I'm not sure

[TheHatInTheCat]

On hold now to the helpline. Position 4.
Only letting me choose the last few days photos.
I've used photobox with no problems.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv peed off

[TheHatInTheCat]

I'm giving up its too stressful.

[TheHatInTheCat]

thanks super spoken to customer support and they've told me that.
I can't dowload the software though, they've asked me to email them a screenshot with the message even though I've read it out to them but I can't do a screenshot.

[trikken]

I couldn't download the right software on my tablet, only on my laptop.

[TheHatInTheCat]

I can't dowload on my laptop so I tried my iPad, could dowload software but couldn't access my photos or choose matte paper.

[Treadlightly]

Oh I'm so glad it's not just me who can't download the software!!
sooo frustrating!
I'm gonna ask dh to have a look when he gets home.
Going to have to give up for now before I throw the laptop out of the window :)
I've got all my photos ready... will report back if dh can work his magic!

[Tyranasaurus]

lpbarton - I got big red triangles on any image I had where the quality was too low, or there was the smiley face tool on the top bar. (This was in the Windows version)

I actually came back to say how much I hate the website. It's really difficult to get any information on the products and it just took me ages to track my order.

[TheHatInTheCat]

Let me know tread.
It is bloody annoying, if I was a paying customer I'd have given up by now and used photobox, I've used them before with no problems.

[rollmeover]

Same here, cant even get the software to download, and I'm not totally tech illiterate. DH who is pretty good at these kind of things cant either. Waiting from help from their support.......
Would have given up by now if I was paying for it.

[BornToFolk]

I've managed to download the software and import my photos...I think but I can't seem to get them into the book.
I tried using the assistant view but it just put the photos where I didn't want them but I don't seem to be able to move them around...
So I'm now trying without the assistant view but I can't seem to add photos to the pages Am I being incredibly dense? I'm just trying to drag and drop from the thumbnail on the left to the page on the right...what I am doing wrong? There are no instructions which implies that it should be intuitive but I just can't do it!
Very frustrated right now.

[Alambil]

The software is awful - it crashes, goes "not responding" more times than I can count and takes AGES to load photos from the hard drive.

I've used Bonusprint's photobook software before and it was MUCH easier; easier to choose page layouts, easier to size photos as you want, not as software dictates, easier to design where you want things and a superior choice of backgrounds / clip-arts. I have found the CEWE backgrounds a little lacking in usable designs (the baby section is awful, for example)

I don't like the fact that some of the frames/designs change your picture size. I don't want a teeny tiny square with picture corners - I want MY picture to have corners!

I will answer the questions properly when I've received my book... it's still in the process of being made. It's taking ages though because I'm doing it for DS's life so far - he just turned 12!

[sirifischerhansen]

Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

I also am not too keen on downloading software from a relatively unknown source, but did not have any problems doing so. Creating the book is rather fiddly but not hopeless. I have not yet finalised and ordered the book so cannot comment on the ordering process.

Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

The software is okay, but coule be simpler, for instance it does not seem possible to inset a set of photos and automatically have them centred and maximised without cropping, one or more per page as selected.

Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

This is similar to what I have paid for other photobooks in the past. They make great presents, especially for people who don't need anything, and I would certainly buy photobooks again, but probably stick with Blur which I find easier to use and similarly priced. Of course if the delivered book is stunning, I may change that view.

Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would probably not recommend CEWE as I've found other similar products easier to use. However, it will depend on the finished product when I see it.

Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

Personally I prefer gloss, but that's a matter of taste.

Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

As I said above, that depends on the final book once delivered, but based on using the software I will probably stick with Blur

[supermariossister]

Q1. What are your overall impressions of the True Matte CEWE PHOTOBOOK and the process of creating and ordering your photo book?

Once i had read the instructions the software downloaded easily but to be honest id of much rather done it on a website instead of having to install. I initially chose to do it without the assistant but gave up too much going on for someone relatively new to creating the books so changed to the assistant. it took me a while to figure out how to do this so maybe that could be clearer. The actual software seemed easy to use and the backgrounds/clip arts were really nice. I would of liked to be able to set the same background or photo frame throughout rather than doing it individually as this is what took the most time. I wonder if it would be possible to drag and drop photos rather than having to delete them then readd where you want because on a huge list of photos it was hard to get back to the one you want. The different frames are really nice and the ordering process was simple especially liked the cost breakdown that showed the set cost then how much for additional pages. I really like the book it is good quality and looks really unique.

Q2. What do you think of the software you used to design your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Did you find it easy to use, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

It was fairly simple but really time consuming so not something i would try to do in a hurry. i would like to see some hints and tips showing up as there were lots of buttons on the task bar i didnt know what for.

Q3. The RRP for the True Matte CEWE PHOTBOOK Large Landscape is from £37.99, do you think that this is good value for money, or not? Do you think you would you purchase a CEWE PHOTOBOOK again? If so, why? If not, why not?

To be honest althougth i like the end result and think it would make a nice keepsake i wouldnt expect to pay that much for a matte book and im sure i have seen offers for this type of thing cheaper.
I would be more likely to do this as a gift than for myself.

Q4. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend CEWE PHOTOBOOK to friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

I would recommend it to those that i think would be capable to use the software.

Q5. Do you prefer the True Matte finish to more conventional finishes, or not? If so, why? If not, why not?

I like the true matte finish its a nice change and looks interesting more like a story book but i do think i would be tempted to go for glossy photos if it was a gift.

Q6. If you had used another photo book retailer before, how does it compare to CEWE PHOTOBOOK? Would you now switch to the CEWE PHOTOBOOK? If so, why? If not, why not?

I have only ever made a smaller much cheaper version so this is obviously a much higher standard. I have to be honest though i dont think i would like to spend that long on it again and i probably would of given up had it not been for a trial

[kinkyfuckery]

I've just ordered my photobook, been working on it all day!
I found the software incredibly frustrating. It kept freezing and was very very slow!

[Nerf]

1. Overall impression. Really easy, quite quick and simple if you aren't too fussed about making it exactly perfect.

1. Software was super easy. Downloaded it, opened it later, followed it through (assistant mode). Compared to others, it actually put the photos in date order. However, had I wanted to do more than just add photos and text I suspect it might have been trickier. Only gripe was at the end when I realised I'd spent 74 pounds and couldn't work out how to go back and remove extra pages.