Dear Customer,

If you need any help with PhotoHand, please ping us through our Live Chat. Also, below are some commonly asked questions. If you think we did a bad job answering them or if we haven’t covered your questions, please don’t hesitate to write to us at contact@photohand.com or call us at 800-515-3411. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

What browser should I use to place my order online?
Our system is designed to work with every major browser. For speed, we recommend FireFox (especially if you are a Mac user) and Internet Explorer.

How long will my order take?
Photo retouching orders normally take 3 business days. Photo book design takes about a week. If a manager notices a mistake made a designer the order goes back to the designer before it gets presented to you.

A photo book of 30 pages will take 1-2 weeks, 2-3 with printing.

Will I be able to print my photo? Will I be able to print a poster of my picture?
To print a small poster – the size of a standard sheet of paper, your photo has to be at least 5 Megapixels in photo terms, which equals 5 Megabytes in computer terms.

A photo image is described by two parameters: “Image Size” and “Image Quality”. The image SIZE is defined by the total number of pixels - a collection of small dots. The number of pixels per square inch defines the QUALITY of the image.

If the number of pixels (the size) of the image can’t be changed after the image has been captured, the image quality is defined AFTER you have taken the photo. Image quality or resolution will be defined when you decide how many pixels (dots) should be per square inch of your photo.

More pixels/dots per square inch mean higher resolution and subsequently higher quality of print. 72 dpi (dots per inch) are perfect for the web but not for printing. Quality printing requires 300 dpi.

So, the more pixels you capture from the start, the bigger photo you will be able to print after these pixels have been squeezed into square inches by 300 in each.

Here is a sample of calculations:

Suppose you want a print sized 4 by 6 inches in photo quality.
(4in x 300dpi) x (6in x 300dpi) = 1,200 pixels x 1,800 pixels
This equals 2,160,000 pixels (roughly 2.2 Megapixels) in total which is approximately 2.2 Megabytes.

To make it easier, we put together this cheat sheet for you.

How much do you charge for a photo book?

Our fees vary on the level of service: We charge $6/page (or "side" in professional terms) for design only or $9/page for design and photo retouching. View photo book design fees>>
Printing is optional and can be ordered after you have approved the proofs. View sample printing fees for a standard coffee table book>>

To help you estimate the total cost of the book, here are the sample estimates on the most popular options that include layout design, photo retouching, printing, binding and shipping in the US.

How do I go about ordering a photo book?

PhotoHand takes and delivers orders for photo book design through its website but you can also send us your CD/DVD with photos and email us the order details - the number of pages, the size of the book and what type of printing/binding you prefer. We need this information early because our designers have to follow the printer specifications.

Step 1: Decide on the number of pages and the size of the book.

Step 2: Decide on the photos to be included in the design. For a 30 page book, we normally get 150-180 photos that are good or passable. We sort through them, arrange the photos into a storyline with 5-7 photos per spread plus background photos. Some photos that don’t seem to be significant come very useful, like pictures of flowers, bride’s shoes, dress details, glasses, wedding favors, table centerpieces, etc. Even if a photo doesn’t look great, there are ways to improve it with cropping and art effects.

Step 3: If you order through our website, on the PhotoHand home page, click on Order Online to fill out the order form. You have a choice of providing us with page-by-page instructions of or use the fast form (recommended!). With the fast form, you simply do the bulk upload of your photos and then, in the provided space, type in any directions that you might have for us. Another option is to upload a document with such instructions.

Step 4: After you have posted your order, our manager will assign a designer who will pick up your photos and directions from his Inbox. No time is wasted.

Step 5: We create proofs of the design that is viewable on the Internet and post them in your account for review.

You might want us to make some changes to the design and we will re-post the revised deliverables. After your approval of the design, the designer will do photo retouching and will repost the deliverables. The final layouts are downloadable and you can transfer them to your computer any time for a month after we have closed the project.

Step 6: If your order includes printing and binding, you need to send an email to the manager confirming that you have approved the deliverables for printing.

Printing Your Photo Book
PhotoHand is not a printing company. We do not insist that you order printing from us but we can transfer the files to the printer of your choice or arrange printing through one of our printing partners. We recommend printing on FlexBind™ paper. This is a new digital photo page technology that combines high quality papers with an integrated flexible hinge, producing a beautiful, lay-flat presentation. View photo book printing fees>>