Shutterfly: Your One-Stop Shop for a Professional Portfolio
October 03, 2009 | By
If you are anything like me, you have been in situations where you wish you could have whipped out a portfolio of your work. Most artist's portfolios are not sized to be portable, and tossing a handful of Polaroids into your bag doesn't look very professional.
Recently, I started showing my work at local art shows, and it became really important to me to have something polished and presentable, besides my beat up and dog eared photo album.
Enter Shutterfly. This site is one of many photo-printing services, and is certainly not the only location where you can have a portfolio generated, but as I researched many of the sites, I found this one to be fairly user-friendly (once you get the hang of it), the shipping is very fast, and the finished product is exceptional. If you are a Mac user, I fully expect you to use iPhoto for this purpose (lucky you), but for the rest of us, just know that you can be a PC and still get some pretty cool stuff.
I decided to make two versions of my portfolio; a larger, hardcover leather-bound version that would make its way around my various shows, and a smaller paperback glossy version that would fit in my purse & go with me everywhere.
Before you even get started with your own portfolio, you need great pictures. Your book will only look as good as the pictures you take - so make sure you are using the right settings for your camera and the right light for your items. The same principles for good web pictures apply to good printed pictures. The major difference is that the smaller, low resolution photos you upload to online venues are not going to be good enough to print using this service. Your best bet is to upload your original images - Shutterfly has tools to let you crop, color-correct, brighten, and even add some effects to your pictures.
Next, you need to upload your images. Shutterfly makes this easy to do with their bulk uploader. If you are using a bunch of photos, this can take a couple of hours - I used about 100 images for my portfolio. Most of the time I spent selecting (and rejecting) photos, so expect this to take some time.
I particularly loved the way Shutterfly lets you add pictures to your pages in groups, and then it suggests page layouts based on the number & size of the pictures you uploaded. They have many page layouts to choose from, so you do have the opportunity to pick a different page layout if you want. Most of the layouts also allow you to add text, so you can explain your photographs in as little or as much detail as you want.
For the pages themselves, you can select different background colors & patterns from their library, or apply a theme to your book & let them do the work.
At the end, you can preview your book, run a final spell check, and order printed copies. They also offer a way for you to grab the code for your portfolio & display it virtually on a webpage or blog (and people can order their own copies!)
For me, this was a great way to quickly produce a portfolio that I am quite proud to show around! Your portfolio can become a great marketing tool for your business, but it is only good if you actually take it with you, so make sure you order a copy or two for yourself to keep in your car, purse, or office.
Ebony is an avid quilter & crafter in the greater Chicago area, and you can see her work via her online portal at LoveBug Studios.
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