Review: SAAL Digital photobook

When you make a PDF, it is possible to remove the word preview. You can even change it to another word.
One disadvantage is that you cannot pay with iDEAL. Previously, you could simply pay with an invoice you received when the book was finished. You had to pay it immediately. Now you have to pay with a credit card or PayPal. I have neither.
For me, that was a reason to stop using Saal.

hypofocus wrote on Saturday 20 January 2018 at 11:44  | reply

Paying with PayPal is also very simple.
You only need to create an account and you can link your bank account to it. PayPal then simply debits the amounts each time with a direct debit authorization when you have paid for something at an online store.
And one advantage of PayPal: very good buyer protection. If something doesn't arrive and the online store doesn't respond, you will get your money back properly.

So you don't need a credit card or anything like that for PayPal either.
You just have to go through the registration process. But after that it's very convenient, because you can pay with PayPal at many (also international) stores.

I myself have had very good experiences with Saal. The extra-thick photo books are also beautiful. Extremely neatly finished and top print quality. At a very favorable price.

What I do consider a disadvantage with Saal Digital (especially for businesses), is that they don't make an invoice excluding VAT for you.
So you first have to pay German VAT and then Dutch VAT in the Netherlands as well.
But even then they remain by far the best in terms of quality for that extremely competitive price.

Michelle Peeters wrote on Saturday 20 January 2018 at 12:11  | reply

@Frans: I find Saal just as good in terms of quality as Blurb. Blurb may be somewhat more suitable for combining lots of (beautifully formatted) text with photos. I find Saal easier to use and cheaper than Blurb. The only downside of Saal is that it doesn't offer the option to put your book online and possibly sell it there as well. That last option is really a plus for Blurb!

hey, I have already had three 50x70 prints made and the quality is sublime .. wonderfully beautiful colors .... I was dumbfounded by it ... so everyone to Saal ...

For a long time I ordered books (funeral photography) from Saal. But last summer three books whose pages were very wavy, after a complaint I received new books with the same issue. I cannot deliver this to customers.

Saal's response was: put them in a neutral room, humidity, or put something heavy on them. But this did not help at all.

In the beginning it took over a week for me to receive the books, the last shipments arrived in three days. But the quality also deteriorated.

In the meantime I have switched to another provider, who only makes albums for professional photographers (with a Chamber of Commerce registration). Saal is good for consumers, but not for businesses. At least for me, the quality is below par....

We as the photo club Mik&Klik have a completely different experience with Saal. On June 3, 2017, the opening of our first photo exhibition was to take place because of our 5th anniversary. For this, we placed an order with Saal on May 11 for 103 photos for the amount of 170.78 euros. Various sizes ranging from 9/13 to 60/90. On May 22, we received an e-mail saying that the order had been received with pleasure and here is also the invoice. Also on May 22, an e-mail saying that the order had been shipped. When nothing arrived, we tried to contact them by phone several times, to no avail Eventually, the response came on May 30: thank you very much, we will look into it.
The order appears to have been shipped via DHL and only the sender can contact DHL Germany. The message on May 31 said: no depot known, but please call the depot near you. On June 1, 10 photos were delivered. Saal claims that they sent 2 packages, but it clearly says on the delivered package that there was only 1 delivery from Saal. The opening of the exhibition is in 2 days, so we can do nothing but approach a local photographer and ask if they can help us out. They worked overtime. On June 2, all the prints were there, fortunately. With an invoice of 477.84 euros, though. But you have to do something!! On June 6, we received an e-mail asking whether we agreed to a voucher worth 50 euros. On June 13, we received a message that the order had been shipped and included....the invoice. On June 14, Saal closed the discussion with: Unfortunately, we cannot influence unforeseen problems during transport. We ask for your understanding.
End of story.
Fortunately, our photo exhibition was a great success. However, Saal will never receive another order from us

Michelle Peeters wrote on Tuesday 23 January 2018 at 18:30  | reply

@Bart: I'll contact some other suppliers to see if they're interested in a review.

Unfortunately, the communication is very frustrating, you can only contact them by email and they often don't respond. I've already been trying for 2 months to get an answer so that I can order a book. unfortunately, the alternatives aren't what I want or are very expensive.

Only downside of this company is........communicating!!!!
As an entrepreneur I was in contact with them for a while but that turned out to be veeeery difficult every time.
Shame because they have a fine product.
Sorry had to get this off my chest........last time I simply got NO answer to my emails anymore.

Michelle Peeters wrote on Saturday 11 May 2019 at 23:09  | reply

@Miriam: the quality doesn't differ much between them. Profotonet and Albelli provide a white page as an endpaper. With Saal, the first page is glued directly to the inside of the left cover.

sandersmenno wrote on Saturday 3 August 2019 at 00:42  | reply

Hi Michelle, when I use soft proofing (with the correct ICC profile) in Lightroom and Photoshop for a photo book, the photos look very dull and washed out. Is that how they will actually be printed? If so, what’s the best way to adjust my photos to prevent this?