Making a Photobook in the UAE: Zno (formerly Artisan)

The Zno (Artisan) book left, Riot right

Last month I curated a collection of images of Dubai neighborhoods to test the work of online photobook service Artisan, which has since changed name to Zno.  They currently offer a $5.00 trial on a 6x8 (grammatically misnomered) lay-flat book of 20 pages, a similar size to what I ordered previously from competing services.  For more about those, see this blog post.

Zno provides an online design application that was fairly easy to use, but may require a little tinkering if you have unusual needs. As with my last experiment, I used a plain background and only one image per page.  Unfortunately, I didn’t discover until near the end how to format all pages with one command, and so manually resized all 20 images. This was not a huge inconvenience, but if you are doing a large project, or one using multiple images per page, be prepared to spend a little time getting things set up.  I did not try Zno’s help services, so cannot comment on their speediness or usefulness in assisting with these kinds of issues.  Upload of 22 images at 300 dpi (20 interior pages + front and back covers) was relatively quick and easy, and moving images around within the design software quite effortless.  My project was submitted 20 March, I received confirmation of shipment the next day, and DHL delivered the package a week later on 27 March.  With $5.00 shipping, the book came to $10.00 total.  Normal pricing for this product appears to be $35.00 (shipping included).

Xno binding and inside cover 

Not quite flat, but pretty close

Xno book left, Riot right

Xno begins with a left-facing image, Riot with right facing

I was somewhat surprised at the book’s thickness and heaviness, especially compared with the products from the previous project.  But this is because the Zno book is printed less on what you might think of as paper and more on what you might consider heavy card stock.  This adds to the product’s durability and presumably longevity and lends it an air of gravitas.  Binding appears to be entirely glue, and only time will tell how well this holds up.  The major difference between this book is that it lies flat when open, something not possible with the others unless you are prepared to stress the binding.  All pages, including cover, are matte finish, meaning there is a bit of grain to the paper, more noticeable on the cover than the interior pages.  As a result, images are a bit softer and perhaps somewhat darker, something to consider if you are working with this vendor.  Zno is a US-based company that prints in China. For more about them, see here.

Of the three services I’ve used this far, I would most probably use Riot again.  It’s hard to say without knowing what the project might be, but I prefer the smaller size and portability of the Riot product, as well as the sharper and lighter images.

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