Zoomin Website and Hardcover Premium Photobook Review

It doesn’t feel too long when Yashica film camera used to be a thing at my home; my father had one and I remember what fun time we had with it. My tiny toddler fingers were impatient and went all “click click click” with it, while my father tried his best to meticulously teach me; loading the film into the camera, looking into the viewfinder and making sure everything was in focus and in frame, so you don’t waste even one click of that precious film on a bad shot. Yes, it took all that effort followed by more effort of taking the roll to the photo studio and then waiting for days for it to get developed until you finally have the pictures in your hand. And then came the task of putting them inside the album. A lot of effort went into capturing worthwhile moments. But a lot has changed since then. In this era of smartphones, where you can click whatever and however you like, without fearing the roll to finish or worrying about them to get processed, with the ease of going through the pictures whenever and wherever you want, is it at all necessary to get the photos printed? Well, if you ask me, yes! The joy of holding the album in hand and flipping through the pages is totally different and much more joyful than just browsing them on phone or laptop. And hence, when Zoomin contacted me to collaborate with them, I didn’t give a second thought.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE BRAND ZOOMIN:-
Zoomin is an award winning and one of the best digital photo personalization and printing platforms in India. Through its own world-class infrastructure and award-winning products, Zoomin has delivered millions of customer stories through beautifully designed photographic products. Whether it's a special day like a birthday, a wedding, a vacation, or some unforgettable moments, they consider our special moments as their special and deliver the best. Their goal is to enable us capture and cherish every moment of our lives, big or small, in a style that suits us.

PRODUCTS:-
From hardcover photobooks and square prints to colored frames and natural wood frames, from planners and notebooks to desktop calendars and mini magnets, they have a wide range of products at very reasonable rates. Take a look at their best sellers here.

Well, I had been planning to document my daughter’s incredible journey so far in pictures and a photobook seemed to be a great option. Thus, I went ahead with their Hardcover Premium Photobook.

SPECIFICATIONS and FEATURES of HARDCOVER PREMIUM PHOTOBOOK:-
This photobook is available in different sizes and designs and the one I have is Classic White in 10”x8” containing 40 pages. You can choose the sizes and designs according to your wish. As per the finish, you have two options to choose from, Premium Matte and Premium Non-tearable Glossy finish. I chose Premium Matte.

Below are the full details of Zoomin Hardcover Premium Photobook:

THEMES:-
I went for Classic White because I wanted the theme to be clean, simple and white. I feel images and colors, they look much better against a white background. However, there are 47 other themes that you can explore.

PRICE:-
The price depends on what combination you choose. You have to select the size, number of pages and the template to get the final quote. My Classic White 10”X8” photobook containing 40 pages came with a price tag of 1599 and I found it to be pretty reasonable.

DESIGNING:-
Designing the photobook was super fun and easy. Once your have decided the size, the number of pages, the finish, pick the theme that you would like to use throughout your photo book. After you have gone through all those steps, upload the pictures from your device or G-drive. Before I started designing, I had spent quite some time organizing and selecting the photos. It was an extremely tough job selecting just 41 pictures amongst the thousands and thousands of photos that I have of my baby girl, hence along with single pictures, I uploaded few collages so that I could accommodate more images. After uploading the pictures, you will be taken to a page where you can change the order of pictures and also select the one that you want on the cover page. Then you will be taken to the pages individually so that you can edit your photos and the layout, add text or change the position or replace a particular photo with a completely different one from the gallery, etc. You won’t be directed to the next page unless you swipe through all the photos to confirm the final layout. I was astonished to see that so much care has been taken so that we can be fully satisfied with what we are buying. Here I realized that you can create collage directly on the website. Had I known it earlier, it could have saved a lot of time. And one small suggestion, if you are planning to include collages, I would recommend you to create the collage in the Zoomin template itself. Because, I had fit issues with a few pre-created collages, especially when I tried going full page. So create the collage on the website template itself, there are many options and it will be easier and better. So after going through all the pictures you will be given a preview of your photobook and then if you are satisfied, you can add it to your cart.

FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES: OUR THOUGHTS:-
For the album, I chose my little girl’s pictures, starting from her birth to the present days. And maybe that’s why I was a little more excited and a little less patient. But I didn’t have to wait long and the photobook reached me super soon. While unboxing it, I could sense the same excitement that I felt as a kid, when something new and exciting came up.
First impression? We absolutely loved the look and feel of the photobook. The pages are neither too thick and nor too thin, perfectly meaty and offers a real nice tactile experience as I flip through the pages of this photobook. As I said earlier, that I chose their Premium Matte finish and I love how the velvety matte papers enhanced the beauty of the images. Also, this photobook has a lay flat binding and since it opens a 180 degrees you can see the full spread from one edge to the next page, without fighting pages that want to curl up.

Talking about the print quality, I am very impressed with Zoomin’s print and color quality. I intentionally added a few small, low quality, blurry-pixelated photos, in spite of them marking those pictures red and warning me not to go ahead with them. But I went ahead just to see how they turn out to be and I am totally speechless with the result. No one will ever understand which ones are my below 200KB pictures amongst all the 10MB+ ones. And no, I am not exaggerating. When I am critiquing, know that I am judging all points, from the print and color intensity to the noise, depth and ratio. And I must say, they did an phenomenal job. Also, I wanted to see if they can work magic with both black and white and colored pictures. Talking this from a previous experience, where after printing the black and white photos lost their depth and the colored ones were horridly yellow. But that didn’t happen with Zoomin’s photobook, their colored images were perfectly saturated and the black and white ones had the perfect dimension, depth and intensity. Also, I kept blank spaces around the pictures intentionally so that I can scribble notes for my lil one in my handwriting, so can go full page if you want.

I am getting those warm fuzzies every single time I am looking at the photos. Zoomin didn’t take the live out of the pictures, but added more zeal to them. There is nothing more rewarding than looking back at old photos, reflecting on the amazing time you had. We just can’t stop going through the pictures over and over again, reliving those days and smiling. Overall, we are extremely happy.

As Rakhi is almost knocking at the doors, why don’t you visit Zoomin and gift your loved ones one such photobook displaying those cherished photos? You can even choose from the numerous other product options that they have. They are also running special discount for Rakhi. Trust me, this kind of photobook is the pinnacle, the tip of the sword of the most meaningful gift that you could pass on to somebody. Not only as a gift, I can now see myself getting a photobook for every big and small event of my life. I have already started selecting photos for my second photobook from Zoomin.

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* PR Sample. But review is honest as always.
Thank you Zoomin and Digiacai for this wonderful opportunity.