I’ve been a bit slack with the updates of late because I moved house 2 weeks ago and have no internet. I won’t even get a phone line installed until Thursday…!
Below are comparison photos (click for larger) between the two books. Comments:
- The Blurb book appears on the right and bottom respectively. When they are stacked on top of each other, Blurb is on top.
- The Blurb cover is a lot nicer (and not shiny). Kindvast acknowledge this and can provide a non-gloss cover…
- Kindvast is slightly larger
- Blurb pages are more glossy and have richer color
- Blurb is a lot nicer for black background custom toy figurine spread
- There was some handling wear-and-tear on the Kindvast book (e.g. “give up” page), which is not a good sign
- Based on this I wouldn’t use Kindvast for a hardcover edition, even though they are significantly cheaper. I may request a softcover sample…
Let me know if you have any questions or would like further photos…
Update
Response from Kindvast:
Blurb cover is nicer…
The cover is no problem, we can do you a matte finish. Please check the attached pictures…
Blurb pages have more gloss and colors are a bit brighter…
Because our sample uses digital printing, not offset printing, so the color and finish will be a little different. To do a sample in offset printing is very expensive, so all of our samples are digital printing. In our production, they are all offset printing. If possible, please send us a Blurb sample to check, then we can do a better job to match quality during production. It may not be 100% similar, but we are sure we can get it 95% the same.
Scratches and marks on some pages…
Because the sample is made by hand, not by machine, sometimes there will be some scratches during the cutting and seal process. And for the production, they are all made by machine, so there will be no scratches and marks on the pages.
Blurb binding is nicer…
Refer to the other production sample which we sent you — as in production your book will also use that binding.
Pixel Perfect Books 