Review: NPL Album

The Album 99 is Nations Photo Lab's affordable, flush mount, lay flat photo book for weddings, Mitzvahs, portraits, or other sessions. This new offering from Nations was released last year, but we waited to order one until enough time had passed and other reviews had been posted online.

One of the great selling features of the Album 99 is the ability to get a variety of sizes (5x5" up to 12x12"), multiple cover options (photo and canvas wraps, several linen and leather choices) and up to 15 spreads (30 sides/pages) for one base price. 

We ordered the "bang for your buck" 12x12 with a canvas wrap cover. The albums have several upgradeable options such as thicker pages, foil stamping, UV page coating, and blind embossing.

 The albums come in thin pages (which we ordered and are described as "thinner than a dime"), and thick "as a penny" pages, have a minimum of 10 spreads, and must be ordered in multiples of 5 spreads. The thin pages are durable but very flexible (think card stock-type thickness) as they are simply two prints adhered back to back. If your client is looking for pages with a bit more rigidity, you probably should consider upgrading to thick pages.

The book seems quite durable (a testament to the canvas cover as well) and has a nice heft, despite the thin photo pages. Nations ships their Album 99 in a thick, black cardboard box, which is recommended to use for storing the album out of direct sunlight.

The lay flat binding allows a print to span the entire spread. With large album sizes, a single image can be as large as 12x24" and create quite the WOW effect when a panoramic image is used across both sides!

Some album companies have their intro album offerings as a press product (printed on quality paper, with HP Indigo (or similar) printers. Even the Nations' Album 99 is printed on Kodak Professional Lustre paper, so you know you're getting a nice photographic print (with or without substrate depending on the thickness you order).

Nations also has their own ROES ordering system for download. While you can start a project from scratch, uploading each image onto a background and placing one by one, the software also allows for the dragging and dropping of already-designed pages, or completed spreads (which helps for those of us that are hamstrung by Lightroom's limitation of only exporting books as sides).

Turnaround was awesome! Nations delivered in exactly a week from my order date. They also have drop shipping directly to clients available as well.

Verdict: 

The Album 99 is definitely a great deal if you are looking to order a high-quality album on a budget. We'll definitely consider continuing with Nations for brides on the lower to intermediate end of the price spectrum that would still love a product to excellently preserve their wedding memories. Because of the price point, the Album 99 could also be bundled with portrait, engagement, or other sessions that you might not originally consider making an album for. If money is no object, and you're looking for a greater level of customization, you might consider Zookbinders or Kiss Albums, as both are time tested and known for amazing quality and great customer service.