YAHOO SET TO LAUNCH FLICKR PHOTO BOOKS

Flickr is adding a one-click photo book
feature for its users, Yahoo's photo-sharing
site announced Tuesday .
Users need only to click the book icon on any
of their sets, according to Flickr, and the site
will automatically generate a photo book.
Flickr is promising that the bound books are
laid out to optimally showcase a
photographer's work.
That includes simple layouts, placement of
one photo per page, and tools that will
"analyze, crop, position, and rearrange your
photos to look their best," the Flickr blog
reads. Users can also go in manually and
make tweaks, delete images, or reorder the
pages.
Starting next week, US users will actually be
able to purchase the books, which Flickr said
are printed on premium photo paper. Users
outside the continental US will have to wait
longer. "Please stay tuned. We are working
on bringing you Flickr Photo Books soon," the
blog says.
The books can run from 20 to 240 pages, and
they'll start at $35 for a 20-page book. It's
50 cents per page after that, according to
Yahoo.
It's unclear what this new process means for
Flickr's partnership with HP's Snapfish, which
was the source for Flickr photo books.
Previously, when users selected a photo set
and then clicked on the photo book option,
Flickr would connect them to Snapfish. Now
it's difficult to surface that option. A Yahoo
spokeswoman said the "Snapfish partnership
remains. This is entirely separate."
Yahoo won't say what vendor is actually
powering the printing behind these new
photo books, or if it has plans to add any
other printed products, like T-shirts or mugs.
Source: CNET