Frequently Asked Questions
General
Click on “Register Now” on the top of the home page and fill out the registration form. A sales representative will contact you (usually within the same business day) to welcome you and help you learn how Zookbinders may best serve your business.
Due to the exclusivity of our professional photo albums, we only work with professional photographers.
Nope! We love creating professional, high-end wedding albums, but we also create photo albums for every type of event!
We create Mitzvah photo albums, High School Senior photo books, Portrait albums for families, babies, and couples, Boudoir photo albums, and Guest books for any event!
At Zookbinders, we also work with Corporate photographers on photo albums for charity events, organizations, and corporations!
We have lots of resources to help! Our customer service staff would love to talk via phone, video chat, or messenger about tips & tricks.
Our customer service agent and professional photographer, Maureen Miller, shares her professional advice for photographers on the Zookbinders blog.
Yes! All sample albums are 30% off all year round. Just checkmark the box in the ordering system for sample.
Click here for 6 tips for creating a great sample album!
All questions can be answered by our customer service staff at 847-272-5745 or by Live Chat via the button in the bottom right-hand corner of the site. Feel free to also message us on Facebook or Instagram!
The best way to show the differences between most of the albums is in this product comparison chart.
The Zook Book is our signature album that features gilded edges, rounded corners, fabric end-sheets, and upgraded packaging. All albums include Genuine Leather covers with multiple colors to choose from. This high-end album is the industry’s best professional flush-mount wedding and event album.
The Lustre Book is our most popular flush-mount album and features a more contemporary look with square cut corners, white page edges, a choice of two page thicknesses, and dozens of cover combinations. All albums are made in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and printed on Kodak silver halide paper, UV coated for protection and packed in a handsome grey box with a ribbon. We have many attractive cover options to further personalize your albums!
The EZ Book is the newest member of the Zook product line and printed on silver halide paper that’s mounted “back to back”. The EZ Book features a gutterless lay-flat construction and ultra-thin pages, making it our most cost-effective photo album. It’s perfect for portrait albums, sign-in books, seniors and parent album copies.
It’s common for clients to take weeks or even months to choose their images for their album – with so many good ones to choose from, can you blame them?
As the photographer you can either pre-select your favorites or you can have Zookbinders start the process for you with our Selection service.
Allow our professional selection team to choose the best images for the album. This gives your client a head start on finalizing their favorite images!
Just upload your images, let us know how many to choose for the “Favorites”, and we’ll select the best of the best.
If you disagree or your client disagrees, it’s very easy to unselect an image from the “favorites gallery”, and replace it with an image from the “all images” gallery.
Services
Products
*Actual turnaround times may vary with order volume and other plant conditions. Regular turnaround times are suspended during holiday periods in November and December. Contact our Customer Service Department for more details.
*5-7 business day rush service available during non-holiday periods for 30% surcharge.
We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) through the direct pay eCommerce platform built into our ordering system.
Yes, 5-7 business day rush service is a 30% additional fee.
The cover base is a 3/16” Masonite board custom made for each album. Many low to mid-end companies use cardboard which can bend, is less rigid and can also warp over time. For Leather Spine and Wraparound covers, Zookbinders then layers a photograph which is laminated for protection and seamlessly joins into the top grain cowhide leather (or eco-leather or fabric – based on your choice) that forms the rest of the cover and provides a luxurious feel and longevity.
For Full Leather covers, it is produced the same way, however instead of a photographic image that is laminated, we cover it in full leather (or fabric).
For a custom die we can go up to 2 inches in height, and up to 5 inches in width.
We don’t recommend thin lines, the bigger and bolder, the better!
Zookbinders also recommends only using custom dies with glove leather.
There is a small Zookbinders logo on the back end sheet. If you would rather not have the Zookbinders logo, you can request that by contacting our customer service before or immediately after the album is ordered.
Yes! You can send us your logo and for a one-time fee we can create a die for your logo to be imprinted on the fabric end sheet on the inside cover of the Zook Book. There is no additional cost for studio imprinting.
For Lustre Books and EZ Books, send us the logo and we will have it added for you to select when ordering the album. If you do not have a logo, when you order your album there is a place for you to type your studio name that will go on the inside cover.
You can also choose to not have a studio name in the album.
Yes. To comply with laws and maintain a safe, respectful environment for everyone, Zookbinders cannot print or produce any images that include nudity showing the genitalia of a minor.
This applies even in non-sexual or cultural contexts—such as baby baths, baptisms, or family celebrations. While we understand these moments are innocent and meaningful, reproducing or possessing such images could violate child protection laws designed to safeguard children and photo processors.If you’d like to include these memories, please crop or cover the image appropriately before submitting.
This restriction applies only to images showing the front genital area; photos showing a baby’s backside are acceptable.We also ask photographers and clients submitting boudoir sessions to ensure that images are in line with community standards. Zookbinders reserves the right to decline any order containing sexually explicit content, graphic nudity, or imagery that may be interpreted as pornographic. This includes full frontal nudity.
Our goal is always to protect our clients, your studio, and our team while upholding the professionalism and artistry that define Zookbinders albums.
Yes. To comply with laws and maintain a safe, respectful environment for everyone, Zookbinders cannot print or produce any images that include nudity showing the genitalia of a minor.
This applies even in non-sexual or cultural contexts—such as baby baths, baptisms, or family celebrations. While we understand these moments are innocent and meaningful, reproducing or possessing such images could violate child protection laws designed to safeguard children and photo processors.If you’d like to include these memories, please crop or cover the image appropriately before submitting.
This restriction applies only to images showing the front genital area; photos showing a baby’s backside are acceptable.We also ask photographers and clients submitting boudoir sessions to ensure that images are in line with community standards. Zookbinders reserves the right to decline any order containing sexually explicit content, graphic nudity, or imagery that may be interpreted as pornographic. This includes full frontal nudity.
Our goal is always to protect our clients, your studio, and our team while upholding the professionalism and artistry that define Zookbinders albums.
Color and Design
Design spreads must be exactly the same size as the album you are ordering. For example, a 10×10 album requires 10×10 half panos or 10×20 spreads. For more on this, please view our Design Guide.
Color and density correction is the responsibility of the photographer. We do not color correct files or adjust density (exposure).
We strongly suggest that you:
1) Work on a quality, color-calibrated monitor.
2) Send us test images through the McKenna software and compare to your monitor.
McKenna offers 10 FREE 8×10 luster photographic prints to help you with your print to screen match. After you complete the color calibration tools process, you will use these prints to help guide you as you adjust the brightness, contrast and color of your monitor to match McKenna’s color. To better understand how to do this process, watch this portion of the Monitor Calibration With McKenna video.
To order your 8×10 Calibration Prints, you will open the McKenna Easy Order software and navigate to the Calibration Prints catalog. Our recommendation is that you download our calibration print file and select 9 other images that represent the diversity of your photography to order. (e.g indoor and outdoor shots, in color as well as black and white images.) Please use promo code CAL810 during checkout. Once you receive your prints, they must be viewed under daylight balanced lighting for accurate assessment.
If you used the Zookbinders design service, we have a team that does a quality-check before you receive your design. However, it is the responsibility of the photographer to view and approve the final design. If there was a design error, Zookbinders will take responsibility for the error.
No. We offer a full design service whereby you may choose one of our three design styles, upload your images and have Zookbinders create your design, OR you must do your own design in Adobe or a design program and upload your completed design as full spreads for a Print-to-Bind order. Here is a download for the Design Guide.
We do not require designers to add any bleed area to design spreads, however we DO insist on a safety margin. The safety margin is the area around the perimeter of each spread where you should not place important parts of the image (heads or feet), text or important design elements. See our design guide found in the Downloads page for more information.
Either is acceptable.
If your design starts with a right side half pano, we will add a black spacer on the left opposite your first side.
Likewise, if your design ends on a left side half pano, we will add a black spacer opposite it on the right.
Click here for the Design Your Cover page for exact specifications for photo wraparound covers, leather spine covers and Acrylic covers.
Cover cameos scale up and down with the size of the album. Refer to the Zookbinders catalog for actual size of cameos on each size album. You must be signed into your account to view the catalog.
Looking to better manage your workflow, control costs, and get off your computer?
The Zookbinders Design Service is an invaluable outsource partner.
Just start a Design Order in your ZookiePro account, and upload your edited, high resolution images that you would like us to design with. You tell us how many images you would like us to use in your design, and how many spreads we should create them in.
Our professional designers will create a clean, contemporary
design for you in just 5-10 business days.
We will send you a link to view the design, and you can add revisions to have your designer make changes if you like.
We also provide you with a link to send your client as well where they can write in revisions or approve the design.
Our design service offers 3 different design styles to choose from:
If you have something different that you need for your design, please contact our customer service and we can help!
Ordering
Zook Book: Minimum spreads is 5 (10 sides) and maximum is 45 spreads (90 sides).
Lustre Book (standard pgs): Minimum spreads is 5 (10 sides) and maximum is 45 spreads (90 sides).
Lustre Book (thick pgs): Minimum spreads is 5 (10 sides) and maximum is 35 spreads (70 sides).
EZ Book: Minimum spreads is 5 (10 sides) and maximum is 45 spreads (90 sides).
File names should include a sequence number with leading zeros (such as 01, 02, 03, etc; or Smith-Jones_01, Smith-Jones_02, Smith-Jones_03). Special characters should not be used.
If the ordering system is giving you a warning that it will not let you upload your images because they are not sRGB, please recheck all your files.
Watch this tutorial on Color Space Warnings and sRGB Conversions
If you are still having difficulty, please contact customer service. We have access to a “color space report” and can tell exactly which image(s) are not sRGB.
Choose modern or italic font styles for name/date imprinting or add a traditional monogram as a title. Cover stamping can be branded or foil stamped in black, gold, silver, rose gold, or copper.
Foil colors are: Black, Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, and Copper. These foil colors can be used for cover imprinting, spine stamping, gilding, and/or studio stamps.
Contact our Customer Service department at customerservice@zookbinders.com or online chat to arrange for upgraded UPS 2-day or overnight services which are available for an additional cost depending on destination and package size and weight.
To check the status of an album in production: Please contact the customer service team and we can give you the status and estimated ship date.
To check the status of an album in selection, design, or shipping: Log into your Zookbinders account. You will see all of your orders listed under the “All Orders” tab. If we need something from you (like a design approval, etc.) you will see a status under “What we need you to do” within the “All orders” tab. That status is clickable and will direct you to the right page. You’ll also be able to track all previously invoiced orders by selecting “Invoice history” in the menu.
For Design orders a $100 deposit will be refunded ONLY if your order has not started the design process.
If you cancel a Design Order during or after the design process is complete, a refund or promo code will be issued for the amount of the deposit less the design fee. High resolution JPG files of the completed design will be provided to you.
Once a Print to Bind order has been paid for and submitted into production by the photographer, it may go into prepress and production within the same business day. If you need to cancel or change any order, customer service must be contacted immediately. If the order is caught during prepress there is a $25 fee to replace a file. If a spread needs replaced and the order block has not been created yet, the fee is $35 to replace a printed spread.
If an order needs canceled and the production status is on the production floor, the photographer must pay for anything that has printed and/or been created.
The photographer should contact us if there are any concerns with the product.
Our replica albums are a great way to gift an album to a family member for less of a cost than a main album. The replica albums have a wraparound photo cover that is a “replica” of the main album. The main album cover is recreated as a printed photo wraparound cover for the replica album(s).
Replica albums only have wraparound covers – even if the main album has leather, the replica will not have leather on the cover.
You have your choice of a replica album in the Lustre Book or the EZ Book in multiple packages and sizes.
Due to the texture on the surface of Lustre paper, we are unable to get the smooth seal between the print and the acrylic. The clients would be able to see the air bubbles left due to the texture, so the only and best option is Metallic.
Shipping
We ship all packages via UPS. Most destinations in the continental US and Alaska receive deliveries from 1-4 days from the time they ship from our Iowa production facility. Hawaii is 7-10 days. Shipments to Puerto Rico via UPS International Economy usually arrive in 2 business days. Shipments to Canada via UPS International Ground and can take from 2-10 days from the date shipped depending on location.
Continental USA: $20 per order flat rate
Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii: $55 per order flat rate
Canada: $35 per order flat rate
If the album is dropshipped to your client, it will not include an invoice or packing slip.
If the album is going to your studio or billing address, we include a packing slip, but pricing is not included.
All albums come with a care card for the album. Lustre books and Zook books include a gray box with tissue, and the EZ books come with shrink wrap or can be upgraded to a gray box with tissue.
You will be notified by email upon shipment of all your orders. Included in your notification will be the UPS tracking number for up-to-the-minute tracking once the package is picked up from our location (which may be in the evening hours of Central Standard Time).
Not usually. However, all shipments to residential addresses (whether it is yours or your clients) will be sent with Signature Required. If an album is shipped to your client’s residence and they are not available to sign, we suggest sending it to an office address. Based on your local UPS, occasionally shipments are made without a signature required but this is rare.
If the product was lost, contact our Customer Service department as soon as possible if you or your client does not receive their package.
If the product you received was damaged during shipping, please keep all products and packaging materials. To honor a damage claim, the shipping company needs photos of the damaged product and packaging and may return to inspect or pick it up. Any shipping damage reported later than 5 business days may not be covered and could require you to pay for the replacement product.
Please report any damage within 5 days by emailing customerservice@zookbinders.
The photos we will need of the damaged packaging and album to submit a claim with the shipping carrier as as follows:
UPS is our exclusive carrier and we cannot use any other carrier or account number.
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