Comments on: BookSmart vs BookWright. Which program should you use?

By: Dancer

Dancer — Sun, 06 May 2018 04:01:23 +0000

Can I use Booksmart to write a book full of text or is it only for making photo books?

By: Peaches and Paprika

Peaches and Paprika — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 14:09:58 +0000

I’ll throw in my two cents here! I didn’t realize the programs were so different till I tried making the blankety blank cover and ran into tons of problems. Text boxes wouldn’t fit where I wanted them and other delights. Interested to know – nearly 2 years hence, whether you are still using both programs? Carol, Peaches and Paprika

By: Donna Guidry

Donna Guidry — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 00:24:22 +0000

I much prefer BookSmart. I started a new book and frustration quickly drove me to discard it and start over in BookSmart. Thanks for the input.

By: DAVE BUNWORTH

DAVE BUNWORTH — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 22:08:15 +0000

Tried Bookwright but found design layouts more cumbersome to use.Reverted to Booksmart and much happier. Probably due to familiarity but the design layout of bookwright is a pain!!

By: friendlybeach

friendlybeach — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 22:42:57 +0000

Hi Stacey.
I still like BookSmart but lately it is crashing on my iMac after about 5 minutes requiring me to force quit and restart.
Not having these issues with the other program. But I do not like the BookWright interface as much and hate the preview. Also the preview in BW only shows in a small window which if I want to view both pages is so small I can’t read my text. I cannot find a way to make the window larger.
I am in the middle of an important (to me) book and these issues are really getting in my way.
Aloha!

By: stacey

stacey — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 23:47:34 +0000

Hey Lily – Great question! BookSmart has a grid in the background when you design your own layouts. This helps a ton to make sure you have even spacing between photos. This does not exist in BookWright (that I’ve found) -but- you can set up guides that act as margins or defining edges in your book which helps provide a consistent look. Does that help? If you have any other questions, let me know. I’m happy to help!

By: lilyandtom

lilyandtom — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 15:20:33 +0000

Hi! I found this while googling to using book wright! I have both book smart and book wright, but unfortunately booksmart doesn’t have the option for Magazines. I like making grids…do you know if there is a way to make grid of photos in book wright or book smart in a way that can have even spacing between al the images?

Thanks!
Lily

By: stacey

stacey — Sun, 10 Apr 2016 15:40:10 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing your insight and experience with the different product. I completely agree with you. It’s hard because there are advantages – but also quirks – with each program. I’ve never heard of Momento but will definitely check them out. Thanks again for checking out my blog and leaving a comment! <3

By: twoblackdoggies

twoblackdoggies — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 04:18:05 +0000

Thanks for the Blurb comparison. I’m trying to decide whether to persist with using BookWright, I’ve created several books using BookSmart and one using the Lightroom plug-in. I did give BookWright a try when it first came out but it seemed to have some annoying quirks that made it painful to use and although some aspects of layout in BookSmart are quite tedious I found using it a less painful experience. The plug-in in Lightroom was ok and I loved being able to work with my original photos and not having to worry about importing them into another program however the layout options were too fiddly and not very user friendly. The photobook program I love most for layout is Momento, they’re an Australian company and the quality of the books is very high, but so are their prices so I’m sticking with Blurb for now.