Foliobook Photo Portfolio App Reviews

Great app, easy to use, professional

This app is excellent. When I bought an ipad it was with high hopes to display my artwork in a portfolio format. I realized quickly that the photo album app was garbage and started looking for other options, this was by far the best. I am most impressed by how much you can customize your portfolio. I have mine set up to have multiple categories and sub-categories which on it's own sets this app apart from others I've seen. If you spend a little time to design your homepage image this app can function like a locally saved website. I had one quarrel with it, which was the issue where zooming out of images returned you prematurely to the homepage. It was frustrating but the support staff was responsive to my frustrations and the problem has been corrected in the most recent update. I give this app the highest marks possible because it has been instrumental in me showing potential clients my artwork at conventions.

I am surprised to see so many poor reviews here. With it's new dropbox integration, I am loving this app! Setup your galleries on your computer, put a numerical sequence if you don't want to drag thumb nails in the apps light box area - go into your FolioBook "F" setup to get started with layout and customizing and your set. Variable transition slide shows, soundtrack, custom home page and logo, multiple galleries and categories, etc. It is really slick and after trying many, this (dropbox sync did it) is the folio app to have! Yes, directions could have been just a bit more thorough, but after 5 minutes of tapping and trying out - all became obvious! Best in show!

This app is simple to use and is responsive to all commands. I have a couple of portfolio apps but I end up using this one because it's intuitive. If you need info on how to do something in particular there are short but precise instructions a click away. Love the possibility to connect with Dropbox. Photographers and people needing show high quality images in a beautiful and customizable package will love this app.

I hate this app... Simply swiping through pics is a chore.I bought it based on a written article that praised it... It's total BS. Horrid

Da best 1 of all

I love the idea of this app. It looks like I have a custom app made just for my portfolio. It looks great, but as others have said the navigation is poor. My clients are initially impressed by Foliobook but it's soon dampened by them getting stuck somewhere struggling how to get in or out of parts of the portfolio. I'm constantly leaning over to help them figure things out. PLEASE update the navigation. If you fix that to be more intuitive, this app will be fantastic.

I just recently got my first iPad, and the portfolio program I was using on my iPhone was no longer in the app store, so I started looking for a replacement. The customization available allows you to create a portfolio that looks unique. Foliobook does everything I need to do with one exception. Currently it allows Categories and Galleriers. Categories can hold further Categories or Galleries, and Galleries hold images. It would be nice to add a feature for Collections, similar to what Photoshop and Zenfolio have. That way you can collect images from several galleries to display them together, without having to duplicate the images being stored.

For a $10 app, I'm blown away by the poor overall quality. Incredibly slow and buggy. Not intuitive in the least.

This app is great for showcasing my photography portfolio to prospective clients. The ability to customize separate sections is a big plus for my work.

If I could give this app less than one star I would. My complaints center around non-standard use of gestures and general poor operability. I will explain through two examples, although there are many. When displaying portfolio images to a “client” using a two-finger pinch (which universally means to reduce an image) exits the slideshow mode and returns you to the home page. You then have to re-select the gallery and swipe through all the images starting with the first to reach the point where you mistakenly exited. This has happened every single time I have shown images to people, and is very annoying. When re-arranging the order of the images in the Lightbox mode, the images are displayed in a grid as 2x2 slides (with the “cardboard” slide border). To scroll the entire grid you tap and move your finger to scroll and reveal additional images that did not fit on the original page. To move an image you tap and hold, the “slide border” turns light gray and then move your finger to move the image. Tragically moving to the edge (top or bottom) of the screen does not cause the grid to scroll and you must drop the image in an intermediate position, and then scroll the grid, reselect the image and move it again, possibly to another intermediate position. This is extremely tedious and it took me over 2 hours to suitably arrange a small set of 126 slides into their desired order. Further many times when I wanted to scroll, a slide was selected by my tap and the slide was moved accidentally (and then I had to try and remember where is was and return it). Similarly tapping to intentionally move a slide (and waiting until the border turned gray) often caused the grid to scroll rather than moving the slide. This was very frustrating. Finally although the instructions say that tapping on multiple images selects them (which it does), when I tried to move them only the original image was moved. Thus I could find no way to do group moves, and I ended up moving each slide individually. This is one app that is going directly into my trash can and I consider it a complete waste of $10.

To be honest, I've tried several apps like this one and this is by far the best one. That said, it needs a lot of work to be truly customizable. 1. Main title and subtitles should have the ability to use different fonts and colors. 2. Subtitle scope box should be able to change size so that text can actually get larger and not be hyphen...ated like this. 3. Need the ability to add PDF files too portfolio or at least a link to the files. 3. Link to a directory or file by image and not just text would be great. I understand the desire to keep the app simple and clean but it is too limiting as is and actually has the opposite effect at times and can look amateurish.

This is definitely not worth 10$. But I think it’s the only decent portfolio app out there. Wish there were more options for design. Zooming in doesn’t work properly, it jumps to a corner of the image. The only thing this app offers that’s useful is the ability to name your work and nave a title page. Otherwise I would have just used a photo album. On the Ipad.

This app is not that easy to use, the favorites feature is useless and now my music won't play (and I know how to use it)!!!

Great portfolio app. Does everything I need and I submitted an idea for a feature request and they added it. Great product and support.

Easy to use. Does just what I purchased it for.

I've had this app for three years and it has evolved (along with the iPad) so that it is now a really smooth and elegant way to collect and present work. The original iPad could not keep up with it but the iPad Air is fast enough to let Foliobook work as designed, and it's a well-oiled machine. In fact the wipe function in Foliobook is much more fluid than the one in Apple's slide show. I'm very happy with the app.

I’ve searched forever and purchased many portfolio apps over the last few years. There is a Huge need for a professional portfolio viewer that is 1) high resolution capable and 2) a simple clean interface. I believe many professionals use their iPad to showcase their work to prospective clients and for professional critiquing. I thought this would be that app. When working it is exactly what a needed, note I said when it’s working. The app has just to many glitches, it’s pretty basic so I can’t understand why the developers can’t solve the issues. No matter is you stroll slowly or quick it will display images twice or skip over others. It’s completely hit or miss. When you hand your iPod over for the client to review you have one chance at a first impression, I’m tired of making excuses for the app. Like I said there is a need for an app like this, please guys update and make it what it could be.

This app works great, just like Scott Kelby said. It installed and setup in a snap, without any problems. It works for showing my portfolio just perfectly, where three others I tried failed and caused no end of frustrations and had lots of bugs.

In this day with the iPhone 6 Plus (and 6sPlus) there is no reason this app can't work on the iPhone. No clue why they have not updated it to have this functionality.

I use folio book for my design portfolio- I love that I can sync with Dropbox. Since I already use Dropbox, this means I don't have to integrate lots of other programs to access my jpegs on the go. Would like to see more template options for backgrounds- otherwise- it works quite well for what I need.

Lots of options to explore and customize your portfolio. Every version has improved in useful ways. Dropbox support is nice!

Very welcoming, easy to use, better than competitors, but can still be improved, but don't ask how. Nice!

Preparing for a presentation when I look at my motion gallery and see that it is putting the first video played as the background image. Needless to say I can’t use this program to show my work to potential clients anymore. Perhaps the latest system update caused this glitch but since there is no update to the app it is pretty much useless.

I was in a constant never ending world of apps to build a portfolio until I started using this app. It is just wonderful to use! Sure it needs improvement but still it is the best. In order to improve the app further I would like to see ability to covert into pdf for easy email and viewing work on tablets or computers that do not have foliobook. Also it would be great if a foliobook"viewer" were to made for the iphone for those times when one does not have the ipad around. All in all a 5 star product.. !

I like it

I am a professional photographer and it really increases the portability of my portfolio! Not a bad app to have

I like this app a lot. I would love it but it needs a few things. The text boxes extending instead of the putting three dots I'm the middle of the word would be nice. More layouts and/or more customization options would be nice. Being able to see the file names is imperative! If a client really loves a photo being able to jot down the file name for ordering is a deal breaker. I paid $10 for this but I'm sticking with the less pretty but more functional $3 Photo Manager Pro until this feature exists.

I purchased this app on the suggestion from Photoshelter, I have not been pleased. It is slow o load a portfolio for viewing and when I try and scroll through the images it only loops through the first image. If you wait LNG enough for all you images to load it will work correctly. The problem is clients don't like waiting.

I tried to move some galleries into a category. Could not do it. Tried to restore from a backup and the app crashed immediately after telling me I would need to OK deleting my current portfolio in order to restore. No restore and no portfolio. What a pain!

Just purchased FolioBook and I'm really impressed. It is a great app for making an iPad portfolio of my artwork to show clients. Also, the online videos are really nice to learn the ins and outs of Foliobook, as well as tricks and advanced features. Extremely happy that newest version has a 'publish to web" feature. I hope this is enhanced in future versions to include multiple galleries, more images, and metadata. When this occurs, I will give 5 stars.

Needs an update, feels old and outdated, interface needs a redesign. The process to set an image logo is unclear and annoying, could never get it to work. Sorry but wouldn't recommend.

Great program, however, it would be extremely useful if the number of images that can be added be increased. Currently the limit is 250 images.

Doesn't work. Crashes often. Sideshow only repeats the first image. Paid $9.99 for very limited options. Very disappointed.

It's a cool app, but you definitely need to learn how to navigate this app. It's not very intuitive, especially when customizing.

Bought this a few years back, no updates no evolution to the clunky interface, etc... if they put a little more work this could be perfect.

As a professional photographer with design experience, I use this to customize 3-4 categories of images to show art buyers. This was great before the update and now it is just fantastic! The new built-in connection to Photoshelter allowed me easily download images directly from my site. No more uploading and sizing for each location and I can easily update my site and Foliobook with new work and be consistent. The interface works well and quickly when showing retina quality images. I also customize the home page with an image that includes custom typography for my categories. The Foliobook links are left blank and positioned over the type to avoid the limited selection of typefaces available for Foliobook. This keeps my typography consistent with my website and cards. It's a little extra work, but well worth it!

This is nice Folio, I own a few of those and this one is the nicest I have. I have to stop using it I cannot get the back-up fuction to work, it crashes imediatly. Using an iPad 1st gen is no excuse, I have much larger back-up and restore working with other folio app. Desapointing

The design of this app is nice and I definitely did research before buying this. I bought it because I liked how you can customize it and how minimal it is. The freezing and glitching however is painful. I had back to back meetings with potential clients and the way it stalls and sometimes glitches was painful. The glitching is such that an image will be doubled or tripled even if it wasn't in the layout. I even restored my iPad and set up as new before installing and using this app. The program doesn't seem to be storing or running that much, that it should be this slow. Definitely should have done a PDF in indesign like my gut instinct told me.

Worked as advertised at first. But an update necessitated reloading app. big hassle. Now I can't email photos, possibly due to an Apple update. Online support is very prompt but not helpful at all.

I'm trying to find an app that will allow me to sort images the way I want without manipulating any EXIF data… This was recommended by Terry White at Bestappsite and while I don't use dropbox (which is why he was excited about it…) the interface is clunky, the zoom feature is bad (you should be AT LEAST as good as the Photos app…) and forcing me to come up with some sort of "cover" as if this was a book presentation is just silly. The touch/multifunction is too sensitive, I keep exiting out of the images, that's terrible when you're trying to present something… Like I mentioned, the Photos app does a better job… Regarding "performance", I'm using an iPad 4 (which is one of five iPads I have…) so there's no excuse for touch issues or lack of user experience. Just needs more polish, less trying to be fancy, just show my images well.

It is no longer being supported. I bought it just over a year ago. Emails to their support are returned as undeliverable and the support forum hasn’t been updated in a year. Guess I’m out $10. Shame they didn’t bother telling users.

I have to say that setup of this app, and creating a portfolio layout customized to match your brand is definitely doable. The layout I've got is looking good. Having said that, getting where I needed it took an inordinate amount of time and the process was extremely non-intuitive. Even getting my images loaded was more of a hassle than it should have been. I'd be more frustrated if I was a less tech savvy user, because I was determined to make it work for me, but it was quite a bit more effort than should have been required just to set a color scheme, add my logo, and create photo galleries.

Huge trouble loading and/or playing video. Can’t upload from iTunes or Dropbox. I paid for the video extra, so not updating it to work is messed up.

This app needs work in terms of navigation. Everything has to be done one gallery at a time. Also, it continually boots you out of the program when attempting to share it. Having to sign in ten times to share one gallery is irritating.

By far the best portfolio app among several for the iPad. The ability to sync with Dropbox is a real plus. If you are looking for a professional appearing way to present you images on the iPad, this is it. Highly recommended.

Love this app. Have used it to show my work for years. Minimal gui when showing portfolio keeps things simple for editors and clients. Some annoying things, settings sometimes need to be adjusted for each gallery. I.e. Hiding side controls must be done within each gallery individually. Being able to import from Photoshelter saves me time over and over. So simple and fast. Really wish the app would pull in metadata from photos and save typing in captions over and over.

Purchased this app based on all the glowing pro reviews out there. Not satisfied overall and wish I could get my money back. What I Like: Custom Branded Home Page Ability to match my brand throughout the presentation. What I Don't Like: Poorly Designed & Clunky UI ... this needs a major overhaul in UX/UI design. Pinch to Zoom is wonky - does not zoom into the area I am pinching (like expected) but instead zooms into the lower corner. Regardless of where I am zooming. NOT easy to return to home using the pinch method. Customization isn't as simple as it could be. Again, this is a UX issue. Side buttons are ugly (as are most of the stock gfx). Needs a modern and simple UI to stay competitive Overall, this app has potential and I know plenty of pros using it. But I found it much easier to simply create my own Keynote presentation and export that as an interactive pdf. Benefit of the Keynote/PDF was the ability to email the final pdf to my potential clients after my presentation. I do not recommend this app.

Be careful.... you may need to look elsewhere for a portfolio. I specifically wanted to use the sync feature and it is not available in this current release. None of the documentation mentions this when in fact this is considered a "Key Feature". The other feature I wanted to use was "Web Publish". However after discovering that this required hosting the page on their web service I will not use this feature. I expected to be able to upload the created pages to my own site. I do not want to lose control of my images and there is no easy way to delete the pages from the service except uploading a blank gallery. I attempted to reply to the support email and it was rejected due to a miss configured server. So I have replied here instead. Here is the answer to my support case: Hi Hank, I'm sorry for this but because we had to completely rebuild our Dropbox integration prior to them turning off their version 1.0 API in June. In the process we did not add in the sync function because of effort and complexity involved. However we understand that a lot of people found this specific feature very useful when creating a new gallery, so we are currently reviewing a different way to add back the functionality for an update in the near future. Paul Freeman Chief Designer Foliobook