MASSIVE COLLAGE BOOK HAUL - I Review the Top Rated Cut & Paste Collage Books [Honest Opinions!] 

I'm so glad that you did such an honest review with these. I do agree that some of the self-published artists are just jumping on a get rich quick trend and grabbing stuff off of Creative Fabrica and claiming it as their own. There are good ones out there, but you have to go out of your way to find the good ones.

I'm surprised you find the patterns so confusing. You can literally cut them into any shape. You could make a tiled background, use it as a base for pockets or labels, fill in empty areas in your collage with patterns, etc. There's endless options.

OH Wow!!!!! That is a fantastic haul and review!

I really loved your review. You have an artistic critical eye, attentive to details. Just before your review, I watched another about the celestial book, and she rather liked it, but just like you, I do not. You wondered about the odd price of one book... it might be because it is not from the US, and they let Amazon convert straight from their currency to the US dollar. We can choose our prices for each market or let Amazon convert. Some books are very puzzling to me, and I wonder WHY? Yes, authors obtain imagery from different sources or design their more simplistic doodles or use AI, but there is no cohesion. You are right. There are problems with the resolution, and we can't simply plaster low resolution images and stretch them on the page. They will be pixalated or distorted. Independently published books are not necessarily inferior. It all hinges on how much work the authors have invested into the layout out and images. Rivans sources her images mostly from the public domain and Shutterworks, but the work is done properly, such as removing backgrounds, vectorizing, or optimizing the colors. And yes, she must give attribution when she uses Shutterworks images, and she lists all her sources. Thanks for making me look at her book differently. I was not a fan of her book/work, but true, it stands out. James Kales' books are also heavy sellers, and at times, I wonder. He has some of the most graphic illustrations, open bodies, diseased faces... but people love it. He does not waste time removing or cleaning illustrations' backgrounds of many of his botanicals and fish. He just plasters the plates as is, but according to his reviews, people love the opportunity to use the illustrations as aged instant wall art. And yes, his fish are all from the public domain, as are all the patterns in his book. He justifies his $19.99 price because he offers a download. Rivans charges $19.92, but she has her own publisher. For the rest of us who publish through Amazon (called Independently Published), the costs are higher. A book like hers, 208 pages printed with premium colors, we would have to charge a bottom minimum of $29.40 to make minimum royalties. And we could not publish in that 12×9+ size. But that's our choice. Her book is really hard to compete with for good reasons. Again, thank you for your quality review of all the books.

Hmmmm ...

Too many satanic images.