How to photo books
Check out our photo book how-tos for useful tips and tricks.
Guide: how to create your photo book
To help you get started with creating a photo book, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide. View the step-by-step photo book guide and start designing your unique photo book right away.
How to: can I add my own library items to my photo book?
The Book Designer comes with an extensive selection of masks, frames and scrapbook elements as standard. New library items are also added regularly through updates. Feeling truly creative? Try making your own mask using Photoshop.
Using masks, frames & clipart
At the bottom of the workspace, you’ll find several tabs. Here you can choose elements that give your album a specific theme or style. A mask shapes your photo into a form: white areas become transparent, grey areas semi-transparent. You can drag masks and frames from the library onto a photo frame. Scrapbook elements can be dragged directly onto the page.Adding your own library elements
To create your own mask or frame, you’ll need photo editing software. In Photoshop, for example, create a shape at 300 dpi. Make the visible part of the photo black, semi-transparent areas grey, and white areas fully transparent. You can also experiment with gradients to create a soft fade effect. Import your masks via the gear icon in the Mask menu and select Add.How to: how do I save my own page styles?
If you create photo books regularly, you’ll develop your own style and reuse your own page designs more often. A useful feature of the Book Designer is that you can save these page styles and reuse them later.
Designing a page style
Step 1:
Place the photo frames and other elements (frames, backgrounds, etc.) on the page.Step 2:
Click the gear icon in the Page Styles menu at the bottom of the window and choose Save spread as page style.Step 3:
Give the page design a name. Then choose the category where the design should be saved, or create your own category.Step 4:
Click OK. Your custom page style is now ready and will appear among the other page styles at the bottom of the window.Photo effects in the template
Would you like to add a photo effect, such as black and white or a reflection, as a standard element in a photo frame? Follow these steps:
Step 1:
Design your page style.Step 2:
Drag any photo into the photo frame and apply the desired photo effect.Step 3:
Save the page style as described above. The photo itself will be removed from the design, but the photo effects will be retained.How to: how do I work with backgrounds in my photo book?
When adding a background, you have three options: a solid colour background, a design from our software, or your own custom background.
You can select a solid background colour via the Inspector under the last tab. A design from our software can be chosen as a background via the library at the bottom of the window. To use your own background, simply drag a photo into your design and set it as the background.Would you like more information on this topic? Read How to: Adding a background in a Premium photo book.
How to: how do I add text to my photo book?
Our album software features an extensive text editor in the Inspector, allowing you to edit your text in many different ways. Font, colour, size and many other text properties can all be customised to suit your design.
How to: how do I add effects to photo frames?
You can add a wide range of effects to your photo frames. For example, you can make a frame round and add a shadow or border via the first tab of the Inspector, or apply other creative effects using the Frames and Masks tabs in the library at the bottom of the window.
How to: how do I apply photo effects in a photo book?
You can easily apply photo effects in a photo book via the Inspector. On the second tab, you can adjust the orientation of the photo. Here, you can also modify the colours of the image.
How to: how do I place and align photos?
Along the edge of your page design, you’ll see two lines: a blue line and a red line. The blue line marks the outer edge of the page. The red line indicates the trim line. Everything between the red and blue line will be cut off during trimming. Keep this in mind while designing.
Placing photos with a margin
Would you like some space between your photos and the edge of the page? Make sure to stay about half a centimetre inside the red lines.
Placing photos with bleed
Do you want your photo to run off the edge of the page, for example when using it as a background? Extend your design all the way to the blue line.
Aligning photos
Aligning ensures that photos line up perfectly above or next to each other, creating a clean and balanced layout. You can align photos in several ways:
Using the Inspector
This is the most precise method. Click the ruler icon in the top right. Here you can enter the x and y coordinates for the horizontal and vertical distance from the top-left corner.Using guides
Guides can help with alignment. First, make the rulers visible via View > Show Rulers. Click on the ruler and drag a guide to the desired position in the photo book. Select Snap to Position via View > Guides to make photos snap magnetically to the guide when moving frames.Using a grid
Display a grid via View > Grid > Show. Enable Snap to Position to make photos snap to the grid while moving frames.Centre alignment
Select your photo, right-click and choose Align > Align to the vertical or horizontal centre of the page.How to: how do I add photo frames to my photos?
You can easily add photo frames using the Add photo frame button above your design. You can also simply drag a photo into your layout, and the photo will be placed automatically.
In your design, you’ll see a red area along the edge of the album. Please keep this margin in mind when placing your designs. Everything within the red area will be trimmed off during page cutting.