Not quite sure where to start? Let's go through some great tips to get you started on your first book.

Download Our Software

The key to creating a photobook is our software. It's a free download from our website and it gives you all the tools and features you need to make a stunning photobook. You'll need a Windows PC and about 500mb of free storage space to install and create your photobooks.

Get Organised

First thing you'll need is photos. I find it's easiest if I go through all the potential photos and copy them to a new folder. That way they're quick to find and easy to add to my project without having to browse through folders. But don't worry, you can still add photos from other folders to your layout if needed.

Pick your PhotoBook Size

It's important to carefully choose the photobook size that best suits your project. Once you start your layout you're not able to change your book to another product.



*Please remember that our Budget A4 Landscape does not have a printed cover and is limited to 64 pages. If you're unsure which photobook would best suit your project, visit our prices page for a side-by-side comparison.

 

Add your photos to the layout

Using the Explorer Panel to the left of the screen, navigate to the folder you've saved your photos to. Once selected a thumbnail preview of each photo will load in the Images Panel. Simply click on a photo and drag it to one of the green image frames. 
 

Change Backgrounds and Add Page Layouts

By default, each page has one image frame per page with a white background. You can easily change this to by selecting a background or layout from the Template Panel to the right of the screen. Simply click and drag the template to the page to apply it.

 

Add your own image and text frames
Can't find a layout that suits your project? Simply add your own image or text frames by clicking the 'Add image' or 'Add text' buttons at the top menu bar. There's no limit to the number of images or how much text you add to your pages.

 

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Editing photos and adding boarders
We've included a built in image editor so you can easily adjust your images to your desire. Simply double click on any image to open the image editor. Play with the settings of the various effects and when you're happy with the image click the apply button. You can undo the effects at any time by clicking cancel.

 

Adding text
We've also included a rich text editor so you can create captions or even complete paragraphs of text. To open the text editor double click on any of the white text frames. You can choose from a selection of fonts, sizes, colours and formatting effects. 

 

All Done?
Once you have completed your layout, you can preview your book by clicking the preview button. Please proof read all your text and make sure that the images are where you want them. Check to make sure that no critical elements, such as faces or text, crosses the gutter (middle) of the book as this may not be visible in the finished book. The software will warn you of any problem areas (click here for more information about warnings).

Time to Order
Clicking on the order button (orange shopping cart) will launch the order wizard. This will collect all your contact, delivery and payment details then package your layout and images into a single order file. A complete order summary, including an itemized price will be displayed before you commit to your order. Once your order file has been created you are given the option to upload your order to us or burn the order file to disc to be posted. Once we've received your order you'll receive on confirmation notification with a summary of your order.


Production Time
As each of our photobooks is a hand-crafted archival grade product our standard production time is 7 to 10 business days. Production of your order will not commence until your payment has been successfully transacted.

 

Delivery
We ship all our photobook via the Australia Post Express Post Parcel Service. The price of delivery is based on the shipping weight of your parcel and the delivery addres

 

Getting the Best out of your Custom PhotoCover

When designing your photocover it's important to understand how the software layout relates to the finished book. As our photocovers are a full wrap hardcover, the complete cover is designed on the one layout.

Imagine opening a book so the pages are facing away from you, the front cover is on the right hand side, the spine is in the middle and the back cover is on the left - That's exactly how our software shows the cover layout.

In addition to the front cover, spine and back covers you'll also see a dotted line that runs around the four edges of the layout. The area outside of this line is called the 'Wrap Area' - this part of the design is what wraps over the edge of the hardcover and a little into the inside of the cover. So your finished book can look it's best we recommend that you always drag your images right through the wrap area to the end of the artboard. This will ensure a full printed cover with not white borders being visible.

In Example 1 above the image was only fitted to the dotted wrap line and not through to the edge of the artboard. As you can see, the white edges are clearly visible in the finished book. Compare this to Example 2, which looks much more professional as the image has been taken all the way through the wrap area.

 

In the layout above the image is only set to the dotted line, this will result in a completed book like Example 1.

Instead, drag the image frame through the dotted line to the edge of the artboard, 

 

Now the cover layout is correct and the finished book will look like the Example 2 book.

If you want to use the image for both the front a back covers, simply resize the frame so it extends right through to all the wrap areas.

 

 

Don't forget to add some text to the spine and using image borders is a great way to add depth to your layout.