Saturday, August 6, 2011

My first photobook

I have just finished making my first photobook. I've just uploaded it to the online store, paid for it through PayPal, and now I am just waiting for it to be delivered. Here is my experience.

Getting started...
I got a few recommended sources from my camera club members. I chose Photobook Australia. I downloaded a copy of its free software, the Photobook Designer. If you have created a slideshow before, you will find the workflow very similar. It took me just a few minutes to get used to the software., and a couple of days to master it completely. It is that simple.

Designing the book...
Photobook Designer is the first photobook software I have used, but I must say it is pretty impressive. It allows me to experiment with different cropping and different aspect ratio, as well as rotating the picture. It lets me set the background colour, add title and captions, stack pictures one upon another, etc. I can open and close different folders in my hard drive to select just the photos I want. In short, it can do practically everything I expected it to.

Sending it to print...
Ordering a printed album is as easy as ordering prints for my images. Just click on File>>Order in Photobook Designer and it will automatically lead you to place an order through their website. Once payment is made, it will ask you to upload the project file, or save the file to other media.

In the old days everyone had a prized wedding album with laminated pages. Over the years the laminate invariably comes unstuck, the pages turn yellow and the photos fade away. The modern photobook is really a far better option. It is now easier to reproduce.One can do so in any shape, sizes and quality level. In this day and age, I am sure no newly wedded couple will be without one.

To see sample photobooks, go to http://photobookaustralia.com.au/library/photo-book-shelf

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