When I first encountered the design of my own photo book,I had a lot of questions. Finding answers to these questions took a lot of time. Then I came across an article by one wonderful girl who explained in detail how to create a photo book with your own hands. Thanks to her, this passion appeared in my life. I will try to repeat her feat - to describe the whole process of creating an individual design for your unique photobooks.

It all starts with what you have to think through

1. What type of photo book will you choose. In this article I will talk about the individual design of premium photobooks. In photobooks "Premium" the turns of the indoor unit are revealed by 180 degrees. This allows you to use the entire space without loss and place images at the joints. Features of a photobook of the "Premium" type

2. Select a photo center where you can print premium photobooks. This must be done from the very beginning, because. on the sites of these photo centers you can find out the sizes of the sheets of your future photo book.

3. We proceed to the choice of the size of the sheets of the photobook (we choose from those sizes that the photo center offers). I want to clarify that the dimensions of the sheets of the photobook for self-creation in different graphic editors(including Photoshop) all photo centers are different!!!

4. Now, you must decide on the content (themed). What event or holiday is your photobook dedicated to: vacation at sea, birthday, anniversary, wedding, first bell at school, or maybe just the past summer. In addition, it will be interesting if the book contains not only your photographs, but also text (your memories, poems, notes from diaries, entries from your kids' albums), memorabilia (such as postcards, notes, a ticket to the theater or cinema, souvenirs ). Such nice little things can always be photographed (scanned) and added to your photo book.

5. After that, you need to choose the style in which your future photo book will be. What I mean? If you are going to make a photo book about a baby, then it is natural to use bright and cheerful colors, and if it is a wedding or an anniversary, then soft colors will be more suitable. But this is your individual choice. There are no rules here. Everything is decided by your preferences and imagination. Examples

6. The next step is to choose a background on which the entire composition of your photobook will be built. It can be a background from a photograph, a nature background, a texture background (wood, paper, fabric), a solid background, a gradient, and much more. The background can be the same on all pages of the photobook or different on each spread. All this can be found on various Internet resources.

7. After choosing a background, we prepare photos that will be used in the design of your photo book. If necessary, we process them (color correction, sharpening, removing photo imperfections, etc.), but for the first work, all this can not be done.

A photo book is a newfangled trend that replaces photo albums. It is quite possible to make and arrange a photobook on your own using a graphic editor (or do without its help). You just need to stock up necessary materials and use the existing algorithm of work.

Photobook - vivid memories of life

Time inexorably carries us through life. In childhood, this seems like a mere trifle, because you want to grow up faster. Everything seems new, and how much more mysterious lies ahead. Everything unknown attracts, urging to discover new facets of the world. But then we are limited by children's bodies, and hence the possibilities for research. That's why the days seem endless. But as we grow up, we begin to notice that time flies faster. And it becomes clear that you need to leave documentary memories of the bright moments of life. Previously, it was technically more difficult. About a hundred years ago, photography was a hard-to-reach thing. Yes, and thirty years ago it was necessary to have the ability and have expensive equipment in order to take pictures yourself. But each family had albums that kept photos of relatives and friends, reminding them of the past days. Today everything with photography is much easier. Technique has developed so much and has penetrated our lives so much that it is difficult to surprise young children with photography. They take their own photos using Cell phones. And you can print them in any salon and it does not take much time. The old photo albums have been replaced by a photo book, which makes it possible to beautifully arrange your best pictures and collect them in a certain sequence under one cover. Moreover, there are a variety of design options.

How to make a photobook - the choice is up to the author

Before you start creating your own photobook, you need to decide how it should look like when finished. You need to decide on several components:

• page density;
• type of cover (hardcover or paperback);
• Brochure or full book version.

Depending on the selected format, you will be able to place on the pages from several dozen to several hundred photos. The spines are used to fasten the sheets. There are many types of them. All at the discretion of the author. Regardless of the type of cover, you can also put a photo with a caption on it and choose a background. The cover can be made using a variety of materials - from paper to artificial leather. You can also use translucent plastic, and as a spine - a spring. There are many design options. You just need to use your own imagination.

We decide on the topic and technical points

The book itself for the sake of the book, probably not too much a good idea. Therefore, the topic must be defined initially. Usually this:

• tourist trip;
• wedding;
• the birth of a child and his first months of life, etc.

In general, topics can be varied and most unexpected. And years later, it will be very interesting to look at your specific history, and even made with your own hands (in every sense of the word). The theme dictates the selection of photographs, accompanying text and background to it. Based on the theme of the photobook, we select the binding material and decoration elements. Now let's move on to the solution of the technical side of the matter:

• number of pages and their size;
• what the cover will look like (pictures, inscriptions);
• what graphic editor we will use for our photobook.

Graphic editor and work with it

The choice of a graphic editor is connected with the individual preference of each. Today, most people have encountered them, as photographs have become commonplace. If this is something new for you, then video tutorials on the Internet will quickly remove this problem, especially since there is nothing complicated in working with a graphic editor. If at first some difficulties arise, then you can use the paper layout of the future book (album sheets, glue or a stapler will help with this). On the prepared layout, place schematically what you want to see in the future photo book (photos, inscriptions, design elements). The finished layout will serve as the basis for the electronic layout of the book in a graphic editor (Adobe Photoshop is suitable for beginners). The editor is convenient in that you can separately work with images and place them on a sheet:

• you need to create a new file, the size needs to be set a little larger than the full spread of the book to be able to correct it if necessary;
• select the background color of the sheet and fill it;
• drag the selected frames onto the page with the mouse (if necessary, they can be rotated, made larger or smaller).

The editor has ready-made templates for design. The text is applied on top of the template. It remains to print the made files on photo paper and bind them according to a pre-made layout.

In the manufacture of photobooks, you can do without electronic layout. There will be some more work. But you can try. In this case, you need to follow a few tips:

• for book pages, you need to use thick plain cardboard, which should be cut with a clerical knife;
• use double-sided tape to stick photos to avoid wrinkling paper from glue;
• sheets can be fastened with rings, prudently leaving a few centimeters on the sheets from the side of the roots;
• the use of volumetric decor will complicate the closing of the finished book, which will spoil the aesthetics of the finished product.

But on the other hand, you can experiment with the cover as your imagination allows.

Photobook binding options

fasten finished book You can use several types of binding:

• spring - suitable for thin pages (in no case for cardboard);
• butterfly binding with spine folded in half when unfolded;
• book binding with a wide spine for the possibility of turning completely closed - ideal for thick cardboard pages;
• ring binding is one of the most simple species, which can be used for manual work.

In the latter case, perfectly folded pages are clamped in a vise, after which holes are made with a hole punch. Eyelets for holes are a must, otherwise the holes wear out quickly. Instead of metal or plastic rings, you can use ordinary braid.

Creating your own photobooks is associated with high costs in the form of time spent, search for materials, etc. But there are, of course, pluses - in this embodiment, you get an original composition of photographs neatly folded together in a beautiful package. In addition, how to make a photobook in the program Adobe Photoshop not everyone knows, and now you have the opportunity not only to create it, but also to execute it in your corporate style, add effects to frames, make a photo collage and put into practice many other functions.

Let's start with the fact that you will still print a photo book in the studio, so the requirements that photo centers make must be taken into account. You can, of course, print the book yourself on a printer, but this type of product will clearly be inferior to professional performance, so we will consider only a qualitative type of product. To do this, you first need to decide where you will print the photos.

There are a huge number of options for photo books and their formats, for example, you can order a classic version in the form of a book cover in horizontal or vertical design, as well as a minibook or a square. All of these books are divided by size - from the standard A4 (printer paper) to 30 cm wide and high, and some darkrooms offer a wider range of formats. There is one limitation here - the smaller the volume of pages - the less load on the joints between them, and also more convenient for viewing.

Usually photo centers provide their own software for organizing your photos into albums, or offer to use online service to intelligently embed images on various backgrounds, frames, etc. But, you must admit that in this way you can only make standard and boring photo albums, which are not only not interesting to view, but also ashamed to show to your relatives, friends, etc. After all, they will not appreciate the usual approach to wedding album, for example, that's why we suggest designing an album in your own style, as well as improving its visual perception through independent work.

If you have already chosen a suitable photo center, then we are looking for it on its website useful information about formats and valuation of photobooks.

Note: The layout is the original file with your work.

It is worth paying attention to such points as:

• Resolution in layout
• color model
• Accepted file types
• Layout and numbering of layout files
• Page cropping
• Hard cover fold
• safe area
• Binding
• Seal
• Cover
• Bookend
• Additional information

Let's look at everything in order:

The permission in the layout is necessary so that you know that the resulting files will not be changed, more specifically, their own permission. Those. you see on the monitor a high-quality image with a resolution of 800 by 600 pixels, but you saved the resolution in the file differently and set it not to 300 dots per inch (dpi), as is customary in printing, but, say, to 150 dots per inch. By contacting the photo center, such a file will be automatically transferred to their workspace, and your image will lose its original quality by enlarging the image to 300 dots. To prevent this from happening, set the values ​​​​that are indicated in the technical features when making photobooks.

Everything else also needs to be set in the Photoshop settings, as indicated in the characteristics of the darkroom. These include: color model - usually a profile sRGB, also the files must be saved with the layers already flattened into one and with the extension TIF, PDF, JPEG. I recommend choosing the TIF format, since it is the basis of printing and is used there, which cannot be said about the compressed JPEG image format or a separate PDF format. Moreover, the last format still needs to be known HOW to save, so as not to lose data and image quality!

Regarding layout and numbering end result, then here companies can present different requirements so look carefully technical features output files. It depends primarily on the equipment where layouts are printed, so many manufacturers require their own settings.

Hemming, trimming pages, as well as cover, endpaper - all this data is needed to prepare the layout within the program Adobe Photoshop, so study them thoroughly so that later the designer does not correct your files, and also you do not spend extra time processing the material.

Materials and technologies for making books can be radically different from each other, so you first need to decide on their choice when creating a photobook layout.

Modern newlyweds are those who can afford stylish weddings, unusual photo shoots, unique shots. Among the latest achievements is his own book in memory of the solemn day. In this article, we will talk about how to make a wedding photo book.

The difference between a photo book and a wedding album

A photo book is printed photographs on printing paper, bound or assembled into rings. The advantages of such storage of memorable pictures are:

• The ability to collect and edit photos, create collages, increase and decrease the size of a photo
• Using different fonts and additional pictures in the design

The advantage of the photo album can be safely attributed to its small size. A photobook is a minimum of 30 spreads with large quantity a photo. An album is a maximum of 10 spreads with the most the best photos, the inscriptions to which are made by hand.

Creating a photobook is an opportunity that the newlyweds have received thanks to new technologies. To date, there are several software, which easily and simply allow you to create your own unique book of memories without resorting to the services of a professional. After the layout is completed, the book is usually sent for printing. Modern printers offer low prices for this type of service. The average price is 2000 rubles.

For those who decide to make a photobook with their own hands, we offer several options for lightweight programs.

Making a photobook with your own hands

The first stage is preparation. Conventionally, it can be divided into 4 steps.

1. All photographs taken on the day of the wedding are selected. Sometimes photographs taken before and after the celebration are included in the book.
2. Photos are sorted in chronological order.
3. Each block is then sorted by the quality of the photos taken.
4. Selected only high quality photos, which will be used during creation.

The second stage is the choice of the program with which the work will be done. To date, a photobook layout can be created in Photoshop, FotoFusion and the Cyfrobook editor program. All these programs are equipped with a main window, an additional panel for working with size, color and fonts.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Select book size, title, number of pages, cover
2. Selected photos are transferred to the layout
3. Optionally add captions to each picture.
4. After completion of the work leave the order for printing
5. Upon receipt of the book, be sure to check and compare with the layout in order to avoid annoying misunderstandings

Typesetting errors that can affect print quality:

• Photos are not very good quality and professional shots alternate. The difference will be immediately visible on the pages.
• Excessive photo stretching. It should be noted that the finished print in the size of 2.54 cm must contain at least 250-300 pixels in digital format. Otherwise, the photo will be blurry.
• Shredding pictures for more page capacity. A book is a product that is pleasant to pick up and look through more than once. Therefore, do not increase the number of shots. It is better to add several spreads if all the selected photos do not fit.
• If, after all, only non-professional pictures were captured important points, then you can make a separate chapter only from such prints.
• The best design option is one font. Do not use different colors and fonts - this will reduce the cost of the effect.

There is another way to create a photobook with your own hands. To do this, buy a photo album with thick cardboard pages. Selected photos are printed on self-adhesive paper. After that, they are carefully pasted on the page according to the plan. The main thing is to carefully distribute the photo on the page so that there are no swellings and bubbles. Upon completion, the pages are laminated.

Photo styles

Just like the style of a wedding, the style of a photo book can vary. It may correspond to the theme of the celebration, or it may differ in design. The most common styles for wedding photo books are:

• Romantic style - photos are selected strictly in chronological order. They add a photo of the first meeting and a “lovestory” photo shoot. You can also insert a photo of parents and parting words.
• A book with a continuation is created after a certain period of time. The final photos are pictures with the firstborn.
• Retro style - most of the pictures are in black and white. Emphasis on the faces and gestures of the young.
• Books with spicy and funny photos - if wedding photo session took place in a certain style, then this will certainly be reflected in the nature of the photobook.

Videos about creating wedding photobooks

We offer several video tutorials on working with various photo editors to create your own photo book.

A photo book, unlike an album, most fully reflects the emotions and experiences captured in photographs. If a photo book was made by hand, then it becomes the subject of special love and adoration. Experts advise not to go to a photo studio to make it, but to take advantage of the great features of Photoshop. Not the fact that everything will work out the first time - experience is gained over the years. But a self-made photo book will undoubtedly turn out to be unique and exclusive, containing a small, but colorful and vibrant world.

Stages of creating a photobook

How to make a photobook in photoshop

book layout
In Photoshop (Adobe Photoshop), a new document of the desired size is opened. The parameters of the internal turn are 200 by 400 millimeters. These parameters were taken from a special table posted on the website of one photo center. This will be the first spread of the book being created.

Now you need to open the prepared photos and place them on the first spread, having previously opened the file where the first spread is located.

Now all photos are transferred (inserted) to the spread. We should not forget about decorative elements that are placed interspersed with photographs, but in such a way that they look appropriate and concise. You can use the details from the creaking set in the form of twigs, flowers and other prints. For the New Year's book, clipart with snowmen, Christmas trees, snowflakes is suitable. The text or verse can be printed independently.

The fold of the sheet crosses the middle of the turn, so it is better not to place faces here.

The finished spread is saved in the menu and work on the next spread begins.

If you are too lazy to make a photo book with your own hands, you can refer to the site http://mandarinbook.ru. Specialists of this project for a small amount will make an excellent photo book that will delight you for many years!