Album design

[infocus]

hi guys i was wondering what album design software you all use, i tried photojuction not to bad , and luma pic its not my type any thougths on this.

[Mark McCall]

I've tried just about everything.
Photojunction's images were too small.
LumaPix's interface looked like the Space Shuttle dashboard to me....took me too long to figure it out.
Pixel Creator Pro had NO buttons, or tutorial to help you learn it.
Gary Fong's Album Actions actually added to my workflow.
Miller's Album designer way too slow as it uses the full resolution images to create your album.

After about a year of trial and error, I stumbled onto YSI (You Select It).
Although I was taken back by the price at first ($500), it paid for itself by the 3rd time I used it, in the amount of time I saved in creating an album in Photoshop.

It has one feature that makes it better than anything else.
It creates everything in Photoshop layers, then renames the layer to match the image that's on that layer.
It's makes it a snap to identify an image in the album for the client.

I'm attaching a screen shot.

[JDArt]

Never heard of that software before. Thanks for the tip. Is this just for weddings? Does it export to HTML?

[Mark McCall]

Jay,
No, HTML is not a output option, but JPG, TIFF, PSD are.

I use another program called MinosAlbum to create an online book from the pages I created in YSI.
Here's a link to a book I designed with YSI, and put online using MinosAlbum.
http://www.markmccallphotography.com...0Web/index.htm

Get YSI at www.youselectit.com
Get MinosAlbum at www.photoet.com. (about $1.

No, it's not just for wedding albums. We also use it to create senior 4x6 and 5x7 albums, and even used it to create our newborn's birth announcement that we printed 4x5.

It's AWESOME.
Download the trial and check it out.
I know Petra may be interested in this when she returns.

[JDArt]

I'm always looking for programs like Minos. Did you try others? Thanks again.

[CyberPet]

Mark, I'm here... just sneaking around a bit (I love my fellow moderator - he's a true gem!). Great tip as always!!

[infocus]

Thanks Mark i was looking at getting that software or yervant page gallery , an yes the price is kind of high but anything that works will be
thanks again for your knowledge

[Mark McCall]

Lee,
I liked PageGallery...
(Yervant and Martin Shembri, creator of YSI are great friends).

My pickly with PageGallery was the same as with Photojunction. Images are too small.
PageGallery exports layers that are generically named.
This is a problem if your client wants to order the image on page 4, upper right hand corner.

You'll have to look through all the JPGs to find the correct image.
If the client orders 20 different images, that could take awhile.

Jay,
The only other thing I found with regard to a flip page book is Flip Album which didn't look professional enough for me.
Even Minos could use a little tweaking.
If you find anything like this....I'm really interested in hearing about it.

[JDArt]

Anyone ever try the web gallery feature of PhotoShop?

[Mark McCall]

Jay,
Matter of fact, the PS web gallery is the way I used to do it. CS and CSII even have Flash based web galleries (waaaay cool).
Can't be copied from your site by right clicking or clicking File>Save As.

I still use the Web Gallery feature daily for proofing when clients have family out of town.

But here's the problem I had when using it to preview a wedding album:
When the viewer clicked on a wedding album page that was part of a panoramic, they only saw 1/2 the image.
To fix it, you had to place that image in the folder as one image, not two pages.

When viewing it, it was hard to communicate to the viewer that it was actually pages, not one.

I hope that makes sense.

[captlen]

Mark, Did I understand you right when you said that you make the album in YSI and then just copy the pages to Minos for posting to the net. does this mean that you do not use Minos atall for creating ?

[Mark McCall]

captlen,
Correct.
I use YSI for design, then import the album pages into MinosAlbum for flash output for the web.

Minos does not do album design. Awesome program for only $18.

[Mark McCall]

I just inked a deal with White House Custom Color (www.whcc.com) and Albums Inc (www.albumsinc) for a workshop in Wichita Falls, Tx, June 3-4th. Cost for the two day program is only $99 US.
Other corporate sponsors include Levin Frames, and Corel Painter.
Door prizes and giveaways by our sponsors.

June 3rd (Sunday) will run from 1:30pm until aprox. 7:00pm...the program is entitled "The Complete Digital Wedding".
Items covered:
*How to acheived perfect exposure every time, automatically
*Easy but dramatic lighting for white dresses and white wedding cakes
*Which is best...RAW vs. JPG?
*Learn to white balance your camera for perfect color
*Quick and Easy album design using YSI or LumaPix, all drag and drop design
*Marketing....getting other wedding vendors to recommend only YOU.
*Sales....how to get more $$$ for every wedding (worth the cost of admission).

Day two is still being planned but will include a day of instruction in Corel Painter.
Bring your own computer and work side by side with a Master, learning to create awesome art peices using Painter.

All info should be on the TPPA website in the next week or so. I'll post the link.

[infocus]

Great Shot and thanks for the info sounds like its going to be great. I just might attend
Ilee

[Mark McCall]

I just inked a deal with LumaPix to sponsor the program.
I've been test driving the new software, more so than the last time we tested it.
This latest version has blown me away.

Get this...
With just a few clicks of a mouse, it will design the ENTIRE BOOK for you. NO KIDDING.
There's a couple of tutorial videos on their website.

Get the trial version at www.lumapix.com.

We've also booked a model to shoot at a local church. We'll be viewing the images on a TV as we shoot them.
Later, we'll go through workflow, using the images we took at the church.

[Shortie]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

I just inked a deal with LumaPix to sponsor the program.
I've been test driving the new software, more so than the last time we tested it.
This latest version has blown me away.

Get this...
With just a few clicks of a mouse, it will design the ENTIRE BOOK for you. NO KIDDING.
There's a couple of tutorial videos on their website.

Get the trial version at www.lumapix.com.

We've also booked a model to shoot at a local church. We'll be viewing the images on a TV as we shoot them.
Later, we'll go through workflow, using the images we took at the church.

welldone

Any discout for Camel members - well someone had to ask

[Mark McCall]

Funny you should ask.
I've signed a deal to be a rep for LumaPix FotoFusion.
My commission is 30%.
I'll waive that fee for any 'Camel users wishing to purchage.

In short, you'll get 30% off the price.

I'll be finalizing details today.

[Shortie]

Good stuff

Keep me posted as I could be interested - just download the trial to see how I get on with it

Cheers

Shortie

[jdmconcept]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

Funny you should ask.
I've signed a deal to be a rep for LumaPix FotoFusion.
My commission is 30%.
I'll waive that fee for any 'Camel users wishing to purchage.

In short, you'll get 30% off the price.

I'll be finalizing details today.

Hello Mark

You were right! Fotofusion is a GREAT program. I have been using the trail version after you suggested it and REALLY like the features of the program. Any update on how we can get that 30% discount for Camel members? I'm SOLD!

[Mark McCall]

JDM,
I sent the confirmation email to LumaPix, just awaiting their email.
As soon as I get the confirmation code, I'll email you with what we need to do.

Mark