Creating a Photo Book using our Book Machine is Easy
We designed this process to allow you to create the final output you desire from your gallery images. This step by step instruction guide assumes you are creating your book from gallery images and not a PDF. Please see the
PDF Wizard if you wish to upload a complete PDF document.
First, you should be aware of what our Book Machine does well. There are two ideal use cases:
- Uploading individual pages of layouts created using Photo Book Software
- Creating a book out of a lot of images, and wanting some (or all) of your favorite images to be full bleed, and the others to appear as multiple images per page.
If you are interested in an
advanced Drag and Drop interface, try our
Book Designer.
So, let's get started!!
First Create Your Photo Gallery and Add Pictures
After you
register, click "Upload Photos" under the yellow Photos tab. After you upload your images you can arrange the images in any order you like by using the Image Order link.
After your gallery is set up exactly as you would like, you are ready to create your photo book. Browse to the gallery you wish to order as a book, and select the "
Order Photo Book" link. This will place you in the
Product Builder "Step 1 : Book Machine Options". Here you will make selections for your Book Size, Layout, and other interior options.
Book Size:- There are many sizes from which to select. Just use the drop down arrow to the right of the "Book Size" field to select the final output size you prefer. You can come back and change your size if you wish to try several selections.
Layout: Several options are available with the layout.
- Image Per Page option: you set the number of images that display on each page. The most exciting option here is the "Gallery Image Order" option. This feature allows each page to have an independent number of images. For example if you want to layout one image on page 1, 5 images on page 2, and 2 images on page 3. You would simply number your images in your gallery as 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2, etc. See the green numbering on this picture to see the final result.
- Full Bleed option: If you want your images to full bleed to the edges select the check box, if not just leave it blank.
- Captions option: You have 3 options here (No, Smart, or All). Select Smart Captions if you would like the titles you keyed to print below your images but don't want the camera image titles to print (ex: DSCN0415). Titles are printed below each image (30 characters or less).
- Full Bleed Favorites option: If you set any images as a Favorite in the Image Order area and you want it to print as full bleed in your book select the check box.
Options:- Auto Crop select if you would like the Book Machine to crop images that have an aspect ratio larger than the page. The aspect ratio is the width of an image divided by the height of the image.
- Print Chapter Pages is used if you have sub galleries and would like the title of the sub gallery to print within the book.
- Print Detailed Image Pages is used if you want descriptions to display below an image and you want the image to appear on a page by itself. Descriptions are printed below each image (200 characters or less)
Cover Image: Select the check box if you would like the cover image to display within your book.
Click the NEXT button when you are ready for the Product Builder to build your book. Please allow the Product Builder to process through. You will receive status updates keeping you informed as to where in the process the Product Builder is at each step. We convert your images to a press ready PDF and to a low-resolution preview.
Preview your book! You want to verify that the pages, book dimensions, interior layout, binding and price are all correct. If you want to make changes, simply click the RECREATE BOOK" button and make your changes. Once the interior looks good, click the "CREATE COVER NEXT" button.
Proceed to Step 2 of the Product Builder to create your cover and complete your product.
