They are probably not stupid, I hope.
I also, somehow, lost the first project I worked on.
I had been working on it for weeks, sacrificing sleep, so you can imagine how devastating that was. (I could have deleted it accidentally while doing housekeeping. Bummer.)
But it was a blessing in disguise and I learnt a thing or two.
I worked a lot faster for the subsequent books once I figured out where I went wrong, and started on a simple system. (If, you can call that a system.)
I was very new to creating photo books. I still am.
I stumbled.
I made mistakes.
I'm learning.
But there were some things I did wish I knew before I started on my photo books.
This is for the photo book newbies like I am.
It's actually quite easy!
While the use of a software sounds daunting, it actually isn't!
Really. I was afraid to start and spent a long time fumbling about.
Turned out, what's more challenging would be the organisation of photographs.
The software isn't too bad once you are used to how it works.
Which brings me to...
Spend time to save time.
If you are a visual learner, read the user manual/ user guide.
If you are a tactile learner, explore the software.
The software is rather intuitive but make sure you know it really well.
At least for the functions you'd like to use.
I spent hours complaining about why I couldn't add a simple shape when I can add scrapbook elements. Well, the option was there. Right there on the menu bar.
I spent hours figuring out why I had to stick to that shade of yellow if I wanted a particular cover layout. Or why I had to go with brown if I wanted to choose a particular page layout.
Guess what? The colours of the pages can be changed. Of course they can!
I spent a long time adjusting the photos on the first page (which was the same for all my three books) of my second book.
Just a recap, it looks like this.
10 tiny photos + masks + the places we traveled to.
Too time consuming. And trying to align the photo was such a pain.
When I was struggling with alignment, I suddenly realised, hey! I could save that page as a template! Saves a ton of time!
So, yup. Know the software well.
Spend time to save time.
Here is the user manual for Photobook Singapore if you need it.
Organise the photos BEFORE starting the project.
For the first project (that one I lost), I added in all the photos into the software and tried to select the photos I wanted only then. That, really isn't a smart move.
There was just too many photos, I was overwhelmed.
(And then I wasted more time, sitting there feeling overwhelmed
Select the photos BEFORE starting on the book.
Select the photos you would like to include in your photo book.
You may need to go through a few rounds of selection.
After my first round of selection, I still had too many photos. Just the honeymoon trip alone took close to 130 pages so you can imagine. And that was after three rounds of deleting photos.
I had some I couldn't bear to chuck so I kept them, in case I had extra space,
Name them so that you know which are the ones that can be eliminated from the photo book should you really run out of space.
Name the photos as clearly as you can.
Instead of leaving them as IMG 1560.jpg.
While some prefer to do their photo book according to scenes or locations, I did my mine in chronological order so that I can relive each day of the trip as I flip through the book.
This is how I organised my photos.
(I've deleted the honeymoon ones from the computer so these are the photos for my New Zealand Trip.)
I grouped the photos according to location.
Then within each folder, I renamed the photos according to activities.
This way, I could see how many photos I have of each sight/scene and it would help me when I'm doing the layout of the photos. This is useful when it comes to using the layouts/ spread already available in the software.
In the digital age, we take more photos than we'd like to admit. I usually come back with thousands of photos from a two-week trip. I even had 25 shots of the same scene once. Multiply that n times. It's crazy.
For the first project (that one I lost), I added in all the photos into the software and tried to select the photos I wanted only then. That, really isn't a smart move.
There was just too many photos, I was overwhelmed.
(And then I wasted more time, sitting there feeling overwhelmed
Select the photos BEFORE starting on the book.
Select the photos you would like to include in your photo book.
You may need to go through a few rounds of selection.
After my first round of selection, I still had too many photos. Just the honeymoon trip alone took close to 130 pages so you can imagine. And that was after three rounds of deleting photos.
I had some I couldn't bear to chuck so I kept them, in case I had extra space,
Name them so that you know which are the ones that can be eliminated from the photo book should you really run out of space.
Name the photos as clearly as you can.
Instead of leaving them as IMG 1560.jpg.
While some prefer to do their photo book according to scenes or locations, I did my mine in chronological order so that I can relive each day of the trip as I flip through the book.
This is how I organised my photos.
(I've deleted the honeymoon ones from the computer so these are the photos for my New Zealand Trip.)
I grouped the photos according to location.
Then within each folder, I renamed the photos according to activities.
This way, I could see how many photos I have of each sight/scene and it would help me when I'm doing the layout of the photos. This is useful when it comes to using the layouts/ spread already available in the software.
It's okay to use their layout. And it's okay to crop the photos.
I was adamant about creating my own layout because I wanted all the photos in its entirety. No cropping! Silly thought.
Who am I kidding, really? I'm not someone who is very good at layouts so halfway through the book, I noticed that I have ended up on 4 x 4 for every. single. page.
BORING!
That was the project that disappeared. I think it was meant to be.
I convinced myself that it was okay to use the layouts available in the software. I had to crop some photos but it didn't turn out so bad after all. In fact, it turned out better.
Way more interesting than 4 x 4s right?
When pressed for time, using the available layouts/ spreads is a huge time-saver.
Remember how I organised my photos? I had 31 photos for the whale watch.
That means I can do three two-page spread of ten photos each. I'll just have to scroll though the spread available on the software that has about 10 pictures or so, then drop my photos into the picture boxes.
If you are not picky about layouts, this can really speed up the process. Since most of the layouts make the photo book look good anyway.
Your monitor could be too bright!
Disclaimer: This is for newbies like me so I'm assuming we don't really post-process our photos.
We ordered some prints from Photobook Singapore and found that the photos turned out really dark.
When I turned to Facebook for help, some friends also mentioned that they had the same problem too, even after they checked "Auto Enhance". Turns out, our screen is the problem.
It's too bright!
I had to adjust the brightness on The Husband's Mac to about 10%.
For most of my photos, I had to increase the brightness level even after they have been auto-enhanced. To save time, finish up the layouts first, then work on editing the colours of the photos from the program.
If you already have done post-processing of the photos then good for you!
Order a test copy first.
If you can, please do it.
At least if you can check if you are satisfied with the colours before you commit to more purchases.
The rest of these applies to Photobook Singapore, because they have heavily discounted vouchers.
And I haven't used other photo book companies. Yet.
Don't procrastinate.
Duh. Everyone knows it right?
But really, don't procrastinate.
I had to rush through four books just before the vouchers expire.
That is not fun at all.
Thank goodness for me, Photobook Singapore allows an extension of 21 days. This can only be activated 7 days prior to the expiration of the vouchers.
I've only used Photobook Singapore so far so I can't comment on the others. Yet.
This leads us to...
Don't fall into the vouchers trap!
Well, this is I set for myself.
I was confident that I could finish four books in six months.
But somehow as toddler-hood came about and bedtimes get wacky, I couldn't.
I'm not sure about other companies but Photobook Singapore pretty much have deals every month.
And if you are planning on doing up photo books in a popular size like the Medium Landscape, these goes on sale quite a few times each year.
I'm not sure if they allow projects to be saved on external hard drives. Still trying to figure that out.
If they do, that'll be great because you can start on a project first, when you feel inspired, then purchase the books at a later date when they are on sale!
So there you go!
This is long but I hope it is helpful!
I was adamant about creating my own layout because I wanted all the photos in its entirety. No cropping! Silly thought.
Who am I kidding, really? I'm not someone who is very good at layouts so halfway through the book, I noticed that I have ended up on 4 x 4 for every. single. page.
BORING!
That was the project that disappeared. I think it was meant to be.
I convinced myself that it was okay to use the layouts available in the software. I had to crop some photos but it didn't turn out so bad after all. In fact, it turned out better.
Way more interesting than 4 x 4s right?
When pressed for time, using the available layouts/ spreads is a huge time-saver.
Remember how I organised my photos? I had 31 photos for the whale watch.
That means I can do three two-page spread of ten photos each. I'll just have to scroll though the spread available on the software that has about 10 pictures or so, then drop my photos into the picture boxes.
If you are not picky about layouts, this can really speed up the process. Since most of the layouts make the photo book look good anyway.
Disclaimer: This is for newbies like me so I'm assuming we don't really post-process our photos.
We ordered some prints from Photobook Singapore and found that the photos turned out really dark.
When I turned to Facebook for help, some friends also mentioned that they had the same problem too, even after they checked "Auto Enhance". Turns out, our screen is the problem.
It's too bright!
I had to adjust the brightness on The Husband's Mac to about 10%.
For most of my photos, I had to increase the brightness level even after they have been auto-enhanced. To save time, finish up the layouts first, then work on editing the colours of the photos from the program.
If you already have done post-processing of the photos then good for you!
Order a test copy first.
If you can, please do it.
At least if you can check if you are satisfied with the colours before you commit to more purchases.
The rest of these applies to Photobook Singapore, because they have heavily discounted vouchers.
Don't procrastinate.
Duh. Everyone knows it right?
But really, don't procrastinate.
I had to rush through four books just before the vouchers expire.
That is not fun at all.
Thank goodness for me, Photobook Singapore allows an extension of 21 days. This can only be activated 7 days prior to the expiration of the vouchers.
I've only used Photobook Singapore so far so I can't comment on the others. Yet.
This leads us to...
Don't fall into the vouchers trap!
Well, this is I set for myself.
I was confident that I could finish four books in six months.
But somehow as toddler-hood came about and bedtimes get wacky, I couldn't.
I'm not sure about other companies but Photobook Singapore pretty much have deals every month.
And if you are planning on doing up photo books in a popular size like the Medium Landscape, these goes on sale quite a few times each year.
I'm not sure if they allow projects to be saved on external hard drives. Still trying to figure that out.
If they do, that'll be great because you can start on a project first, when you feel inspired, then purchase the books at a later date when they are on sale!
So there you go!
This is long but I hope it is helpful!
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