Photobooks are available in different sizes and designs. On the home page, select your desired Photobook format and its type (cover, binding). You have the option of either using the photobook Assistant or manually creating the photo book and skipping the Assistant.
The assistant will help you to distribute your photos in the book. You have full control with the required number of pages and the style of your photobook. The wizard organises your photos either by file name or date. If you choose to sort by date, the Assistant will arrange your experiences based on when they were taken, ie breakfast with friends can be found on the one page, the party in the evening starts on the next page. In this way you get a good structure for your photobook. Or you can choose to sort your photos by file name. This will arrange your photos based on the order of the file name.
Once the Assistant has organised all of your images, in the editor you can then add text, change the page layout, enlarge or reduce any of the images or even add or remove images. You can do any amount of editing even if you choose to use the Assistant.
You can also start the photobook Assistant multiple times in order to find the best settings for you or add additional pages (also using other styles).
For more information about working with the photobook Assistant, see the chapter "The Bob Book Assistant".
If you prefer to make your photobook manually, you can permanently turn off the automatic start of the Assistant in the "Options". In the “General” section under “Automatic selection” untick the box that says “Start the photobook Assistant automatically”. This way, on startup you can go straight to creating your photobook from scratch where an empty book will be displayed with the default page layout. You also have the option to open a previously saved photobook for further editing or viewing by going to “Open” on the top menu bar.
A photobook always consists of a cover, the first and the last content page (single-sided pages) and the other content pages (double-sided pages).
The cover is the front and back of a photobook. The covers can only be designed on the outside as this is the only part that can be seen later. (The inside of the cover stays white.) A bar code is printed on the rear side of the printed covers, which is essential in the production of your photobook. This bar code can therefore not be edited or removed. There is a text box on the spine where you can enter a book title, preferably the same title as on the front cover.
The content pages are presented and edited in the workspace as double pages next to one another as they form a single visual object when the book is opened. Only on the first and last page of the photobook must one half of the double page be empty as they are used as the inside of the cover or as a separator page for the cover. A photobook page can have a background, a page layout, photos with and without masks or frames, clipart, and text boxes.
In the bottom left-hand corner of the program, please choose the objects you would like to add.
You can choose from:
First, select a background for your current photobook page by dragging it with the mouse onto the appropriate page. Double-clicking on the thumbnail of the background puts it across the entire double page. Alternatively, use the buttons at the bottom of the selection area. The same applies to the page layouts. They are inserted with the same functions as the backgrounds. You drag pictures onto on the placeholder on the page you want or onto a blank page using the mouse.
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Clipart is simply dragged onto the workspace (not into a placeholder). Clipart can be adjusted in position, size and rotation. You can use the mouse to drag an image mask onto a placeholder for a photo. It makes parts of the photo transparent and gives the image a new external form. In addition, a mask can be decorated with clipart using the frame.
All of the double page spreads in the photobook, including the cover, are displayed as thumbnails in the page selection area for navigation purposes and to give you a better overview. The scroll bar below the page selection area moves the thumbnails to the right and left. Click on a thumbnail to open up the corresponding page in the workspace. You can change the order of the pages by clicking on the thumbnail of the corresponding page in the page selection area and dragging it to the desired position in the page order.
The toolbar contains the main tools or commands which you can apply to an object selected in the product editor, or which let you insert a new object. Please see the tool tips for extra information. A listing and description of the tools can be found in the "Toolbar" chapter. All the functions / tools that you can apply to the selected object are also accessible via the dropdown menu, which appears when you right-click the editor or the selected object.
This displays the photobook page currently selected in the page selection area for editing. Just like in a painting or word processor program, you can use the templates to create your photobook. In the selection area, you can select a background for each photobook page (see the chapter "Working with backgrounds"), define a layout, and of course add photos and text. Photos and text always occupy a square area (layout frame) of the book; you can move or scale this area. Each frame can be clicked with the mouse and manipulated. You can select multiple frames simultaneously by dragging a "rubber band" around them. This does not work if the selected layout frame (or text boxes) are placed on one of your own photos which you are using as a background image, because the background photo will be selected as well. (See the chapter "Working with page layouts".)
In the view options, you will find tools to control the view of the page (zoom, preview, rotate view) next to the product specifications and the order button ("basket"). See the chapter "View options".
You can change the size, cover and paper options of existing photobooks after you have started creating them. However, you can only change the size of the photobook within the limitations of its orientation, i.e.: A photobook in portrait format can only be turned into another portrait format, a square photo book can only be turned into a square format and a landscape format can only be turned into a landscape format. Open the "Product Specifications" dialogue in the program (bottom right in the software or the icon on the toolbar). The dialogue "Product Specifications" will open. The covers and paper types available for this photobook format can be chosen here.
Clicking on "Change size" in the bottom left under "Product Specifications" shows you all the photobook types that are compatible with your current photobook project, including prices. Click on the photobook type you want and confirm with "OK"; a warning will then appear informing you on the effects of your change (possible restrictions to number of pages, etc.). If you continue, your photobook will be converted into the new photobook type.
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In rare cases, when you change your photobook, this can have some unexpected effects:
Please note the warnings and check your photobook carefully after you have changed it. |
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Tip: If you want to order your photobook in multiple formats.
First, please make sure you have saved your photobook. ("Save file" icon in the toolbar).
If you want to re-order your photobook as it is, simply put it in your shopping cart and click "Add products". Upload your saved photobook using "File" in the header menu. |