Flush Mount Wedding Albums - Speed Up Your Work Flow and Design in a Few Easy Steps

Designing a flush mount wedding album from scratchwant to add or subtract pages at this time. You
can be a difficult job. One of the secrets of successshould then have a series of folders, containing the
is organizing your work flow. Setting up the overallimages for each page, ready to use.
structure of your album, and sorting your images, willWork on your images
let you concentrate on designing individual pages. TryAssuming that you've already done basic corrections
using these steps to get you going:on your images, go through the numbered folders
Decide on a formatand do all your final work on each file. If you are
The first decision to make is the format and size ofworking in Photoshop, save everything as layered
your album. Look at the images from the weddingPhotoshop Documents (.psd) in case you want to
day, would a portrait or landscape shape workmake changes. You can make further adjustments at
better? If you have a majority of landscape shotsany stage, but it will make the process more
you'll probably want a landscape format album andstreamlined if you have everything prepared and can
vice versa.drop in images without having to stop and work on
Square albums are popular with album designers,them. Save the images back to the numbered
partly because they will display both portrait andfolders.
landscape shots well.Think about your style
How many pages?Think about the kind of look you want. Are you
Work out how many photos you want to use andgoing for a simple layout that will keep the viewer's
do a rough calculation of the number of pages you'llattention on the images, or do you want to make it
need. Many album manufacturers will allow you to addmore elaborate, using background images, bleeds and
or subtract from their standard number of pages, soother effects? Aim for a consistent style throughout
you may be able to alter this later if you need to.the album.
Sort your images into the different stages of theLayout your pages
dayTime to do the work. Design your pages and spreads
Make a list of all the photos you plan to use, dividingusing your chosen software, this will vary depending
them into different stages of the day: preparations,on personal choice and the requirements of different
the ceremony, the formals, the reception etc. Copymanufacturers.
them into separate labelled folders on your computer.Design is too big a subject to cover in this article but,
Add a few more images than you think you'll want,if you don't feel confident about your design skills,
this will give you some choice later, you don't havelook at other peoples' albums and see what makes
to use all of them.the good ones stand out.
Prepare a set of numbered foldersHave a break
Make a numbered folder on your computer for eachAfter you've finished your layouts, leave them for a
double page spread i.e. 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, allowing for singlewhile and come back later. Allowing a bit of time
start and finish pages if needed. Put them in a parentbetween designing and final checking will allow you to
folder and name it.see your work with fresher eyes. Have a look at
Move the images from the stage folders, that youwhat you've done and see if you can make any
sorted out previously, into the numbered folders,improvements.
working through the day. Start to visualize roughlyOrder your album
how many images you want to use on each page,When you've done your final checks, prepare your
and how they might be laid out.pages to the manufacturers specifications, size,
Allow for some full page spreads and some pagesresolution etc. and send them off to be printed and
with more smaller images. You may find that youbound. Job done!