Join Me in Creating a Digital Photo Book

All right I'm committed now. My daughter turns 2 in less than a week and I still don't have her first photo book done. I either rearrange my time so creating it doesn't fit in the schedule or I overwhelm myself from looking at all the photos and get nothing accomplished. So here is my new plan... I figured if I commit to completing this project on my blog I can also help motivate others who are in a similar situation. I don't want to just show a picture of a page I designed but instead involve you readers to join me. Every Wednesday I will offer design tips, Photoshop techniques, valuable links, layout ideas and motivation for us to get this photo book created. Now you may not get all that information in one day but over the process of the book you should (I'm hoping) learn something new. What could be better than learning for free!? Also if you have any questions during this journey please feel free to ask either in comments or email me at enduringarts@gmail.com. I'll try my best to answer.

For this project I will be using Photoshop and Illustrator. You don't need Illustrator but a program similar to Photoshop is pretty necessary. I'm sure you already know your subject matter, whether its wedding, engagement, baby, child, portfolio... whatever it is find the pictures. [Warning: Do Not get overwhelmed looking through them all right now!] First, lets think about the size of the book we would like to create. If your not quite sure you might want to browse through different publishers to see what sizes they offer. If you google digital photo books, several options will come up. Here are a few: Blurb, My Publisher, Picaboo, and Shutterfly. They are all a little different and some require no design software but I'm hoping to make an extra special and unique photo book. I want it to look professional and creative. I hope to have a wonderful keepsake for my daughter.

I've already decided I would like to use Blurb for my book. I like their hardcover image wrap option and they specify the number of pages with a price... its not like if you go over 20 pages add this much to each additional page. I don't want to worry about doing the math because I'm sure I'll go over 20 pages and I don't know by how much yet. Blurb also has a nice selection of sizes and your able to browse through already made books for ideas.

This week: Decide on a size and publisher. Next Wednesday we will start designing the cover and introduction page. Start thinking about colors or papers you would like to use throughout your book. I will offer some ideas and links next week. I hope you will join me on this exciting adventure!