Guide to Making Flush Mount Albums

Planning
The first thing you need to do to prepare for creating digital flush mount albums is research. Look at what is available, and look at as many albums as possible. Examine the designs, focusing on the background images used and the photos being included. The key to making a storybook album is variety.

Organize your photos in chronological order. You can create folders and group images by different stages of the event using a 2 or 3 digit number to ensure the files will be stored in chronological order. A typical wedding could look like this:

01 Arrival 02 Dressing 03 Church 04 Ceremony 05 Announcement 06 Reception 07 Cake Cutting 08 Toast 09 First Dance 10 Departure

Place your photographs in their corresponding folders. You should have a balanced number of images in each folder. You should reconsider your selections if you find that there is only one cake cutting image and 20 dancing images. If you are allowing the bride to choose the images, you should explain this concept and coach them accordingly. Background images should be grouped with their corresponding images and should be labeled in the file name as background images. These images could include close up shots of stained glass windows, the bodice or bouquet, table settings, or the invitation. If the bride does not choose any background images, the photographer is responsible for providing them. The background images are optional to the design, as opposed to chosen images which will all be included in the design.

Album Layout
Choose about 4 or 5 images per layout (page-spread), allowing for some single panoramic prints and a few more dense collages. An album with 16 page-spreads would take about 70 images. Keep in mind that the more photos you include, the busier the layouts will become. This format will ensure that your storybook will tell a story and flow correctly, including all the necessary elements to create a masterful album.

When submitting images for us to design, be sure to include a list of instructions and personal notes, as well as a completed order form. Once the design is completed you will be emailed a low resolution preview for you to approve. You will have up to 3 page-spread changes that are included in the price, and anything beyond that will be charged as computer time at the rate of $25 per quarter hour.

If you would like to design your own layouts there are anumber of template and graphics programs you can work with. You are welcome to use PictoTools, PhotoJunction, You Select It, Pixel Creater Pro or work from Photoshop to create a free-hand design.

When you design your layouts (page-spreads), there are a few things to keep in mind. Avoid placing crucial design elements such as strokes or text close to the edges of the canvas as we trim the pages 1/16" on all sides. Also avoid placing faces in the center of the spread as they will be folded or cut depending on your choice of binding. If you desire to bleed an image off the edge of the spread, you are welcome to do so. Once you have completed your layouts (page-spreads), you should save them as a layered file at 254 dpi. Most of the above mentioned programs will leave you with a PSD (Photoshop) file.

Printing
If you are having these layouts (page-spreads) printed at your local lab, please have the lab trim 2 sides for us at 90 degree angles. Please do not send prints that have 2 or 3 to one sheet of paper, as they will be shipped back to you. Your prints must be mount ready when we receive them. We recommend letting you lab spray coat the prints to protect them from dust and fingerprints during shipping and handling. Please take care when shipping us your prints by wrapping them in plastic before placing them in the cardboard box. Also, please use corner protectors on all-four corners. Please refrain from sending your prints in mailing tubes, as they will be difficult to remove and may become damaged.

If you are submitting metallic/glossy prints, we will not coat them and they must be full panoramic spreads. If you are submitting ink jet prints for binding, they must be pre-coated before we receive them as we will not coat them. They must also be split pages as we do not pano-bind ink jet prints. You must also submit a completed order form, thumbnails of the page order, and a backup disk with the high-resolution layouts for us to use in case of print damage.

If Picto is printing your album, we will color correct your images and liquid laminate the pages. Color correction is very important, which is why we not only have the hardware and software necessary to calibrate our monitors to our printer and paper, but we have experienced employees trained to maintain the profiles as well as color correct your albums.