The basics

ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
web wizard production approach that requires you to create an album of images that you have
uploaded first and then step through a series of screens that selects the style, type finish and
layout of your book. But it is the second option that has digital photographers buzzing. Kodak
Gallery has struck a deal with Adobe to be the on-line provider of web print services for its
software. This means that Photoshop Elements users can create their books on their desktop,
using a familiar software package and then upload the project directly to Kodak Gallery who
will produce the book. This way of working has the advantage of being much faster and more
convenient than on-line production because there is no need to create an album on-line first
– all the layout process is handled on your own machine and publishing occurs from within
Elements itself. Once you are registered with Kodak Gallery, publishing books or printing on-line
is just a menu selection away.
SharedInk (www.sharedink.com)
SharedInk isn’t like the other providers listed here. To start
with, it isn’t as big as the others and secondly it operates on a
membership basis (you need to pay a one-off fee with free-trial
memberships available for new customers for 45 days). This
structure enables the company to provide a more specialized and
personalized service. For instance, this is the only company listed
that runs its own members’ forum full of tips, tricks and helpful
advice for the new photo book creator. Add to this the fact that
SharedInk supplies ICC profiles of their printers to their customers, can add foil stamped letters
to the front of your book, are prepared to output test prints of important images before creating
a whole book and you know that this is a company that is concerned with quality of production.
There is even an option to supply your completed book in a padded case for a tiny US$5.00 per
book.
SharedInk uses a system where photographers lay out their own pages in a third-party program
like Elements using templates supplied in the download section of the website. The designs are
then saved and uploaded as ‘full-bleed’ pages ready for book production. In addition to this
approach, SharedInk recently introduced the ability to upload the PDF books produced by
Photoshop Elements directly to their server where they are automatically made print-ready.
PhotoWorks (www.photoworks.com)
PhotoWorks provides seven different photo books amongst the
many photo products they offer to the film and digital customer.
The book designs are broken into two different sections – the
Everyday range, that features a hard cover with a die-cut hole in
the front, and the Metropolitan series that has a solid cover with
foil-stamped or screen-printed designs. Different cover colors
and internal designs are available with each book type, with the
Book resources at: www.adv-elements.com
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PHOTO CREATIONS