Newly introduced in Photoshop Elements 3.0 and revamped for 4.0 and 5.0, Photo Creations are a common starting point for the production of many different photo projects. Each of the imaging projects is set up in a wizard format, which enables users to quickly and easily produce professional-looking end results.
With Photo Creations you can produce slide shows, greeting and photo cards, calendars, web photo galleries, album pages, bound books and calendars and Video CD (VCD) presentations. Whole catalogs, or even several individually selected files from the Organizer, can be used as a basis for these projects.
The Photo Creations can be accessed from the Organizer and Full Edit spaces by selecting the option from the File > Create menu or the Create button in the shortcuts bar. These actions will take you to the first screen of the Photo Creations wizard.
Photo Creations >> Photo Creations provide wizard-based production of a range of photorelated products. For instance the Bound Photo Book can be used to create professionally laid out books that are then uploaded to an on-line provider that prints and binds the pages before returning the finished book to you in the mail.
Assing Photo Creations >> The Photo Creations main dialog window can be accessed from either the Photo Browser or Editor workspaces via the Creation option on the File > New menu. (a) Photo Browser. (b) Editor. (c) Create shortcut button menu.
The Create menu contains a range of project options that you can feature your pictures in. Some projects, like the Slide Show and Photo Galleries, will already be familiar to Elements users as basic forms of these features were contained in previous editions of the program, but others such as the Flipbook and Photo Layout items create new and exciting ways to share your pictures with others. Each project requires you to have some basic resources prepared before starting out. For the most part this means that you should have selected, enhanced and edited any pictures you wish to include before commencing the creation process.
As you need to have all your pictures edited and enhanced before adding them to your Photo Creation projects, start by enhancing your pictures then save the finished file back to the browser. Now select the pictures to include and then select the Photo Creations project. The selected images will now appear in the Project dialog.
Slide Show Editor >> The Slide Show Editor provides a single workspace for the creation and editing of your presentation creations.
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0 (Windows) | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
One of the most popular features in Photoshop Elements has always been the Slide Show creator. Each new release of the program contains a new and improved version of the utility. Version 5.0 continues this development and Elements now contains a common editor interface which can produce no less than five different types of slide shows. The main dialog contains a host of options that allow users to create true multimedia slide shows, complete with music, narration, pan and zoom effects, transitions, extra graphics and backgrounds and titles. The finished presentations can be output as a file, burnt to CD or DVD, emailed as a slide show, displayed as an online presentation or even sent directly to your television (Windows XP Media Center Edition users only).
Before you start >> When selecting the Create > Slide Show option from the Organizer workspace the Slide Show Preferences dialog is displayed, allowing you to set the default options that will apply to the whole presentation.
The Version 5.0 Slide Show Editor in Action
Though the redesigned Slide Show Editor may at first seem a little complex, having all the controls in one place certainly means that you can create great multimedia presentations more easily and efficiently. In addition, for the revised Editor the following features have been included:
Automatic editing: Rotate, size, change to sepia, black and white or back to color and apply Smart Fix and Red Eye Fix to your photos without leaving the Slide Show Editor. Click the preview image to display the Edit options in the Properties palette (if the image was selected from the Catalog).
(a) Styled text: Select from a range of text styles with click, drag and drop convenience. Text is always placed on top of any graphics that have been added and cannot be rearranged.
(b) Add graphics: The Slide Show Editor now includes a variety of clip art that can be added to your presentations. Double-click or click-drag to place a selected graphic onto the current slide. The graphics are layered in the order in which they were applied. You can rearrange their order using the options in the context menu. It is not always easy to select graphics that have been sent behind other picture parts.
(c) Transitions: Add individual transitions between slides by clicking the area in the middle of the slides in the storyboard and then selecting the transition type from those listed in the Properties pane.
(d) Pan and Zoom: Add movement to your still pictures by panning across or zooming into your photos. Simply select the slide in the storyboard and the check the Enable Pan & Zoom option in the Properties pane. Click on the left thumbnail (Start) and set the starting marquee’s (green) size and position, then switch to the right thumbnail and adjust the ending marquee’s (red) size and position.
(e) Quick Reorder: This new sequencing screen enables you to quickly and easily adjust the position of any one photo (or groups of mulit-selected photos) in the presentation sequence using click and drag. You can also use cut and paste to reorder individual slides.
(f) Music and narration: Add music and extra audio to the show using the Add Media button and incorporate narration using the built-in slide show recorder.
Step 1 >> Choose the photos in the Organizer and then Select Slide Show from the Create menu. Set the defaults for the presentation in the Slide Show Preferences dialog.
Step 2 >> Adjust the slide sequence by click-dragging thumbnails within the storyboard or Quick Reorder workspaces.
Step 3 >> Insert transitions by clicking the space in between slides and selecting a type from the menu in the Properties pane. Change the duration using the options in the Properties pane.
Step 4 >> Alter any of the secondary options for transitions (such as Direction for Saloon & Zig Zag). Add graphics and text by click-dragging from the Extras pane.
Step 5 >> Record voice-over by selecting a slide and then using the Narration option in the Extras pane.
Step 6 >> Add existing audio by clicking the soundtrack bar at the bottom of the storyboard.
Step 7 >> Produce the slide show by selecting File | Output Slide Show and picking the type of presentation to produce from the Slide Show Output dialog.
13.02 Producing a VCD with a Menu
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0 (Windows) | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
The VCD with Menu project converts your Elements slide shows to VCD format ready for viewing on most DVD players or computers with a DVD drive, but to be sure that your machine is compatible check the equipment manual first. In Elements 5.0 slide shows can be written directly to VCD or DVD with the output options found in the revised Slide Show Editor; however, DVD burning does require Premier Elements to be installed alongside Photoshop Elements.
Step 1 >> Before you can create a VCD with a menu you must have at least one slide show saved into the Organizer. If you don’t have a candidate slide show then start the process by selecting the Slide Show option and creating a multimedia presentation complete with sound. Save the project to the Photo Browser.
Step 2 >> Select the shows to include in the VCD from the Organizer and then pick VCD with Menu from the Photo Creations menu. Add or Remove slide shows from the thumbnail list if you are unhappy with your selection. Click-drag slide shows to new positions in the list to adjust where they will be placed in the menu of the VCD. The small number in the top left of each thumbnail indicates the sequence. Click Burn when you are happy with the arrangement.
Step 3 >> The burn step is a two-part process. First, any slide show not in the Windows Media Video file will be converted to that format. The conversion can be quite lengthy if you are burning slide shows containing many high-resolution files. If you want to speed up this section of the process, convert your shows to WMV beforehand from inside the Slide Show Project dialog.
Step 4 >> The second part of the burn process is writing the CD itself. After converting the slide shows to WMV files a Burn dialog will appear. Make sure that a new blank CD is inserted into the CD writer and click the OK button to create the VCD.
Making a photo book is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to collate and share your photographs with friends and relatives and the new Photo Layout feature, along with the revamped Photo Book Pages and Album Pages projects, is a terrific way to produce the pages that make up one of these publications.
As with the other Photo Creations options the user selects the images to be included in the publication and then works their way through a series of steps to lay out the pages, which can then be printed at the desktop or sent via the internet to an on-line book publisher. The publisher will then print, bind and trim the pages, add a cover and return the completed book via the post or courier.
13.03 Creating Pages for Printing and Publishing
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0 (Windows) | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
Photoshop Elements offers three different ways to produce your own picture or scrapbooks. For publications that are destined to be printed at home then choose either Album Pages or the Photo Layout option. For books that are to be produced by an on-line publishing company select the Photo Book Pages option. Both pathways provide the ability to incorporate pictures into predesigned templates and both make use of the new themes, background and frame content. In this technique we step through Album Page creation.
Step 1 >> Select the pictures that you want to include from the Organizer and then choose the Album Pages option from the Creations menu. Choose the page size and then determine the number of pictures you want per page via the Layout menu and the text to include via the options at the bottom of the screen. Finally, choose a page style from the theme thumbnails. Click the OK button to continue to create the pages and open them in the Full Edit space.
Step 2 >> If you selected the Auto Fill option in the initial Wizard screen Elements will automatically create multiple pages and photos in the Frame layers. Add extra images by selecting a frame from the Artwork section of the Artwork and Effects palette and then clicking the Apply button. Now either drag a new picture from the Photo Bin to the frame or click on the frame and choose a new picture from the file browser that is displayed. To remove picture and frame combination click on a frame and press the Delete key.
Step 3 >> To add a new background or replace the existing one, choose another option from Backgrounds menu in the Artwork section of the Artwork and Effects palette. Click the Apply key to insert the new background. To add the same background to all pages, select each page in turn (in the expanded view of the document in the Photo Bin) and apply the same background design. Adjust the frames and/or pictures using the detailed guidelines in the last chapter.
Step 4 >> Next save the project in the new PSE or multi-page Photo Creation format. Saving the Album Pages project means that it will be possible to edit your layouts later. Select the option to Include in the Organizer and then click the Save button.
Step 5 >> As with most Photo Creation projects you have a choice of the way that it will be produced. You can elect to print the pages out (and bind them into a book form) with the File > Print command or you can even send the project as an email attachment by selecting the project in Organizer and then selecting the Email option from the Share shortcut menu.
If you want to have the pages that you make printed and published as a bound book create a Photo Book Pages project instead of a Photo Album Pages project. Alternatively, you can also create your pages using the Photo Layout option if you select the correct page size in the project’s Wizard screen.
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0 (Windows) | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
Taking the creation of photo album pages idea a little further, the Photo Book Pages project allows you to lay out the pages and then upload the whole project to an on-line publisher. Using the set-up wizard, your own images and one of the many template designs in the feature, you can quickly and easily produce a series of pages (yes, including a title page) that look like they have been professionally laid out. The finished pages are then uploaded directly to the publisher, where the files are printed on a digital press using standard CMYK inks, the sheets are bound, trimmed and a cover is added. The completed book is then shipped via post or courier. The print production time for most companies is 3–5 days with shipping times varying depending on the level of service selected (airmail, express post, international courier).
Step 1 >> Creating pages that are suitable for on-line publishing involves the same initial steps that are outlined in the previous step-bystep project with a couple of differences: Photo Book Pages are a set size preferred by the publisher, the first image in the book is used for the cover design and the minimum book size is 20 pages.
Step 2 >> Once you have completed laying out the pages in your book, save the book design as a Photo Creations file (.PSE). Make sure that the file is cataloged in the Organizer workspace. Close the file and switch back to the Organizer. With the project file selected choose the Order Kodak Photo Book option from the Online shortcut menu.
Step 3 >> This action will take you to the first screen of the Book Ordering wizard. Here you can clickdrag pages to rearrange their sequence, choose to add page numbers and even add or remove pages (called photos in the dialog). This is a good place to check that you have placed a suitable cover image at the beginning of the sequence. Click Next to proceed to the second screen.
Step 4 >> In this, the second of the wizard screens, you can preview the look of each page by clicking the forward and back buttons on the sides of the preview area. When you are happy with your results click the Done button to start the uploading process. At this point your file is passed to the book publishing company.
Step 5 >> Once the book is uploaded you will be prompted to register for the service. If you are already a member then you will be taken straight to the Order Book wizard, which contains a number of screens with options for cover type, print numbers, recipients details, billing details and confirmation of the order.
Step 6 >> If you can’t connect directly to an on-line photo book publisher (the default provider is Kodak EasyShare Gallery, formerly www.ofoto.com) from within Elements, some companies will print a book from individual pages of the file saved as separate JPEG images. Create these files by selecting the project file in the Organizer workspace and then choosing File > Export. Pick the format to save the files in and press the Export button. Check with your photo book provider for their file format preference.
Designing with Templates >>
At first, the idea of using a pre-designed layout may seem a little restricting but the Album Pages and Photo Book Pages wizards are just the starting point of the design process. Don’t forget that you can change backgrounds, frames and even whole themes with the click of a few buttons once you are in the Full Edit space. Add to this the ability to add text, graphics and custom shapes and apply a series of special effects, filters and layer styles and the possibilities are endless.
13.05 Book Publishing without Using Photo Creations
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Tools used – Crop | Menus used – File, Image, Edit
Using the wizard/template-based approach in Elements is fine, but if you seek the ultimate in creative control over every page then a company like www.SharedInk.com can create a book from individually designed spreads produced in Elements and saved as a JPEG file.
Simply create a new document the size and format of the printed page and add your pictures directly to the document. You can size the individual photos using the Free Transform command and with the grid displayed it is easy to ensure consistent spacing between individual photos.
Step 1 >> Select the book size and orientation from those provided by your chosen publisher. Use the recommended settings for width, height and resolution for creating a new custom page.
Alternatively download pre-made templates for your book size from the publisher’s website. In this example I used the Photoshop templates (which can also be used for Elements) provided by www.SharedInk.com as the base size for my book pages.
Step 2 >> Open the template to suit your design. There are options for left and right pages and also a design for double-page spreads. As the example book contains a variety of panoramic pictures the latter choice was used.
Open one of the pictures that you want to include on the page and click-drag the file onto the template background. Use the included template guides to help position the photo or alternatively align the image with the aid of the grid (View > Grid).
Step 3 >> To resize the photo on the page, make sure that the layer is selected and then select the Image > Transform > Free Transform feature. To ensure that the picture stays in the same aspect ratio or proportions, hold down the Shift key whilst dragging the corner handles. Add and size other images to suit and when the laying out of the page is complete save the document with a file name that includes the page number (as a two digit number i.e. ‘page01’). Keep in mind that all left-hand pages are evenly numbered and right-hand pages have odd page numbers.
Step 4 >> Next save another version of the document as a level 10 JPEG. Save all the book page files as a single compressed (zipped) file. These files are the ones that will be uploaded and printed.
Step 5 >> As the example page is designed as a doublepage spread, it is necessary to crop the design into two single pages (left and right) before publishing.
Thankfully the templates supplied by www.SharedInk.com contain guidelines that you can use to align your cropping marquee. To make the left-hand page, crop from the far left to the third guideline along. Save this photo as a left page number. Next, undo the crop, and create the right page by dragging out the cropping marquee from the far right to the third line along, this time on the left-hand side of the center line. Save this crop as the right-hand page of the spread. You will notice that working this way creates a copy of the detail along the center of the book, which will account for the picture parts lost in the binding area.
Step 6 >> Now that the pages are created go to the SharedInk website and create a new book by pressing the Create a New Book link at the top of the page. Choose the book size and then the Full Bleed Book template. Next you will be taken to the upload page where you can upload your ZIP file (of all the pages).
After the uploading is complete, press the Order Now button and proceed through the Publish and Payment options making sure that you carefully preview the finished book before completing the order.
13.06 On-Line Publishing Options
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Tools used – Crop | Menus used – File, Image, Edit
The easiest way to publish your photo books is via the on-line publisher in the Bound Photo Books option of the Photo Creations workspace. But this isn’t the only option for picture book aficionados. There is a variety of other on-line publishers who will happily print and bind your masterpieces. Of those listed here only Kodak Gallery is linked directly to Photoshop Elements; the others provide various layout options including web-based utilities or the ability to accept PDF books or JPEG-saved pages produced by Elements.
As an added bonus these companies also provide a variety of other photo products including such diverse offerings as photo coffee mugs, ties and dog bowls.
Kodak Gallery (www.kodakgallery.com)
Formerly called Ofoto, Kodak Easy Share Gallery is an online photo products provider that has sites in the USA and Europe as well as the UK. At the moment photo books are only produced via the US website but the company welcomes international customers and ships the completed books worldwide. You can create a Kodak Easy Share Gallery photo book in a couple of different ways. Firstly, there is a standard 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 Everyday-Expandible and Metropolitan-Oversized options providing a level of flexibility beyond the normal offerings.
Books are produced using the aid of a step-by-step web wizard. Through the process you select an interior style, input book details such as title and description, drag and drop photos from your on-line albums to include in the book, design the layout of the pictures and then preview the final result before placing your order.
SnapFish (www.snapfish.com)
SnapFish.com boasts over 12 million users worldwide and provides options for both film and digital users to get their pictures on a truly mind-boggling array of photo products. Yes, you can have your favorite photo on everything from your baby’s nappy bag and your dog’s food bowl to your husband’s tie.
Two photo book options are also included in their product range. Flipbooks are similar to the spiral-bound photo books that local laboratories have been offering for years except with SnapFish you can add a colored or patterned background to your photos before they are printed and bound.
The second option is the Memory Book product which comes with a cloth-bound hard cover and a minimum of 20 pages. One standard die-cut style is available but inside you can choose from single- or double-sided printing, captions or no captions and a range of page designs.
To create a book you must first create an on-line album and upload your pictures. The album (or albums if you have uploaded more than one) then becomes the centre of your SnapFish production. Images are selected from the album to be included in the book, which you can organize and design manually or get the web wizard to automatically produce for you (this option is called Express).
MyPublisher (www.mypublisher.com)
MyPublisher is a dedicated book publisher that provides the widest range of photo book sizes of all our candidate companies. They range from the small pocket books (6 × 8 inches) to the mammoth Deluxe books (12 × 16 inches with full bleed available).
The company uses a production approach that is based around a free layout utility called BookMaker which is downloadable from their website. Images are sourced directly from your hard drive, arranged and laid out in book form before your purchasing details are added and the whole project uploaded to the net.
13.07 Creating a Greeting Card
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Tools used – Crop | Menus used – File, Image, Edit
The Photo Creations Greeting Card project uses the same basic approach for the set up, production and editing of the card as we have already seen with the creation of Photo Book pages with the difference being the size of the final result. Two card sizes are available, 6 × 4 inch for home printing and 5 × 7 inch for production on-line.
Step 1 >> Select the picture you want to feature on the card from the Organizer. Select the Greeting Card option from the Create menu. Choose a card size from the Wizard screen. The 4 × 6 inch option is designed for home printing and the 5 × 7 inch card is for on-line production.
Step 2 >> Next select a card layout and theme from the thumbnails displayed. Remember that the frame and its accompanying background can be changed later when the project is in the Full Edit space. Click the OK button to produce the project.
Step 3 >> Unlike previous versions of the Greeting Card project the wizard no longer produces a design that is suitable for folding into a card format that opens like a book. The greeting card design has a single front face onto which you can add images, text, backgrounds, shapes and other graphical elements.
Step 4 >> Once produced you will be able to manipulate the photo and frame combination as well as the background just as you would any other Photo Layout. If you are producing the card on-line then you can also add a title and text in the Order wizard.
Step 5 >> To produce the card with the aid of an on-line publisher save the file in the Photo Creation format (.PSE) and ensure that the document is added to the Organizer. Close the document and switch to the Organizer space. Select the Greeting Card project and then choose the Order Photo Greeting card option from the On-line shortcut menu. Follow the instructions in the Order wizard to produce your cards.
Step 6 >> If you want to output the file to a desktop prnter insert the correct sized card and then choose File > Print from inside either the Full Edit or Organizer workspaces.
13.08 Making a CD or DVD Jacket
Suitable for Elements – 5.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
CD and DVD jackets are the sheets of paper or thin card that wrap around the outside of the CD/DVD case. The inclusion of a Photo Creation option for the creation of these jackets is new for Elements 5.0. There is no real difference between the two choices except for the size of the finished creation document. After creating a jacket with a combination of your images and one of the themes provided in the Creation dialog, the final design is printed, the edges trimmed and the paper inserted into the cover space of the case.
Step 1 >> Start by multi-selecting photos from the Organizer workspace before choosing CD or DVD Jacket from the File > Create menu. Depending whether you are creating a CD or DVD jacket the size option will be different. DVDs are 11 × 7.5 inches and CD jackets are 9.75 × 4.75 inches.
Step 2 >> Next choose the layout for the jacket. Select the number of photos to include in the Layout section and then choose a theme (matched Frame and Background design) before pressing OK to create the document.
Step 3 >> A new Creation document is produced with the selected images inserted into the frames and placed onto the background. If more images were selected than the places available in the document then Elements creates a second page and places the extra photos there. Each framed image is stored on its own layer.
Step 4 >> Right-click on each image in turn and choose Fit Frame To Photo. Next adjust the size and orientation of the photo and the frame using the side and corner handles. For more details on how to manipulate frames see the previous chapter.
Step 5 >> With the images in place we can now turn our attention to adding other details to the design. Here extra text is inserted over the main photo and a layer effect is added (drop shadow and stroke). The color of the text is matched with the background in the design. After saving the completed composition the CD/DVD jacket is then printed using the Actual Size setting to ensure that the jacket fits the case.
Suitable for Elements – 5.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
This project converts your Elements slide shows to VCD format ready for viewing on most DVD players or computers with a DVD drive but, to be sure that your machine is compatible, check the equipment manual first. In Elements 5.0 slide shows can be written directly to VCD or DVD with the output options found in the revised Slide Show Editor; however, DVD burning does require Premier Elements to be installed alongside Photoshop Elements.
Step 1 >> Select the slide shows that you want to include in the VCD from the Photo Browser and then pick VCD with Menu from the File > Create. Add or Remove slide shows from the thumbnail list if you are unhappy with your selection. Clickdrag slide shows to new positions in the list to adjust where they will be placed in the menu of the VCD. The small number in the top left of each thumbnail indicates the sequence. Click Burn when you are happy with the arrangement.
Step 2 >> The burn step is a twopart process. First, any slide show not in the Windows Media Video file will be converted to that format. The conversion can be quite lengthy if you are burning slide shows containing many high-resolution files. If you want to speed up this section of the process, convert your shows to WMV beforehand from inside the Slide Show project dialog.
Step 3 >> The second part of the burn process is writing the CD/DVD itself. After converting the slide shows to WMV files a Burn dialog will appear. Make sure that a new blank CD/DVD is inserted into the writer and click the OK button to create the VCD.
Suitable for Elements – 5.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
Unlike the animations produced in GIF format where each layer of the Elements document becomes a frame in the movie, the Flipbook feature uses a series of different images that have been selected in the Organizer space as the basis for the animation. This approach makes the feature particularly good for creating snippets of action from sequences of photos captured on the Burst or Continuous Shooting mode with your digital camera.
Select the images to be included in the book from a collection or the Organizer and choose the File > Create > Flipbook option. The Flipbook dialog is then displayed. Here you can set the playback speed in frames per second (FPS), the order the sequence is played and the pixel dimensions of the output. Click the Output button to create the movie.
13.11 Your Pictures Month by Month
Suitable for Elements – 5.0,4.0,3.0 | Difficulty level – Intermediate | Menus used – File > Create
In version 5.0 the two calendar options (one for on-line printing and one for producing at home) that were included in the previous edition of the program have been replaced with a single Photo Creation project. Images are selected in the Organizer space, the Photo Calendar option selected and then the files are uploaded to the Kodak Easy Share Gallery website. Here you can select the style and color of the calendar and choose if you want the wizard to auto fill the image spaces with your photos or allow you to add the images page by page. The final step is to order the calendar and then Kodak does the rest, producing and binding the project and then shipping it directly to you.
Step 1 >> Make sure that all 13 photos (12 months plus cover) to include in your calendar have been carefully enhanced before starting the process. A calendar, just like a website and flipbook, has a defined sequence of images as part of the project itself. It is also a good idea to add the photos to a collection as well. When the collection is displayed you can reorder the sequence of photos so that feature images match the months they are illustrating. When complete multi-select the photos and choose File > Create > Photo Calendar.
Step 2 >> After selecting the Photo Calendar option, Elements contacts the Kodak Easy Gallery website and displays a Registration screen. First time users will need to fill out a simple registration section and nominate a login email address and password. Returning visitors only need to supply their log-in and password details. After successfully logging in, the selected images will start to upload to the site. This process can take a while, especially if you are using high-resolution photos or have a slow internet connection. Click Next to continue.
Step 3 >> With the pictures now uploaded you will be presented with a small pop-up screen that asks if you want the images to be automatically placed on the calendar pages (Auto Fill) or if you would prefer to make the decision page by page (Manual). Next you select a template design and color and then choose the starting date for the calendar and the number of images each page will feature. Click Next to continue.
Step 4 >> With the images in place you can now preview the calendar design, edit any pages that you are not happy with and finally order the finished project. After the order is confirmed Kodak prints, binds and ships the calendar.