tutorials or templates for Asuka books

[lisa h]

Hi, one of my Mitzvah clients wants me to make digital style books (versus

traditional matted albums) for both of her daughters Bat Mitzvahs which I

previously photographed. I would like to offer her the Asuka books, but first

need to figure out how I would go about creating the pages in photoshop. My

photoshop knowledge is limited to basic photo retouching and correction, I

currently do not know how to do page layouts, create templates, etc.

 

I am looking for someone to point me in the right direction of where I could

find information/instruction/tutorials on how to do the page layouts in

photoshop. I have already asked Asuka if they have instructions available and

their suggestion was to use their design services. I would prefer to be able to

handle the design myself to keep the cost down and also because this is

something that I want to learn anyway.

 

If there are any approriate Asuka templates that I could purchase to get myself

started on this, that is a possibility. I am not into fancy overlays,

transparencies, etc. I prefer simple, clean looks, and in this case, something

that is suitable for a young girl/ fun photos.

 

Thank you for any assitance. Lisa

[annealmasy]

Hi Lisa!

 

You can check out some of my book designs through our blog. If they're what you're looking

for, shoot me an e-mail. I'll give you some PS tips that might help you. :)

[buckry]

Artistically speaking this is no help, but Asuka has templates created to show you where the gutter is and the cropping on the outside edges. They have a zip file for every single book they make, just download the one you want in the color space you work in and then it's technically as simple as dragging and dropping your images into the template page.

 

Save all of them as psd's until you're done, then you simple create jpgs of each page. Asuka has a file checker which will check your pages for size, color space, and to make sure no pages are missing. Once that's done it creates a HUGE pdf to send to them.

 

Like I said, technically it's quite easy, it's just a matter of being creative and coming up with interesting layouts.

 

I personally hate layout templates, I would never want to sell a customer a page layout I designed for another customer 2 years ago. I want every single album to be 100% original so I design every single album from scratch.

[Ian Taylor]

I just did my first Asuka book and the print quality is great. I kept the design simple and made liberal use of the full-bleed and 2-page spread options. I also received the sample book they sent out to 2000 photographers this year. Not crazy about some of their in-house design ideas. (i.e. Warhol-ish pages with 4 treatments of the same pic.)

<p>

Just dive in, it's pretty straightforward.

[steve.elliott]

They only sell to established photography businesses? :-(

[neal_thatcher]

Lisa,

Kevin Kubota has a program for designing albums and since he is a BIG part of Asuka Books, I am sure they would do the job for you. I haven't used the program, I prefer to custom design books myself but I do use some of his actions which are great as both a production and photoshop learning tool. Check out this link and see if it is what you are looking for: http://kubotaworkshops.com/store/catalog/product_16141_HOT_ONE_AWARD_WINNER_AutoAlbum_2_Magazine_style_layouts_for_Photoshop_cat_249.html

[lisa h]

Anne- Wow, very beautiful books and photos! Your layouts are simple and clean, just how I like them! I will send you an e-mail, thank you so much!!!

 

Ryan- Thanks for the tips. I downloaded some of Asukas templates and saw only blank pages that I wasn't quite sure what to do with... I think once I successfully do a couple pages I will find that it is really easy, I am just not sure how to start!

 

Ian- I also received the sample book. I am happy that I have it, but I also am not crazy about the designs. Yes I guess I have to just take the dive!

 

Stephen- Yes they only deal with 'professional' photographers, but as long as you have a photography web site or something to show, I think it is easy to be approved.

 

Neil- I just checked out the link, thank you. Hmmm....even though his layouts have barely any 'overlays' etc, I think too many images are crammed on a page (for my preference). Maybe the black backgrounds are throwing me off also. I much prefer Annes layouts so hopefully after some tips from her I will be good to go!

 

Thanks everyone! Lisa

[bdp]

Lisa, if you're willing to spend the money, Yervant has a program, Page Gallery, that will create Square format books, and rectangluar sytle as well