Wedding design: inhouse or outsource?

[natalie_l]

<p>Hi everyone,<br>

I've designed a few event books, family albums and baby books myself. I'm curious what you prefer to do.<br>

1. Do you design your album inhouse (you or staff do it) or do you outsource it and let either the album company do it or another company. <br>

2. Do you like the control of doing it inhouse? or do you trust the exceptional quality produced when you outsource it?<br>

3. Do you feel there is a cost savings outsourcing? I realize some people may say this is a YES.<br>

Thanks for your feedback.<br />Natalie</p>

[richsimmons]

<p>The question is, "Does creating your own albums prevent/deter you from making money?" If so, then you might want to think about outsourcing the work, if not and you are being duly compensated for your effect and the client is happy with the end result, then by all means keep your signature look.</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>1. I do it myself using LumaPix FotoFusion Pro. Fastest layout tool on the planet. Period.<br>

2. I like having control of the design. Outsourced designs may or may not be "exceptional quality".<br>

3. It's cheaper to outsource depending on who you use, but the end result of the design may not be up to your standards. At least, I haven't found an outsource I'd use.</p>

[colleendonovan]

<p>Designing albums myself takes too much time and I stress about it. I use a company that I trust and have a relationship with and my brides have loved every album. It may seem like an added expense, but for me it's worth every penny. <br>

I believe in the end it saves me money. Time = money. Besides, I'd pay almost anything to reduce my stress level during the busy months. :)</p>

[cathy_and_david_bock]

<p>We used to be graphic designers so we are very fast at designing albums and know what we're doing with them. What's most important here, though, is whether you're a designer or not. For your brides sake. If you're not a designer (i.e. you use photoshop to put together an album, that's the first sign that you're not and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise) you need to outsource and get a professional to design the album so you can give your client the best possible product you can.</p>

<p>Look for places that use InDesign or Quark to put albums together. InDesign is the (design) industry standard for layout and design, anything else is a cheap imitation. If they use anything else, go somewhere else. If they don't know the difference between a page and a spread (i.e. they think a page has more than one side), run as fast as you can.</p>

<p>It's not about saving money or time, it's about giving your client the best so they keep coming back.</p>

[natalie_l]

<p>Cathy/David... I use indesign for brochures. Now that you mention it, there are some similarities to using it and the Graphistudio software. I appreciate your feedback. I may do a few GS non-wedding albums using the software to see what I think. <br>

Thanks everyone!<br>

Natalie</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>InDesign and Quark are absolutely necessary if you're publishing a magazine or text-intensive publication with images/graphics. However, for wedding album design, they're overkill. It's like shooting a sparrow with a stinger missile. You simply don't need anything that complex to lay out photos and add a little text. You also don't need to spend $700 on the software. Album designers who haven't tried FotoFusion might be well served to check it out. It's a world-class photographer's tool, not a cheap imitation of something. But, if you already own InDesign or Quark and are happy, then go for it.</p>

<p>I'm just saying that to say, "If they use anything else, go somewhere else" is misguided, with all due respect.</p>

[cathy_and_david_bock]

<p>Steve--- I was referring to going to a professional place that designs tons of albums. I'd have a major issue if a place that calls itself a 'design' business isn't using the right tools for the job. And secondly, I don't mind spending $700 to get the best tool for the job and giving my clients the best products possible. I see it as just as important as our L glass. It's part of the tools of the trade and you can either get the nice products that do the job best or the cheap ones that do so so. Personally, I'd rather spend more and save time. Just my personal opinion but to each their own. :) So no offense taken.</p>

<p>Natalie--- You're going to absolutely LOVE IT. It's SOOOO fast to work with and making adjustments is a breeze.</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>Cathy/David: Have you <em>tried</em> FotoFusion? At $300, the full version isn't cheap, but it's a better/faster tool for album design than InDesign or Quark, it has a faster learning curve, and it's certainly less expensive. Don't knock it, or diminish it until you've tried it.</p>

[natalie_l]

<p>Thanks everyone for your input. I will certainly take both points into consideration as I begin designing albums for clients.<br>

Natalie</p>

[cathy_and_david_bock]

<p>Steve--- I've looked at it before but I've never seen ANYTHING that comes close to the speed that I can with InDesign with the number of options, ever. Personally I'd rather use PhotoJunction if I wasn't going to use InDesign. I just like the integration with PS, it's ease of use, the quality of the exports, it's options... I dunno.. I just have never liked anything else and perhaps it's my background in graphic design. I'd rather spend the little bit extra and get InDesign.</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>Use what you like, of course. But "looking" at FotoFusion, as opposed to dowloading the trial, viewing the tutorial videos, and experimenting with the product isn't really the same thing. I think anyone doing serious album design should really give the product serious evaluation. I wouldn't say that if the product wasn't that good.</p>

[rachel_peek]

<p>I disagree with Cathy and David. There's nothing wrong with using Photoshop to design albums.</p>

<p>I am a professional graphic artist and I use Photoshop 100% of the time in RGB mode when designing all of my studios albums and photobooks. We custom design flushmount albums that are printed on photographic paper. We utilize print-to-bind services and upload the images direclty to our album vendor as high-res JPGS. Layout programs like InDesign and Quark are for great for creating brochures, book pages, and other publications when CMYK press printing is required (producing EPS, TIFFS, and PDFs) BUT is neither here nor there when it comes down to a "requirement" for printing an album page correctly. It's all about what programs you own, what you're more capable and skilled at using, and the file format your album vendor prefers.</p>

<p>Photoshop is image editing software, so you can alter and manipulate, paint/draw, etc. while you're designing albums spreads. Personally, I feel Photoshop offers more creative control. With InDesign & Quark, you can lay things out, but you have to go back to Photoshop or similar program to edit the images. I use Photoshop to design 60-side albums and I am fast at it because I know the ins and outs of the program after using it daily for the last 14 years.</p>

<p>ALSO, in terms of pages, when consulting with album manufacturers, a PAGE does have two sides, front and back. So I don't know what Cathy and David were getting at when they said, "If they don't know the difference between a page and a spread (i.e. they think a page has more than one side), run as fast as you can."</p>

<p>I'm not sure with the kinds of album companies you deal with, but with my album vendors, a 10-page album has 20-sides, and a spread is just two adjacent sides sharing a seam, which with flush mount albums, offers panoramic image capability. That's all.</p>

[shaw productions]

<p>Rachel, Since you have done albums for 14 years I was just curious... what is your favorite album manufacturer?</p>