The final part of our series on how you can print your photobook with Jared Platt, a professional photographer
Note from the Editor: Jared Platt, a professional photographer, and educator, will show you how to create high-quality photo books using Blurb in this three-part series. Jared will guide you through selecting your photos, choosing the best bookmaking tools, and printing your final product. Do you want to see the whole tutorial? Visit Jared Platt’s website!
Welcome back to class. Jared Platt is a photographer who teaches you how to create a self-published book. This lesson will show you how to turn a great collection of photos into professionally designed and printed text.
We’ve already learned why and how we can choose our photos. We’re ready to move on to the exciting part: designing and printing a photo book!
What are the requirements for designing a book
It’s now time to start designing.
You can design a book in several ways:
Drag and drop images into a template created by someone else.
Design your layout using graphic design software.
Hire a designer.
The first two options are the most popular because they allow you more control over your book’s appearance. Both options rely on software for the design of your book.
Book design software
Three programs can build your book well (and automatically upload it to Blurb for easy on-demand publishing). Choose between Blurb BookWright and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic or Adobe InDesign.
Blurb BookWright is a free, intuitive program that can auto-flow your photos into pre-built, professionally-designed templates. It allows you to design your layouts and text-heavy books.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classis is easy to use and makes editing images within your book design very simple. If you’re already using Lightroom Classic, there’s no reason to switch.
Adobe InDesign has become the gold standard in page layout. This professional program allows for flexibility and control in the design of books (and other print media).
How do you decide? Let’s get to it.
BookWright Classic, InDesign, or Lightroom Classic: Which one to choose
This bookmaking software creates beautiful book designs and can be sent to print quickly, whether you use Blurb. There are some differences between the three programs that can help you select the best program for your book project and skill level.
You are in my class so I will also make some suggestions. BookWright will be your best choice if you have a lot of text in your book or don’t have Lightroom Classic. Lightroom Classic will work best if your book does not have much text. If you know InDesign, then use it. ).
BookWright is a free text-heavy book program
BookWright can be an excellent program for those who want to create a text-heavy book without learning graphic design. It is easy to use, accessible, and mighty.
It has many of the same simple features for organizing photos as Lightroom Classic. It has a much easier text editing interface. If I’m designing a book with entire pages of text, I choose BookWright every time over Lightroom Classic.
It’s also perfect for those new to bookmaking or want to concentrate more on the story and writing than the design.
BookWright has a downside: you have to import your final images. You’ll get extra copies; if any changes are needed, you can return to the original image and re-export it.
You’ll gain that time back by using the new text editing environment. You can also add subtle graphic elements to the design of your book using the shape tool.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic: efficient photo editing and book creation
Lightroom Classic is my favorite program. It is a powerful photo editor with a wide range of features.
Blurb is already integrated into the Book module of the program for ultra-fast printing after design. The program is easy to use, and my favorite feature allows me to create a book only using RAW photos. If I create the text in Lightroom Classic, I can edit any pictures there, and they’ll be updated automatically in the book.
Lightroom Classic allows you to design the book on a plane or anywhere else offline while your photos remain at home on an external hard drive. You don’t have to export the images, then import them to another program to design a book. Lightroom Classic is an excellent tool for creating books because it’s easy to use.
Two things could be improved. It isn’t easy to edit text. The text editor in the book module is less intuitive and easy to use than InDesign’s text controls. The Book module in Lightroom Classic has limited options for paper and products. If the products available work with your project, and you only have a small amount of text in your design, this is the best way to create your photo book.
Adobe InDesign is best for professionals with prior experience
Adobe InDesign is the leading program for page design. It is a powerful program that can do anything. InDesign is used by professional photographers, magazine editors, and book designers. It’s my go-to tool for anything that requires a fine-tuned touch, especially if the project will include a lot of text, like a photo book or magazine.
InDesign allows adding text, photos, vectors, and even video thumbnails. In almost all ways, it is similar to BookWright. It’s just more powerful and complicated.
It isn’t elementary to learn. You may not want to know if you’re unfamiliar with it. This is why I won’t be offering a tutorial.
Create your book in just two steps
Stop now. Don’t stop. Continue! There is nothing to lose.
It’s not necessary to order the book at all. You can start your book to get a feel for how images are arranged about each other and add words as you go. This process is full of learning. So get started.
Calibrate your monitor
It only matters how expensive or friendly your monitor is if you calibrate it. You can’t rely on the colors, brightness, or contrast you see when you don’t calibrate your monitor.
You may think that your edited images look good on your monitor, but you’re still determining if they will look great on paper.
When I ask people unhappy with their prints what tools they use to calibrate their monitors, they look confused or ashamed. Refrain from making the same error!
