Click on the Start button. This will display the sign-in dialog where you can sign in as a guest, new user or a returning user. After sign-in, the BookEditor is displayed. A new book consisting of two interior pages and a cover is automatically created the first time you sign in.

You can either begin with this book or select Book > Select new book... menu to pick another product. When a new book is created it will contain two interior pages and a default cover. From here you can add new page layouts, edit existing layouts, etc.

It is recommended that you edit the cover last. Depending on the book style, the width of the cover may depend on the spine width which is based on the number of pages in the book. The PhotoBookPro system will automatically adjusts the cover layout to account for this.

The product quality and accuracy is guaranteed and any defective product will be replaced. Defective product must be returned prior to being replaced. When it comes to questions of "print quality", we also take in to account the quality of the original photo or image in deciding on whether production was the cause of the reported defect. See question on color reproduction for more information on print and image quality.

There are inherent differences in the color spaces between CMYK (printed) and RGB (screen). Also color on printed paper will look flatter than color on your screen. We want the printed version to be as close as possible to what you see on the screen. The basic goal is predictability. Allowing for this, the most important factor is the calibration of your monitor. If the monitor is not calibrated, then any adjustment made to the color to make it look "good", may not be the color that is actually printed.

The most reliable way to calibrate a monitor is with an external device that hangs over the screen and calibrates the color values to standard values. There are many of these devices available. Printing a sample book will also give you a idea of any potential problems but this is a check at only one point in time. A monitor can change over time.

If you are interested in obtaining a product sample, please complete the Contact Us request form.

Another inexpensive option is to design a book with minimum pages using your photos and equipment and then order a printed version. This will give you the most realistic sample of what you can expect. It will also give you an idea of whether any color correction is required on your own system. Based on our experiences with others, you will be very satisfied with the results. See color reproduction question above.

Yes. You can add whatever text and graphics that you want. There is no default branding applied to the interior pages or covers.

Yes. You can create a PDF for the book and then download this file and print the book using Adobe Reader™.

To download the book as a PDF document and print, select the Book > Create PDF... menu. The PDF Manager dialog is displayed. Click on the Create PDF. Once completed a link to the generated PDF document will be available. Click on this to download or view the PDF. You can save this to your computer or print it. You will need Adobe Reader™ installed to view and print the document. This is a free application and a link is provided in the PDF dialog.

Yes. 100# Cover stock is not the same thickness as 100# Text stock.

Normal production time is from 5 to 7 business days. 7 days is the norm for case bound books of the Legacy, Premium and Elegance styles. During the holiday season, longer production times are possible.

Ground, 2nd day and Overnight is available. There is no charge for Ground shipping.

There are two ways you can do this. First you can create a PDF file for the book. Just download the file and send it to your clients for viewing. Just select the Book > Create PDF... menu in the BookEditor to get started.

The second method is to complete the Properties setup for the book. In the BookEditor select the Book > Properties... menu. Enter the required information and be sure to enable the "Allow book re-sale" option. At the bottom of the screen will be two types of links that you can now forward to your clients via email or including them on your own web site. The links will take your clients to the BookView version of the book which allows them to see the book similar to the BookEditor. Note that they will not be able to edit any content in the BookView mode.

Yes they can. This is enabled within the properties setup for the book. In the BookEditor select on the Book > Properties... menu. Enter the required information and be sure to enable the "Allow book re-sale" option. Also enter your sale price. Now when your clients access the book via the BookView links, they will have the option to purchase the book online. The order processing, production and fulfillment is handled entirely by us. We will bill your customer for the price you are asking and remit the difference over cost to you. A small transaction fee is deducted to cover billing and processing costs.

It is best generally to start with the page background. You can assign a color or use an photo for this. You can also add other image elements to the page to further enhance the page background.

If you are going to use the same background layout for a number of pages in the book, then in the BookEditor select Copy page and paste it into the book for the additional pages.

Once satisfied with the background of the page you should then select photos for your image elements. Lastly add any text areas to the page by selecting show captions, comments and/or title.

Pages are edited in the LayoutEditor. The LayoutEditor allows you complete design control over the page layout, images and text. The LayoutEditor is displayed when you click on the "Add Photos and Text" button, click on the "Edit.." icon in the toolbar or select the Page Actions > Edit layout... menu. You can also right-click (or ctrl-click) on a page to display the context menu and select the Edit layout... item.

When in the BookEditor, there are 4 ways to access the LayoutEditor. Either click on the "Add Photos and Text" button, click on the "Edit.." icon in the toolbar or select the Page Actions > Edit layout... menu. You can also right-click (or ctrl-click) on a page to display the context menu and select the Edit layout... item. All

There are two ways to add photos to a page. Photos can be added from the Gallery or you can use the Picnik interface to access photos from other photo sharing web sites.

First open the page in the LayoutEditor and select the image placeholder where the photo is going to be added. To add photo from Gallery, just click on "Insert photo" and it will be inserted in the page. To add a photo using Picnik, select the Page Actions > Insert photo...(Picnik) menu. This opens the Picnik service where you can access your photos stored virtually anywhere on the web. After selecting photo in the Picnik editor, click on "Export to My Book". A copy of the photo will be inserted in the page and also added to the book's Gallery for future re-use.

This is a very fast and simple way to create your book. You create your page images locally using your preferred image editing software and tools and save them as jpeg files. Design your pages so they are the same size as the non-trim size for the book format you have selected.

Next go to www.photobookpro.com and sign-in. In the BookEditor browse to the page position where you want the new page. You can either upload your page image files to the gallery or import them directly. To import them select Page Actions > Import page... menu to open the Uploader dialog. Select your page image files and then click the Upload button. A new page will be added for each image file and the image will also be added to the gallery. The second option is to import your image files to the gallery like other photos and then click on "Insert page".

You can also do additional editing by selecting Page Actions > Edit layout… menu which will open the page in the LayoutEditor.

Each sheet of paper is printed on 2 sides. There are 2 pages for each sheet of paper.

All pages are setup for full bleed. Place images at the very edge of page. Approximately .1" is trimmed from the edge of the page in production.

Printed covers are full bleed. Similar to interior pages, place images at the very edge of the page. Besides trimming, approximately ¾" along edge of cover is using for wrapping. For this reason, do not place any critical content within ¾" of the edge of the cover.

There are more variations in binding process for case bound covers. There can be fluctuations of up to ¼" in the binding cycles. This should be taken into account when laying out cover designs for case wrapped books (Premium, Elegance styles). Do not rely on precise placement of items on the cover and allow sufficient margin from the edges (about 1") for critical content. Do not attempt to place elements on the spine since they may miss the mark.

Yes, they can easily be added to your book. Save the Photoshop layout as a jpeg image file. See the topic "How do I import pages?" for details on adding your layouts to the book. After it is added you use the the LayoutEditor to refine the layout placement. Use the zoom buttons to enlarge or reduce the layout image. Shift-click and drag to position it on the page.

For the LFC style books a 2 page spread is automatically assumed. All interior pages are designed, printed and bound as 2 page spreads. See the description of LFC style books for more information.

For all other book styles it is necessary to allow for a certain amount of overlap where the 2 pages are joined. The amount of overlap is dependent on the style of the book and its binding method. The minimum amount is the bleed margin for the pages which is 1/10th of an inch. This is the amount that is automatically trimmed in the binding process. Additional overlap should be provided for perfect bound (book style PFC) and case bound (book styles HDC & HFC) to allow for the portion of the photo that falls within the gutter area. This is somewhat a matter of personal preference on how flat the book needs to be when opened. A good rule of thumb would be 1/2 inch. For Wire-O (book styles WHC & WFC) a minimum 1/10th of inch should be sufficient.

Starting with the two adjoining page layouts, move the image element on each page so that it bleeds on the gutter edge. Make each the same height and at the same vertical position within the page layout. Note the width of each. You are now going to split a photo to fit the image elements and also overlap the content in the center by 'X' amount (discussed above).

Add the photo from the Gallery to the image element on the left page Insert photo. With photo selected, zoom and pan the photo within the image mask. Enlarge the photo as necessary so there is sufficient hidden excess that can be used on the right page. Note the amount of zoom applied and also the vertical alignment of the photo so it can be repeated when working with image element on right page.

Now go to the right page and select the same photo for that image element. Zoom to the same degree and position photo so it would overlap the portion on the left page by 'X'. Be sure the vertical alignment is the same as in the left page.

Printing and binding of spreads can cause a slight misregistration of the photo between the 2 pages. Do not have critical content, text, faces or other lines in this overlap area.

With a little experience you can get more creative and actually change the shape or size of the image elements in the adjoining pages. It is still necessary to have the photo re-sized the same amount and positioned so that the overlap is correctly aligned from one page to the other.

The best results are achieved with 300 dpi (dots per inch). If the photo is going to be printed so it is 6" (w) x 4" (h), it would need to have a resolution of 1800 x 1200 to achieve a 300 dpi

Printing on spine is only available for the Modern, Premium and Elegance style books. Just enter a title and enable "Print title on spine". It will not display on the cover layout but will be added at time of printing or when a PDF is created for the cover.

Image files in the jpeg or png file format can be used.

Covers are edited in the same manner as interior pages. From the CoverEditor select Page Actions > Edit cover.. menu. The cover will open in the LayoutEditor where you can make changes to the layout, images and text.

There is no access to the CoverEditor for the WFC style book. Since all pages including the cover are the same size and same paper stock, the first page in the BookEditor represents the front cover and the last page is the back cover. These are edited the same as the other interior pages of the book.

This is easily done in the Picnik™ photo editor. In addition to Black & White there are a wide variety of effects that can be applied.

No. Changes are NOT made to the original image file unless you choose to save and replace the existing file.