eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.

How To

How to Create a Photo Book

Contributor
By Richard Burke
eHow Contributing Writer
(19 Ratings)
Create a Photo Book
Create a Photo Book

Photo Books or Albums are a fun way to share photographs with family and friends. Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 makes it easy to create and order photo books. They provide an easy-to-follow wizard that will step you through the process and give you editorial control over the design and layout of your photo book. The easiest way to do it to first sort through your images and select the photos you want to use in your book. Create copies of the images and place the copies in a temporary folder you can later delete if you desire. This will allow for ease of use and keep you from creating unwanted copies of images that can clog up your hard drive. So select your photos and then follow this step-by-step guide to create a photo book.

From Quick Guide: Using Adobe Photoshop Elements
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
  • Internet access
  1. Step 1
    Open Photo Book Wizard
     
    Open Photo Book Wizard

    The easiest way to get started is to select all the photos you want to use and open them in Adobe Photoshop Elements while in FULL EDIT MODE. This will open all the photos in the BIN which you can see at the bottom of the screen. Next, click on CREATE and select PHOTO BOOK to open the Wizard. Notice that the first photo in the bin is displayed as the title page. Regardless of which layout you choose, the title page will only have one photo. Rearrange the photos in the proper order in the bin by dragging and dropping them where you want. When you are finished, click NEXT on the Wizard

  2. Step 2
    Choose Layout
     
    Choose Layout

    The next thing you will be asked to do is to choose a layout. Scroll through the layouts. When you select one a preview window will appear. Keep in mind you can move objects, rotate them, delete them and perform other functions in editing mode after you have selected your layout. When you are finished, click DONE.

  3. Step 3
    Choose Theme
     
    Choose Theme

    Next you will be asked to choose a theme. There are all sorts of themes for birthday parties, vacations, anniversaries and many others. Try to choose a theme that goes with your images. The previews will also show you how much of your image may be blocked out by the art. If your images are all full-frame images, avoid choosing a theme that will block out a lot of your image. When you are finished, click DONE

  4. Step 4
    Add Text
     
    Add Text

    You can add text, borders and special beveled effects to each page or to the whole document. The forward and backwards buttons allow you to scroll through your photo book to check alignment, add text and perform other editing functions on each page. Check each page carefully for picture alignment, rotation and size. Remember to save your work frequently as you create your book.

  5. Step 5
    Order The Book Online
     
    Order The Book Online

    When you are finished with your creation, click on the order button to order your Photo Book. You will be taken to the Adobe Services portion of Kodak EasyShare Gallery. If you are a member, just log in to your account and specify your paper and binding options. You can also create a Kodak account from this page. Photo Books vary in price depending on the cover and paper choices as well as the length of the book.

  6. Step 6
    Save as PDF
     
    Save as PDF

    If you want to create an electronic version of the book, click on SAVE AS from the FILE menu. This will allow you to save your photo book as a PDF file. You can also send this PDF file to other printers if you do not want to use Kodak Gallery.

Tips & Warnings
  • Carefully choose your format based on how many pictures you want per page and the number of horizontal or vertical images you have.
  • You can enlarge or crop your images from within the Photo Book Wizard.

Comments  

| View All 12 Comments

imagery said

Flag This Comment

on 12/13/2008 Virginia,
I haven't seen the quality of the "Photoworks" books, but the quality from Kodak Gallery is great. There are a number of services now that will make the Photo Books for you online including Nikon.

vallain said

Flag This Comment

on 12/12/2008 I've made a couple of photo books for gifts using Photoworks' site. Fairly expensive, but I was very pleased with the results.

bg8510 said

Flag This Comment

on 11/20/2008 Great idea! It's amazing what we can do now with digital photos and internet.

Flag This Comment

on 8/21/2008 Really cool! Thank you

Flag This Comment

on 8/18/2008 You make it sound so easy! This is a great idea!

Subscribe

Post a Comment

Post a Comment

Related Ads

  • Have you done this? Click here to let us know.
I Did This
Get Free Arts & Entertainment Newsletters

Copyright © 1999-2009 eHow, Inc. Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the eHow Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.   en-US Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

Demand Media
eHow_eHow Arts and Entertainment