After all the mince pies, tinsel, presents and turkey Christmas is all about being together with the family. It’s there, with everyone full and flagging around the table, that the presence of someone’s new girlfriend sparks an avalanche of embarrassing anecdotes and family tales. Mum will end up scurrying around the house, searching high and low for “that photo with him in his little red and yellow plastic car” only to return dusty and disheartened – she knows it’s got to be there somewhere…
This year why not save Mum’s poor old knees and create her and the family the perfect photo book full of all those cherished memories. Here are out ten top tips for creating the perfect Christmas CEWE PHOTOBOOK:
10. Occasion or annual?
Don’t have enough snaps of the same occasion? No problem, why not create a fantastic overview of your year with a little bit of everything!
9. Zoom in on what’s important
While creating your layout don’t forget to zoom in and get the important element of your photo as large and as central as you can. This lets you cut off any less important elements like walls, strangers or mother-in-laws.
8. Less is more: things are better, bigger
Sometimes it’s all too easy to be overzealous with your layout, trying to fit in as many photos as possible. Try picking out the best photo from a group of similar snaps and making it as big as possible, even fill the page, to really show it off.
7. Before we were digital…
Everyone’s digital photo collection will only stretch so far. If you want to include some vintage memories why not scan in a few old prints to use in your CEWE PHOTOBOOK? P.s. Don’t forget to turn off the automatic image correction for your scanned snaps.
6. Creating the right setting
Nothing gives a photobook that professional feel like the perfect background. There are lots of great backgrounds ready in our software with many more available free to download. Choose from a wide range of themes and colours to perfectly compliment your photos.
5. Special effects for your special memories
Image masks are perfect for creating special effects around your images. If you’ve not used them before, these masks add shaped transparencies to your image – turning your photo into anything from a film strip, to a heart shape, to a star fade.
4. Keep everyone happy
Nobody likes to be left out – and this is especially true when designing your photobook. Try and make sure that there is a roughly even amount of photos of everyone in your book. Often one person is always left out of the best shots (because they were taking them!) so be sure to give the designated photographer their fair share of appearances.
3. Create your own layouts and colour schemes
To make your book look really professional try sticking to just 4 or 5 page designs that you are happy with. Continuity in design both highlights your photos and provides you set areas for your own text.
2. More book, more memories
Before you start creating your photo book have a quick look through all the photos that you’re planning to use. Are they mostly landscape or portrait, are there photos you’d like to use across whole or double pages, do you have big group photos or lots of small single shots? Ask yourself these questions before choosing which size of photo book you want to go for. Remember: if in doubt always go for the size up – your favourite memories can always be too small, but they can never be too big!
1. Save time, let the Assistant do the hard work for you!
Using the Assistant tool is a great way to save time when laying out your book. All you need to do tell it which set of images to choose from, select a few little design options and tell the Assistant to create your book. In just a few moments your book will be filled with all your chosen snaps letting you do any minor tweaks and swaps to make it perfect.