Montecito Wedding Album (plus Album Workflow tips)

I get asked a lot about how I juggle motherhood, wifehood and my business; specifically, how I stay on top of my work while chasing after a baby (who is crawling everywhere now!) and still maintain my sanity (although that part is up for argument.)  My answer is always the same: YOU MUST HAVE A SYSTEM AND YOU MUST STICK TO IT!

Albums have always been the big item on my to-do list.  Between selecting the photos, editing the photos in Photoshop, laying out the album and proofing it to the client, album design is a multi-step process that seems to drag on and on.  But I have a serious system in place, which I never deviate from, and it really helps me to stay on top of the never-ending mountain of album to-dos.

In 2008, I designed, proofed, printed, ordered and shipped 44 albums; that doesn't include the roughly 20 albums from 2007 that had to be completed as well. To some that may sound like a lot, to others it may sound like a little, but when you keep in mind that I have no office staff (seriously, none - it sucks) and every last album page is designed free-hand in Photoshop, I think that's quite a mountain of work. So, what's the system? ....

Step One: I choose images by tagging them in PhotoMechanic.  Yes, I choose the images for my clients' albums.  Why? Because the vast majority of my clients are busy people, who are not artists and who are completely overwhelmed by sifting through 800 proofs to narrow it down to 70 or so favorites.  I firmly believe that this is a service to my clients and, absolutely, it means more work for me, but it means I can get started right away on a client's album and I can regulate my workload. Once I've selected the images for the album, I copy those in to an Album Edit folder.

Step Two: Photoshop the images in my Album Edit folder, using the Totally Rad Actions.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your 3-5 "looks" that you stick with when retouching images.  This avoids the inevitable "experimenting" with every action under the sun (which is time-consuming) and also helps to maintain continuity in the album. The images are saved as flattened jpegs in the Album Edit folder.

Step Three: Design the album. First, I create a spread in Photoshop (I automate this my creating actions that open a blank canvas at the appropriate size and resolution). Next, I pull the images that I want to include on that spread in to Photoshop. One by one, I drag those images on to my blank canvas and free transform the image to the appropriate size.  I use the grid to ensure that the images are all lined up and the same size.  Next, I save the album spread as a PSD, named 00-01, 02-03, 04-05, etc, in a folder called Album.

Step Four: Proof the album. I use Bridge to batch the album PSDs as JPEGS at 1600 px wide. These jpegs get put in a folder called Album Proof and then I use those jpegs to create a slideshow in SlideShareMax. SlideShareMax generates a link that I send to my client for their review. Along with the link to their album proposal, the client receives a pdf form where they indicate, page by page, whether to keep the design or whether to make a change.  If they choose to change something, there is room for them to write in their changes.  This form also includes all the leather choices, cover layouts and imprinting options and the client simply fills in which they choose. I allow one ROUND of changes to the album, each additional change is $50 per change.

Step Five: I make the clients' changes (to the layered PSD files in the Album folder) and then regenerate the Album Proof files and re-upload to SlideShareMax for the clients' final approval.

Step Six: I use Bridge to generate full-size JPEGS from the layered PSD files, which then get uploaded to Finao for printing and binding.

That's it! A typical album, from start to finish can be done in about 3-6 hours, depending on the size of the album and the number of changes requested by the client.

And since blog posts are boring without photos, here is an album I worked on last week from a lovely wedding at Montecito Country Club -



Now that wedding season is slowing down, I am desperately seeking blog content.  If you have questions, or topics you'd like me to blog about, feel free to leave them in the comments below! I am always happy to share the little tips and tricks that help me to keep balance in my personal life and success in my business!

delightfully,
Chenin

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