1. How to select my project type?
From the Family Memories software, you can create 3 different types of projects:
1). 12" x 9" Photo Book: Landscape orientation, a linen hard cover with a die cut window on the front cover. Or if you prefer, you can have a UV coated custom full color dust jacket printed to add the personal touch your photo book. The die cut window is not available on the front cover if you select the dust jacket option.
2). 9" x 9" Photo Book: Beautiful custom full color hard cover makes your photo book distinguished from other photo books. Plastic lamination cover adds a sleek and shiny look to your photo book.
3). 12" x 9" Photo Calendar: Start from any month, finish the book in no time by dragging and dropping your favorite photo into each month. With the help of our template and background designs, your personalized photo calendar can be used at your own home and given to your family as a perfect gift.
2. Configure your photo book settings
Each of your photo projects can be configured with different settings to add personalized touches:
Project Names: A 10-character project name is the best way to describe your photo project, so you can easily identify your book by its unique name. You can create as many photo projects as you want, each with a different name.
Page Numbers: If the Print Page Number option is selected, the page numbers will be printed at the bottom outside of each page in black ink only. Page numbers are not printed on each page by default. However, this option can be added any time before you place the order.
Page Footer: A personalized page footer will tell your readers what this photo book is about. You can easily create this unique text line by entering the footer information from the book settings screen. Page footer is printed on the bottom outside of each page, just next to the page number.
One/Two Side Printing: Your photo book can be printed either on the right side only or both sides.
Default Font: A default font type and font size can be selected for each project. Your text entry will become a lot easier and quicker with this feature.
3. Navigate your photos
The left side of the interface is the hard drive folder viewer and file viewer.
The top panel is the folder viewer to navigate through your hard drive to locate your photo folder. This option saves you a lot of time to "Get Photos" before you edit your page. Most of the other book design software requires you to import your favorite photos into the program before you can even start editing your photo pages.
The bottom panel is the preview/thumbnail view for each photo in this photo folder. Scroll through the folder to drag and drop your desired photo into the work space.
1. How to select template
Layout templates can be accessed from the first of the bottom functional tabs. The templates are displayed in thumbnail format. To add the template to your page, you can simply drag and drop the desired template into the work space. For each project type, the page templates are categorized by the number of photos on each page:
1). 1 - 2 Photos: The layout templates for a page with 1 or 2 photos.
2). 3 - 5 Photos: The layout templates for a page with 3 - 5 photos.
3). 6 more photos: The layout templates for a page with 6 or more photos.
The templates are used to help you build up your page; however, you are not limited to the template at all. Family Memories software gives you the full flexibility to be creative: you can add any number of photos or text boxes to the page, and you can even drag and move them around.
2. How to add backgrounds to your photo book
Family Memories software provides hundreds of background designs to decorate your photo page. The backgrounds can be mixed and matched in any way you prefer. The design potential is unlimited. You can even add your own photo or illustration onto the page as your customized background.
The background designs are shown at the second tab of the bottom functional tabs. The thumbnail preview of the background helps you quickly identify the right background for your page.
The background designs are classified into different themes, such as baby, wedding, birthday, family, etc.
3. How to add design elements
The design elements can be dragged and dropped anywhere on your photo page as embellishments. This feature just adds another unique personal touch to your design. The elements include butterfly, bee, duck, rose, bow, balloons, etc.
The elements are previewed at one of the functional tabs at the bottom. The thumbnail view makes your search easy and fun.
1. How to add photos to your page
On the left side of the program interface, you can navigate through the hard drive to access your photo folder. The photo file thumbnails will be displayed at the bottom left side of the screen. You can directly drag and drop those photos into the page work space.
2. How to crop the photo
Right click on the photo, then left click on the Edit Photo to access the Edit Photo screen. The cropping function is located at the upper left side. Click the Add Rectangle Selection check box; a red cropping frame will appear on the photo preview window. Move or resize the frame to your desired cropping location and size, then click on the Apply Cropping. If you are satisfied with the cropped preview photo, click Save & Exit to close the window or Exit Without Change to keep the old photo.
3. How to add photo borders
On the Edit Photo window, the border size can be adjusted through the border size sliding bar. Select different colors for your photo border to make a stylish page.
4. How to adjust the photo
On the photo edit screen, you can enhance your photo by adjusting the brightness and contrast parameters. Please be aware of the light coming through the monitor; all photos will look brighter on the monitor than on paper. If your photo looks darker on the computer screen, do not be surprised to see an even darker one in your book. Photos that are brighter and have more contrast will look more vibrant and attractive.
A photo with very dull colors is considered to have low saturation. The more blacks and grays that appear in the photo, the less saturated it is. Color saturation has to do with the vibrancy and purity of colors. This is affected through light and color. However, it can be adjusted through the saturation meter in Family Memories software.
The output brightness of a photo is not normally linear. For example when displaying a grey square, with a color half way between white and black, the result will not be half as bright as a full white. This effect doesn't just apply to the brightness of greys, but also the shade of most colors, and so can completely change the viewed image. Gamma correction is used for this purpose to correct for this non-linearity, resulting in a correctly displayed image.
No matter which adjustment meter was changed, do not forget to click the Apply Adjustment button.
5. How to add/remove photo frame
Select one photo, click Frames from the bottom Design Tool Tab, drag the desired frame to your photo, and the frame will be added to this specific photo. The photo frame can also be removed by right-clicking the photo, then left click the Remove Frame option. When adding a frame to a rotated photo, the photo will return to the original position before the frame can be added. Once the frame is added to the photo, the entire photo can then be rotated again.
6. How to apply special effects to your photo
Click the Negative, Grayscale or Sepia button to make your photo unique with these special effects. Click Undo to discard the change and click Apply Effects to confirm the change.
1. How to add new text
From the quick access toolbar, click Add Text icon to open the text editing screen:
Select different fonts residing on your computer, pick the desired font size and font color. You also have the option to select bold or italic font, even the text alignment setting on the same screen. The text can be previewed in the bottom window with your selected text box property settings.
Family Memories software supports multi-line text input method, you can easily type your multiple paragraphs in one text box.
2. How to edit existing text
Right click any text box, then left click Edit Image/Text option to open the text editing screen again.
You can change all text box property settings from this screen.
1. How to rotate an object
Any object, including photo, text box or elements can easily be rotated in the workspace.
Click the Rotate icon on the quick access toolbar or right click any object to activate the rotate function.
Once the function is selected, four yellow circles will appear around the four corners of the object. Highlight any of these four circles to drag and rotate this object to any angle.
2. How to flip an object
Right click any object. The right-click pop up menu should have the Flip Horizontally or Flip Vertically options. Select either one to flip the object the way you want.
1. Preview the pages
Even though the pages can be viewed in thumbnail format under My Book tab, the Preview Book feature helps view the entire photo book in the spread-view format. The Preview Book window can be accessed from the top Book menu. On this window, you can click through all the pages in the 2-page spread format.
On the Preview Book window, the book title is displayed at the top of the screen, the page numbers are shown at the outside bottom of the pages.
2. Rearrange Pages
The page sequence can be easily reorganized from the Rearrange Pages window. This feature can be accessed from the top Book Menu.
The thumbnail view of each page is displayed in order, select any page, click Up and Down button to move the page around the book. Do not forget to click Save Changes once the pages are re-organized to the sequence you want.
3. How to publish the book to FamilyMemories?
Click Publish Book from the top Book Menu, then click Start to initialize the book publishing process.
Once the book is created, you will be asked to select if you want to upload the book to the Family Memories site. If you have proofed the book and are ready to send to Family Memories, enter your email address and password to start the file transfer. A message indicating the successful transfer will then be shown on your screen to notify you that you can now log into your account and select the book to place the order.
1. Production
All our photo books are printed, finished and shipped from Family Memories that is located in Collierville, TN.
2. Turnaround Time
Our regular turnaround time for the photo books is from 7 to 10 days, however, most of our orders are shipped faster than 7 days.
