Designing Photo Books in Adobe Photoshop


You can create your photo book page and cover designs in Photoshop using the templates provided below then save the completed layouts as JPEGs or TIFFs for import into the Momento Pro software in one easy action.

Photoshop templates are not available for Flush Mount Albums.
Download the Momento Pro Photoshop Photo Book Page and Cover Templates


Read these instructions carefully and refer to the Colour Management page before starting your layouts. We recommend that you print this page for reference.

 

Designing your pages


Important notes:

 
1. Decide whether you would like to design single pages or double-page spreads.

2. Run Photoshop and open the downloaded Momento Pro template file for the desired shape and size

3. Ensure the guides are visible - Cmd+H / Ctrl+H to show & hide

4. There are different coloured guides to assist you when designing so ensure to design according to these and keep ALL important content within these areas

5. If using the double-page templates, your page design will start from page 2 (the first left-side page)

6. We recommend always using images with an embedded colour space of Adobe RGB as all projects will be exported and sent to print using Adobe RGB

7. When you have completed your page designs, delete the Instructions layer from the document

8. Save each page as High Quality JPEGs or TIFFs into a single designated folder on your computer and that the files are named incrementally

9. Check your JPEG/TIFF files to ensure there are no errors and make sure that the colours appear correct. If an image's colour doesn't look correct, then open this image by itself in Photoshop and check what the colour space for that image is – if there is no profile attached, then you will almost certainly see colour problems until you resave the image with a profile (AdobeRGB).

 

You are now ready to Import your page designs into the Momento Pro Software


 

Designing your covers


Because the spine dimensions of your cover will depend on the size and thickness of your completed book, we recommend that you design your book and box covers in the Momento Pro software. You can either design the cover from scratch or drag in completed designs from Photoshop.
 

If the Momento Pro software doesn't have the features you require for your cover design, you can design a PDF in Photoshop using the downloaded templates. A book that needs a cover attached must not be ordered until you have been notified that this task has been completed. This usually takes 1-3 business days and file preparation fees apply if submitting a PDF cover.
 

The Cover templates have been setup so you can design your cover as a Dust-jacket, a Printed Hardcover or a Printed Presentation box.

1. Open the Cover template file of the desired shape and size to match your page designs

2. Ensure the guides are visible - Cmd+H / Ctrl+H to show & hide

3. Use the Spine width grid below, or on the cover template, to find the correct spine width for your project, dependant on paper stock.

4. Now, set the 4 guides (across the top of the document) to indicate the cover folds to match the calculated spine width.
5. There are a number of coloured guides to assist you when creating page designs:
6. Always use images with the embedded colour space Adobe RGB. You can use our ICC profiles to soft proof your images in the stock you are going to be selecting upon ordering

7. Images must be flattened. No image transparency or effects should be included in your PDF

8. Any fonts must be embedded in the PDF

9. Save your file as a High Quality PDF. Images and the final PDF must be saved as Adobe RGB. Do not use CMYK

 

Check your export:  Check for any errors as well as any potential colour issues. When viewing the exported file in Acrobat (Pro or Reader), the colours should look ‘correct’ (though can sometimes appear slightly desaturated with Adobe’s default settings). If an image's colour doesn't look correct, then open this image by itself in Photoshop and check what the colour space for that image is – if there is no profile attached, then you will almost certainly see colour problems until you resave the image with a profile (AdobeRGB)


 

Uploading and Ordering

 

1. Sign in to Momento Pro and ‘Upload’ your PDF cover to our website. Note: The Master File (MBF) book file needs to be uploaded before you upload the PDF cover

2. Complete the online Questionnaire. This must be completed before Prepress can commence work on your file

3. Wait until you are contacted by Momento Pro Customer Service before ordering