Designing in SmartAlbums

 

SmartAlbums is an alternative design tool you can use to create and export Momento Pro photo book and album files that are ready to print. The files fit neatly into our workflow so that after uploading your project is immediately available to order online. SmartAlbums is popular with wedding and portrait photographers, as they also make use of Pixellu's complementary proofing, presentation and gallery tools. 

 

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SmartAlbums essential information

 

How to use SmartAlbums

SmartAlbums is an intuitive and efficient program that's easy to master. These short videos will get you on your way with confidence, and for guidance from our customers expert in SmartAlbums design and a seamless albums design workflow, visit our business resource page.

 



SmartAlbums software overview

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Design + proof in SmartAlbums

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SmartAlbums x Momento Pro workflow

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Starting your project

 

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New Project

  • Run SmartAlbums and click the New button
  • Set Album Company to Momento Pro (AU & NZ)
  • Select the Format (shape) of your album or book.
  • Set your preferred Size:
    • Albums are specified in inches
    • Photo Books are specified in millimetres
  • Select your preferred Album Type and Subtype
  • Write down the settings before proceeding as they are needed when uploading the finished file
View our products available in SmartAlbums

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Template Library

 
  • Settings on the Templates page are entirely up to you
 

Important notes:

 
  • Make sure you set the Colour Profile to Adobe RGB in the Inspector panel on the right. Failure to do so may result in inaccurate colours in your printed products..
  • With MomentoPro you can order smaller sizes from any upload. For example, if you upload a 12x12" album can order it as a 10x10", 8x8" or 6x6" album
  • When designing a Flush Mount Album you will start and end on a double page spread
  • When designing a Photo Book, you will start with a single page at the front so you remember to convert your last page to a single side. Right-click on the last page, select Convert to single page/side. Failure to do so will result in the last (left) page of your book being blank.
       
 
  • Before exporting a Section-sewn Photo Book ensure that the number of pages is a multiple of 8. Page count is displayed in brackets in the Spread Grid view in the right panel.
       
 



Export to PDF


When you've completed your page layouts, proceed to the Export window, observing and correcting any warnings.
 

Export Settings

 
  • It is essential you use these exact settings
  • Failure to do so will result in incorrect colour and pagination
  • The Inside bleed fill setting is only available in earlier versions of SmartAlbums. If present, ensure it is selected.

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Quality Settings


Before you proceed to export, click the Change Quality button and ensure the JPEG output quality is at least 95%.

Using 100% will not result in better print quality, but it will make the upload much larger and slower.

You have the option to sharpen images for print but we recommend the default setting of Medium.  You may want to reduce this if you have previously sharpened your images in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.

 

 

 

Designing covers


We don't support the SmartAlbums cover design feature (yet), so if you plan to order a Printed Cover or Dust Jacket (for Photo Books only) or a Prestige Mount (for Photo Books and Flush Mount Albums) you'll need to create your cover design in other software. You can use our Photoshop cover templates. Because the spine dimensions of your cover will depend on the size and thickness of your completed book, you should design your cover only when your book is complete.
 

Note: If you supply a separate cover file DO NOT PLACE YOUR ORDER until we have attached the cover design to your page design and emailed you a notification that the cover is uploaded and your project is ready to order. This usually takes 1-2 business days.
 

 

Uploading + ordering SmartAlbums PDFs

 

1. Sign in and Upload your Album or Book pages PDF.  Your file will automatically be recognised as a SmartAlbums PDF.

2. Complete the online Questionnaire:
Note: It is crucial you select the Album Type and Subtype as you set in SmartAlbums Settings when starting your project. Incorrect selections will result in errors in the manufacture of your product and Momento Pro will not be liable for any expenses required to fix or replace your product.

3. Your Album or Book pages file will appear in your Projects list.
Note:  thumbnails will not appear immediately in the Project list but you are able to proceed and place your order.

4a. If your project does not require a Printed Cover or Prestige Mount Plate you can proceed to place your order.

4b. If you require a Printed Cover or Prestige Mount Plate we need to manually add your Cover design to your Album or Book page file.
  • Click the Upload  button and upload the Cover file
  • Complete the online Questionnaire
  • Wait until you are contacted by our Customer Service team before ordering


 

Momento Pro products in SmartAlbums


These are the products you can design in SmartAlbums and upload directly to MomentoPro.
 

Flush Mount Album - Epson Inkjet printed
 
Format                     Sizes (Inches)                                          Album subtypes  
Square 12x12, 10x10, 8x8, 6x6 Thin cotton rag (0.6mm), seamless lay-flat (up to 50 spreads)  
Square 12x12, 10x10, 8x8, 6x6 Thick cotton rag (1.1mm), seamless lay-flat (up to 35 spreads)  
Portrait 11x15, 10x13.5, 8x11, 6x8 Thin cotton rag (0.6mm), seamless lay-flat (up to 50 spreads)  
Portrait 11x15, 10x13.5, 8x11, 6x8 Thick cotton rag (1.1mm), seamless lay-flat (up to 35 spreads)  
  6" sizes available by uploading 8"    
 

Photo Books - Epson Inkjet printed
 
Format                      Sizes (mm)                Album subtypes  
Square 390x390, 297x297, 210x210, 148x148 Cotton Rag, lay-flat section sewn                                                          
Landscape 550x390 Cotton Rag, side sewn with gutter  
Landscape 420x297, 297x210, 210x148 Cotton Rag, lay-flat section sewn  
Portrait 390x550 Cotton Rag, side sewn with gutter  
Portrait 297x420, 210x297, 148x210 Cotton Rag, lay-flat section sewn  
 

Photo Books - Indigo Press printed
 
Format                      Sizes (mm)              Album subtypes
Square 210x210, 148x148 Select stocks, lay-flat section sewn
Square 297x297, 210x210, 148x148 All stocks, side sewn with gutter                                                         
Square 297x297, 210x210 Lay-flat hinged paper
Landscape 210x148 Select stocks, lay-flat section sewn
Landscape 420x297, 297x210, 210x148 All stocks, side sewn with gutter
Landscape 297x210 Lay-flat hinged paper
Portrait 210x297, 148x210 Select stocks, lay-flat section sewn
Portrait 297x420, 210x297, 148x210 All stocks, side sewn with gutter
Portrait 297x420, 210x297 Lay-flat hinged paper