Earlier we introduced some typical techniques for processing baby photos in Photoshop, including basic image processing and the creation of some special effects. This time we will introduce to you how to design and make a photo album for your baby! We sort out the baby photos we made by ourselves and make them into a beautiful growth photo album. I believe this is also the best gift for parents to give to their babies!
When it comes to DIY photo albums, naturally you cannot just develop the photos and stuff them into a simple plastic photo album, otherwise it would be too "irresponsible", haha. Therefore, we need to further design the photos to create an integrated album rich in themes! Unlike other photo albums, children's themed photo albums use more cross-page design techniques to highlight the innocence and cuteness of the baby. At the same time, each cross-page photo can become a small theme page to record the baby's growth, thus ultimately forming a baby's growth photo album. So today, we will focus on introducing the design skills of cross-page photos in photo album design.
Photo album DIY basic knowledge preparation
A Cross-page knowledge learning
A double-page spread is a printing term, which means two pages are printed together. The production method is to put the two pages together, then press them (or fold them) and paste them into the photo album. The advantage of the cross-page design is that it is easy to make, has good effects, and is beautiful! After using the cross-page method, the size will double (a cross-page of A4 is A3, and a cross-page of A5 is A4). For example, when opening a photo album using the cross-page method, , the left and right pages will be displayed in the form of one screen, so the visual impact is strong and the display effect is better.
B Commonly used photo size reference table
(300 pixels/inch)
Warm reminder: The actual size of your photo album should be used as the basis for specific design. Even the same type of photo album will have slightly different sizes due to different manufacturers. If you let the printing shop directly make an integrated PVC book, they will usually help you adjust these errors.
C Commonly used photo sizes and actual design size table
Set center line for selected photo
Here, we use a 7-inch double-page photo as an example to explain. Create a new blank document with a height of 18cm, a width of 26cm, and a resolution of 300 pixels/inch.
Setting the reference line can be achieved through the auxiliary line that comes with PS. Press the "Ctrl+R" keys on the keyboard to quickly bring up the ruler, click the vertical ruler on the left to the middle of the PS document, which is 13cm, and release it, thus setting the center line of the PS document (as shown in Figure 1) .
Tips: Press and hold the "Shift" key on the keyboard while clicking the ruler, and the auxiliary line will automatically capture the integer position of the ruler. By default, the upper left corner of the document will be automatically aligned with the vertical and horizontal "0" scale positions of the ruler.
Warm reminder: In the design of cross-page photos, there needs to be a clear reference line, that is, the center line of the PS document, which is also the fold line of the cross-page photo. The function of the center line is to prevent the baby's photo from appearing on the fold line of the double-page document, thereby causing creases and affecting the effect. In addition, naming documents is a good and very necessary habit, which will facilitate future modifications, especially when we make photo albums with many photos. The document names should have a certain pattern as much as possible, such as "Page 1", "Page 2", "Page 3", etc.
Seamless synthesis of requested masks
Next, copy the selected photos into the document. After copying, press the "Ctrl+T" shortcut key on the keyboard to adjust the photo to the appropriate size, and pay attention to the positional relationship and contrast relationship between the two photos (as shown in Figure 2). After you have the preliminary effect, press the "Ctrl+Enter" key on the keyboard or the "Enter" key on the small keyboard to complete the size adjustment.
After the basic adjustments are completed, create a mask for the second photo, select the brush tool in the toolbox, and set the brush color to black, then set a slightly larger soft-angle brush in the options bar to apply on the mask ( As shown in Figure 3).
Tips: In order to achieve a better transition effect and create an overall sense of cross-page, we can adjust the transparency of the brush to "80%" or other values. After multiple adjustments, a natural transition effect will be formed between the two photos. In addition, the edge of the soft-angled brush itself has a transparent transition effect. The transparency of the brush can be set later in conjunction with the size of the brush. In short, in order to achieve better effects, we need to constantly try different combinations.
Add text for the finishing touch
Select the text tool, enter text in the document, and adjust the font color and text size. Open the style panel again and add some special styles to the font. Under normal circumstances, you can get good results by customizing fonts and PS's own styles (as shown in Figure 4).
Tips: Custom fonts can be searched and downloaded online. Most websites provide a real-time preview function, and we can choose the one we like to download. After downloading, copy all the custom fonts to the "C:WINDOWSFonts" directory to install the fonts. After the installation is complete, restart PS and PS will automatically call these fonts.
Warm reminder: A photo album must have some text as a record of the photos, annotations or blessings for the baby. In a sense, text is often the finishing touch of the photo album. However, it should be noted that although it is the finishing touch, it should not be overwhelming. Too much or too large text will affect the overall effect of the photo. In addition, the color of the text should also try to ensure that it does not affect the overall effect of the photo. Colors that are too bright (such as red) or colors that contrast too strongly with the photo will make the overall picture look uncoordinated.
Pay attention to details and complete the book
As long as we master the basic production methods and issues that need attention, we can create a variety of different styles of cross-page photos! The cross-page photos in the above example use symmetrical mode, and we can also use primary and secondary modes (such as As shown in Figure 5), one photo is used as the main element, other photos are used as embellishments, and text descriptions are provided to make the overall effect of the photo more gorgeous!
Warm reminder: As far as the overall design style of the cross-page photos is concerned, the design of children's photos should try to use sunny photos to reflect the lively side of the child. Baby care should use warm colors as much as possible to highlight the warmth and cuteness of the baby. At the same time, try to control the main colors in the picture to less than 3, or the same color or complementary colors. Avoid too many colors, otherwise it will affect the unity of the entire picture, making it look messy and unfocused. In addition, special attention should be paid to the uniformity of photo styles across pages, and two or more pictures within a spread should not have completely different styles. In addition, we also recommend that after you complete the production, you can save it as a PSD document for future modification or use as a template.