Book Maker layouts

[abeth429]

i am creating a deluxe hardcover book and have heard from some people not to put pictures too close to the binding because the picture will be cut off.
i am using bookmaker not photoshop to create my pages and i have noticed a few layouts they offer in bokmaker seem to put pictures pretty close to the center. should i be worried about having my pictures cut off?

[mypublisher]

Just on the full bleed pages, do not put anything too important close to the binding side...

[erewin]

sorry for the beginners question: what does full bleed mean? photos in the book were devastatingly attractive.

[mypublisher]

Full bleed means that the entire page has the photo and it goes to the very edge of the page (no white space, text...etc). The entire page is the photo.

[smuddlepuddle]

hi, can i just clarify this a bit...

i see what you mean concerning a single big picture at full bleed losing a not insignificant amount at the binding side, but would this also apply to a couple of the multi photo templates as well? for instance, using the bookmaker 4-photo templates, i have some pages divided into 4 equally sized landscapes, with the outer 2 sides of each photo right against the page edges (the only background showing through being the thin white cross dividing the photos from each other.) Will the binding eat into as much of the central 2 photos as it does on the single photo full bleeds?

[Cruiser]

In my experience with four pictures to a page...the binding cuts off the binding side of the picture slightly. There is no margin on the binding side of your pictures even if you use the four picture mold and in the preview it appears that there is one. You probably will lose 1/8" of your binding side picture even using a mold. I just looked at one of my books and this happened to my 9 pictures to the page books also. I would say any of the pages with pictures next to the binding side, allow at least 1/8" of your picture to be cut off in the binding. In a full bleed, allow much more. I allow 1/2" on the binding side and at least 1/8" to 1/2" on the other three sides. Just don't put pictures that can't be cut off on the binding side.

An example I will give you. My very first book was a 49 page book of our trip to the Antarctic in 2007. I had two beautiful pictures of rainbows over Cape Horn. Not knowing better, I placed the pictures where the Cape Horn portion was next to the binding. It looked fine in the preview. When I received the books (I ordered 2), the Cape was completely cut off in the binding. I had a beautiful rainbow without the Cape.

[smuddlepuddle]

thanks ever so much for the quick reply cruiser.

i totally understand if you don't want others viewing your book but it would be nice to see the pictures you're talking about to get a better understanding of the relative cropping if it's on the mypublisher site. no need to reply if not.

[Cruiser]

Several of my books are posted in the Travel Section. I haven't posted all of them there to give others a chance to show theirs. Here is our South Pacific 2005 book. You can see how the pages with 4 pictures are cut off at the binding. That is how they look when you get the final book.

This book was first printed in a Classic size and all I did was change the size to Deluxe and printed it again. No changes to picture sizes or anything like that and both sizes printed beautifully. Enjoy...

http://www.mypublisher.com/bookstore/book_viewer.py?order_id=M430427&sp=x

[roysterfamily]

Hello. I'm very, very new...complete "virgin" to the whole mp book making but I've been reading a lot of the forum stuff to try to get familarized because I'm getting ready to make a book as a graduation/bon voyage gift to my son who's graduating from high school in a couple of weeks...and I read everyone complimenting other's books and I finally got a chance to view yours of the many pacific islands and it was "BEAUTIFUL"! It hit so close to home since I was born and raised on the island of Guam. All the pictures of the islands, the waters, coconut trees, the natural habitat and the island people made me really miss home....I thank you for posting this book and I am complimenting you on a job well done. I am happy you got to enjoy a great experience..Your book has inspired me to get started and have fun with it and make mine a great success! Thank You for sharing!

Sincerely, E. Royster

[Cruiser]

Thank you for your kind comments. We had a wonderful voyage from Tahiti to Fiji stopping at all the small islands listed in the book. The people on the islands greeted us as if we were family. I would love to take the journey again.

These pictures were taken with a couple of low resolution cameras. I believe they were 2.5 megapixels and this worked out to be one of our best printed books. I made it in a Classic and then had it reprinted as a Deluxe. I only print Deluxe now. I did very little post-processing. The full bleed pictures with text were done in Photoshop.

Good luck with your first book.