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~ A great place to order digital photo gifts ~
After ordering a digital photo book from Artscow and being totally thrilled with the quality and price, I've decide to make this page to give you some important info that will help you make the best digital photo book ever.
This is the first digital photo book I ordered from Artscow. It is a 12x12 inch (3600x3600 pixel) hard cover book with 30 pages. They have better prices then anywhere I've seen and they have tons of promotions all the time. I ordered it when they had free shipping. They are in Hong Kong but ship all over the world~! I am in Canada and was a little hesitant at first ... but not any more~!
First I will show you some previews of the front and back cover and a few pages ...
I chose to create the cover in chocolate and white. It turned out fabulous~!
I made everything on my computer including all of the page layouts and uploaded them to artscow.
The colours are rich and vibrant~!
And below is the back cover
You also have the choice of creating the book right at the Artscow website using their templates.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MAKING A GREAT DIGITAL PHOTO BOOK
This part is really important ... Luckily I read alot in Artscow forum before I ordered and it saved me from being disappointed with cut off important parts.
Here is the chart that Artscow recommends for the page, cover size etc. (in pixels)
Back Cover : 3702 Height x 4116 Width or Higher
Front Cover : 3702 Height x 4116 Width or Higher
Page : 3600 Height x 3600 Width or Higher
Spine : 432 Wide x 4116 Height or Higher
I totally agree but I have a tip for you. After reading through the forums and tips before I ordered there is what Artscow calls a 'bleed area'. (No, it's not running ink ..lol) This is a part of your outer page that will be cut off in printing. So this is what I did ...
For the cover I made it exactly the recommendations. (3702 height by 4116 width). When I was totally done the front cover I added 280 pixels around the top, bottom and left side. Like the pic below.
I wasn't sure if any of that part was going to print .. (which it didn't) but just in case I textured it and made it 'match' the rest of the cover.
I then did the exact same thing for the back cover ... added 280 pixels around the top, bottom and left side.
I did make a spine but since the book wasn't too thick, It didn't show the whole actual pic I used ... but it did at least match. (The text on the spine is done at the Artscow site when you put together your book there and is always centered on the spine)
Ok ...now as far as the pages go ... I did them 3600x3600 and moved everything in a bit so nothing important is cut off ... it worked out as far as my word art and things I moved in a bit. But I did have some of my elements cut off which really still looked fine. But I think the next time I am going to finish my 3600x3600 page and then add a border of 150 pixels around all 4 sides for the bleed area. (coordinating in case any shows but I don't think it will) The bleed area for the pages is smaller then for the covers. When you preview what your book would look like you will see what I mean. You can edit as many times as you want, keep previewing until you get it right and then order the book. Or just save it at Artscow for future buying.
When previewing your book at Artscow ... look at the bleed area (they show it as a shaded part around the edge of your page ... just remember this part will be cut off in printing ...
Oh, another quick tip.
If you are under Your account, on the left is a link for 'Print options'. This is where you pick matte or glossy if you are ordering prints. Also 'uncheck' Image Enhancement if you make your own pages in Paint Shop or Photo Shop ... you don't need the enhancement option.
Note: They package the books really great for shipping. The books are embedded in a thick styrofoam layer and then boxed.
Artscow is not just for photo books. They have a huge variety of things you can personalize with photos.
Membership is free.
GO TO ARTSCOW HERE!
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