Photobook
Ordering photobook
Selecting or opening photobook
After choosing a product group on the homepage, an overview of the photobook on offer will be displayed. Click on the 'Order' button corresponding to the photobook you wish to order. You may later add further photobook to your order. If you have already created and saved a photobooks in the past, you can load it now and continue editing or ordering. To do so, in the photobooks selection, click 'Open photobooks'.
Photobook tour and photobook details
On the 'Photobook' product group overview page you'll find the following options:
Open photobooks: Click the 'Open photobooks' button to open a photobooks that has already been created and saved. Click the link www.provider.de to easily download photobooks layout templates.
More photobooks: Here you'll find a complete overview of all photobooks on offer including all information about the different bindings.
Photobook Tour: Click the Open tour button to display a brief introduction on photobook creation.
Creating a Photobook: Click the Download documentation button to open the photoservice homepage where you can download a detailed manual containing helpful hints about creating a photobook.
Creating a photobook
After selecting an album the Photobook Editor will appear where you can create your photobook. Here you can select page templates, add pictures and backgrounds and much more. But prior to it, the Photobook Wizard appears, assisting you in a step-by step setup.
Please note that the price of any photobook depends on the number of pages you select.
Photobook Wizard
The Photobook Wizard helps you add pre-selected pictures and templates to your photobook. You can also skip the Wizard and directly go to Photobook Editor. To do so, click 'Cancel' whenever the Wizard appears. It is also possible to disable the Wizard completely by either clicking on 'Do not show Photobook Wizard again' as soon it appears or by disabling the Wizard under Options | General. The next time you open a photobook, you will go directly to Editor.
However, an essential advantage of the Wizard is that it allows you to add the contents of an entire folder to a photobook.
Note: Any settings made in Photobook Wizard can be changed at any time in Photobook Editor. The Photobook Wizard consists of several steps:
1. Add and arrange pictures in photobook
Select pictures
Click a folder containing pictures. The 'Grouping' function allows you to sort and display pictures by different criteria.
The zoom slider beneath the folders lets you enlarge or reduce the picture view on the right by dragging it to the left or right.
To add the entire folder contents to your photobook, click on the 'Add photos' button. You do not have to have selected any picture first. Under 'Photo Manager' - 'Manage pictures' you'll find more options such as selecting individual pictures etc.
Click the 'Delete pictures' button to reset the selection.
To obtain an overview about the remaining number of free pages, below the folder selection there is a bar indicating the page-fill status (number of pages) as well as the current price for the photobook.
Selected photos
The 'Selected photos' tab shows all selected pictures, independently of their storage folder. This gives you a good overview of the selection, which you can still revise by clicking 'Delete pictures'.
Page layout
On the 'Page layout' tab you can set how your picture selection should be arranged in the photobook. You can have the pictures arranged automatically or by using templates.
When using automatic layout, the inner pages will be arranged automatically and for each page individually. This will give a more varied look to the photobook.
If you prefer to use templates, however, the inner pages will be laid out according to the selected template. This will give a more consistent look to the photobook. Below the templates you can specify the order in which the pictures will be added to the photobook. Pictures are always added by folders, either by date (if no EXIF date is available, the date of the file will be used) where the older pictures will appear first, or by file name (alphabetically).
Selecting backgrounds
On the 'Background' tab you can choose a background for your photobook which will appear on each page of the album.
2. Specifying the cover title text and the cover image
Once you have selected a picture, click 'Next' to continue. The next step allows you to insert a picture for the cover page and to specify a title text. Click a picture from the picture folder to add it to the photobook cover page. Enter a title text, if desired.
However, you may also skip the title text.
Once you are done creating a cover page, exit the Wizard by clicking 'Close'. The Wizard will apply your picture selections and arrange them in Photobook Editor according to your specifications.
3. Fill book to an optimum
When using the option ‘page layout’ the photobook assistant will try to fill the pages at your disposition to an optimum so as to avoid empty pages in your finished photobook.
SmartPage Preview
In a preview this function shows you all different possibilities of how to position your images on one page. The SmartPage assembles your pictures in different constellations and indicates several suggestions in a preview.
You can use this function by inserting pictures from the thumbnail view into the photobook using drag&drop.
However, please note that you cannot let go of the mouse button on the selected page during the drag&drop process, but press onto the arrow keys cursor up or cursor down on your keyboard in order to switch between the different page layout suggestions. Alternatively you can use the space key to switch between suggestions. When you have found a convenient picture arrangement you can let go of the mouse button. The page will have adopted your desired suggestion and arranged your pictures accordingly.
If you wish to see the other SmartPage suggestions again after having inserted the pictures via drag&drop or if you are unhappy with your page layout and wish to change it, simply click on the tab folder ‘templates’ and use the built-in SmartPage function there. To do so click on the filter category ‘SmartPage’ in the folder ‘templates’ and apply any other of the suggestions shown in the preview by double-clicking onto the desired template.
Photobook Editor
Photobook Editor is where you can customise your photobook. A detailed PDF manual can be downloaded at www.provider.de.
Photobook Editor is divided into different sections. On the left you'll find the design tools allowing you to customise your photobook.
The zoom slider lets you enlarge or reduce the pictures view by dragging it to the left or right. Under 'Grouping' you can sort the pictures by different criteria for a better overview. In particular, the following design elements are available:
Picture selection
To place a picture on a page you can insert a corresponding picture field. To do so, click on the 'Layouts' tab to choose a template (for more information, see Customise picture fields) and add it to the page by double-clicking or dragging it with the mouse. then click the 'Photos' tab. Select a folder containing pictures. To add a picture into a picture field, double-click on the desired picture or use drag and drop by clicking on a template and dragging the mouse onto the target field. You may also add pictures onto a page without using any picture fields. For more information, see 'Automatic layout'.
Highlighting several pictures at once to add.
Highlight multiple pictures by keeping the [CTRL] key pressed and clicking with the mouse at the same time. Or click next to the corner of a picture on the free space and drag the mouse diagonally over the desired pictures. You can add the highlighted pictures to the page by clicking the 'Add photos' button located under the picture folder.
Automatic layout
Automatic layout is a mechanism that determines an optimum arrangement based on the number of pictures per page as well as their aspect ratio. Automatic layout can be enabled or disabled for each page with a button located on the right control bar. If enabled, Editor will arrange the selected pictures automatically. After enabling the feature, select the desired pictures from the left by highlighting them as explained above. Now you can click on the 'Add photos' button or drag the pictures onto the desired page in order to have them arranged automatically.
Automatic layout will be disabled automatically if you move a picture on a page or when adding a text field. When Automatic layout is disabled you can customise the photobook page.
You can configure pictures and text by adding picture and text fields on your photobook pages. As a general rule: Empty spaces won't be printed. When leaving a picture or text field empty, this area won't be printed (nor the frame of the field nor the blue or.green field background, neither the hint texts 'Your photo' or 'Your text'). To obtain a preview on how the print will look, click on Preview below of the photobook.
Customising picture fields
A picture must always be placed into a picture field. You can customise a picture field to your layout ideas as follows:
Templates with picture fields
Click on the 'Layouts' tab on the left to choose a template containing picture fields and add it to the page by double-clicking or dragging it with the mouse.
You can also use the buttons below the selection. The buttons 'Insert left' and 'Insert right' will place the template onto the left page or right page. The button 'On both pages' allows you to insert the template onto both pages simultaneously.
You can limit the number of templates by using the 'Filter' pulldown menu and selecting a number of pictures per page. Only templates containing the desired number of pictures will be shown.
Size / position / rotation of picture fields
When selecting a picture field by clicking on it, blue points and a frame will appear around it. When moving the mouse over the blue points, the pointer will change accordingly. Click one of these points and drag the mouse to adjust the size and orientation of the picture field. Alternatively you can use the buttons on the right under the 'Borders' tab to move picture fields to the desired position. To do so, click on the picture field and use the corresponding arrow in order to move it into the desired direction and to resize it. The buttons can also be used to resize the picture field. Click on the picture and then on the + or button to enlarge or reduce the picture field.
Text fields can be moved and resized like picture fields. Please note that picture fields are always located one layer below text fields.
Size / position of pictures in picture fields
You can edit your pictures contained in picture fields by using the buttons on the right of the 'Photo' tab. First, select the desired picture by clicking on it and then click onto the arrow buttons on the right to change its position or on the + and - buttons to resize it.
Automatic picture field resizing
You can have the picture field dimensions match those of a picture contained in it by right-clicking on the picture and selecting the 'Adjust size' command from the context menu.
Swapping pictures between picture fields
You can drag a picture on a different picture field that already contains a picture. This will exchange the position of both pictures. Move the mouse over the picture you want to swap, press and hold the [(Shift)] key and drag the mouse to the desired target picture field, then release the mouse button.
Moving pictures to a different page
Scroll through the thumbnail page view on the upper right so that the target page becomes visible. Move the mouse over a picture, press and hold the [ (Shift)] key and drag the mouse to the desired target page in the album thumbnail view, then release the mouse button.
Please note: When dragging a picture onto a page that already contains several pictures a popup window appears prompting you how you want to arrange the pictures on the new page.
Sorting picture fields
Different templates contain overlapping picture fields. You can decide which picture should be placed above another by highlighting a picture by clicking on it, then right-clicking on the picture and selecting 'To the front', 'To the back', 'One layer up' or ' One layer down' from the context menu. Picture fields will always be located behind text fields.
Image-editing
Highlight a picture contained in a picture field by clicking on it. Then double-click on the picture or click on 'Edit' next to it to open the Image-editing. Also read the chapter Image-editing.
Picture qualityt
the lower the picture resolution, the worse the printing result will be. If the picture quality isn't optimum a warning triangle will be displayed in the lower-right corner. Also read the chapter Picture quality.
Removing pictures
To remove a picture, highlight a picture field by clicking on it, right-click on the picture and select the command 'Edit |Delete contents' from the context menu. This will remove the picture from the page but will not delete it physically from your computer. Alternatively, you can press the key [Del] on your keyboard. The picture field will be preserved.
Removing picture fields
To remove a picture field mark it by clicking on it and then right-click on 'Delete'. Alternatively you can right-click on the picture field you want to delete and then choose the 'Delete' command from the context menu.
Customising text fields
A text must always be placed into a text field. You can customise text fields to your layout ideas as follows:
Templates with text fields
Click on the 'Templates' tab on the left to choose a template containing text fields and add it to the page by double-clicking or dragging it with the mouse. You can also use the buttons below the template selection: The buttons 'Insert left' and 'Insert right' will place the template onto the left page or right page. The button 'On both pages' allows you to insert the template onto both pages simultaneously.
Creating text fields
Use the 'Add text' button to create a new text field. Alternatively you can right-click on the photobook page and then choose the 'Insert text field' command from the context menu. New text fields are placed in the upper-left corner of each (double) page.
Entering / formatting text
Double-click on a text field or select the text field and then click 'Edit' on the right to open the text input window. A window opens where you can enter your text, set the font and colour, as well as preferred style (eg. bold). If you enable the option 'Set as default' the current text settings will be used as default for font type, font size, font colour, etc. When clicking 'Use defaults' the last modified text settings will be used. Then click on 'OK' after entering the text. The text is now displayed in the previously positioned text field. You can later alter the dimensions and position of this field.
If you need to resize the font that appears in the text field you can do it without using the Edit button. To do so, click the corresponding text field and click on the 'Font' tab. There you can modify the size with the '+' and '-' buttons.
Whenever this icon appears on your text field, then the text is too extensive for the text field size and will become
truncated. In this case, reduce the amount of text or resize the text field while the 'Free positioning' mode has been enabled.
Size / position / rotation of text fields
When selecting a text field by clicking on it, blue points and a frame will appear around it. You can then modify the text field. When moving the mouse over the blue points, the pointer will change accordingly. Click one of these points and drag the mouse to adjust the size and orientation of the text field. To move a text field, click on the frame, keep the mouse button pressed and drag the field by moving the mouse.
Alternatively you can use the buttons on the right to move text fields to the desired position. To do so, click on the text field and use the corresponding arrow under 'Frame' in order to move it into the desired direction and to resize it. Please note that text field will always appear on top of picture fields.
Removing text
Double-click on a text field and delete the text in the 'Your text' area. Then confirm by clicking 'OK'. Alternatively you can remove the contents by right-clicking onto the text field and then clicking the option 'Delete contents'.
Removing text fields
To remove a text field mark it by clicking on it and then right-click on 'Delete'. Alternatively you can right-click on the text field you want to delete and then choose the 'Delete' command from the context menu.
Customising the background
The available backgrounds can be selected from the 'Backgrounds' tab. Double-click on the desired background or use drag and drop to select the desired background for the current page. To use drag and drop, click on the desired background, press and hold
the mouse button, drag the mouse pointer to the target page and release the mouse button.
You can also use the buttons below the background selection: The buttons 'Insert left' and 'Insert right' will place the background onto the left page or right page. The button 'On both pages' allows you to insert the background onto both pages simultaneously.
If you want to use a specific background for all photobook pages, right-click on the desired background and select 'Use for all pages'.
Please note: If you want to use the same background for the left and right pages, a double-page version of the background will be used automatically.
You can limit the number of backgrounds by using the 'Category' pulldown menu and selecting a specific category. Only backgrounds from the desired category will be shown.
Custom backgrounds:
To use custom pictures as background images for one or multiple pages, open the 'Photos' tab. Right-click on the desired background image. To apply the image as background for the current page, select 'Use image as background'. When selecting 'Use image as background for all pages', this picture will become the background image for all pages.
Using effects
On the 'Effects' tab you can decorate pictures by adding borders. There are three categories offering borders, frames and textures.
Adding effects
Select the picture to be decorated by clicking on it. Then double-click on the desired frame or use drag and drop by clicking on a frame and dragging the mouse onto the target picture. The picture will be displayed within the selected frame.
Removing effects
Click on a picture to mark it. Then click on the button 'Remove effect' on the right to restore the original picture.
Customising pages
Zooming in and out
Below the displayed photobook page there is a pulldown menu allowing you to zoom in or out. You can either use the default percentages or enter a custom percentage between 25% and 250% (depending on the photobook). When typing a custom value, press Enter to confirm.
The price depends on the number of pages
Most of the photobooks are organised in price levels based on the number of pages chosen. The more pages your
photobook contains, the higher the price. Consult the price list for the different pricing levels. To do this, click on the 'Prices/Price list' icon.
Setting the number of pages
Under the photobook you'll find the 'Edit pages' pulldown menu. This contains the 'Remove empty pages' command. When this command is enabled your photobook contains one or more empty double pages. Click the command to move these pages automatically to the end of the photobook pages thumbnail view and to reset the price to the cheapest possible option automatically without removing any pages that contain pictures.
Reducing the price by removing empty pages
On the right of the photobook youll find the Edit pages dropdown menu. This contains the Delete all empty double pages command. When this command is enabled your photo album contains one or more empty double pages. Click the command to move these pages automatically to the end of the photobook pages thumbnail view and to reset the price to the cheapest possible option automatically without removing any pages that contain pictures.
Moving pages
Within a photobook, you can re-locate double-page pairs. To do so, click on the double side in the photobook thumbnail view, keep the mouse button pressed and drag the mouse sideways. The target position of the double page pair is marked by a black bar. Release the mouse button when the desired target position has been reached. Tip: Click on the icon located in the upper-right corner of the programme to switch to full-screen view. This makes the maximum space available for the thumbnail view for you to move the pages.
Editing pages
Under the photobook you will find the Edit pages pulldown menu. It allows you to edit pages fast and easy. The different menu options allow you to
Insert page
If you need more space for your pictures or you want to add more pictures to your album, use the 'Insert page' command to add one page in the desired location.
Delete page
The current page will be deleted from the photobook when you click the 'Delete page' button.
Copy page
This function is helpful if you like a page and want to use it at a different location in your photobook too. Click on the page you want to copy and select the 'Copy page' command from the 'Edit pages' menu. Now go to the position where you want to insert the copy of the page and click the 'Insert page' command.
Cut and paste a page
So you have edited a page and don't want it to appear at the present position but move it? No problem! Just click the corresponding page and select 'Cut page' from the menu. The page will be removed from the current position. Now click onto the new position and select the 'Insert page' command to insert it here.
Delete contents from left page
By clicking on the 'Delete contents from left page' command you can easily remove the contents from the left-hand page that is currently displayed.
Delete contents from right page
By clicking on the 'Delete contents from right page' command you can easily remove the contents from the right-hand page that is currently displayed.
Swap pages
This command allows you to place the currently displayed right page as the left page and vice versa.
Connect pages
This option connects to individual pages so you can spread a picture over two pages.
Preview
Click on 'Preview' at the bottom to obtain a photobook preview. Here you can see how the printed photobook will look. To scroll through the photobook pages, click the corresponding arrow buttons. Click 'Back' to close the preview.
Save photobook
The 'Save' button is located beneath the photobook. Click on the button to open the following options:
Save
For a photobook that has already been saved, any changes will be stored now.
Save as
New photobooks can be saved under any name in any folder.
Open
A photobook that had been laid out and saved in the past can be opened.
To be able to order a photobook you must save it.
Note: A subfolder will be created in the folder where you save your photobook, containing the pictures added to the photobook at the time of the saving process. Therefore, if you plan to move the photobook file to your computer, make sure
that you also move the subfolder containing the pictures.
Multiple order
You may order a created photobook several times. Under Shopping basket overview you can set the number of copies. To open the shopping basket overview, click on 'Go to order' in the lower-right corner in photobook Editor.
Continuing the order process
When you have the photobook ready and would like to conclude your order, click on the button 'Go to order' in the lower-right corner. This will take you to the shopping basket overview. Check that everything is correct. You can now set the order and payment methods and continue with the ordering process. Please also see the shopping basket overview information.
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