Preparing your files

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You've processed your images, designed them into a presentation and now you're getting ready to print. At this stage, you probably have a whole new enthusiasm for your images and how they interact as a designed piece. This is when the magic happens!

Making your designs ready for printing is easy, but it requires you to be careful and organized. Otherwise, mistakes happen and mistakes cost money. So follow these steps for your best chance at a perfect process every time!

Process:

1. If you haven't read the Design primer, click here for a quick refresher and some good tips that will make even more sense now that you have gone through the process.

2. Checklist:

My largest book size is: _____
[ ] The page count is divisible by 4 (20, 24, 28, etc.)
[ ] I downloaded and used the correct cover template
[ ] My bleed images will look okay if a little of the edges are cut off.
[ ] My client approved all the pages
[ ] I checked the spelling of all names and asked someone else to proofread it for me
[ ] I love the way it looks!

3. Run Gary Fong's Split action. This will split your spreads into single left and right hand pages. If you are not using Gary Fong's Digital Album Designer and Collage Builder actions, you will have to create an action to split your pages. (Click here for the actions that work seamlessly with Cornerstone's printing services.)

More about spreads: The way the book is printed requires the pages to be printed out of order. Therefore, our free actions will create split pages (left and right hand pages) that will make the printing easy and fast.

When you have completed your design and have your client's approval to print the book, you'll run Gary's Split Square or Split Vertical action. It saves you money by doing a little of the prep work yourself. It will split your pages into right and left single pages. So don't be alarmed when you create your book as spreads but the see the final pages as singles. For anyone who likes lingo, you are converting your "reader spreads" (the way a reader sees them) into files that the printer will put into another order called "printer spreads." You'll have pages that are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and the printer will make sure the final book reads in the order you envisioned to begin with.

Note: be careful when you save your images to make sure you name them right. Keep a list of the page names (page 1-Right...page 2-Left,...page 3-Right) and check them off when you save your files. This will help avoid any mistakes that can occur in the naming process. This is one of those Tips from the Pros that you just have to trust us on. In fact, here's a checklist you can print out. Just check off each one after you save and name it.

4. Download Cornerstone Album actions for final file preparation. These actions do two things: they size the files to the exact dimensions necessary for printing, and they convert the images to CMYK color. Your computer monitor displays images in RGB format (you probably have already been trying to get a handle on the difference between color spaces, sRGB, Adobe RGB, etc.). The nice thing about the printing world is there are four colors of ink, and only four (well, that's not 100% true, but for book printing, we only use CMYK). They are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK (CMYK) Therefore, all you have to do is convert your file to CMYK using the free actions. It's easy! Click here for the Cornerstone actions

5. Compare your split pages side by side. Use the Browse or Bridge function in Photoshop to view your split images in sequence to be sure you have all the pages in order. Human error happens and you can catch a mis-named page at this stage by simply scanning the pages to make sure they match your spreads. Tip from the pros: In Photoshop's File Browser or Bridge, view the images as large thumbnails and adjust the browse or bridge window to show only two pages.

If you named you pages 1-right, 2-left, 3-right like we suggested above, then you can simply sort your images by name. To make the pages line up, drag the thumbnail of the last page of your book (left hand page) to be the first page in the view order. Then, all the spreads should be lined up again even though the files are split. If something doesn't match your original spread, you might have it named wrong. As we saw on a sign on a Japanese vending machine: "Use your own eyes to inspect the contents." Don't just assume the pages are in order until you do a visual inspection of them!

6. Prepare your book's cover. Confirm that you have used the proper template for your page count. The spine will vary in thickness depending on the number of pages in your book. More pages=thicker book. To download the correct cover template click here.

7. Leave your cover as a single file. It should be uploaded as one file, so do not run the split actions on it.

8. Place your order. Click here to go to the ordering page. Once you submit your order, you will receive a password. Our staff will prepare to receive your order and send you an e mail when they are ready.

9. Upload your files. The upload process is clear, easy and friendly. Just make sure you upload the correct page into the correct field. If you followed our naming suggestion, it will be easy, as your pages will already be named 1-Right, 2-Left.

If there are any issues with your files, you will get an e mail letting you know what needs to be fixed.

If the files are okay, you will get an e mail telling you the files passed the QA.

If you do not get any e mail after uploading your files, then something might have gone wrong. Contact Cornerstone Support if you don't receive any e mail!

10. Relax, think good thoughts, and get ready to do it all again! You can check your order status by logging in on the main page of the Album Creators Hub. (Click here).

We hope you enjoyed the process! Please visit our message board for comments and advice.