"I've put together a list of Album Design Software I've found just to get my bearings. There are so many to choose from and so many questions I don't even know where to start- it's very overwhelming! Hopefully this will help other photographers out there looking for this very thing. I'm a lucky person to be a part of some very helpful online communities which have been a big part of compiling this list. I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these programs you may have used. If I've missed any just let me know- I want to have all the options available here for anyone to view. The software I've listed are (I believe...) all available for output to any lab or binding service… which means you can choose! (Yet another mind boggling experience I'll save for another day!) :0)"
And her update 9 months later:
“Just an update, for ya- I decided to go with the LumaPix Fotofusion and I love it! If you're interested in what it can do, here’s a couple of wedding albums I designed using the software.
Scottsdale, AZ wedding photography at Sassi
Cave Creek, Arizona photo wedding album
I'm learning how to add cool borders and other fun things too! I'll be sure to post more as I design them :0)”
Check out her beautiful designs via the links above, and then use this table to help you with your own album design software decisions!
(If you're viewing this table via blogger, you may not be seeing the last column "demo/trial available"...I'll keep working on trying to fix that. - Jillian)
| Software | Website | Templates available? | Save your Templates | Price | Demo/ Trial |
| Page Gallery | Yes but cannot save your own. | No | $590 | Yes | |
| Dg Foto Art | Yes- As separate purchases | Yes | $249- $649 | Yes | |
| You Select It | Yes | Yes | $495 | Yes | |
| Kubota's auto album | As per Page layouts | | $399 | No | |
| LumaPix FotoFusion | No | Yes- Studio/Pro version | $39.95- $299.95 | Yes | |
| Gary Fong’s Digital Album | Unsure (auto assemble) | | $199 | No | |
| Adobe® InDesign | Yes- From outside sources | Yes | $699 | Yes | |
| pixel creator pro | Yes | Yes | $379 | No | |
| Album DS | Yes | Yes | $349-$449 | Yes | |
| Photojunction | | Yes | Yes | $495 or license per year | Yes |
A huge thanks (and a hug) to Laura for being such a love cat and sharing her information…this information can be tough to track down and gather! Be sure to add her blog http://laurasiivolaphotographer.blogspot.com to your blogroll!
There are a few on OSP that sell FotoFusion Templates for a great price. I use FF and I love it. So perfect for album design.
ReplyDeleteHey there! If you're interested in doing a post on what to do once you actually have the album designed (as in... how do you share it with your client and incorporate their feedback?)... my husband just finished putting together a rockin' album proofing application... Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you a link!
ReplyDelete+1 on FotoFusion.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy you don't need templates.
Yes, Lumapix does have templates available. The Extreme version includes 266 page layouts.
ReplyDelete:)
Vida
DesignAglow.com also has several album templates as well as a new automatic album builder! More designs, including a stunning wedding album, are on the way.
ReplyDeleteFotofusion is still only Windows I believe, so if you've got a Mac...
ReplyDeleteApple Aperture 2 has an excellent album design tool that now has custom size albums. You can export to PDF, JPEG and TIF and you get the benefit of working directly next to your RAW or JPEG images so you can edit your images even when you've already laid out your design.
Check out this Sara France video:
http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple/mac/aperture/2008/apple_aperture2_sara-france_20080710_r640-10cie.mov
Two BIG Thumbs UP! Way Up for LumaPix Fotofusion Extreme. I cant say enough good things about FF. I LOVE it! It is so easy and so fast to whip out an album design. I once completed a 40 sided design for my first KISS sample album in less than one hour!
ReplyDeleteI have used PageGallery and still use it in a pinch. However, Fundy's Solution on Steroids (http://www.fundysos.com) works wonders. Now until the end of September, grab a 25% discount for this set of Photoshop actions off of my own blog, Tiffinbox (http://www.tiffinbox.org/2008/09/putting-the-fun.html). Cool?
ReplyDeletePhotojunction is now a free design application (they have suspended their yearly subscription program)... and FREE is pretty inexpensive! The have templates both general and specific to album companies, also there are designers that offer templates for reasonable prices, just google "Photojunction templates"
ReplyDelete