A&I Books | Create

Important advice before you begin your project:

1) Organize your photos into one project folder and keep it in one place on your computer. Book Creator locates images based on where they are when imported into the software.
*** If images are moved after importing, Book Creator can no longer locate the images.***

2) Size photos no larger than the size of your book at 300dpi. This will improve uploading time and overall software performance.

Creating a new photobook project:

Double-click the BookCreator icon on your desktop to launch the software.
Select "Create a New Project" in the pop up window. Browse and select your product from the list on the left and click Next.
The next window that pops up is where you can title your project in the box marked Project Name towards the bottom of the screen. This screen is also where folders should be created, renamed or deleted. Moving or renaming projects by any method outside of the Book Creator software can cause you to lose projects and/or files.

How To:
1. Create a new book using Autoflow
2. Create a book from scratch
3. Adding images/features to your pages

Create a new book using Autoflow:

1. Launch A&I Book Creator
2. When the Welcome menu pops up, select "Create a New Project"
3. Choose a product from the list on the left.
4. Name your project in the box towards the bottom of the screen and click "Create". You are now presented with the Book Creator workspace.
5. Import the folder of photos you would like in your book. Image thumbnails will appear in the Pictures Browser when the images are loaded. Hint: You will have the best results with JPG files that are no larger than the size of your book.
6. Click the Autoflow button on the Toolbar
7. Select how you want Autoflow to sort your photos - by orientation or by order. Your photos will be laid out at random by the book creator software.
8. View your book by navigating through the Page Browser or click "Preview" to view your book full screen. Make any desired changes to the layout including adding or removing picture boxes, borders, backgrounds and drop shadows.
9. When your book is ready to send, click the shopping cart icon on the Tool Bar. If there are any problems with your book (i.e. empty text boxes, picture boxes or low-res images) a pop up window will prompt you. If your book has not been saved, a pop-up window will ask you to save your project.
10. Agree to the Disclaimer and complete the online order form that automatically pops up. When the order form has been submitted, Book Creator will prompt you to upload your book to us. Book files do not get uploaded to us until after the online order form is completed and submitted. You will receive an email confirming your order. If you have any questions regarding your order, please contact us.

Create a book from scratch:

1. Launch A&I Book Creator
2. When the Welcome menu pops up, select "Create A New Project"
3. Choose a product from the list on the left
4. Name your project in the box towards the bottom of the screen and click Next. You are now presented with the Book Creator workspace.
5. Import the folder(s) of photos you would like in your book
6. Add Images and Features to your book pages
7. Preview your book
8. When your book is ready to send, click the shopping cart icon on the Tool Bar. If there are any problems with your book (i.e. empty text boxes, picture boxes or low-res images) a pop up window will prompt you. If your book has not been saved, a pop-up window will ask you to save your project.
9. Agree to the Disclaimer and complete the online order form that automatically pops up. When the order form has been submitted, Book Creator will prompt you to upload your book to us. Book files do not get uploaded to us until after the online order form is completed and submitted. You will receive an email confirming your order. If you have any questions regarding your order, please contact us.

Adding Images and Features to your pages:

Page Styles are pre-set templates with picture boxes and/or text boxes. These templates are modifiable - you can add or remove features to your liking. Select the Page Style tab, then drag your selected page style onto a page.
You can create your own Page Styles including text, photo boxes and effects. To save a Page Style, click the Categories button in the Styles Browser and save layout in the appropriate category (Left Page, Right Page or Spread).

Page Backgrounds can be either a photo or a graphic found in the Style Tabs. To use a Background in the Style Tabs, simply drag and drop it onto a page. To use a photo as a background, right-click the photo and select "Fit to page".

Add a picture to a page by dragging an image from the Pictures Browser onto a page, or onto a Picture Box. Dragging an image onto a page will add the photo full-frame in a small Picture Box. If you would like your photo to drop onto the page as a specific size or proportion, first create a Picture Box, then resize the picture box to the desired size.

Resize a picture box by dragging the picture box corners or sides - hold down the Shift key to maintain the picture box proportions. You can size a picture box to specific desired measurements: 1. Selecting your picture box; 2. click on Ruler Tab; 3. Type the exact desired measurements of the picture box size, position and/or offset.

Add text to a page by clicking the Add Text Box button on the Toolbar. Double click the text box to edit. Type your text or paste copied text into the Edit Text window. Highlight text to change the font, size, color, etc. Click the zoom button (on the far right) to enlarge text for better visibility. Hint: Extremely thin fonts do not print well.

To make adjustments to an object (picture, background, text), select it by clicking on it. To make the same adjustment to more than one object, hold down the shift key while clicking on objects. A blue box appears around selected object(s).

Right click a picture to:
-Align a photo horizontally or vertically on a page
-Arrange a photo by sending it forward or backwards (in respect to other objects on the page)
-Fit a picture to page (bleed one page), to spread (bleed 2-page spread), to box (or to fit box to picture)
-Lock a photo in place on a page
-Show photo file location
-Cut, Copy, Delete or Clear

Crop a photo or background by double-clicking it. Use the crop tool in the pop up window and click ok. The crop tool maintains the proportion of the picture box.

To Add Pages to your book, go to the Page Browser and select the spread FOLLOWING where you would like your inserted pages to appear. (For example, if you would like to add pages before pages 5-6, select pages 5-6 by clicking on the spread in the Page Browser. Then go to Page > Insert

To rearrange your book pages, go to Page > Rearrange Pages. You can either use the arrow buttons on the left of the window or you can simply drag the pages up or down.