Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Album Design Software

Well, I've been doing my homework! My first year in business will be a steep learning curve I'm afraid but well worth it. :0)

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)


* Just FYI, I just updated this table as of 8/08!

Software

Website

Templates available?

Save your Templates

Price

Demo/ Trial
Available?

Page Gallery

www.yervant.com.au/

Yes but cannot save your own.

No

$590

Yes

Dg Foto Art

www.pxlsoft.com/

Yes- As separate purchases

Yes

$249- $649

Yes

You Select It

www.youselectit.com

Yes

Yes

$495

Yes


Kubota's auto album

kubotaworkshops.com

As per Page layouts


$399

No

LumaPix FotoFusion

http://www.lumapix.com/

Yes

Yes- Studio/Pro version

$39.95- $299.95

Yes

Gary Fong’s Digital Album

http://store.garyfonginc.com/gafodialdeso.html

Unsure (auto assemble)


$199

No

Adobe® InDesign

http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/

Yes- From outside sources

Yes

$699

Yes

pixel creator pro

http://www.pixelcreatorpro.com/

Yes

Yes

$379

No

Album DS

http://www.albumds.com/

Yes

Yes

$349-$449

Yes


Photojunction

http://www.photojunction.com/

Yes

Yes

$495 or license per year

Yes

6/2/07

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 is a wedding album 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)

---

Hey Guys! I've had so many questions on this post I thought maybe some of you might be interested in buying the template to either of those albums? Contact me if you are and I'll sell them for $25 for one or $40 for both. I've never done this before so you'll have to bear with my lack of knowledge- I'm not even setup with Paypal hehe. But if I can help anyone out by selling them then I'll figure it out. :0)

Thanks for all the awesome emails and comments!!!



---
Laura Siivola- Photographer.
Organic wedding and portrait photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area. :0)
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have developed album software similar to DG Photo art but with more features and is much more flexible.
contact at

albumdesigner@rediffmail.com
for trial version.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

In order to make templates in InDesign you need to use a library file and it's really easy....

http://albumdesignwiki.com/ - has instructions

Anonymous said...

Laura

AWESOME albums!

MPrieto, San Antonio

Unknown said...

Very useful information -thank you-, and the albums are great.
Jordi

Unknown said...

Dg Foto Art is the best........

LAURENT Fotógrafo de Emociones said...

Hi and congratulations indeed for your work and photos ! :-)

One question about Fotofusion, I have seen that they sell themplates. Is the software enough to really work the way you buy it online or should I be already thinking I'll have to spend more on templates to get good results ?

Thanks in advance

Laurent
www.fotografo-de-emociones.com

Laura said...

Hi Laurent-

I have never bought a template from fotofusion. I think if you have a good eye for design (as most photographers do!) then you should be fine. Remember to save your own designs as templates and you can use them over again and tweak as you like for new albums. :0)
~Laura

Finesse Photography said...

Great information. Thanks! Just a question about your new album software (LumaPix) - how do you go about outputting your albums from this software? Do you send to a lab or print yourself? Or can these be made into albums some other way etc. Thanks - Pat

Laura said...

Hi Pat,
I usually output the files to jpeg and then send to the lab of my choice! I only considered programs that gave me a choice of output in this table.
Hope that helps!
~Laura

Anonymous said...

wow. this is great! many thanks!

Joe said...

Laura,

Nice job on photography and design. I'm curious what software you are using to show the slideshows of your designs?

Thanks,

Joe

Laura said...

Hey guys,

I've gotten more than one email about the software I'm using to showcase my album designs. The one I use is
http://www.showitfast.com/products.php?op=web

But I wish I had bought one that looks like they are real pages- there are several out there, check out what suits you best!

Just a few...
http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/

http://www.page-flip.com/products/flippingbook-html-edition/

http://www.flashpalette.com/main.html

Anonymous said...

You really need to check out www.buildabookonline. There are so many choices of page layouts and book sizes. The quality is coffee-table ready.

Photoriches said...

Hello Laura,

I visited your blog and website, You have got pritty nice works. Thanks for the information on the several software especially the fotofusion. Please laura, tell me in what way can I also put online my clients wedding album just like you have for some of you clients using photofusion. please check out my small website and advice me accordingly www.photorichesng.com. I would have asked you for how much to pay for consulting you. But to me you appeared somebody wirth a large heart. my details? dupe@photorichesng.com.

Thanks Laura

Anonymous said...

hi, new to the site, thanks.