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Two Methods to Add Color to Your Photo Book

Two Methods to Add Color to Your Photo Book

by | Mar 11, 2019 | Color, Description, Inspiration, Photo Book Design Layout, Tutorial

One quick and easy way to make your photo book look more intentional is to have custom designed divider pages. If you’re including these pages in your photo book, I recommend having them stand out from your other pages with design elements, text and/or color. However, I also understand – you don’t have a lot of time to customize these pages.

It’s one of the reasons I’m creating my Graphic Design Packs every month. These design packs will quickly introduce color or patterns on your pages, particularly the divider pages in your photo book.

There are two ways to add color if you are using Blurb’s free software program, BookWright. Whether you are using colors from my BTP Graphic Design Pack – or – creating a color profile on your own, this video tutorial shares the two methods to achieve add color to your photo book.

 

Want to learn even more tools in BookWright?

Check out my free email series sharing 5 design lessons to make your photo book more stylish without overwhelm. 

Using ASE colors in your photo book project

by | Aug 5, 2018 | Color, Photo Book Design Layout

This summer, I’ve been sharing how to add color to your photo book. Recently, I used a color palette from Pantone into layouts. There is one handy trick that I did not share in this tutorial: ASE files. Do you know about or have you used ASE files yet? If not, prepare to be amazed. I love ASE files!

ASE stands for an Adobe Swatch Exchange file which is basically a collection of colors that you can add to your swatch panel into Adobe programs. This makes it incredibly useful if you use Photoshop or InDesign to make a photo book. 

As I mentioned above, I referenced the 2018 Pantone Color or the Year in one of my recent blog posts. On this website, if you scroll all the way to the bottom, past all of the palettes, there was an ASE file download. 

 

Once you click this button, the files will go directly into your “Downloads” folder on your computer. At this point, it’s helpful to move/copy these files into a folder you’ll remember. There is an Adobe Library folder that is installed automatically when you download the program; however, I create a folder specifically to house my color swatches in a place I frequently go to. 

Photoshop

First let’s look at how to install these ASE files into Photoshop. You’ll need to open up your Swatches panel. If it’s not open already, simply go to “Window” and select “Swatches”. 

Next, click on the three small lines in the upper right corner of this panel. A pull down menu will appear. 

 

Under the pull down menu, select “Load Swatches”. A dialog box will appear to locate the files. 

 

At this point, you’ll want to find the ASE files, wherever you placed them. As a default, make sure you check your “Downloads” folder. 

 

Now all of the swatches are loaded into Photoshop swatch panel and ready for you to use as a fill or outline in your photoshop file. 

 

InDesign

Now you can follow a similar process in InDesign to load ASE files. Using ASE files in InDesign is fantastic because you can orchestrate and design a full photo book within this program – start to finish. If you’re unfamiliar with how to fully use swatches in InDesign, make sure to check out my Advanced Photo Book Design Workshop. 

The first couple of steps are exactly the same as Photoshop. Open up the swatches panel. Click the three lines in the upper right to make the drop down menu appear. Click “Load Swatches” and finally find the ASE files. 

 

Here’s a great feature within InDesign that you can’t do within Photoshop. Select all of the swatches that were loaded in the ASE files. Right click and select “New Color Group”. Now all of the swatches you’ve downloaded and installed into InDesign are conveniently grouped together in one location. 

 

Once your color group has been created, I recommend you double click on the name of the color group and change the name to describe the group. 

This is a helpful tip for any swatches you’ve created on your own too. It’s a great way to keep them all together in one nice tidy location. 

 

Now that you know how to install ASE files, I want to reiterate why you would want to use them. First of all, it’s a really fast way to have colors you love without having to mess with the sliders or come up with them on your own. 

If you’re anything like me, it can be hard to figure out the exact color you want. I can spend a good 15 minutes messing with the sliders trying to determine the perfect amount of CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) for each swatch. 

Using ASE files saves you time. And it provides a framework for you to use similar colors throughout your photo book – or several photo books. 

It’s time to practice! I’ve created 9 colors in an ASE file for you to download and practice using on your own. Simply add your name and email address to get these colors and stay on top of my favorite tutorials to make making a photo book a little easier and more fun!

 

Using Color in your Photo Book.

Using Color in your Photo Book.

by | May 31, 2018 | Color, Description, Design Series, Inspiration, Motivation, Photo Book Design Layout

color in photo book

Lately, I’ve been in the mood to add color to my layouts. In my last blog post, I should 10 ways to add color to layouts. But those suggestions were more for you to pick and choose. In today’s blog post I want to share how you can add a color palette throughout one of your photo books. 

This step is something that you should consider the beginning of the design process, if possible. Here are my decision-making steps: 

-1-  Select how and where you want to use color. 

-2-  What is the primary or dominant color you want to use?  

-3-  What color(s) could support the main color, if any. 

-4-  Define the full color palette. 

-5-  Does this color palette support the overall vision you originally wanted? 

-6-  Implement in your photo book design. 

 

Now let’s see these steps in action. I’m going to use a typical annual photo book for this example. 

I want to use a color palette for section pages, page numbers and any titles on the page. I want to use the same color for all three places. But on the section page, I want to use two other colors to add design variety. 

The dominant color will be the 2018 Pantone color: Ultra Violet.

The supporting colors should be more neutral to balance the purple color. On the Pantone website, they provide several different color combinations. I selected one that resonated with the balanced scheme I was looking for this particular photo book. 

Here is my color palette. 

color in photo book

This color palette matches my original vision because I wanted my family photo book to be fun yet classic. I want the design to have personality without being too bold. 

And here’s the result: 

Section Page:

color in photo book

Typical Page:

color in photo book

10 Easy Ways to Use Color in your Photo Book Layouts

10 Easy Ways to Use Color in your Photo Book Layouts

by | May 13, 2018 | BookWright, Color, Photo Book Design Layout

Once springtime arrives and flowers start blooming, I yearn for some vibrancy in my photo book layouts. Yes, there’s usually color in the photos, but I’m talking about a consistent and thoughtful use of color to make the photos pop or add a little something extra to the page. 

Today, I want to share 10 easy ways to add color to your photo book layouts. If you’ve wanted to add color but not sure how or if it never looks quite right on the page, this post is for you! Hopefully, you’ll walk away with easy strategies to incorporate into your photo book. 

1. A BLOCK OF COLOR TO COMPLEMENT THE PHOTO.

Use a color to reinforce the spirit of the photo. In this example, I added a color block that is complementary to the range of blues in the photo but it also adds to the sense of vibrancy, sunshine and overall attitude of boldness found in the photo. 

2. A BLOCK OF COLOR FOUND IN THE PHOTO.

Use a color that is found in the photo. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to use color is to use an eyedropper tool to pull out a color you want to reinforce. In this example, I could have selected a green color and that would have heightened the sense of peaking in on my son playing with his nerf gun. However, I chose to select a color similar to his shirt and nerf gun to highlight the center of the photo and the activity.

3. COLOR IN THE TITLE.

Use color in a title to describe the photo. This takes care of two things at once: color and a description of your photo. Here, I picked up the red trim from her bathing suit to make the title stand out among the waves. 

4. COLOR IN THE TEXT.

Use color for a specific selection of text you want to highlight. If you plan to use captions throughout your photo book, adding color to the main part of the sentence or paragraph helps to draw the eye to that specific group of words. This is great for people who are skimming through the book to pick up a few key points without having to read the whole caption. 

5. COLOR INDICATING THE MONTH.

Use a color block in a similar location on every page to indicate the month. You could use a different color for each month or keep it the same color and switch out the text indicating the month. The color block could be a rectangle or triangle at the corner of the layout or you could use a full width band of color at the edge as shown in this layout.

6. COLOR INDICATING THE PAGE NUMBER.

Use a color font for the page number. This is a very simple way to add color to the layout without it becoming overwhelming. And the great thing with color for the page numbers, is usually you only have to set it once and it repeats the color throughout your book. In this example, I added a small line underneath the page number to add a little extra color!

7. COLOR ON THE SECTION DIVIDER.

Use a color or color combination to specify the different sections of your photo book. In this layout, I’m using a soft gray color with a yellow font to announce each month. The full layout of a color, even a neutral color, makes it very clear when starting a new month in your photo book. 

8. COLOR AS A FRAME TO THE PHOTOS.

Use a color to frame the photos in your photo book. This suggestion may be harder to achieve depending on the type of software program you are using, however, adding a thin frame of color around your photos makes them stand out and provide a little more definition on the page. 

9. COLOR AS A LINE.

Use a line color in your layouts. Having a simple thin line graphic on the layout add a level of sophistication without a lot of effort. In this example, I created a double line – one thicker and the other dashed – for additional interest. I love how the line graphic in this layout immediately makes her shirt and the piping on the pillow at either end of the photo stand out.  

10. COLOR IN A GRAPHIC.

Use a color in graphic or pattern. If you make your own or have purchased your own, adding color to the pattern is a fantastic way to elevate your layouts. The graphic doesn’t have to extend on the whole page or spread. In this example, I’m using a simple line graphic on the left side to provide interest without taking over. A great way to use graphics are on section pages but you could also find ways to incorporate them on regular photo layout pages as well. 

So those are my 10 ways to add color to your layouts. Perhaps this sparked a few ideas or spin-off ideas for your own photo book. I’d love to hear in the comments below!