Design an Album or Book

Before you start

You'll need:

• A WHCC account to sign in to the designer. If you don't have an account yet, become a WHCC client. Signing up is free.
• Your photos as JPEG or PNG files.

The designer runs in your browser, so there's nothing to install. These steps work for Albums, Layflat Books, Hardcover Books and Softcover Books. Some options vary by product.

Start an album or book

From Studio Projects

1. Open an existing project, or click New Project to create one.
2. In the Create a Product sidebar, under Albums & Books, choose a product. The designer opens with the project's photos in your gallery.

Your design is saved to the project. If you haven't used projects before, see Creating a Project.

From a product page

Click Order Now on any album or book page, such as Albums. The designer opens with an empty gallery at the bottom.

To use photos you've already uploaded, click one of your projects under Recent Projects. Its photos load into your gallery, and your design is saved to that project. If you upload new photos instead, your design is saved to the Saved for Later tab on your cart page.

Size and spreads

If you haven't picked a size, your album starts at 10×10″ with the minimum number of spreads. To change the size, click the size at the top of the options panel. To add spreads, click + in the spread strip.

Find your way around

When you select something, its options open in the panel on the right.

• Spread strip. Your cover, endleaf and every spread, in order. Click an item to work on it, or click + between two spreads to add a spread.
• Grid and Spread. Switch between the whole album on one screen and a single spread.
• Canvas. The spread you're working on. Use the arrows above it to move between spreads, and the toolbar below it to change the spread's layout and background.
• Gallery. Your photos. Add images, filter and sort them, and drag them onto the canvas.
• Options panel. The settings for whatever you've selected, with your running price at the top.
• Start presenting, Share Proof and Review. Show your design to your client, send a proof, or check the design before you order.

Choose your cover and endleaf

The designer opens on your cover, which is always the first item in the spread strip. You can come back to the cover and endleaf at any time.

Cover

The front, spine and back appear together.

1. In the options panel, choose a Cover Type.
2. Under Cover Options, choose your material. The panel shows only the options available for your product and size. To see and feel the materials first, order a Sample Kit.
3. Optional: To deboss the cover, click Debossing and add text or a custom die. For typefaces and finishes, see Debossing Guidelines. For dies, see Custom Debossing.

Endleaf

Click Endleaf, after the cover in the spread strip, to choose your Endleaf Style. The endleaf panel also holds:

• Insert Boards and Rounded Corners
• Endleaf Debossing, to deboss a custom die, such as your studio logo, inside the cover
• Sample Album, to order a sample for your studio at 25% off, with “Sample” foil stamped on the endleaf

Add your photos

Upload photos

Click Add Images in the gallery bar, or drag photos from your computer into the gallery. You can add up to 600 JPEG or PNG files at a time, each 40MB or less. To upload from another device, click Add Images, then Upload from another device.

Sort and filter

Click Filter Images (the three-line icon in the gallery bar, next to Add Images).

• Sort By. Your gallery starts in upload order. Choose Date Taken (oldest first) to put your photos in the order they were taken. Autofill then builds your spreads in that order too. You can also sort by name, or by rating to put your client's favorites first.
• Unused Images. Show only photos that aren't placed anywhere yet. The panel shows how many you've used.
• Orientation. Show only vertical, horizontal or square photos.
• Rating. Show photos by rating: Yes, Maybe, No or Unrated. Ratings come from your project's Image Gallery.
• Show Info. Turn on Filenames to show each photo's file name under its thumbnail, for when a client asks for specific photos. Turn on Ratings to show each photo's rating as a colored dot.

Build your spreads

Autofill Spreads

Autofill Spreads lays out your photos across as many spreads as they need.

1. In the middle of any blank spread, click Autofill Spreads.
2. Drag the slider left for more photos on each spread, or right for fewer photos across more spreads. The dialog shows how many photos go on each spread and how many spreads your album will have.
3. Optional: Choose which photos to use. By default, Autofill uses your unused photos, sorted by date taken. To build the album from only the photos you and your client rated Yes, filter by rating.
4. Click Fill Spreads. The button shows how many spreads it will fill.

Build a spread yourself

1. In the gallery, click each photo you want to use, or click Select All. Click a selected photo again to deselect it.
2. Drag any selected photo onto the spread, and the rest of your selection comes with it. Drop the photos on one page to fill that page, or in the middle to fill the whole spread. The designer arranges them in a layout.

Choose a layout

To try another layout, click Shuffle in the toolbar under the spread, or pick one from the options panel. The panel lists layouts for the number of photos on the spread, such as 2 Image Layouts. Click More Layouts at the bottom of the list to see more.

To narrow the list, click Filter next to the layouts heading:

• Image Ratios limits the layouts to frames of a particular shape. It's set to No preference by default.
• Margin Options sets the inner and outer margins around your photos.

Adjust layouts and crops

You can change any layout or crop the designer suggests.

Photos and frames

• To resize a frame, drag its edge. Groups of photos keep their symmetry as you resize, and edges snap to the bleed.
• To swap two photos, drag one onto the other.
• To replace a photo, drag a new one from the gallery onto it.
• To pan and zoom, click a photo once to open its toolbar. Drag the photo to reposition it in its frame, and use the slider or + and – to zoom. The rest of the photo shows faintly outside the frame, so you can see what's being cropped. Click the check mark when you're done.
• To remove a photo, open its toolbar the same way. Click × to clear the photo and keep its empty frame, or click the trash can to delete the frame too. Pressing Delete on your keyboard while the toolbar is open also clears the photo and keeps its frame.

When a photo has to crop to fit its frame, Face Aware Cropping keeps the faces it finds inside the frame. You can adjust any crop yourself afterward.

The spread toolbar

The toolbar under each spread has Shuffle, Flip and Background, followed by three buttons that clear, duplicate or delete the spread you're on. Flip mirrors the layout left to right.

Backgrounds

1. Click Background in the toolbar or in the options panel.
2. Under Apply Background To, choose Left, Right or Both pages.
3. Choose white, black, or one of the Colors From This Spread, which come from the photos on the spread.
4. Optional: Click Apply to All to use the same background on every spread.

Arrange your spreads in Grid view

Click Grid at the top of the designer to see the whole album on one screen. In Grid view:

• Drag spreads to reorder them.
• Click + to add a spread between two others or at the end.
• Duplicate a spread to use as a starting point.
• Clear a spread and start it again.

Click Spread to go back.

Review and order

1. To check your design before you order, click Review at the top right. The review page lists your size, cover, endleaves and spread count.
2. Use the arrows under the album to page through the cover and every spread.
3. Choose your Paper. You can also change your Insert Boards, Rounded Corners and Sample Album choice here. The price updates as you go.
4. Click Add to Cart. To make more changes instead, click Back to Edit.

When your design is ready

• To show your design live, click Start presenting. A second window opens showing whatever you select in the designer, without the editing tools. It updates as you work. Share that window with your client on a call or a studio display. See Presentation Mode.
• To send your client a proof, see Sharing Product Proofs.
• To let your client pay you directly, see Payment Links.
• For what's changed in Studio Projects, see Changes to Studio Project Features.