Album design software

sid-180 · 27 Aug 2015 at 21:40

Hey Guys looking at getting a better album design software.

Anyone used http://www.pixellu.com ?

or can anyone recommend anything better?

Raymond Lin · 27 Aug 2015 at 21:54

Not really....Indesign in theory is more powerful but it's also more expensive and harder to learn.

Vertigo · 27 Aug 2015 at 21:56

What are people using out of interest?

Fundy & AlbumStomp both look quite cool but aren't cheap (especially Fundy). Was wondering if people use generic design software like this or just the likes of Loxley's designer app.

Cyanide · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:04

I just use Graphistudio's software. It's not the greatest but it gets the job done.

Raymond Lin · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:05

I am using Loxley, purely because I am offering their albums at the moment. Nice product, awful UI for me...

FAO The Exception, did you get that album from Turkey in the end and what was the website again?

An Exception · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:15

Yep.. received the album the other week. Had to pay duty on it though..
Fine art album co.

Raymond Lin · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:18

An Exception said:
Yep.. received the album the other week. Had to pay duty on it though..

I'd challenge the duty on 2 grounds

1 - Turkey is in the EU
2 - THIS REASON

What's the website?

And what is the pages like? how thick are they?

An Exception · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:18

smart albums is the best I've used, inc. indesign.

Vertigo · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:20

Duty & VAT are two different things though.

An Exception · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:20

fine art album co.

Raymond Lin · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:21

Vertigo1 said:
Duty & VAT are two different things though.

I know and according to this, Turkey is 0%

http://www.dutycalculator.com/dc/128810-import-duty-rate-for-books-is-0/

An Exception · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:22

Raymond Lin said:
I'd challenge the duty on 2 grounds

1 - Turkey is in the EU
2 - THIS REASON

Was going to, but my ex paid it off and wouldn't allow me to challenge it. So just had to pay her back. Next time I'll challenge it and see what happens.

Raymond Lin · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:25

An Exception said:
Was going to, but my ex paid it off and wouldn't allow me to challenge it. So just had to pay her back. Next time I'll challenge it and see what happens.

Back to the quality of the book

1 - up to expectation?
2 - going to order more?
3 - best and worst aspect of it?

An Exception · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:34

Raymond Lin said:
Back to the quality of the book

1 - up to expectation?
2 - going to order more?
3 - best and worst aspect of it?

Yes going to order more.
Everything was great, and much prefer it over loxley in terms of character. However the font on the album should have been bolder to make the text more visible, but I'll know for next time (you get to choose your own font).

Raymond Lin · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:36

An Exception said:
Yes going to order more.
Everything was great, and much prefer it over loxley in terms of character. However the font on the album should have been bolder to make the text more visible, but I'll know for next time (you get to choose your own font).

Cool, I have a perfect wedding to test this on !

How much was duty btw? and how long from order to delivery?

An Exception · 27 Aug 2015 at 22:48

Duty was around £35.
Delivery took about 3 weeks as it got delayed by Ramadan.

mr tommo · 27 Aug 2015 at 23:33

Funny is excellent.

Saves so much time and just allows you to be so much more flexible with the numbers of images. Mainly do pocket albums with it but hated their LDP program.

Vertigo · 28 Aug 2015 at 07:42

mr tommo said:
Funny is excellent.

Saves so much time and just allows you to be so much more flexible with the numbers of images. Mainly do pocket albums with it but hated their LDP program.

(Presume you mean Fundy

)

Been discussing this on TP - I presume you're using Fundy to produce full page exports which you then dump into LDP?

Someone from Loxley suggested this was a bad idea as they then wouldn't be able to colour correct individual images but I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be in reality. Quite a few people seem to go this route of designing in another package and producing full pages to send to Loxley (or whoever).

An Exception · 28 Aug 2015 at 09:41

That was funny.

But yes I used smart albums to design full pages, then uploaded them for album company to print.
From what I heard Fundy can be a little slow in performance compared to smart albums, although they are a similar type of program in terms of how you use them.

sid-180 · 28 Aug 2015 at 17:18

Isn't smart albums only for Mac and not for windows?