For project ideas and more, visit:
www.epsoncreativezone.com
Coffee table hard-bound books are becoming very popular. You
can create them online and have them printed and sent to you,
or you can make one yourself using StoryTeller™ Photo Book
Creator from Epson®. StoryTeller is an all-inclusive kit with
everything you need to turn your digital photos into a beautiful,
hard-bound glossy photo book for friends and family to enjoy.
And it can be printed and assembled right at home.
You get a durable, pre-bound book in one of 3 popular sizes (5x7
with 10 pages, 8x10 with 10 pages, and 8x10 with 20 pages), along
with glossy photo pages, a glossy book cover, plus easy-to-use
software that lets you select, enhance and place up to 400 photos.
We’re going to discuss FIVE different ways to use Epson’s
5x7 or 8x10 StoryTeller.
1. Building your book using StoryTeller software: Once you have
the StoryTeller software loaded onto your computer, building your
book is very easy! Professionally-designed templates let you lay
out pages on your computer. Choose from 6 different book styles,
each with 10 page layouts for a total of 60 unique page layouts,
plus 18 cover selections. Then, you can add your own captions
and titles to tell the story behind your pictures – all
of which makes creating this stunning book a breeze. The process
is so simple, and the results so amazing, that you'll want to
make several.
2. Creating your book with designs meant for use with Photoshop
Elements: Another quick way to create a 5x7 book is to use one
of the pre-designed templates available for download on www.epsoncreativezone.com.
We’ve created and included alongside this article two sets
of templates – Good Times Designs and Heritage Theme Designs.
All you need do to complete these pages is to add your own photos
behind the template in PhotoShop Elements and then add any journaling
you’d like. Be sure to keep checking the CreativeZone website
for additional designs and sizes in the near future.
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A. Open the templates in Photoshop Elements by choosing File
| Open and searching for the page you want to open.
B. Open your picture in the same way. You should now have both
your template and your picture(s) in the photo bin at the bottom
of the PSE screen.
C. With your photo in the main work area (as shown to the right)
and your Move Tool selected (the keyboard shortcut for the Move
Tool is V), click on your photo with your mouse and drag it down
to the template in the photo bin.
D. The template will now pop up into the workspace with your
photo on top. You may need to resize your photo – just hold
down your Shift key, click on one of the corners with your mouse
and drag it until your photo is the desired size (be sure to release
your mouse before you release the shift key). In order to move
your photo underneath the template, you’ll need to click
on the photo layer in your Layers palette and drag it below the
template layer.
Image Photo layer on top of template
layer Photo layer below template layer
E. Just follow these steps to complete the 10 pages you’ll
need to finish your StoryTeller! Look for 8x10 templates to be
added soon!
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3. Creating your StoryTeller with original designs you create
in PSE:
If you’re familiar with digital scrapbooking, you can create
your own custom pages by designing a 5x7 scrapbook page using
your favorite papers and embellishments! Just open a new document
in PSE by going to New | File | Blank File. Select a custom size
of 7 inches wide by 5 inches tall (or 10 inches wide by 8 inches
tall for an 8x10 book), be sure your Resolution is set to 300
pixels/inch (in order to print your page at high quality), your
Color Mode is set to RGB Color, and your Background Contents is
set to White.
From here you can add digital papers, elements, journaling and
your photos. If you need more instruction, you might consider
taking Epson’s “Digital Scrapbooking Kits and Photoshop
Elements” class at an upcoming event. If you do a search
on the internet for Digital Scrapbooking you can also find tutorials
at many of the digital websites.
4. Creating your StoryTeller by scanning and reproducing your
traditional scrapbook pages: If you have a scanner you can create
a digital copy of your traditional pages and then resize them
to fit inside your StoryTeller! With 12x12 layouts, you’ll
need a program like ArcSoft’s Panorama Maker or Scan-n-Stitch
Deluxe. These programs allow you to scan your layout in two or
more sections, with plenty of overlap between, and then automatically
merge the pieces together into one seamless digital document.
The programs use the overlapping sections to match the rest of
the layout, working from the inside towards the outside. Once
you have your layout scanned and stitched, you can resize it to
a 5” x 5” square for 5x7 StoryTeller books or 8”
x 8” for an 8x10 StoryTeller book (in PSE you would do this
by going to Image | Resize | Image Size and changing the width
and height to 5 or 8 inches).
Use the steps above to create a new 5x7 or 8x10 file, then use
the Eyedropper Tool to pick a dominant color from your layout.
Use this color to fill your blank document (using the Paint Bucket
Tool) then click on your layout and drag it onto the 5x7or 8x10
file. Your layout should be even with the right side of the page,
leaving you 2 inches on the left side of the 5x7 or 8x10 page
that will be in the color you chose for your background.
5. Using your StoryTeller to Showcase your Favorite Photos: Do
you have 10 or 20 favorite photos? Why not print them in the size
of your StoryTeller and add them to the book – you’ll
instantly have a hardbound copy of your photos. And recreating
this favorite book as a gift is so easy!
We’re sure you’ll come up with even more ways to use
your StoryTeller. And now that you have the saved file on your
system, it would be so quick and easy for you to print out a few
more copies to give as gifts. Have fun being creative with your
StoryTeller.
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