Publisher's Corner

Today we begin a new blog series highlighting some of the great use cases we’ve seen people publish on MagCloud, along with design tips and inspiration to help you create your own publications. First up: portfolios.

On MagCloud we’ve seen portfolios that run the gamut from photography to fashion, architecture to interior design, music to floral arranging. With both print and digital options, uploading your portfolio to MagCloud is an easy way to spread the word about your work across a variety of mediums. With one PDF upload, you can have professionally printed books that you can send ahead or leave behind, as well as downloadable PDFs that can be displayed on any mobile device or computer.

When designing your portfolio PDF for MagCloud, a good starting point are the downloadable instruction packets on our Getting Started page for your software of choice. These step-by-step instructions will help you take your file from document setup to PDF export, and help ensure that your final publication matches MagCloud’s print specifications.

Once your file is set up, the next step is selecting your content. Since the goal of any portfolio is to highlight your work, for many industries, images will be the focal point of your content. When selecting your images, it’s important to remember to choose photos that are high enough resolution for printing, and ensure that your color profiles are embedded in your final PDF. Doing so will ensure the highest quality output of your images in print, setting a good foundation for the rest of your layout.

Which brings us to our next step, placing content in your document. When designing your portfolio layout, it’s good to determine what samples of your work you want to feature and then make that the focal point of each two-page spread. This will ensure that your work stays in the spotlight throughout the publication. If you will be using our perfect bound option, which provides a more professional look and feel with a square binding and thicker cover, don’t forget to check out our design tips for perfect binding when designing your layout to make sure you don’t lose any content into the spine.

We will be providing sources of inspiration throughout the series, but to encourage you to get something in hand to inspire your portfolio design sooner rather than later, we are lowering the production cost on print orders of the following well-designed MagCloud portfolios until the end of October:

“Trey Hill Photography Annual: Issue 1: 2010” by Trey Hill
“California Kitchens Now” by David Duncan Livingston
“James Worrell Photographs: Make Up” by James Worrell

Have you published a portfolio showcasing your work on MagCloud? Share it in the comments below, and let us know what was most important to you when designing the publication. Then, stay tuned to the MagCloud blog as we continue this new series in the coming weeks with more design tips, sources of inspiration, and a few surprises.