Publisher's Corner

Have you wanted to create a print portfolio for your photography, artwork or business but don’t have the design skills or the right software to get the job done?

Here at MagCloud we are always looking to make things easier for you, which is why we offer the option to create a print publication using a Flickr photoset. It’s easy to use, and in just a few minutes MagCloud will take a set of your photos on Flickr and lay them out in a simple one-image-per-page template to create a tidy portfolio. What’s great is that it works almost instantly and is very easy to use, so if you need to get a collection off to a potential client immediately, or have procrastinated and need to get something together quick–then this is the tool for you. Follow along with my example below, and give it a try for yourself.

Here’s how it works:

1. Upload your images to Flickr and organize them in a photoset.
Be sure to put the images in the order you wish for them to show in the portfolio. This means your first image will be your cover image, and then the rest will follow. Since each image will be assigned to a page, you will want to have a number that is an increment of 4 (that means 4, 8, 12, 16… etc). My set in this example has 36 images, so it will be 36 pages long.

2. Edit the titles of your photos. (optional)
If you wish to include captions for your photos, such as credit information, location or other details, be sure to edit the titles of your photoset while in Flickr. You’ll have the option to include these titles at the bottom of each page of your final printed portfolio, so you could also use this space to include your contact information or copyright details.

3. Start the creation process at MagCloud.com/publish.
Once you are ready to publish, select the import from Flickr option on the Create Publication page. This will launch the importer, where you can select a photoset from your Flickr account.

4. Select your options and create your file.
The Title and Subtitle you enter here will appear on the cover of your publication. This is also where you can select whether you want to include photo titles and page numbers.

5. Preview your file and set binding options.
Take a quick look at your publication to confirm your settings. You can scroll through every page to see how your portfolio will look. Happy with it? Then select your binding options and publish!

6. You’re done!
See, now wasn’t that easy? Though this example is that of a children’s sports photographer, the Flickr Import could be used to make portfolios for your jewelry design business, fine art, architecture, decorating, crafts, or graphic design work. How you use it, is up to you.

A few tips and things to consider BEFORE you start your import:

What Image will be on my cover?
For simplicity, this should be the first image in your photoset.

What order do I want my images in?
The order that your images are in within your photoset, is the order they will appear in your MagCloud portfolio.

Which images will be facing on spreads?
If the first image in your set is the cover, then images 2 and 3 will be facing pages. It’s a good idea to go through your set to be sure that you like the arrangement of these photos (are people facing off the pages, or leaning against the outside edge of a page?) if so, you may want to swap around the order of your image.

Do I want to include captions or credits?
Because the title appears at the bottom of the page using this Flickr feature, you can also use this space for copyright information, or to include your contact information. In the examples below you can see how we accomplished this. To be sure every other page has the right information, just be sure to alternate the information in the titles of your images.

Is there any non-photographic content that I want to include like my contact information/ company logo?
To do this you have to get a bit tricky and create an image of the content and save it to flickr. You can use this trick to load verbiage into alternating pages, or if you want to include your company logo and contact information and logo on the back cover, this is a great work-around to do that. Simply create the image in any application that allows you to save an image (Flickr will let you upload JPEGs, non-animated GIFs, PNGs or TIFFs) and add it to your set.

What’s the maximum image size printed with the Flickr upload?
If you want to make sure your photo takes up as much of the page as possible, size it at 1875 by 2625 pixels at a minimum of 300 dots per inch resolution.

Are my images high enough resolution for printing?
The largest image size using the flickr uploader is 2475 by 2475 pixels on the covers and 1875 by 2625 pixels for interior images. For more information about photo quality and printing check out our blog post about getting the most out of your photos.

Can I have more than one photo on a page using the “Upload from Flickr” feature?
The “Upload from Flickr” feature currently only uses one photo per page. If you are adventurous, one way around this is to create a single image file (jpg, gif, png or tiff) that contains multiple photos and upload it as part of your Flickr set. Make sure the single image file is 1875 by 2625 pixels at a minimum of 300 dots per inch resolution. When your MagCloud publication is created, this file will be placed on a single page just like your other photos, creating the impression of multiple images on a single page like this example.