iWork

Show the Love with a Personalized MagCloud Gift

Lauren1 Comment

ValentineTemplate-featured

It’s February, which means it’s officially time to start thinking about gifts for your friends and loved-ones for Valentine’s Day. But rather than buying an impersonal card at the store, why not make the holiday more meaningful with a DIY Recipe Book, Instagram-style poster or custom card? We’ve designed templates to help you get started and we can’t wait to see what you’re inspired to create!

View MagCloud Recipe Booklet on MagCloud.comRecipe Booklet

Around the holidays, we’re a big fan of the K.I.S.S method (Keep it simple, Silly!), so with that in mind we’ve created a template that makes for a great little gift, but doesn’t take a whole lot of time to create.

You can choose how little or how much to customize of this 12-page Digest Landscape recipe booklet. Make it personal by including photos, love notes and your favorite recipes, or you can use ours (don’t worry we won’t tell).

We’re offering the same template in some of your favorite software applications, so click on the links below to download the template of your choosing and get started!

Adobe InDesign CS4 or newer

***InDesign users: There are multiple layers in your file for you to get instructions and customize the design. Please note the “Example” layer is currently set to not print, so if you want to use our recipes and just edit the design directly, select the “Example” layer in the Layers palette and right-click to edit the “layer options” (just check the box that says “Print Layer”)

Apple iWork Pages

View MagCloud Valentine Poster Template on MagCloud.com

Personalized Instagram Poster or Card

If the recipe booklet seems like too much, or you’d rather make a big impression without too much work, then the Instagram Poster or greeting card templates will be perfect for you. Swap in some personal photos of you and your loved one, or artistic shots they might enjoy and add a personalized message and you’re good to go!

Just be sure to use images that are high-enough resolution:

  • Poster – the squares require images that are at least 900 x 900 pixels  and the rectangular images need to be a minimum of 1900 x 900 pixels.
  • Card – the square images need to be a minimum of 600×600 pixels and the rectangular images need to be a minimum of 1200×600 pixels.

Get the poster Template:

Adobe InDesign CS4 or newer

Apple iWork Pages

View MagCloud Valentine Card Template on MagCloud.comGet the card template:

Adobe InDesign CS4 or newer

Apple iWork Pages

Word

Play with Typography for a More Personal Feel

All of the templates include standard system fonts, but to emulate that custom handmade look in our examples we recommend you swap out the typefaces for something more creative:

ValentineTemplate-blackjack
ValentineTemplate-jennasue

MagCloud Calendars + Your Business

The Magcloud Team19 Comments

Click here for info on our 2016 calendar templates!

The New Year is rapidly approaching, so if you’ve been wanting to put together a calendar for client gifts or to promote your business, then stop procrastinating and get to it!

No matter what business you’re in, calendars are a great way to keep your name in front of your client all year long.

We know that assembling a calendar can be time consuming, so to save you time, we’ve created templates for some of your favorite design software, in multiple sizes that fit just about any budget and style. Just pick your software and product size, then get your content and imagery together. With just a few edits to typeface and colors you can create a calendar that is uniquely your own.

<< Want to get inspired? Check out Merritt Photography’s Seasonal Reflections 2013 Calendar. Jennifer Koskinen created a fabulous calendar that celebrates the seasons with artful iphoneography and inspired quotations by distinguished photographers and designers. Koskinen did so using our 8″ x 8″ Small Square product to create an elegant and minimalist calendar that fits her brand and budget.

Product Options:

Small Square (8″ x 8″) calendars

These are ideal for square photos like those from Instagram. With Saddle-Stitch Binding a 28 page calendar will cost $5.60/each + Shipping.

Standard (8.25″ x 10.75″) calendars

Our classic letter-sized publication. With Saddle-Stitch Binding a 28 page calendar will cost $5.60/each + Shipping.

Large Square (12″ x 12″) calendars

One of our larger products, this Wire-O bound style has heavier stock paper and is well suited for showing off beautiful images. At 28 pages a calendar costs $12.08/each + Shipping

InDesign CS5 and Newer

InDesign CS4

Pages

Microsoft Word

Restrictions in Microsoft Word make it difficult to have an editable calendar grid in the Word template, so we’ve created three different templates for our Standard size calendar that offer a variety of grid styles as static images. Choose from a classic “Grid style”, a sleek “Line style” or a clean “Corner Style” and add your images to get the look you want.

Poyomi

Tabloid 14″ x 11″ calendar

Don’t want to use any of the above applications? MagCloud’s Partner Poyomi has an easy-to-use web-based platform that helps you create impressive 14″ x 11″ calendars that are printed by MagCloud. With their service you can easily upload photos from your computer or connect to your accounts on photo-sharing services like Flickr, Smugmug, Picasa and Facebook.

*Please note that using the Poyomi tool and templates to create a calendar or photo book will affect the pricing. For Poyomi pricing, visit poyomi.com/pricing

To get started with the Poyomi calendar tool click here.

Check out some of our favorite calendars currently on MagCloud:

Make Summer Last All Year – Turn Your Photos into a Calendar

Lauren10 Comments

In the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about ways to turn your photos into something special with MagCloud. Whether that’s creating a photo book with Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture, or creating a Summer Memory Magazine, MagCloud makes it easy to enjoy your photos in beautiful print and digital formats. So why not enjoy Summer all year-round by creating a calendar with your photographs?

To help you get started, we’ve created 6 templates for you to use with Adobe InDesign and Apple Pages. Simply add your own photos, special dates and details, upload your PDF to MagCloud and you’re set! You can sell your calendar online in the MagCloud Storefront or use our Direct Mail feature to send a copy to all of your friends with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Let’s get started!

Select the Format/Size of Calendar

Our templates are available in 3 sizes:

  • Small Square (8″ x8″) calendars (ideal for square photos like those from Instagram) with Saddle  Stitch Binding (28 pages – $5.60/each + Shipping)
  • Standard (10.75″ x 8.25″) calendars with Saddle Stitch Binding (28 pages – $5.60/each + Shipping)
  • Large Square (12″ x 12″) calendars with Wire-O Binding (28 pages – $12.08/each + Shipping)

*Remember that prices drop 25% off when you order 20 copies or more. So if you’re looking to order gifts for friends and family, or a great way to promote your business–a MagCloud-published calendar may be the perfect solution.

Select Your Software

InDesign CS5 & Newer

InDesign CS4

Pages

Script (handwriting) Typeface used in templates: Jenna Sue

Calendars for Business

You may also remember that last year we talked about using a MagCloud-printed calendar to promote your business. In exchange for you summer vacation photos, you can easily add images of your products, team members, or local scenery. Add your logo to the back cover along with a bit about your business and contact information and voila–you’ll keep your brand top-of-mind and in front of your customers all-year-round.

Since last year’s calendar template was so popular we also decided to revamp it for 2013. Enjoy!

That sounds too complicated for me.

Don’t want to use either of the above applications? MagCloud Partner Poyomi has an easy-to-use web-based platform that helps you create 14″ x 11″ calendars that are printed by MagCloud. With their service you can easily upload photos from your computer or connect to your accounts on photo-sharing services like Flickr, Smugmug, Picasa and Facebook.

*Please note that using the Poyomi tool and templates to create a calendar or photo book will affect the pricing. For Poyomi pricing, visit poyomi.com/pricing

To get started with the Poyomi calendar tool click here.

Eternalize Summer Memories With Your Own Magazine

Lauren4 Comments

Though Summer’s heat lingers on, Labor day is just around the corner marking the unofficial end of Summer.  Whether your family took a big trip or just used the lazy afternoons to hang out together, you are sure to have plenty of memories – and pictures – you want to save.

For many, vacation photographs wind up unorganized and spread amongst their hard drives, cell phones, Instagram and Facebook–doomed to be lost in the shuffle. With that in mind, why not take an afternoon and organize your family’s vacation experience, photographs, and mementos into a summer memory magazine?

With MagCloud’s beautiful print quality and direct mail options, you can even order copies to be sent directly to grandparents, cousins and friends to enjoy.

Getting Started: Where will you create your PDF?

First, you’ll want to select a platform to design/assemble your MagCloud-ready PDF­. You can use web-based Poyomi, or software like Adobe InDesign, Quark, Apple iWork Pages, or Microsoft Word.

As you get started, you can choose to start with a pre-designed template from the software (if available), or with a plain MagCloud template available here. You may even remember a post from awhile back, when we used Apple Pages’ built-in Templates to create magazines.

Organize Your Images and Treasures

Next, gather together your vacation photographs and organize them into a single folder. Then select the images that most effectively represent your vacation experience.

Collect any small items that you may have picked up along the way (i.e., a drink coaster with a resort’s logo, maps, airline ticket stubs, brochures from attractions, etc.). Such items can be scanned and added throughout your magazine and provide a more personal touch to the project. For example, you can use your ticket stubs from the theme park to give a different look to your family’s latest roller coaster adventure.

Order and Details

Although you have complete creative control over how you assemble your summer memory magazine, the easiest way is to assemble things is in chronological order so those enjoying your magazine can experience your vacation from start to finish. Throughout the publication you can include  quotes from your family members, or funny anecdotes – like when the duck bit the zoo keeper during his presentation.

Be sure to take the time to caption your photographs, indicating the “who, what, when, and where” of each picture. This will be helpful for others viewing your memory magazine and for you in later years when small details slip from memory.

Write a short paragraph for each of your summer highlights. Ask your children for input and have them answer questions about their favorite parts of the summer. You’ll be amazed by what they come up with and it’s always fun to look back and remember what was happening in pop culture at the time.

Some details you may want to include:

  • Favorite Summer Memory
  • Places and people you visited
  • Friends made
  • Activities and Games played
  • Movies watched
  • Books read
  • Song that was on repeat in the car
  • The silliest moment of the summer

Design Can be Daunting

When it comes to assembling your summer memory magazine, don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of design skills or experience. You can look at magazines for inspiration, simply use photos and captions for a basic layout, or even re-purpose templates that have nothing to do with this purpose. You can find inspiration anywhere, you just have to look past the content and look at the design. For example, the magazine pictured above used our Microsoft Publisher Brochure Template as a starting point for the layout. The design was a perfect way to include ample text to tell the story that went along with the photos. A few tweaks to colors and typefaces and we were able to completely transform the look of the original design..

As an additional example below, we used the layout from an Apple Pages design template for a school yearbook. With a few changes (and by deleting the extra clip art that made the layout look  “education-centric” we were able to create a casual scrapbook-style. Adding a scanned scrap of paper with Sara’s favorite memory from the water park gave the page a personalized feel.

Microsoft Word also has some great “Newsletter Templates” that are built-in to the software (Mac) or available online. Below are some samples that could be easily tweaked and used as the interior pages of your memory magazine.

No matter what software or platform you choose to create your magazine in, there are lots of sources for inspiration. So start designing and have some fun with it!

Have you created a photo magazine or book with MagCloud to commemorate and event, trip or season in your life? Tell us about it, or share your publication in the comments below!

Put MagCloud to Work: Publish a Business Brochure

LaurenLeave a comment

A wise person once said ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’. In fact, it just takes a few seconds or a cursory glance for a person to make a judgment about us. Our subsequent actions, behavior and professionalism may change that perception slightly, but not to a great extent.

So it stands to reason that how you portray your business to prospective clients is almost as important as how you do business.

Whether you are a fashion designer, a multi-media training company, an industry consultant, a yoga studio, or a niche photographer, putting your brand out there in a professional manner is extremely important.

One could argue that a brochure is just as important as your business card. It is an important marketing and sales tool, one in which you can do a little bragging and shamelessly present your business in the most positive light. It is your opportunity to create a lasting impression, so be sure that it is a good one.

Whether you are a company with a staff of 2, 20 or 20,000, MagCloud is a great tool for affordably publishing and distributing your brochures in a professional format. Our full-color, full-bleed print options in both standard and digest trim sizes give you the choice to create a robust brochure of multiple pages, or something simple and portable, like a four-paged digest handout. Digital distribution options also make it easy to share your brochure digitally to a desktop, laptop, the iPad, or other mobile device.

MagCloud’s ship-to-group feature makes it easy to drop-ship seasonal information or annual brochures to your clients around the world. Or, if you are a small business, its on-demand functionality means that you can distribute individual copies as needed to interested clients, allowing you to maintain a professional appearance without exceeding a limited budget.

Once you have these great logistics and beautiful print quality, the only thing holding you back is content, and design. Here are a few tips for gathering the content you should include in your brochures, and how to effectively assemble it into a professional-looking publication.

Getting Started:

Who are you talking to?

The first thing you need to know is what you want your brochure to accomplish. That ties directly into the target audience and what the message of the brochure will be. Identify your target audience and speak directly to them. Never try to address everyone. Once you know who your audience is, it will be easier to target your messaging and articulate that your product or service is a solution to their needs.

What is your message?

Always include a meaningful headline. Your headline should clearly communicate your main point so that even if the reader reads nothing else, they will understand what you are about.

Tell the whole story in your writing. Be concise, but remember to write your body copy in plain English. Don’t use jargon or industry lingo, instead pretend you’re explaining your message to a friend.

It’s helpful to use succinct, pithy copy. Avoid long sentences. Keep your message to the point. Use subheadings liberally, as they break up long copy and help draw a reader through the text. Ideally, a reader should be able to get a good grasp of your message by reading only the headings and subheadings.

Designing Your Brochure: 

When all of your information is gathered and your writing is done, you can finally get down to the business of designing. You’ll want take into account the basic elements of good design – organization, consistent styling, balance, color, and so on.

Lay out your brochure cleanly and professionally. The design should draw the reader in and ease the process of reading. Remember that erring on the simple side will be easier for your consumer than an over-designed, distracting or hard-to-read brochure.

It’s great to use graphics to provide balance with text, but be sure they are relevant to your content. Use graphics that grab your reader’s attention and underline your message. Whether it’s a picture, logo, or stock image, just be sure it relates to your message and brand.

As with any design there are some things you’ll want to avoid. These include:

  • Avoid over-used typefaces, such as Arial and Helvetica. Read more in our recent blog post.
  • For content type, keep the point size under 12.
  • Don’t use more than three type faces in a brochure.
  • Generally don’t use more than one alignment.

If you feel lost…

Starting from scratch on a brochure can be challenging. Some great resources for design inspiration can come from other designs. Try searching the web for brochures in your industry and see how your design stacks up against the competition. You don’t want to copy someone else’s design, but it’s a great way to get inspired.

Also check out the stock templates available within most design and word-processing software. If you aren’t a super-savvy designer using InDesign or Quark, you’ll be amazed what you can do with Apple iWork Pages, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Publisher. For those who are confident in their skills with the software, but looking to get a more professional look, you can also investigate altering templates from Stocklayouts or Inkd, just be sure you are ready to tweak these designs as they are not all perfectly sized for output through MagCloud.

Have you published your company’s brochure through MagCloud, or found other great resources for inspiration and design? Please share them in the comments below.

The Importance of Layouts and Templates

Lauren3 Comments

Whether you’re a design newbie, or a seasoned veteran, sitting down to create a new publication can be a daunting task. There’s nothing more frustrating than staring at a blank page, feeling stuck, and unsure of where to begin. It’s often easier to change things that don’t work for you, than to completely start from scratch, which is why we suggest starting with an existing document. It can be the design of a similar publication, or a simple template that has preloaded margins, column guides and style sheets, that you can quickly adjust for a head start. The advantage of dong this, it that the basics of the page are already in place so you can focus on your content and styling.

Why use a template?

Whether you are creating a 12-page or 120-page publication, if you plan to create a series with the same style, you’ll definitely want to invest the time to develop style sheets, and come up with a few layouts that you can repurpose each time you publish. This will help you keep a visual consistency not only throughout each publication, but also from publication to publication over time.

Some of our publishers have done a great job of this, and you can see how it helps reinforce their brand to have consistent styling throughout each publication.  Check out a few issues of Hacker Monthly or Livestrong, or portfolios by professional photographer David Livingston and you will see what we mean. Each of these publishers have developed a consistent style using templates that is unmistakably and identifiably their own.

Not an expert at design? No problem. Using a professional-looking template can increase your credibility, and make any publisher look like a pro. Find a template that has a style that resonates with you and use it as a springboard to get yourself started. You can see some great examples of this in our blog post Easy Design with Templates in Apple’s [iWork] Pages, where we turned a basic Symphony Program into a business services guide for an event planning company, a sports team yearbook, and a fashion magazine, with just a few changes in font, colors and photography.

Finding Templates
Where to look and what to look for…

Some software comes equipped with built-in templates, and you can also find great free and paid templates online at the companies’ websites, like Microsoft has for Word and Publisher here, or Adobe has for InDesign at Adobe.com

Still can’t find what you need? Other resources exist where you can buy specific designs for your needs and many of these sites make their templates available for a variety of design programs like Inkd and Stocklayouts.com.

When picking your templates, there are a number of things to consider for your publication:

1. Is this template for an 8.5″ x 11″ document? If it’s designed as a 17″ x 11″ spread, do I know how to adjust it to the right size?

2. What sort of page-layouts are included in the template?

3. Does the template have the right ratio of graphics to text for my needs?

4. Are there hidden layouts that I don’t see? * Hint: if you are using iWorks Pages, there probably are!

5. Does the style suit the audience I am trying to reach? If not, is it easily changed with a few font/color tweaks?

6. Don’t feel restricted by the stock photography or color palette used in a template. Keep in mind our example of the Symphony Program being transformed into a fashion magazine or an event planner’s business collateral

7. Ask yourself, “This template isn’t designed for my specific use-case, but does the overall layout and feel fit my purpose? Could I transform it into something that works?”

Ready to customize your template?
A few tips for making any template fit your needs.

– Unless you get a template directly from our blog, you will likely have to alter some of their settings to accommodate MagCloud’s printing requirements. Before you start making any edits to your template, be sure the document settings match those in the MagCloud Help Section.

– When you make changes to fonts and colors, always do this by editing the font or paragraph style sheets. This way, if you don’t like a change that you have made, it will be easy to adjust and will change that style use on all of the pages of the template.

– Always start with the original file and make 2 or 3 versions, each with different fonts or colors. Then save each as it’s own template so that you can compare them and easily decide which one you like best.

Ready, Set, Start Publishing!

Now that you have your template selected, it’s up to you to make it your own. Need a bit of extra help? Check out our other Tips & Tricks blog posts, or visit the help sections of your software’s site. Many of them have great how-to resources and videos to help you on your way.

Adobe InDesign

Microsoft Office

iWorks Pages

Vacationing with MagCloud

Patty2 Comments

Memorial Day is a welcome beacon that summer is around the corner. As you finalize your plans for summer, MagCloud wants to provide you with a way to capture all of those special memories and experiences – whether it’s a staycation near home, a road trip to the national park or a getaway to an exotic locale.

How are you chronicling this precious time? Some of us may remember those family gatherings in front of the carousel slide projector or the bulky albums our parents put together after every trip. Now with MagCloud, you can create a personal memento in magazine format to easily share your memories with family and friends in print and digitally.

Here are a few tips and tools to assist you through the process:

  • If you’re creating a simple photo magazine, below are a few tips and resources to “prep” your images before publishing.
    • To produce a quality publication, make sure all images have a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch.
    • If you’re looking for photo editing tools but don’t have access to Photoshop, check out GIMP (free software that features most of the capabilities that Photoshop offers) or any of these additional photo editing tools.
    • Short on time or not comfortable with design tools? Give Poyomi and turn the photo sets into a magazine without using a design program.
    • Need inspiration? Browse through some of our travel and vacation magazines.

Have you ever used MagCloud to create a magazine of memories? It’s even a great way to commemorate a school year, a birth, a wedding and more. With MagCloud’s digital publishing and print-on-demand capabilities, it’s never been easier or more budget-friendly to capture the special moments in life.

Sending Your Holiday Newsletter Just Got Easier

Lauren8 Comments

There’s no ignoring that the holidays are creeping closer. It’s time to take that family portrait, write those greeting cards and send our annual updates and well-wishes on their way to our loved-ones.

But if you’re like me, the idea of hand addressing 100+ cards to family and friends, and stuffing envelopes seems like madness.

But for just 60¢ each (when you order in bulk), sending a 4-page glossy family newsletter is much more fun and affordable and you can you can save the wasted hours and annoying paper cuts from stuffing envelopes.

We’ve created six holiday newsletter templates to get you started so you can spend more time enjoying a cup of hot cocoa and playing with the kids.

How it Works
A 4-page publication costs just 80¢ when ordered individually and drops to 60¢ when you order in bulk of 20 or more copies. So you can create a 4-page newsletter and ship them anywhere in the US for about $1.70. Better yet you don’t have to brave the crowds at the post office or lick a single stamp.

Using MagCloud’s “Ship to Group” Feature
The “Ship to Group” feature lets you mail publications to multiple recipients with a single order. That means you can design your newsletter, upload it to MagCloud, and let MagCloud handle distributing copies to everyone on your list.

Shipping each copy costs more than a USPS stamp, (it’s about $1.09 domestic) but when you consider each copy only costs you $0.60 (when you order 20 or more copies)–spending less than $1.70 for 4-full-color pages, delivered to your loved ones with just a few clicks of the mouse–is easily worth it!

If you need help working with Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Word, or Apple iWork Pages check out previous posts on working with each application in our  ‘tips and tricks’ section.

For a basic template that maximizes your space for a family newsletter, and gives you the ease of “Ship to Group,” check these out:

Preview the InDesign (Ship to Group) Newsletter Template

DOWNLOAD the InDesign CS4 or newer (Ship to Group) Newsletter Template

Preview the Word (Ship to Group) Newsletter Template

DOWNLOAD the Word (Ship to Group) Newsletter Template

Preview the Pages (Ship to Group) Newsletter Template

DOWNLOAD the Pages (Ship to Group) Newsletter Template

Ship it Yourself:
If you prefer to put a little extra love into your mailing, want to sign your name, add a sticker or simply put a personal note in a few of your messages, then use one of the  “Fold and Ship” Holiday templates. These have an address area for you to adhere address labels and a stamp, and are intended to be folded to a 8.25″ x 5.375″ size and sealed so that they can be mailed with a 44¢ 1st-class stamp.

This template style requires that you order a bulk order to be shipped to youself, and then you handle folding them in half and mailing. While this process can save you a bit of money–these averages about $1.35 per letter–(depending on stickers, address labels and postage) it’s more time consuming.

Preview  the InDesign (Fold and Mail) Newsletter Template

DOWNLOAD the InDesign CS4 or newer (Fold and Mail) Newsletter Template

Preview the Word (Fold and Mail) Newsletter Template

DOWNLOAD the Word (Fold and Mail) Newsletter Template

Preview the Pages (Fold and Mail) Newsletter Template

DOWNLOAD the Pages (Fold and Mail) Newsletter Template

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

How Do I Create a Group Order?

Simply create an address group in your MagCloud address book (Account>Address book>Add New Group). Name your group — clients, friends, family, vendors etc — and select group members from existing recipients in your address book.

Once your recipients and group are ready, add the newsletter to your cart. Set the quantity to the number intended for each recipient, not the total for all recipients. For example, if you are sending 1 copy to 20 recipients you should set the quantity to 1.

When you get to the shipping page, click “Select from Address Book »”, choose your address group and complete checkout. That’s it! Costs will be displayed for the total order including all recipients.

Can I upload my own mailing list to my MagCloud address book?

Not currently, but that is a feature we hope to offer in a future site update.

Have more questions about Shipping or Publishing through MagCloud?

Check out our Help Section and Shipping FAQ.

Create a Calendar with iWork’s Pages

Lauren11 Comments

Today we are focusing is on creating a calendar with Apple iWork’s Pages.

Hey PC users: check out yesterday’s post about using Microsoft Word, or check back tomorrow to see  how to use MagCloud’s Flickr Uploadr to create a super cool calendar with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Let’s get started with Pages.

I’m a new fan of Pages, (Apple’s design tool that comes in their iWork productivity suite) and if you are Mac user looking to do some basic design without spending a ton (iWork retails for just $79 at store.apple.com) it’s an easy program to use, and is great for projects like a family calendar.

You can create a lot of great looking calendars using the exact same template, just by making a few changes to fonts, color and pictures.

Preview Wedding Photography Calendar Preview Parma Photography Calendar on MagCloud Preview my Family Calendar on MagCloud

GETTING STARTED:

The template is already set up with 28 pages, so making a few customizations and saving the file as a PDF should be quick and easy!

Download the basic calendar template that I designed here, or at the bottom of this post, you can preview and download some of the variations that I created using the same template, by making a few modifications to the style sheet.

MAKE IT YOUR OWN:
Because I designed this template for use with MagCloud, it’s already formatted to accomodate bleed and trim settings. This means you can just start modifying the style to fit your needs. Because this Pages template has a built-in Paragraph style sheet, it will be easy to keep a consistent style throughout your calendar.

Change view to “Facing pages”
This not only helps with visualizing layout, but also will help you keep the orientation of your photos straight when placing them in the document.

Styling your Calendar
Not making a family calendar? Then go through each page and make the necessary adjustments to layout and fonts. As I mentioned before, all of the above calendars use the exact same layout, with slight tweaks to the fonts and colors. It’s amazing how simple style changes can make a template your own. There are 3 styles in the template: “Title,” “Days of the Week” and “Numbers of the Month;” so changing these styles will transform the look of your calendar. Let’s get started!

Adjusting a Paragraph Style:

Show Font Window1. Expose the “Font Window” by selecting the “A” icon in the Toolbar (If for some reason you don’t see the toolbar at the top of your application frame, then Select VIEW >> Show Toolbar, then select the “A” icon)

Show Styles Drawer

2. Select a block of text that you wish to modify

3. Make desired changes to font, size, weight and color using the “Font Window.” As you make selections, you should see the font change on the page.

4. Expose the “Styles Drawer”

Redefine Style from Selection

5. Select the block of text again–notice how it highlights the selected style in the “Styles Drawer.”

5. Update your paragraph style sheet so that all of the subsequent uses of this style reflect the style changes. You can do this by either “right-clicking” or “ctrl+ click” on the name of the font style in your “Styles Drawer”, then select “Redefine Style from Selection.”

Adding Special Dates to the Calendar:

Half the fun of making your own calendar, is including special dates that are important to you. So, whether you are creating a calendar for your child’s sports team, and you want to include their match dates; or if you are creating a calendar for your family, and you want to include Birthdays and Anniversaries; or if you want to create a calendar for your business and include special events and sales– it’s easy to do.

Because the numbers of the month are dependent on one another, typing directly in the square won’t work. Instead, follow the instructions below to add text boxes to your calendar. (Tip: You can also use these steps to add captions to your photos)

1. Select the Text Box Icon from the Toolbar (it looks like a “T” in a box)–
this will create a small box that you can move around the page

2. Type the information (ie. “Mom’s Birthday” or”Ladybugs vs. ‘Lil Giants”)

Grabbing the corners of the frame, adjust the size to 1.4 x1.03. Grabbing the corner of the text box, adjust the size of the box to 1.4 x 1.0 (this way you can see how it will fit in the day’s square)

4. Adjust the size if the text so that it fits well inside the box and select your desired color and font.

Create New Paragraph Style

5. Highlight the text again.

6. In the Styles Drawer, hold down the “+” at the bottom of the menu and select “Create New Paragraph Style from Selection” (You can also select FORMAT >> “Create New Paragraph Style from Selection” from the application menu bar)

7. Name your new style. This makes it possible fro you to use this style for other dates as you add them to your calendar.

Rotate the Text Box using the Metrics Tab in the Inspector toolkit8. With the text box selected, go to the “Metrics” tab in the Inspector window; use the rotation settings to rotate the text 90º.

9. Drag the box to the appropriate date on the calendar page.

Tip: Save yourself some extra steps by copying and pasting this text box throughout the document. (Select the text box and use “command+ C ” and “command+ V” to copy/paste) Then you can change the text, but it will maintain the style, size and rotation.

Save your file as a “Template” for future uses

If you plan to create another calendar, be sure to save your personalized document as a template. It’s easy to do, just select “File> Save as Template.” This puts a copy of your file into the Pages Template Chooser so you can find it easily next time you launch the application.

Tip: Because your using a template to create your calendar, and have the power of HP MagCloud’s digital printing, there’s no reason you can’t personalize your calendars… Perhaps change the cover image for Aunt Margaret’s calendar? Or make one with more photos of the kids for you In-Laws? Or create calendars that cater to your clients or program sponsors… it’s up to you!

TURNING YOUR DOCUMENT INTO A PDF:
You’re done designing? Yay!
This part couldn’t be easier! Simply select “FILE>> Export.”
Leave the default settings for PDF, and save your file.

WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PAGES?

Apple’s Pages ’09 site

Apple Store: iWork $79

PREVIEW the modified templates:

Preview Wedding Photography CalendarPREVIEW Template modified for a wedding photographer on MagCloud

 

 

PREVIEW Template modified for the PopWarner Team on MagCloud

 

 

PREVIEW Template modified for a business (Venetian Glass Blowers) on MagCloud

 

 

Preview Parma Photography Calendar on MagCloudPREVIEW Template modified for Parma, Italy Calendar on MagCloud

 

 

Preview my Family Calendar on MagCloudPREVIEW Template modified for a family calendar on MagCloud

 

 

Easy Design with Templates in Apple’s [iWork] Pages

Lauren7 Comments

If you’ve been holding off on publishing through MagCloud because you didn’t have the design skills, couldn’t afford expensive design software and didn’t have a best friend who is a graphic designer, why not use a template in a more accessible application?

PC users, I apologize, as this post doesn’t apply to you, but Mac lovers: GET EXCITED.

With Apple’s iWork Pages it’s easy to make a MagCloud-ready PDF. Here in my second exploration of basic design software, I’ll dive into using Apple’s design tool that comes in their iWork productivity suite (retails for just $79 at store.apple.com) to create your MagCloud publication.

When you open Pages it will offer you a number of template options. Any designed to print full size on an 8.5”x 11” piece of paper are almost great starting points for creating MagCloud publications. A number of other sites also offer Pages templates, but for my example today, I’m going to use the standard “Program” template in the application’s “Template Chooser”.

The original Pages version is available here: Download original Pages Template and my MagCloud-ready version with a Southern California theme, is available here: Download Modified Template

GETTING STARTED:
To get started, you’ll want to find and open a template.

In this case I found mine in the “Template Chooser” within the Pages application. Because the template is designed for a US Letter sized paper (8.5” x 11”) it will be really easy modify for my own use.

CUSTOMIZING A TEMPLATE:
Apple’s Pages templates all come with built-in Paragraph and Character style templates which make it much easier to keep a consistent style throughout your publication.

Rather than start with a blank document, I always start with a template in Pages and modify it to suit my needs, this way I already have built-in paragraph and character styles.

*With this particular application, it’s my suggestion that you work on setting up your template before you start adding any of your content.

Add all pre-designed pages within the template
Within the template there are a number of layout styles available. In my example here there are eight (varying from a cover, table of contents, feature article and 4-column text page, etc).

The reason for doing this is that you want to see what’s available to you, and actually modify the “template” so that you can use it again and again, rather than having to copy and paste design elements repetitively throughout the design process.

Change view to “Facing pages”
This not only helps with visualizing layout, but also will help you decide which page styles are going to be right-hand pages and left-hand pages.

Add guides to pages and adjust layout for trim
Adding guides to the outside edges of each page will ensure that everything will fit inside the trim line). Because MagCloud trims its documents to 8.25” x 10.75” we are going to lose 0.125” inches off the top and bottom, and 0.25” off the outside edge. This means in order for our template to be centered on the printed page, we are going to have to adjust the content on the page. With your Rulers active and visible, you’ll want to drag guides into place (0.13 in from the top and bottom, 0.25 from the outside edges). Be sure when you are designing your templates that you are making a conscious decision as to which pages will be left-hand pages and which will be right-hand pages. It will help to name them as such when you “capture” the layouts in a later step.

Adjust style sheets to your needs
Not making a ‘Metropolitan Symphony Program?’ Then go through each page and make the necessary adjustments to layout and fonts. You’ll notice this is exactly the same layout, with different fonts and colors. Amazing how simple style changes can make a template your own.

Tip: After you have adjusted a font in the font menu, such as the headline, update your template style sheet so you can easily apply the same style again. You can do this by either “right-clicking” or “ctrl+ click” on the name of the font style in your “Styles Drawer”, then select “Redefine Style from Selection.”

“Capture Pages” for future use
Save yourself a lot of work in the future by establishing your own templates with your style/colors and fixed text. Once you have modified the provided pages in the template with your own fonts and colors, you can “Capture Pages” to use in your template over and over again. You can do this by “right-clicking” or “ctrl+ click” on the page thumbnails on the left margin or by selecting “FORMAT> Advanced> Capture Pages”

Tip: since you have adjusted your content for the trim settings, be sure to name pages accordingly, like “Left-Feature” or “Right-4 paragraph story”). To delete the old template pages, select “FORMAT> Advanced> Manage Pages.”

Commit to a page count and layout
Planning ahead will save you a lot of design time. You should come up with an outline for your publication before you start laying out pages or entering content. This is important because inserting one page at the front of your document will throw off the layout for all of the subsequent spreads. You should also take your layout into consideration when designing and capturing your template spreads, because certain content will be better suited for a right-hand or left-hand page layout.

Save your file as a “Template” for future issues
If you plan to have future issues with this same style, be sure to save your personalized document as a template. It’s easy to do, just select “File> Save as Template.” This puts a copy of your file into the Pages Template Chooser so you can find it easily next time you launch the application.

TURNING YOUR DOCUMENT INTO A PDF:
This part couldn’t be easier! Simply select “FILE> Export.” Leave the default settings for PDF, and save your file.

WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PAGES?

Apple’s Pages ’09 site

Apple Store: iWork $79

PREVIEW THE TEMPLATES ON MAGCLOUD

Original Brochure Template

Original Brochure Template with minor changes

Transformed Brochure Template with Southern California theme