Quick thoughts on Blurb

I promised an account of my Blurb experience months ago but never got around to it. Before my memory fades, let me drop a few quick notes here for anyone looking to know more about publishing photobooks with Blurb. I won’t go into the details as there are plenty of reviews out there with better content. However, I would like to share some of the BKMs (Best Known Methods) that I learned from using BookSmart, the free software offered by Blurb that turns pictures into albums.

• The software is simple and easy to use, but it is also a MAJOR memory hog. My computer at home has 3 G (DDR3) memory, which I thought was sufficient. But running BookSmart slows everything else down.  
• Importing pictures into BookSmart can be slow. This is especially true if you have more than 100 photos to import. Take a break while the software gets busy with copying pictures into its own work folder.
• If you want to go with full bleed on a page, remember that Blurb cuts away about 1/8 inch from each edge when your album goes to print. So take care not to move your focus object/subject too close to the border. Otherwise, visual balance will be off on that page.
• The gutter between opposing pages will take at least another 1/8 inch off from the page (if not more). If a picture is spread across 2 pages, don’t go for the perfect match across the split line. Instead, let a small part of the picture repeats near the center. Then you will come out with a good final product in print.
• I’m not sure if it has anything to do with my monitor setting, but pictures in the printed book usually come out one shade darker. Not a big deal for me, but in case you have higher standards, then check out the Blurb blog for color matching techniques.
• I don’t know what  image compression ratio is used, but for my albums (most of them 7″x7″), the pictures usually come out a tiny bit grainy even when the original images were at high resolution (eg. 8 M pixel). With that said, the overall finish was still impressive. In fact, if a pair of newly-weds wanted to customize a wedding album for their parents, I’d say this would be good enough.
• The glossy finish on the dust jacket is extremely impressive. It makes the book look like it’s professionally made.

In terms of ordering and shipping, the instructions are easy enough to follow. They seem to always ship before the estimated completion date (which is good!), but the shipping charges are high (min $8) and there are not many coupons floating around. Also keep in mind that all Blurb coupon codes can only be used once per account. So plan ahead wisely (or register for multiple accounts) if you know there will be multiple purchases.

Tips on using metallic heat transfer foils

Here is a wedding program completed several months ago. The cover was relatively plain, so we decorated it with the wedding theme written in gold. The effect was achieved by first printing the words (in black, and by a laser printer only) on cardstock, then lightly taped a metallic heat transfer foil (in gold) on top before sending the same piece of cardstock through the laser printer again. 

It was my first time playing with such foils. And after repeated trials and errors, here are my learnings:

• To make the foil transfer perfectly, pick paper with a smooth surface. We made the mistake of picking a textured linen cardstock, and hence saw a handful of misses in the final result
• Although most foils come with the instruction of using an iron to make the transfer, laser printer is actually the easiest way to go, and with the highest success rate
• If available, pick a laser printer that generates more heat when printing. When tried on my home printer, there were some hits and misses. But a bigger (and more heavy-duty) printer at a friend’s home produced much better results
• Printing a blank page is the best way to transfer the metallic foil onto paper (assuming the intended images or words are already printed on the paper)
• Curly and script-style fonts have a lower success rate of perfect transfer than non-script ones (eg. Century Gothic, Arial, Times New Roman, etc.)

For those interested, your local craft stores should carry the metallic heat transfer foils in different sizes and colors.  Otherwise, online stores are always open and will likely carry even wider selections of the product.

2009 Lunar New Year Cards

Although we have yet to recover from the 2009 New Year bash, another celebration – the Lunar New Year – is already around the corner! Usually, new year day in the Lunar calendar lags the Gregorian one by about 1.5 months. But this time, the 4706th new year day for the Chinese will be arriving early on Jan 26.

With this early arrival of the Lunar new year, and most of our family elders living in the far East, I started preparing the new year’s cards soon after Christmas.  Since it will be the Year of the Ox, so naturally all the cards will carry a cow (or ox) theme.

Card 1 - Beef Hot Pot

Card 2 - Cow + Bees

Red envelope with cherry blossom watermarks

2008 Christmas Cards

Handmade Christmas cards that went out to friends and family this year:

2008 Christmas

2008 Christmas

 

Homemade Wedding Cake Topper

 

My aunt is a master of crystal bead crafts. Show her anything you like, and she can usually reproduce it in beads. Since I share the same passion (although much less skillful or creative), she always sends over new recipes for her latest creations: jewelleries, teddy bears, tropical fruits, animals, even characters from Disney’s major move releases. Several weeks ago, I received another package from her. It was a box of little dolls made of crystal beads. They must be her latest projects! Looking at these dolls, an idea suddenly clicked in my head - wouldn’t they be nice as cake toppers? 

To put that thought into action, I went to the stores for the wedding doll heads, then searched my own craft box for all other ingredients and tools. After hours of hard work, I’m proud to show off the fruits of my labor:
(In case you’re wondering, the bodies are made of 4mm Swarovski bicones. Each figurine comes out to just under 2 inches tall.

Cake topper in white wedding gown and black tux

A Chinese wedding cake topper

Make your own wedding monogram

I can tell that wedding season will be long this year because of the invitations piling up on my desk. Judging from these invitations, monogram seems to be a popular trend. Personally, I’m partial to monograms because they seem more elegant and versatile than the elaborate floral patterns used in many wedding stationaries. In fact, I recently received a birth announcement with an ink stamp that looked oddly familiar. Later on, I found out from the new parents that it was in fact their wedding monogram, only it’s refreshed to include their son’s initial. So now the once wedding relic has become their new family stamp. What a great idea!

Another reason for my bias of monogram is that it can be made free at home! The recipe is quite simple. It calls for MS Powerpoint, a pool of fonts that you like and a bit of creativity. Here’re several examples:
(Check the bottom of this post for sources of fonts)

 

Fonts: Jacoba (W), Copperplate Gothic (Cara & Evan)

Watermark W: 

• Screen capture textbox with W
• Crop and save as picture
• Re-insert picture into Powerpoint
• Right click –> Format Picture
• In Picture tab, under Image control, select Color: Washout
• Click ok
• Right click on picture again –> Order –> Send to back

Turning your final product into JPEG: (applicable to Powerpoint only)

• Select all text boxes, pictures, symbols, etc. that make up your monogram
• Group all selected components (right click –> Grouping –> Group)
• Right click again on the group –> Save as Picture…
• Enter file name. Also make sure you select the proper format in “Save as type:” before pressing Save

Tips:

• Make the monogram as big as possible. A small image runs the risk of poor resolution when it’s stretched to fit your invitations, programs, menus, etc. But if you start with a huge image, then scale down to fit your design, the monogram will remain crisp and clean at the right size.
• Scripts-style fonts typically appear smaller than comtemporary ones. Don’t be afraid to go with big font sizes! For the sample above, I used 300pt for the “W” in the background.

 

Fonts: mamma gamma

Notes: If the selected font(s) leave(s) too much space between lines, try putting the names/initials in seperate text boxes, then assemble them in Powerpoint any way you like until the desired effect is achieved.

 

Fonts: SF New Republic

Font:  New Chuan B5 (Chinese), Michaelmas (English)

Watermark: Same as above

Notes: Be proud of your heritage! Feel free to put your name down in your mother language!

You may find the above fonts (and many more) from:

• Fonts.com
• dafont.com
• 1001 Free Fonts
• Urban Fonts
• Abstract Fonts
• ClearChinese.com

Resources for homemade invitations and cards

I like to create homemade cards and party/wedding invitations for friends. They may not be the most decorated artwork, but it feels more personal. Since moving down from the big North to sunny California 4 years ago, I have been slowly collecting new go-to places for homemade paper projects. Here are my favourites so far:

• Paper Source – I go there mostly for the stamps and embossing supplies. I also like to check out their specialty paper collection for inspiration.
• Kelly Paper – For projects that require a lot of printing paper, I prefer to buy in bulk. Kelly Paper offers a wide selection of printing paper in various weight. And their low prices also help keep the budget in check.
• Paper.com – When I don’t feel like paying for shipping from Thailand or India, this is where I go for exotic paper such as mulberry, Japanese rice, bamboo, even elephant dung!!
• Paper and More - Good price for cardstock, text and vellum paper. Plus they offer paper samples at $1 and free shipping. Fast delivery too. I usually receive the order in 2 days.
• Texas Craft – Lots of products for your crafting needs! My favourite is the adhesive photo paper for making birth announcement or Save-the-date magnets.
• HQ PaperMaker – A supplier of handmade paper from Thailand. Their products are good, but the shipping is expensive. For some reason, they only ship with FedEx, who charges $20+ USD per shipment. They also offer skeleton leaves in various colors and sizes for a bargain. Orders are received/paid for online. Response is usually prompt, but do expect a 12 hour turnaround because of the time difference. 
• Kinko’s – When I have a lot of paper to cut into squares, rectangles, or any straight-lined polygons, I go to Kinko’s. Depending on the weight of the paper, they can cut a stack of 150 – 200 pieces of paper each time, and charging only ~$1 per cut. Considering the time saved from doing it yourself, it’s a dollar very well spent.
• Michael’s – When you sign up for their mailing list, you’ll get regular discount coupons in emails. Some coupons can help you save as much as 50%!

Make Your Own Wedding Map

… or any party maps.

In a previous post, I showed pictures of an invitation that I designed for a wedding. Several friends saw the map insert and asked how to make it themselves. So I thought I’d share the recipe here:

• Google map the area around your event site(s).
• Determine the scale and the level of details you want to include in your map. In my case, the wedding couple only wanted to show the ceremony and reception sites. So I zoomed close enough in the map to include just these 2 locations.
• Once you are at the right scale, do a print screen. (There should be a PrtScn or PrtSc button on your keyboard. If you only want to capture the window with the map, but not the junk on your deskstop, click on the map to make it the current active window, then press Alt-PrtScn.)
• Open up a blank presentation in MS Powerpoint.
• Paste (Ctrl-v) the screen capture on the blank presentation.
• Crop and size the image to approximately how you want the final product to look. Don’t worry if some of the scaling is off. No one has to know.
• You should now have an idea of how detailed you want the map to be. For a wedding map, you probably just want to highlight the major highways or main streets, plus a few finer details (e.g. parking) around the wedding sites.
• There are 2 ways to add highways and main streets:
  • If they’re straight, use a Line;
  • If they’re curvy, use Autoshape –> Lines –> Curve. To create curves that follow the turns on the roads, try click on the vertex on each turn. This will create a series of pivot points (Fig. 1) that will help curve the line as you trace the rest of the road. Double click to end the tracing.
• After the highways/main streets are done, you can start to add more details (eg. street names, ceremony and reception location, etc.). If you have out of town guests, consider adding one or two landmarks close-by to help them navigate. But don’t clutter the map with information irrelavant to the occasion. They will distract guests from finding their way to your event (Fig. 2).
• To make key event sites stand out, try to highlight them with interesting icons or cliparts. In case you’re wondering, Powerpoint actually does an adaquate job on searching for suitable cliparts when provided with the right keyword (ie. birthday, wedding, party, parking, etc.)
• If parking is separated from the event site, you may want to include it in the map too (Fig. 3)
• To match the map to your party colors/theme, try formatting selected drawn objects on the slide. You can do so by right-clicking on the object and going to the Format menu.
• Once you’re done detailing the map, remove the Google map backdrop. Group all drawings together (i.e. Select them all, right-click, Grouping –> Group) before saving the picture. Now you’re ready to insert a homemade map in your party invitation!

Update Mar 25, 2009:

Some people found that if the finished map is saved as JPG or GIF, the image will come out black, making the map unusable. In such case, add a big white rectangle as backdrop (draw rectangle, then right click –> Order –> Send to Back) to your map before the last step. Make sure the white backdrop is grouped together with the rest of the drawing before saving the picture.  If you prefer a color backdrop, simply use a different color rectangle. 

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

My first DIY photobook

I love traveling. According to the travel map on my Facebook, between work, family and personal trips, I have covered 77 cities in 12 countries in the past 5 years. Of course, not all of these places are far from where I usually nest. But I do try to learn as much as I can about every upcoming destination, especially if it’s far from the cultures that I’m used to. One obsessive habit I have when traveling is taking pictures of everyone and everything I encounter. Unfortunately, I’m also a master procrastinator when it comes time to download the pictures onto the home computer. Every now and then, I do pick out some of the nice ones and post them on Picasa for friends and family to see. But occasions like that are few and far between. All other pictures usually just stay in a sea of SD cards, collecting dust on my desk. Indeed, my beloved calls me the memory card hoarder, for he knows that every SD card he lays in my hand, he has no hope of ever retreiving it again. Essentially, I have become a black hole of SD cards.

Alas, I’m fed up with the situation, because even the basket on my desk is flooded with memory cards several times over. To clean up the photos, I decided to make DIY printed albums out of them. For each adventure, I want build a graphical journal by picking out memorable pictures, then print and bind them into a book. Hopefully, they will become popular coffee table readings in our home. But first, I must select a software that will help turn these images into printed books.

Reading up online reviews, it seemed like iPhoto, Blurb, Snapfish, Photoworks and MyPublisher were the most popular album creators. Since I didn’t own a Mac, iPhoto was automatically out the window. And for the remainder, it looked like Snapfish offered the best picture quality, but lacked in layout choices or option for self-made templates. On the other hand, Photoworks and MyPublisher offered more choices in layouts but most claimed they had unpredictable QA control. So this left me with Blurb. Most users agreed that it had plenty of templates for DIY, and still produced books with acceptable picture quality.

The downloading and installing of Booksmart (Blurb’s free bookmaking software) was easy. Took me around half and hour to install and get used to the sofware. After that I added in photos, created my first photobook, even submitted it for printing all within the same night. The process was relatively painless. In fact, I quite enjoyed it especially when playing with the different layout templates. Since there are already many reviews of Blurb online, I won’t go into the details on how to use the software here. Instead, I will save my comments until the order is delivered. In the meantime, if you have experience to share on DIY printed albums, I’d really love to hear your thoughts on any of the available services out there!

Homemade Wedding Invitation

 

 

Here’s an invitation I recently completed for an outdoor Chinese wedding. Inspiration for the design came from several directions:

• Honor the families’ ethnic origin – Although the ceremony and reception were in Western style, the wedding couple wanted to incorporate some facets of a traditional Chinese wedding in the invitations to honor their parents
• The location - Since the ceremony would take place in a garden, adding some organic elements to the invitation would help give a glimpse of the wedding to invited guests
• Season – The wedding would be held in the fall. Reflecting a hint of the season in the invitation would set the right tone for the upcoming celebration

Color is the easiest way to incoroporate a touch of ethnicity into any invitations. But for this wedding, instead of the fire-engine red that was traditional Chinese, I went with a twist, and opted for the richness of burgundy. It was less cliché for a Chinese celebration, but still maintained a sense of festivity that satisfied both families. Indeed, the wedding couple was so happy with this idea that burgundy became the theme color of the wedding!

The second color to a traditional Chinese wedding is bright burning gold. Combined with red, the duo usually make such a striking effect on a Chinese wedding gown (aka. Kua) that most cameras are drawn to it like moths to fire. But the screaming attention just did not fit the couple’s personalities. For something more subtle, we decided to go with this burgundy Thai mulberry paper with tiny gold threads. Aside from the colors, it also carried an earthy feel- an organic touch that we looked for - because of the residues of pulp and silk still very visible on the surface. Due to the light weight of the mulberry paper (just 25 gsm), I used it as a sleeve to help pull together the loose cards and maps of the invitation under one wrap.

The skeleton leaf was another piece of organic element to this design. I originally wanted to use dried flower similar to the bridal bouquet as the fake seal to the sleeve. But it proved to be too expensive. The quality of the dried flowers also varied too much even in the same shipment. Since cost and time were top priorities, I decided to go online for better deals. To my delight, I found a Thai supplier that sold skeleton leaves at just $1.40 per pack of 100! Better yet, the leaves were pre-sorted by lengths, so I could order only the ones of the size I wanted. Unfortunately, shipping from Thailand was still expensive (~$20). So I bulk bought leaves in the thousands, anticipating their use in future projects, to bring the average cost down!

The leaves were pasted on the sleeves with very small amount of paper glue on a narrow applicator tip. I wanted them to look naturally adhered to the thin mulberry, so as I was pasting each leaf on, I was careful to blot away any excess glue. It was definitely time-consuming, but was worth every bit of the effort. For the finishing touch, I tied a partially sheer ribbon around each invitation. The full project (~200 invitations) took about 4 days to complete. I’m very pleased with the overall results.