Album FAQs What type of album does Collages.net offer? Collages.net offers a print and bind solution to create a beautiful flush mount album. Our cutting-edge binding technology creates an album with excellent lay flat properties and a uniquely small page break seam.

Do you offer guest books? Yes. Collages.net designed an innovative album solution, perfect for filling this studio need. Our Guest Book Collection, available in 8x8 or 10x8, displays images on the left side and faded parchment paper on the right side for guest signing.

Guest Book

What sizes are available for albums?

We offer eighteen sizes for our albums: Square Vertical Horizontal Guest Book 5x5 4x5 5x4 8x8 8x8 4x6 7x5.5 10x8 10x10 5.5x7 10x8   12x12 6x9 14x11     8x10       8x12       10x15       11x14

What is the minimum and maximum number of pages an album can have? Albums contain a minimum of 10 spreads (20 sides) and a maximum of 40 spreads (80 sides). All spreads are available as color corrected or non-color corrected.

What types of album covers are available?  We offer full bleed, metallic Brilliant Album covers, as well as genuine leather and premium leather covers in over 20 colors.

What is a Brilliant Album cover? Brilliant Album covers are full bleed image covers printed on durable photographic paper with a protective laminate coating to create a beautiful, metallic sheen. Please note that Brilliant Albums come with square corners and cannot include personal embossing, branding, or spine hubs.

What is the difference between genuine leather and premium leather? Genuine and premium leather albums are both hand-crafted. Genuine leather is a smooth, real leather dyed in a variety of colors. This leather is used for photographers who want to offer a quality product at a reasonable cost. Genuine covers are produced in three pieces: front, back and spine. Premium leather is a high-quality leather in a vast array of color and textures. Photographers use premium leather to present a high end, high-quality product to their clients. Premium covers are produced in one piece.

Genuine Leather Premium Leather

What colors do the leather albums come in? The albums come in a variety of colors depending upon the type of leather chosen.

Genuine leather is available in the following colors. Black Brown Tan White Red Pink Light Blue

Premium Leather is available in the following colors. Black Brown Tan Ivory Burgundy Red Orange Gold Green Forest Green Pink Magenta     Light Blue Sky Blue

How long does it take to produce a genuine leather album? It takes five full business days to produce a genuine leather album. Shipping is not included in this five day production time.

How long does it take to produce a premium leather album? It takes ten full business days to produce a premium leather album. Shipping is not included in this ten day production time.

How long does it take to produce a Brilliant Album? It takes five business days to produce a Brilliant Album. Shipping is not included in this five day production time.

Why do premium and genuine albums have different turnaround times? Premium leather albums are our finest albums and entirely custom-made. With their one-piece leather covers, the construction of a premium leather album begins when the order is received, whereas genuine leather albums are constructed ahead of time in three-pieces: front cover, back cover, and spine. For that reason, genuine leather albums enable us to custom make a wide variety of combinations of sizes and spines, allowing us to offer our customers a shorter turnaround time while still delivering a high-quality product.

How do you ship your albums? Photographers have the following shipping options: FedEx Ground®, FedEx 2Day®, and FedEx Standard® and Priority Overnight®.

Does Collages.net offer Studio Sample albums? Yes. Collages.net offers a 30% discount off Studio Sample albums, excluding shipping costs. The albums will be clearly marked "Studio Sample" on the inside back cover in black embossing. If you choose to include studio embossing on your sample album, the studio sample marking is in the same color as the studio embossing. If you do not include studio embossing on your sample album, the "Studio Sample" marking is black.

Can Collages.net color correct my images? Collages.net’s color experts can color correct your album spreads for you, or you can color correct them yourself. Please be sure to see our color and non-color corrected pricing page. Overall color correction is done on each spread for pleasing skin tones and overall consistent color. Please note that color correction is not done on an individual image basis.

Can Collages.net ship directly to the photographer’s customer? Yes. We will ship to either the photography studio or to the customer at no extra cost.

What is the difference between studio embossing and personal embossing? Personal embossing is when your clients’ information is embossed on the album’s cover i.e. "James and Erin, June 3, 2007." Studio embossing is when your studio name is embossed on the inside back cover of your album. Our album embossing is available in various fonts, styles, and colors. Personal Embossing Studio Embossing

What choices are available for personal and studio embossing? Personal embossing is available as script or block lettering in silver, gold, or no color branding. Our albums can be personally embossed in a parallel style or a right angle style. Studio embossing is available with the same font and color choices – script or block lettering in silver, gold, or no color branding. Studio embossing is placed on the inside back cover. Script, Silver, Right Angle Script, Gold, Right Angle Block, Branded, Right Angle Script, Branded, Parallel

What is the limit on the number of characters for embossing per line? There is a limit of 28 characters (including spaces, characters, ampersands, etc) per line of embossing. For the parallel style, there can be one or two lines of embossing depending on the photographer’s preference. For the right angle style, two lines of embossing create the right angle look. Please keep in mind that no unusual characters or symbols will be accepted. Parentheses and underscores also will not be accepted.

What is a cover cameo? A cover cameo is a cut out window in the cover of the album that holds a photo of the photographer’s choice. When sending a cameo image, please rename it to cameo.jpg.

Why is a cameo cover only offered for premium leather albums? Premium leather covers are a top-of-the-line custom made product. Each premium cover is cut and made at the time of the order, allowing for more personal options, such as cameo covers.

What sizes are cover cameos available in? Cover cameos are available in 5x5 and 4x4. Size and centering is dictated by the size of album ordered.

Which albums can I order a cover cameo for? Cover cameos are only available for premium leather albums. They are also only available for the following sizes: 8x8 album, 4x4 centered cameo 8x10 album, 5x5 upper center cameo 8x12 album, 4x4 upper center cameo 10x10 album, 5x5 centered cameo 10x15 album, 5x5 upper center cameo 11x14 album, 5x5 upper center cameo 12x12 album, 5x5 centered cameo

What fabric or paper is used on the album's inside front and back cover? Collages.net offers two options for leather albums: black moiré and black art-grade paper. Moiré is swirled, textured fabric, and our art-grade paper is a black, smooth paper; both elegantly connect the book block to the cover. Please note that for Brilliant Albums, the art-grade black paper is the only option offered.

What are spine hubs? Creating the appeal of a finely bound book, spine hubs are purely decorative. They are small, horizontal bands spaced evenly apart down the length of the album’s spine. A soft cork material is placed between the book block and the leather to create the raised band. Spine hubs do not add any additional strength to the structure of the album; they simply, yet elegantly, enhance the album’s perceived value. Spine hubs are not available for Brilliant Albums.

Does the photographer upload pre-designed album spreads to Collages.net? Yes. The photographer uploads pre-designed album spreads to Collages.net for printing and binding into a timeless album.

What size should the spread files be for uploading? Files should be set up to the full size of the album, between 200 and 400 dpi.

What is the process for uploading my album template files? Within our album ordering system, you will use our Java tool to upload your album templates directly to Collages.net. To make sure you have the most recent version of Java, please click here.

How do I prepare my files? Please read over our file preparation guide for more assistance with preparing your template files.

How can I get the fastest upload? Resizing your album templates will increase your upload speed. Please see our Album Design Tips for more information.

After I have uploaded my order, can I make changes? No. Once your order is uploaded, it goes directly into production.

How should the photographer lay out the album pages? Album pages should be designed as panoramic spreads. Guest books should be designed as single left side pages.

Does Collages.net provide album design templates? Yes, Collages.net provides album design templates. Each size we offer has a corresponding template that will open directly in Photoshop®. We strongly suggest using these templates as your guide to ensure your margin trim lines are correct and that important design elements are not lost.

Can photographers send a DVD of pre-designed album spreads to Collages.net for printing and binding? Yes. Photographers can fill out this PDF and send the DVD to Collages.net.

What kind of paper is used for the albums? All of our albums are printed on photographic papers.

Is there a protective coating on the album pages? Yes. All of our album pages are sprayed with a luster coating for protection.

What is the archival quality of the albums? For properly maintained albums, Collages.net has a lifetime guarantee.

How should I care for my album? When not in use, albums should be stored flat in conditions between 55-95° F and between 5-60% humidity, and these conditions should not change drastically. Also, albums should be kept out of direct sunlight. Collages.net albums can be gently cleaned with a damp cloth, and the foil imprints should not be rubbed. It is best that one uses their fingertips instead of nails to turn the pages.

Are Collages.net albums only for weddings? No. Collages.net’s product team developed an album line with several sizes and colors, making the albums suitable not only for weddings, but also for children’s portrait albums, event albums, parent albums, maternity albums, senior albums, and guest books.

What color mode and color space/profile should I design my spreads in? Please provide your spreads in RGB color mode and sRGB color space.

What file types can I provide my spreads in? Please provide your spreads as JPEGs as a level 10 or higher.

How should I name my spreads? Please name your spreads in alphanumeric order, e.g. 01, 02, 03, 04 . . . up to 40.

Can my album have a single first and last page? No. All albums and guest books begin on the left side and end on the right side.