Album Design Service

When placing your album design order, you will share the following information in order for us to begin your design: the product you are designing for (a lay flat album, or hardcover book), the size, your image sequencing preference, the number of images you are submitting, and your target spread count.

Please save your images as high resolution JPGs using the sRGB colorspace. Then, upload your files to a sharing platform such as Dropbox, Pixieset, ShootProof, or a similar webiste. Finally, generate a share link to include in your order form so that we can download the images.

We recommend an average of 3.5 photos per spread. So if you want a 20 spread album, submit about 70 images.

Choose chronological or non-sequential image sequencing. For chronological, we will arrange the images according to their filenames. Be sure to name your files accordingly. For non-sequential layouts, we will arrange the images based on aesthetic elements such as lighting, tonality, composition, etc.

Your initial design will be ready within 1 business day. You are welcome to two free rounds of revisions*. Once our team receives your request to make changes, an updated proof will be ready within 1 business day. When you give approval, our team will deliver the final spreads to you and you will be ready to place your order.

*Note: Additional revisions are available for a fee of $15 per round. Designs and revisions must be approved within 6 months from the original order date. After 6 months, the design project will be archived and may be reopened for an additional fee.

Layflat designs have panoramic spreads with images that span the center crease (designed for use with all of our albums). Magazine-style layouts do not have any images that span the center of the spread (designed for use with our Hardcover Books).

Absolutely. Our design proofs are delivered digitally via SmartAlbums Cloud Proofing. The RedTree name will not be visible anywhere during proofing.

During production, we trim ~1/4” off of all books, after printing. Please keep anything out of this 1/4″ border that is not intended to be full bleed.

We recommend keeping all images out of the Safety area. If any photo is not flush to the edge (full bleed), we recommend a border of 3/4” (at a minimum) to 1”.

To create a full bleed spread in an album, the photo MUST extend to the very edge of the layout file. Be aware that the trim margin still applies, and the outermost 1/4″ may be cut off.

To ensure color accuracy, it’s important to calibrate your display regularly. We recommend keeping your screen brightness around 50%. Edit using sRGB and export files as high resolution JPGs at 300 DPI.

• Layflat Spreads (RedTree Albums & Lite Albums): When designing layflat spreads, panoramic images can be used spanning the centerline. Our album spreads are creased, never cut. This allows images to span the center, as there is no visible gap between the left and right pages.
• Fine Art Spreads (Fine Art Albums): Keep images off the crease for Hahnemühle paper. This will help your album retain crisp, seamless spreads that will last a lifetime. Images over the crease may be prone to cracking over time. This will not compromise the integrity of the album but it may not be visually desirable. Additionally, we recommend that you stay away from full bleed spreads/pages. Keeping images at least 1″ from the edge of the spread will ensure your album will not suffer from potential ink flaking on the edges.
• Magazine-style Spreads (Books): Magazine-style spreads do NOT lay flat when open. 3/4″ of each page will fall into the center gutter, so keep important elements 3/4″ away from either side of the centerline. It’s okay to use panoramic designs that span the gutter as long as you keep these guidelines in mind.

Yes. You can download our Photoshop and InDesign templates here.