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Alex MacAulay of Alex MacAulay Photographers is a long-time SharedInk customer (5+ years and counting!). He and his team have a very successful wedding photography business, and he uses SharedInk to produce his wedding proof books.

Recently, Alex gave us a call and explained that he wanted help streamlining his proof book workflow. He wanted to find out if we could make it easier for him to submit his SharedInk proof books.

Alex explained that his existing proof book workflow consisted of the following steps:

  • Step 1 - Using Adobe Bridge's Output Workspace, create proof book contact sheets and output in PDF format
  • Step 2 - Rasterize the PDF file into JPEG images (1 JPEG for each PDF page)
  • Step 3 - Zip the JPEGs and then FTP to SharedInk
  • Step 4 - Login to the SharedInk website and go through the ordering process

Alex had already optimized Step 1 of the workflow - he can create an elegant proof book design in less than a minute (see "How Alex MacAulay Creates Proof Book Layouts"). It was Steps 2-4 that he needed help with.

After some brainstorming, we hatched a plan to eliminate half the steps. Rather than submitting his proof book design in JPEG format, we devised a method for Alex to submit his proof books in their native PDF format. And since Alex always wanted the same cover color, end sheets and foil stamping, we came up with a process where Alex wouldn't even have to place the order for the proof books; SharedInk would do it for him.

Alex also wanted to have a custom logo page inserted in each proof book we processed. But it would complicate his workflow if he had to include this logo page with each PDF file. "No problem!", we told him. He provided us a JPEG design of the logo page we could keep on file, and now SharedInk automatically inserts this logo page into each one of his proof books.

The new, optimized proof book workflow now looks like:

  • Step 1 - Using Adobe Bridge's Output Workspace, create proof book contact sheets and output in PDF format
  • Step 2 - FTP PDF files to SharedInk
  • Step 3 - Send e-mail message once all proof book PDFs have been uploaded

This new custom workflow has dramatically reduced the amount of time Alex spends on producing his SharedInk proof books. He doesn't even have to visit the SharedInk web site to place his order! A quick phone conversation now saves Alex and his team several hours of work for EACH proof book they produce, freeing up their valuable time for more productive tasks. How can SharedInk help save you time and make you more profitable? Contact us today and let's figure it out!

How Alex MacAulay Creates Proof Book Layouts

For the design of his proof books, Alex uses Adobe Bridge's Output Workspace. After some research and trial-and-error, Alex came up with a recipe for making great looking proof book designs very quickly with little effort.

According to Alex, "The 'trick' is creating a preset in Bridge that contains all the settings for the proof book album. Once you have this set up, it literally takes less than a minute to create the whole book!".

Below is a screen shot from Adobe Bridge with Alex's proof book preset in action. The right pane of the screen contains the preset settings.

(Click image for fullsize version)

Need help in creating a preset in Bridge? Alex has this tip: "When I was researching how to create a preset, I found this very helpful blog post."

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