Products > artONE™ > Design

HOW THE @#$* DO I DESIGN THIS?

You're sold and ready to dive into making finabulous Finao albums. There's just one question...how do I design my album?

We DO NOT check customer files for accuracy. This is your responsibility. If you are a first time user and ask for assistance, we will grant a one-time exception and make sure that all files have translated successfully.

In general, we strongly recommend the following:

  • DON'T CUT CORNERS!
  • Open each spread/image and view it at 100%, look over the ENTIRE page.
  • Do this for EACH spread/image. If you have made a mistake or your design software had some sort of glitch, you will not notice it at anything less than 100% for viewing.
  • Simply viewing thumbnails IS NOT enough to see errors.

This step takes about 10 minutes for albums (less for other products) and will save you time and costly repair/replacement charges. Failure to properly check your files can result in delayed production times and any reprint costs being your responsibility.

We DO NOT color correct customer files. All file prep is the customer's responsibility. We do, however, encourage you to print test prints to make sure color is to your liking prior to placing your order.

We do not require any propriety software or templates. As Finaons, you are free to design in whatever software, service or templates you are comfortable with as long as that choice allows you to export hi-res (300 dpi) JPG files.

We do have generic Adobe Photoshop templates available to download for most products to assist in the layout and design of pages and cover images. See specific products for template availability.

For InDesign users: Avoid this common mistake. Make sure that your linked image files are at the proper resolution prior to outputting your page designs as hi-res jpgs.

For those looking for pre-packaged software and template solutions, we recommend that you check out our Playmates section for a list of our recommended providers.

All files being submitted to Finao require a resolution of 300 DPI and be in the sRGB color space. See product details for any available starter templates.

If using the templates provided by Seldex, you do not need to change the resolution on the files as they may print at a different resolution and color space than Finao.

All file sizes need to be EXACT and sized for the album cover, opening, page/spread size, or wall art you are ordering. We have generic Adobe Photoshop templates available for most products (see individual options for details).

FOR EXAMPLE: A 12x12 inch album would be designed as a 24x12 inch spread. The first and last pages for right-start albums would be individual 12x12 inch images. We will not do any re-configuring of files. Oversized or undersized images & spreads will not align properly, will not be trimmed correctly and may be rejected by the system causing delays.

SCALING: We can, however, scale down from a larger album to a smaller album of the same aspect ratio. You should still double check the images in the smaller template to avoid any possible issues. See individual products for compatible aspect ratios & sizes available.

We recommend always designing your albums to the largest possible size for your desired format or aspect ratio. This gives you the option of downsizing and adding extra books to your packages.

Most of our products follow a standard ⅜th inch safety margin inset from the outside edges (double check individual products for any variances). We do trim all finished books & covers. Make sure that no type or critical elements fall within the ⅜th inch safety margin. We do provide blank Adobe Photoshop templates to get you up and running quickly and recommend our Style Guide for Page Design to anyone creating their own spreads.

Our ⅜th inch safety margin is a constant on ALL album sizes. You should always check your spreads at 100% in a template to look for potential image trimming issues.

For products that will require multiple files (like album spreads), please follow a standard numbering convention (i.e., 0001, 0002, etc.).

Check out the many compatible template offerings from our Playmate partners or use our blank Adobe Photoshop page templates and our Style Guide for Page Design to create your own.

DOWNLOAD ONE/ARTONE PAGE TEMPLATE PACKAGE

See individual cover options for cover option related templates.

For a flush mount album you will always design and print as spreads (even if you are ordering a cut print option). If we print as a spread, we are assured the two sides will be a perfect match if we need to cut them in half.