Custom Photobooks

For order volumes of 50 copies or more, please contact us at sales@pikto.com.

We no longer accept custom print files or FTP submissions. You can still place custom photobook orders, however you will now need to process them through our website by exporting your pages as JPEGs or TIFFs, and uploading them to our editor. Here are instructions on how to export your pages and upload them to the editor.

Before we get started, here are some common questions we receive about custom photobooks and our editor:

1. Does your editor compress print files on export? Yes and no. Our editor exports files at 300dpi, the necessary resolution for high-quality printing. Anything with a resolution higher than 300dpi will be sampled down. We recommend using image files no bigger than 300dpi and no smaller than 125dpi. 
   
    
2. Can I order a photobook size that is not listed on your website? Unfortunately, our machines and production are specific to our listed book sizes. Custom sizes are only available on large volume orders.
   
    
3. Can I check that the print files are correct before proceeding with production? We offer a product called Portfolio Pages which allows you to order individual loose pages; a great way to get a proof before placing your book order. This is a quick and cost-effective way to check for image brightness, colours (especially black and white images) and image resolution. We recommend adding a proofing stage to your timeline, especially if this is your first time printing a book. 
   
    
4. What’s the difference between placing a custom book order through your editor vs placing it via FTP? 
    
   1. The primary difference is time: FTP files are reviewed by our press team to ensure they have the correct specifications for our machines, which can add 1 - 5 business days to our regular production times. Orders placed through our editor process quicker because they are guaranteed to have the correct production specs (ie. dimensions, bleed, colour profile). 
       
   2. In addition, by placing a custom order through our editor, you can now choose to order an Essential product, such as the Essential Softcover, Essential Imagewrap or Essential Textile Hardcover Photobook.
       
   3. Ordering through our editor is more cost-effective as you avoid the extra charge for FTP orders. 
       

How do I set up my design files to match your editor? Similar to placing an FTP order, you still have to ensure that your working files are the correct dimensions and colour profile. We highly recommend you download and use our pre-made InDesign or Photoshop templates; these are blank working files that already have the correct dimensions, export bleed settings, and working space colour profile. Included in the ZIP folder is an instructions PDF which includes a size chart for reference.

1 - Export Your Pages

InDesign:

1. In InDesign, go to File > Export
2. In the Export window, select JPEG (recommended) or TIFF as the Format. Click Save.
3. In the second Export window, ensure that the following are selected:

4. Note: it’s crucial that you export with Document Bleed Settings and that your Embedded Colour Profile is sRGB IEC1966 2.1
5. Click Export

Photoshop:

1. In Photoshop, go to File > Export > Export As…
2. Change the Quality slider to High (or 7) > Export
3. Save to your desired folder
4. Note that for Photoshop, you will need to export each page individually

Canva:

1. In Canva > Share
2. Download > use the following export settings:
   
3. Please note that you will need access to Canva Pro to export at full resolution (100 Quality)
4. Canva exports in RGB, not sRGB. Slight colour shifts may occur. 
5. You can preview margins and bleed (File > Settings), however you cannot export your images with bleed. We recommend you size your files with bleed included in the dimensions by following the size charts below. 

Smart Albums & Fundy

Please review their help desk articles on how to export spreads as images.

Smart Albums:https://help.smartalbums.com/article/858-printing-your-album

Fundy:https://support.fundydesigner.com/hc/en-us/articles/223848688-Export-for-Print
 

2 - Upload Your Pages

1. On our website, sign into your account and select the Photobook product (ie. “Premium Layflat Textile Cover”) you wish to order.
2. On the Product Page (ie. “Premium Layflat Textile Cover”), input the size and orientation of the Photobook you would like, and click “Create Now”
3. In the first editor window, select “Go straight to the Editor”
4. In the Editor, click “Add Pictures” (located in the top-left corner of the editor), and select “Upload”

5. This will open the file manager window on your computer. Find the folder where you saved your pages as JPEGS (or TIFF), select all the images you wish to upload, and select “Open”
    

6. Once your images are uploaded to the editor, they will appear in the Pictures tab on the left-hand side. Note that your images may not appear in order, in which case you can click on the three dots and open the sorting menu. Here you can choose to sort by file name, orientation, size, etc.
    

   
   
    

7. Change the default templates for ones that are full page / spread. After that, simply drag + drop your pages into the templates. 
   

    

8. Once you are done laying out all your pages, select Save & Continue in the top-right corner to proceed to checkout and place your order.
    
9. IMPORTANT: Please note that our editor automatically re-sizes the spine of the cover when you add pages in the editor, which might shift your design. Make sure to review the cover one last time before continuing to checkout. 
   
    

3 - How To Set Up Design Files In Your Editing Software

To ensure that your working files are the correct specs, we recommend downloading and using our InDesign and Photoshop templates. These templates are blank working files that have the correct size, dimensions, bleed, and working space colour profile. 

Download them here: LINK 
Included in the folder are PDF instructions on how to set-up your files.

For Canva, the app does not allow you to export with bleed, but by following the chart below you can create a file with the proper page dimensions. You will need a Canva Pro account to export your JPEG pages at a high resolution. Similar to our InDesign and Photoshop templates, we are working on creating blank templates in Canva. 

4 - Spread Dimensions

A spread is the combination of the left page + right page. We recommend uploading spreads to our editor for ease of use. Here is our sizing chart of spread dimensions for each Photobook and Album. 

Use the “Spread Size” column for InDesign and input 0.125” bleed on all sides in document settings. For Photoshop and Canva, use the “Spread Size With Bleed” column as these softwares do not have bleed settings. If you’re using our InDesign or Photoshop templates, the dimensions are already set so you can ignore this stage.

5 - Page Dimensions

Here is our sizing chart for all our available Photobooks & Albums. Use the “Page Size” column for InDesign and input 0.125” bleed on all sides. For Photoshop and Canva, use the “Page Size With Bleed” column as these softwares do not have bleed settings. If you’re using our InDesign or Photoshop templates, the dimensions are already set so you can ignore this stage. 

LF = Layflat 

A = Album

6 - Cover Dimensions **for Imagewrap books only**

Here are the cover sizes for our Imagewrap Photobooks (Softcovers, Hardcovers & Layflats). The cover width includes the front cover, back cover and spine. The spine is defaulted to 0.4”, but can be wider depending on the paper type and page count; please refer to the spine size chart in the next section. 

S = Softcover

LF = Layflat 

7 - Spine Sizes **for Imagewrap books only**

The following are cover spine dimensions. All our cover templates already have a default spine size of 0.4” (except the Softcover which is defaulted to 0.1”). If your photobooks’s page count exceeds a limit (i.e. a Premium Hardcover with over 60 pages) you will need to make the width of the spine wider by following this chart. Note that this will make the overall width of your cover wider, and you might need to adjust some of your design elements (ie. re-center any text that was centred on the spine).