All words and images ©2006-2013 Wendy G. Gunderson

I love Adobe Lightroom and have used it since the beginning.  It makes processing a breeze and I use it 90% of the time, using Photoshop and other programs for specific tasks.  The latest version, Lightroom 4, has even more to offer.  I had not gotten around to making a photobook of our November 2011 trip to Nevis, with the holidays and the press of business, so last weekend I sat down to take on the task.  For book creation, I have used Album Builder and Photojunction, and they offer far more possibilities in terms of templates and options.  However, for a very simple photobook, building a book in Lightroom is fast and super easy.

The interface is the one you are familiar with as a Lightroom user.  Once your photos are processed, click on the “Book” tab, and you are taken to the Book module.  I watched no video tutorials and read nothing before plunging in.  It is so intuitive, you don’t need to.  The first screen you will see shows a cover template, along with first and last pages.

Your catalog of images is in its familiar place in the filmstrip along the bottom.  On the right panel, you will see your options for book size, cover and paper options.  Adobe partnered with Blurb to offer a direct upload to the Blurb site, however, you can make your pages for export as pdf files.  I decided to give Blurb a whirl.  By using Lightroom 4 to create the book, you get 20% off!  Blurb’s pricing is really easy to understand.  As you increase pages over the previous price point, your price, seen in the right panel, is updated, so you always know what you are spending.

That is the hardest part.  You simply drag your images from the filmstrip into the book pages.  When you need more pages, click “Add Page,” to add a page.  What could be simpler than that?  When you use a photo, there is a mark on the image to show how many times you have used it.

To change your layout, click on the page, and the page will be highlighted in yellow and a small triangle will appear.  Click that, and you will see all the options, organized around the number of images you want for that page.

There are a variety of different layout options, including those which permit the addition of text.  I have to admit that I longed for some of my Photojunction layouts, so hopefully more will be offered in the near future, or maybe I could actually watch a tutorial or read instructions and maybe learn how to make them myself.

Save your book and it will appear with a book icon in the left panel.

When you’ve finished your book, click “Send Book to Blurb” on the bottom right panel.  You are then taken to the Blurb site for uploading and payment.  Once complete, the book appears in Blurb, and you have a variety of options there for making your book private or public, displaying it on social media sites, and pricing and selling your book, if desired.

And you can page through your book, and offer it to others to view as well.

It couldn’t be any easier.  Give it a try!

All words and images ©2006-2013 Wendy G. Gunderson