Hi everyone,

I've been using Photoshop CS3 to design my albums from scratch and was looking into a quicker way of creating an album. I think I've narrowed my search down to these programs. Can anyone give me feedback on any of these four? I'm leaning towards the first two because they're more than just the average drag and drop templated programs.
I'd love to hear why you love or hate any of these programs.
Thanks!
Bryan

FotoFusion by Lumipix
DG Foto Art by PXL Soft
You Select It (YSI) by Martin Schembri
Page Gallery by Yervant

Adobe InDesign CS3 is what you need.

I tried DG foto - for me it is ugly software with ugly templates, actually I hated it.

I own YSI and older PG 3.5 - the thing with them you have to pick images to fit template and I really don't like that - I love the freedom InDesign gives me.
Try them they all have trials and you will see what i am talking about.

I use FotoFusion and it's great. There's a couple of templates to get you started, but it's very easy to pick-up and take-off with. I started using it a couple of versions ago, and the improvements have made it all the better. I highly recommend it.

was looking at the fotfusion website looks good have got indesign with my adobe package never really used it though is it easy to pick up and get really good packages

CS3. I feel that most people tend to complicate things. It's much easier to use than the others. I've tried Foto and YSI. Not very intuitive, and nothing comes close to matching the power and speed of PS.

sboerup wrote:
CS3. I feel that most people tend to complicate things. It's much easier to use than the others. I've tried Foto and YSI. Not very intuitive, and nothing comes close to matching the power and speed of PS.
InDesign CS3

michal hall wrote:
was looking at the fotfusion website looks good have got indesign with my adobe package never really used it though is it easy to pick up and get really good packages
extremely easy, but Kevin Swan has a great tutorial video that will get you up and running in no time.

coreypolis wrote:
michal hall wrote:
was looking at the fotfusion website looks good have got indesign with my adobe package never really used it though is it easy to pick up and get really good packages
extremely easy, but Kevin Swan has a great tutorial video that will get you up and running in no time.

I agree. I downloaded his tutorial this weekend and was amazed at how easy it was to learn.

FotoFusion by Lumipix...

I spent 26 hrs on an album last week.. I did an album in 3hrs last night... Do I need to say more?

Where can you find the Kevin Swan tutorial video at? I was on his website and could not find it.

http://www.newschoolphoto.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=4&zenid=cc9d89012d8e8fc3cd2fc200b5338117

Sweet thanks for the link. I just bought it and it is downloading.

While I am downloading this can you guys give me a run down on it? Like do you have to know ID in and out already to use this or can just this technique get us going?

Depends on your design skills of course. No one can make a dogmatic suggestion without knowing that.
Remember half these programs still leave you with the design work in which case you would be better with ps or indesign.
If you are a professional level graphic designer then consider photoshop or indesign along with the other programs.
If you are like the other 95% of wedding photographers get a template program. It will save you time and increase the quality of your product.

Brandon Mizar wrote:
While I am downloading this can you guys give me a run down on it? Like do you have to know ID in and out already to use this or can just this technique get us going?
very easy, pretty much just make boxes. Unlike PS, it link the file rather than placing, so you can resize it a any point without image degradation.


Its more intuitive to actually use once you watch the video. And anything you do can be used again and again as a template, just drag a new photo onto the old one.

Thanks everyone for the responses! I really appreciate the help. I also never considered InDesign. I'll have to look into that one too as well.

Anyone ever try Kevin Kubota's Auto Album. Works great with his Asukabooks.
Have never thought of Indesign. Wonder if it is faster than Auto Album.

I have FotoFusion, and in some ways I think it is a great program, but there are certain aspects about that drive my crazy sometimes. I think it works well, but it is not as intuitive as I thought it would be, among other things. Overall it works pretty well, but I think there may be better solutions. Granted, I am using the last version, not the newest, so some of that may have changed.

I think my next step will be to give ID a try.

Anyone ever try Kevin Kubota's Auto Album. Works great with his Asukabooks.

Toby,

I got the Auto Album as part of a package with Kevin's other action packs a year or so ago. I found it too tedious because I had to find a picture to fit horizontal vs. vertical. Maybe he changed the software now, but it was just easier for me to freehand it in Photoshop.

Bryan

Bryan,
True. I downloaded the same package you did. I also printed out the templates to pick the flow for my album. It was a pain to try to figure out x-amount of horizontal and x-amount of vertical. I guess if you use indesign you can just use what picture layout you have available. Good point.

I use CS3 (70%) and YSI (30%) to design album.
It take 6 - 12 hrs for 20 - 25 spreads 9.5 x 13 Graphistudio album.
I will take a look of ID.

I have a questions about FotoFusion...

ENHANCED -vs- EXTREME ... is it worth the extra $$

Do you use all what the EXTREME offers?

Thanks,
-p

Photoshop if you have design skills. I mean professional level.
If you are like the other 90% of us then Page gallery. It takes the design side out of the equation. I am sure it may not be perfect having to find a template ( i don't find any problem there though others may) but it is going to give you a vastly superior end product.
That is not to insult other photographers but to say lets be honest as the answer to this is dependant on your level of graphic design skill.
Recommending anything prior to that being established knowing that the probability is not in favor of those skills being adequate i do not believe is fair or professional of us.
Other programs still leave you to do the designing so why not stay in photoshop if you do intend to design yourself? It's not a slow program.
YSI i cannot comment on.

Marcus Watts wrote:
Photoshop if you have design skills. I mean professional level.
If you are like the other 90% of us then Page gallery. It takes the design side out of the equation. I am sure it may not be perfect having to find a template ( i don't find any problem there though others may) but it is going to give you a vastly superior end product.
That is not to insult other photographers but to say lets be honest as the answer to this is dependant on your level of graphic design skill.
Recommending anything prior to that being established knowing that the probability is not in favor of those skills being adequate i do not believe is fair or professional of us.
Other programs still leave you to do the designing so why not stay in photoshop if you do intend to design yourself? It's not a slow program.
YSI i cannot comment on.
you haven't tried InDesign then have you

same design concept, except if you decide to change an image size, style etc, it takes a half a second. All you're doing is placing image holders, if never imports the images into the program, so you are free to manipulate them at any point without doing harm to the original or risking image degradation.

And every page you make is then a saved template, for drag and drop convenience the next time. Not to mention PS for text is just awful.

I have FotoFusion and find CS3 much easier and more creative! Wish I hadn't wasted my money on anything else!
Set yourself some actions and it's a breeze in CS3!