Creating the Album DS DVD

Album DS is a large application, once installed it’s more than 4Gb of data and 8.000 files. Therefore you MUST create a backup of the application in order to be able to reinstall it if needed, also the application download is a one time download and in case you need to redownload the files you have to be up to date with your support contract and a fee may be charged. It’s your responsability to make the installation backup.

This is a very easy process and SHOULD be made just after installing the application and having downloaded all complements.

First of all you have downloaded the installer file, this file is called AlbumDS_setup.exe for Pc and AlbumDS.dmg for Mac.

Setup file for Album DS Pc

Setup file for Album DS Pc

Depending on where you save downloaded files it may be in the Downloads folder, in your desktop or any other place. Please locate this file.

Now take a look at the Album DS folder, you will find a subfolder called Downloads. This folder contains all complement ( Backgrounds, templates, etc) files in compressed ( zip) format.

Album DS Downloads folder

Album DS Downloads folder

This are the 2 files / folders you have to burn into a DVD.

Start your preferred burning software ( Nero, Deepburn, Imgburn, the OS DVD burning tools, etc) and select this 2 files / folders to be included in the DVD. Usually you may be able to drag them into the software.

For the Pc version you may also include the license file, or you may save it elsewhere. Remember that it’s attached to an email and you can get it also from there if needed.

Burning Album DS DVD

Burning Album DS DVD

Make sure the Downloads folder includes all subfolders like Backgrounds, Masks, etc. and just burn the DVD. Full size will be around 2Gb. We recommend using a slow speed to burn the DVD as this type of DVD last more time.

In case of having to reinstall the application you only need to insert the DVD, execute the installer in Windows  or mount the volumen and drag the files for Mac and finally use the internal update feature of Album DS to install the complements.

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Alejandro Fresno, July 20th 2010 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Learning, Resources

New videos available in our website

We have just uploaded some new videos for learning how to use Album DS, please select Support and Faq’s and Learn how to use it from the top menu at the website.

We will had more videos very soon !!

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Alejandro Fresno, June 3rd 2010 | Tags: ,
Posted in Learning, News

Is masking not working properly ?

After applying a mask, are you getting the inverse area masked ? ( Like in this sample)

Masking the inverse area

This has an easy solution ;) Just open any document or create a new one in Photoshop

Changing Photoshop's Quick mask options

And double click at the Quick Mask tool in the Tools bar ( where the red arrow points above).  You will get the Quick mask options window, make sure to select Color indicates = Masked areas and accept.

Changing Photoshop's Quick mask options

Now you can apply the mask correctly ( sometimes you will need to delete the incorrect mask first in the layers palette).

Correctly applied mask with Album DS

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Alejandro Fresno, January 21st 2010 | Tags: ,
Posted in Learning

Is my Album DS correctly installed ?

In this post I will try to explain how to know if Album DS is correctly installed in order to run it properly. Being a tool for Photoshop, the Album DS installation is in some ways more delicate than other programs because all files are single standard graphic files located in specific folders.

A common structure of an installed Album DS will look similar to this image:

Album DS folders structure

As you can see there is one main Album DS folder which contains the application, help files and some preferences and setting files. Also you can see the subfolders Action, Backgrounds, Cliparts, Frames, Installer, Languages, Main, Masks, Predefined, Sample, Styles and Templates.

Many of this folders have subfolder for organizing the different add ons, this folders are the ones you can see at the folders controls in Album DS templates tab or backgrounds tab ( for sample), like in this image:

Album DS subfolders for organizing add ons

One of the most important folders in the Album DS structure is the Installer subfolder, this subfolder contains the application AlbumDSInstaller which is used to install and update the application. This tool MUST be located in this subfolder of Album DS because it needs to read the specific location of the other folders in order to know what is installed and what not.

Album DS Installer applicationThe Temp folder you can see at the above image stores the files downloaded from our server in zip format, DO NOT DELETE this folder as it will be used for reinstalling the components without having to download all the files again.

Once you have the application installed it is VERY IMPORTANT to make a backup into a DVD from the following

- For PC, the executable setup file you have downloaded

- For PC and Mac, the whole Album DS folder. Regarding that this folder is larger than 1 DVD you may split it in 2 parts, one with all files except the Installer folder and another with only the Installer folder ( which includes the Temp subfolder with all zips).

If you have any questions please contact support.

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Alejandro Fresno, January 19th 2010 | Tags: ,
Posted in Learning

Aligning pictures and shapes

A frequently asked question is … How do I align my pictures in the sheet ? Well, it’s very easy ;) As you remember the pictures are grouped to shapes and the shapes determine the size and position of the pictures, then we have to align the shape layers in order to get the pictures aligned.

I’ll show you now how to align the shapes, here we have a sheet with some shape layers open in Photoshop

Aligning shapes in Photoshop

Now we have to select the shapes to align, please click at the first shape in the layers palette, then hold down the CTRL key and click at the other two ( you may also use Photoshop’s autoselect feature for the Move tool).

Aligning shapes in Photoshop

Once selected the layers please select Photoshop’s Move tool in the Tools bar, you will get an options bar just beneath Photoshop’s main menu ( if you can’t see it please select Window – Options at the menu). In this options bar you will see at the right part a serie of small icons for alignment

Aligning shapes in Photoshop

Click at the one for aligning left and you will get the 3 shape layers aligned to the left part

Aligning shapes in Photoshop

Of course you may select other alignment options like center, right, bottom, etc and you may also space the layers evenly between the first and last. No more need to place complicated guides to get perfectly aligned pictures :)

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Alejandro Fresno, January 13th 2010 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Learning, Tips & Tricks

Album DS Backgrounds

Backgrounds are the files stored in subfolders of the Backgrounds folder, you may create your own folder for your preferred or own backgrounds.

The background files used in Album DS are of 2 types:

- PSD files which contain a tiled background, a design to be placed repetitively in your document. The design is only placed once in the background PSD file included as pattern overlay and Photoshop will copy it as many times as needed when you double click at the thumbnail in PSD. This type of backgrounds can slightly be scaled using Photoshop Layer – Scale options. If you want to create your own tiled backgrounds please open one of the provided and replace the design with your own, then save using Photoshop’s saving features and create a 100×100 pixels thumbnail with the same name.

Using tiled backgrounds in Album DS

- JPG files, a picture, drawing or design large enough to fill your sheets or album pages. You only need to open the document in Photoshop and select the option Sheet – Save as background in Album DS, you have to select one of the subfolders of Backgrounds to save it and Album DS will automatically create the thumbnail.

A JPG file for Album DS background

Placing a background in your sheet or album page is easy, just select it at the Album DS window and double click the thumbnail ;)   Sometimes you may have other layers hidding it, in this case just drag the layer to the correct position in Photoshop’s layer palette.

Remember, fi you change the color fill layer blending mode to HUE you may change the color of the background easily, to do so please double click the color fill layer in Photoshop’s layer palette, select your color and change the blending mode at the top of the palette to HUE.

Changing background color

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Alejandro Fresno, January 11th 2010 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Learning