Creating a promo sheet in Lightroom
Creating a promo sheet
To create a promo sheet:
- Decide the number of images to go on a promo sheet. I recommend nine images by using a four-row, three-column grid setup in Layout, as shown in figure 1. That gives a total of 12 spaces, but the bottom three give a space for the Identity Plate. This puts a good number of images onto the page, keeps them large enough to view easily, offers decent spacing for the photos, and presents a nice-looking page.
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Figure 1: A four-row, three-column grid layout. - Choose a group of photos for that promotion. Again, I find the best way to do this is to use the Library module and put your photos into the Quick Collection. Pick a group of photos that look good together and that show off your work. Use the Quick Collection while still in Library to compare, contrast, and arrange images to be sure they work together, as shown in figure 2.
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Figure 2: Use the Quick Collection to arrange your images. - Vertical or horizontal? I suggest keeping your photos for a given page all horizontal or vertical. It is possible to mix them, but because you can’t change the design of the page, the mix never quite looks right if the images are all oriented the same direction; that is, both horizontals and verticals read correctly). If you mix horizontal and vertical photos that are sized equally, they will not be oriented the same, so you will have to rotate your page in order to view individual images. That’s not a good look to send to an editor.
- Set up the use of the photos. Go back to Print, and select all of your photos so they now appear in the grid. Select Zoom to Fill Frame, as shown in figure 3. This keeps the cells filled and makes the overall "design" of the promo sheet look its best. At this point, though, the images are all cropped to a square, which may or may not work for your photos. Images can be moved within that space, but not all photos look good as squares. The lines in the design shown in figure 3 are guides and will not print.
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Figure 3: Guide lines do not print. - Refine the arrangement of photos. Go down to the Filmstrip to click and drag photos into new places that work better together, as shown in figure 4. A hint: If you can’t click and drag, it means your photos are all selected. You need to deselect them by clicking off the photos in the Filmstrip or pressing Ctrl/Command +D.
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Figure 4: Drag the images to arrange them. - Adjust the cell size. If you don’t like square images, you have to change Cell Size in Layout. Deselect Keep Square and move the Height slider until you like the look of your photos. You might also want more space between the photos — you can do that in Cell Spacing, as shown in figure 5.
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Figure 5: Adjust the Cell Spacing to add space between your images.Tip: Experiment with cell spacing. You can get a very interesting look with groups of photos butting up against each other (0-inch horizontal spacing for vertical photos; 0-inch vertical spacing for horizontal photos) that create rows of linked photos. You can also try the "block" look with 0-inch spacing all around.
- Add and edit the Identity Plate. In Overlays, select Identity Plate. It is placed at the bottom of the page in the empty cells—drag it to where you like it best, as shown in figure 6 (the guides have been turned off). Edit it as needed (double-click on the frame). As I note in the first Promo Piece section, a very classy way of doing this is to create a text-based Identity Plate with your name and Web site or phone number.
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Figure 6: Drag the Identity Plate to where it looks the best.
Where to go from here
For more information about Photoshop Lightroom, see the following:
