We've designed over 60 albums for New Jersey wedding photographer Jennifer Larsen in the past 8 years that we've been blessed to work with her. Her work is SO timeless and beautiful and she is such a kind human to boot! So each time we see a new design order come in from her, we do a little happy dance! 
 
This particular album is 20 spreads/40 pages and starts with Jen's signature spread with one image of the bride and groom alone on each side of the spread. This couple added a lot of additional images to the initial design as they wanted to include as many of their loved ones as possible in this memento. The pages are a little busier than typical as a result, but the final design turned out lovely and we know they will cherish it for generations to come!  
 
Check out this gorgeous getting ready space featured on this stand-out spread:

And here are a few more of our favorites!

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Jen, for trusting us to be a part of your team!

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Design by: Shannon (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

Hey, photographers! Today I want to talk about a foundational, nuts-and-bolts aspect of your workflow that can really help streamline your album process: renaming your images.  
 
There are a number of reasons that the naming of your images is so important when it comes to the rest of your album workflow: 
 
1 -- Proper naming of your images equips your designer to easily sort your images and understand the flow of events so that they can tell the story of the day.  
2 -- Renaming the images before your share them with us AND your clients will ensure that everyone involved in the album design process (photographer, clients, designer) will be referring to the same file names, reducing confusion and saving you from having to track down images of a different name when it comes time for the revision rounds. 
 
If you systematize this process and make it part of your regular workflow, it will soon become easy and automatic for you, and a HUGE help to everyone involved -- especially your album designer!  
 
So what is the best way to rename your files for the smoothest workflow? 
 
We recommend renaming your files after culling but before delivering a gallery to your client and your album images to Align. Start by sorting the images into the proper order. It's usually easiest to sort by date and then click-and-drag any outliers manually into place. Once the images are sorted, rename all of the files into one consistent naming convention. Some popular naming conventions are: 
 
(Last name of client)_001 
(Last name of client)_(Studio name or acronym)_001 
(Date)_(Last name of client)_001 
 
Make sure that you are using a sequence number at the end that has the highest number of digits that you will need for the job. For instance, if you have 500 images you need to rename, start with "001" at the end of the first image. If you have 1100 images you need to rename, start with "0001". This will ensure that images can be sorted properly by filename. In addition, make sure to either use "_" or "-" and steer clear of any odd characters such as "!" or ":". 
 
And here's how to rename files with a few popular software options: 
 
Lightroom -- on the Library Module (grid view), Select All and click Library -> Rename Photos 
Adobe Bridge -- Select All and then click Tools -> Batch Rename 
Photo Mechanic -- Select All and then click File -> Rename Photos 
 
That's it! Now you're ready to upload the gallery for your clients AND send a selection of the organized and renamed images to your designer! (For tips on choosing the album images to send to your designer, click here.) Your designer will be able to sort the images you send by filename to see the proper order of events. And your client will be referencing file names that your designer has when making their revisions. The great news is -- all of this adds up to a super-smooth workflow!

If you found this post helpful and would like to receive tips like this straight to your inbox, click here to sign up!

And exciting news! If you're a photographer who wants to start offering albums without investing hours of guesswork and trial and error -- we have a solution for you! Check out the Album Start-Up Kit and start maximizing your profit today! 

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

We cannot get over the beautiful colors and compositions from destination luxury wedding photographer Lindsey Taylor Photography in today's featured album design! This album could not be MORE BEAUTIFUL!  
 
Lindsey's use of both film and digital photography was the perfect way to capture this multicultural, multi-day extravagant event! The beautiful dresses and florals really pop off the page!  
 
The only thing we found difficult in designing this album was trying to fit all the beautiful images that Lindsey sent our way into just 15 spreads! But as you will see, the resulting design was very carefully curated to showcase the very best of the best images from this multicultural wedding! 
 
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this stunning design: 

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Lindsey, for allowing us to work with your gorgeous images!

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Design by: Sarah (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

'Tis the season for all things cozy, yuletide cheer ... and the mad dash to get everything done before HOLIDAY DEADLINES! Aren't you happy you're a photographer right about now? :) 
 
Your clients know that albums make amazing Christmas gifts, but do they know how long the album creation process takes? We want to help YOU help THEM have their albums in hand by the holidays, so here's a refresher on our design turnaround times and an announcement of our holiday print deadlines: 
 

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Turnaround times for DESIGNS:  
 
Due to the back-and-forth nature of the design and revision process, there is no one-size-fits-all estimate for how long the design process will take from start to finish. Please allow yourself and your client ample design time (multiple weeks) by placing your design order AS SOON as possible. 
 
Initial designs - Within 4 business days of receiving your order form, deposit, and images  
Revision requests - 2 business days after we've received the comments and any additional images or clarifications needed 
Final file delivery - 1 business day after the album has been approved AND the final balance has been paid (**see note at bottom of this page) 
 
Our business days for designing are Monday through Friday except for the following holidays: 
Thanksgiving - Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29, 2024 
Christmas - Wednesday, December 25 and Thursday, December 26, 2024 
 

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Deadlines for PRINTING: 
 
If you'll also be printing through Align Legacy Books and wish to receive your album in the mail by December 21, 2024, you must send your album to print (i.e. fill out the custom Print Confirmation order form we email you after the design service is paid for) by the following dates: 
 
Thursday, November 21** for standard production turnaround times 
Tuesday, December 3** for rush production turnaround times (extra $100 per album) 
 
Orders placed before 11:59pm November 21 will ship within 15 business days of the order date 
Orders placed between November 22 - December 3 with a RUSH FEE will ship by December 19 
Orders placed after December 3 will ship within 15 business days of the order date (starting the first week of January) 
 

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**Important Advice Due to the back-and-forth nature of invoicing, please plan for about 48 hours in between when your design is approved and when you will receive your final files (if you are printing elsewhere) or the link to your custom Print Confirmation order form (if you're printing with us). To skip the invoicing steps and speed up the process, you can:

-Authorize us to automatically charge your saved credit card (find this setting at the bottom your Edit Profile page). 
-Or pre-purchase Align Credit (in any amount) on your Account Balance page which will be automatically applied to your balance.

 
 
PHEW! That is A LOT of detail! We're SO excited to help you serve your clients well this holiday season!

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

Today's GORGEOUS featured design is the very first we created for New Mexico based wedding photographer Taylor Pettigrew. Taylor's work is so fresh and vibrant and CONSISTENT in shooting style and editing. Her work laid out in album-format is so compelling and we can't wait to show it off to you! 
 
This design was approved with NO REVISIONS and is on the large side -- 25 spreads/50 pages. Whenever we get the chance to design albums with more spreads, the resulting design always feels more clean and complete because the images are given room to breathe on the spreads. The design is not too busy and there are plenty of pages to tell the story of a full wedding day. 
 
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beautiful design:

To see the design in full, click through the slideshow: 
 
 
 
Thank you, Taylor for the opportunity to work with your beautiful images!

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Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill