UPLOADING....
Bare with me as I’m on my way to my first Blurb project. I would like to ask the experts which to do first. Currently, before I do my layout, I am uploading my photos to Flickr which is taking some time. It’s already 2 days that I am uploading my photos then choose from there. Is this the right method? or I can do my layouting first using the Booksmart, then upload those chosen photos to flickr? This is kinda grey to me. I would like to know if That should be the method since uploading first before choosing and layouting is killing time…. Hope to hear from you. Just a newbee to Blurb, Squareroot
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Hello squareroot; There is NO real benefit (when using BookSmart) in uploading images to Flickr either first, or at any time… In fact, it can be a distinct DISADVANTAGE if you then intend to re-download from Flickr because the images will then have been re-sized and will no longer be full resolution… Flickr & BookSmart are two different applications for two different forms of presentation, and I would suggest that you treat them as such… Use Flickr by all means to make your images available for public online display, but BookSmart can and should be treated as an independant application. You can easily add your images into the BookSmart application directly from your computer, or camera card… Doing it that way will ensure that you are working on the original full-resolution image, which will give you a MUCH better output at the end of the day… Open the BookSmart workspace, and in the left hand pane you will see a bar entitled "My Imported Photos", under that "Get Photos"... click on that and then select "My Computer"... surf to the folder containing your images (you can do that multiple times if your images are in more than one folder) select the images you want and you’re off & running… Hope that helps; holler-out loud if you need more input… Cheers; Lee
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Hi Squareroot, Lee is right-on, as usual. One thing I do that has made the process easier for me is this: I go to "my computer " and start a new folder. Then I cruise through the pertinent image folders, of the dozens I have, (I’m not very well organized) and "copy" any pics I want for the book into the new folder. Then, when I start the book, I do as Lee said above and all the pics I want are in the new folder, and I can load them into BS en masse. You can always go back for more if you find you need one from another folder. If you do, copy it to your "new folder" and all your pics for a given book will then be in the same place. David
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David,
Perhaps that you want to look into Adobe Lightroom (or Apple Aperture) to manage and organize your photos on your computer. Although I do not know what system architecture (operating system) you are working with.
Have a great day, David. :)
Cheers, Brian
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Hi Brian, Actually, I’m on a PC and I have no interest in Lightroom since I’m a casual user who just wants to make an occasional book from my snaps. I have plenty of software to organize my files, if I wish, but I’m too lazy to get to it. If I were a professional like you, I might invest in some of that expensive software you guys use. Best, David
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No problem, David.
Happy blurbbing, Brian :)
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Thanks for your info guys! When I import photos from my computer, and when Im done with my layout or book, how will the transferring be of my file to Blurb? Cheers! :P
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"When I import photos from my computer, and when Im done with my layout or book, how will the transferring be of my file to Blurb?" Long! :-) Once you’ve finished your book and checked it, and checked it again (because that typo you missed on screen is guaranteed to be the first thing you see when you open the printed book!) you click the button to order the book and then BookSmart uploads the book to Blurb. If it’s a big book this can take a long time…. I think my 180-page book involved about 300MB to upload, and I am now nearly finished a 400-page one so it will take even longer. But as long as you have a fast connection it is not too bad, maybe a couple of hours for a big book. And of course you can just start it uploading before you go to bed and it should all be done by morning… if you resist the temptation to keep checking on it!
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Thanks Rob! How long to upload 300MB? Im on my 21st page and I checked my file size, it is already 4GB. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… Anybody else have this experience? Cheers!
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squareroot,
With only 21st page, you have already 4GB. I want to know specifically what did you do with those 21 pages? How many photos did you imported? What book size are you working with?
If you think it seems rather odd for some reason considering 4GB, you might want to file email submission contact form using Technical Support with Blurb Team. I trust and believe that the Technical Support team will contact you.
Hope that helps, no?
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As for how long to upload 300MB, actually it depends on when you upload the book file to secure Blurb “back-end” server, and type of modem you have. At any rate of uploading or downloading, it all depends on how efficiency transmission across the Internet medium – it is something beyond our control.
I have uploaded those book files few months ago and it was pretty good and pretty darn fast – because I use fastest broadband cable modem with very high-speed capacity provided by cable service provider in New York.
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Hello squareroot; 4Gb for 21 pages eh! Even though you’re only on page 21, have you already imported a whole bunch of images? That’s the only reason I can think of why your book should be showing 4Gb… BookSmart does not link to existing files; it creates a copy of the original image file in its own directory, and two smaller copies for display & thumbnail purposes… I recently finished a 310 page 13×11 with c. 350 images, and the base file size was 6.5Gb, which converted to an upload file size of 700Mb. (Which took overnight to process…) If you only have a few images in, I would take a close look at the directory for any file info… As a guide, a base book should only be about 500-600Kb.. Cheers; Lee
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What size are your image files to get a book file that size? I just finished a book with 418 pages and over 1,000 photos and the total size was no more than 2GB! Admittedly my photos were taken with a 2mp camera (this was 6 years ago, when 2mp was pretty much state of the art!) but there were some pics that were upsampled enough for full-bleed pages. I don’t see how you managed to come up with 200MB per page, unless as Lee says, you have already imported hundreds of photos into BookSmart.
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Thanks for the support guys! I used a Canon 20D, per photo is like 2MB and some of them that I edited are like 7-8MB. I surely hope that I am wrong so I will not have the trouble of uploading. Uploading a 1GB here at my place took me a day. BTW, If my connection gets disconnected and reconnects, will the uploading start from scratch or continue from where it left? Im almost done with my first book, it is 170 pages now, Im just maximizing now for the next bracket, 220 pages I think. :P Cheers!
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Hello Squareroot; If you lose the connection during upload – YOU will need to re-start the whole process. There is no auto re-start, and the procedure does NOT use FTP style resume commands… You’re best bet is simply to start the ball rolling before you go to bed, and it will be done by morning… Overall – don’t worry – 99% of the time the upload works fine. If it craps out – just start over; it’s not a big deal, althoigh it may be a little frustrating… Cheers; Lee
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Thanks Lee. I am finished with my 1st photobook project. 192 pages. I think it is only 2GB. is that the one with.book? If yes, then its 2GB alright.
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Hi squareroot; YES; it’s the ".book" file, and with a 2Gb raw file, this will bpil down to an easily manageable upload file… should whistle through… Good luck with your book. Hope you enjoy it after all the effort! Lee
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Thanks Lee! I have problem uploading now. Hopefully, I will be able to upload in the next few days.
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