Using TotalPIX couldn’t be easier. Once you’ve downloaded the TotalPIX Editor software, you can get started immediately. TotalPIX Editor comes with a handy wizard, which asks clear questions to make things easy. However, should you have any problems, we hope the information below will help.
- Starting a project
- Designing the Photobook and filling it with photos
- Ordering a Photobook, Calendar or other project
Starting a project
After installing TotalPIX Editor, click ‘start’ and then ‘All programs’. Select the TotalPIX Editor. The TotalPIX Editor automatically opens the 'TotalPIX wizard' box. The wizard asks you a number of questions.
The first question is: “what do you want to do”.
You are given three options,
- Create a publication
- Browse to a file
- Select a recently used file
To create albums, postcards and so on
Tick ‘Create a new publication’ and then click ‘Next’
Start by filling in the name of what you want to make. This name will not be shown in the project, but will only be use in the file name. This name must be unique: you cannot use the same name twice.
Next choose the type of project you want to create. If you are creating a Photobook or Yearbook, you have the choice of printing on one or both sides of the paper. Printing both sides, of course, doubles the number of pictures you can include.
Remember that once you have chosen a publication type and style, you cannot change this afterwards.
When you have made your choice, click ‘Next’.
The next box allows you to choose a style for your project. There is a range of different styles for the Photobooks. The list of styles is organized in the same way as the Explorer option in Windows. The folders you see are the main groups. Click on the + sign for the group you want and then click on each style within the group to view it. To select the style you want, click ‘Finish’.
Designing the Photobook and filling it with photos
Once your chosen page style is loaded, three tabs appear above the right hand window. The first tab is called ‘overview’, the second ‘page x of y’ and the third ‘picture info’. At the top left of the tabs you see a browser layout of your computer. Search for the folder containing the photos that you want to use for your publication in this browser layout. (Your photos can be either on your hard disk or on a CD-Rom). As soon as you have selected the folder containing the photos, the software will show all the (or some if the folder contains a large number) photos in this folder as thumbnails. If all the photos are not displayed, you can browse further by clicking the arrow at the bottom of the photos.
When you click the ‘Overview’ tab, a total overview of your Photobook is shown. As you build up your pages, you will see them in the ‘Overview’.
The tab ‘Page x of y’ is your worksheet. This is where you see the ‘page layout’. The worksheet is divided into two types of fields: the photo fields and the text fields, the text fields can be identified by the words ‘click for caption’.
The ‘Layout’ button allows you to choose the layout for your next page. Each style includes a number of different page layouts allowing you to have from one large photo to several smaller photos on a particular page.
When you have chosen a style for your next page, simply select a picture from the left hand photo gallery and drag it across to the photo field. You may need to crop it as shown by the frame superimposed on your picture. Move the frame to achieve the best effect and then click ‘apply’. Make any adjustments to the colour, contrast and brightness, and click ‘OK’ to save the picture in the photo field.
For further information on using the TotalPIX Editor click here.
To add a caption or text in the text field:
Double-click on the text field. Type your caption and then choose the font size, its style (bold or italics). You can change the text colour using the drop down menu. In the text box at the bottom, the text is presented in the size chosen. If you tick the box ‘Use settings for all new captions’, all the text boxes in the Photobook will maintain the same settings.
When you have completed your Photobook, save your work, if you have not already done so (File, then Save).
Ordering a Photobook, Calendar or other project
Ordering your Photobook is a simple, automated process. All you need is an Internet connection to upload your project. Since the TotalPIX files are large due to the high graphic content, broadband is recommended especially for Photobooks and Yearbooks.
To start the order process click the ‘Order’ button, situated on the menu bar. This will bring up the upload order box. Click next to start uploading your project. You will see two numbers in the right hand bottom corner of the upload box, the first number shows the size of the file you are uploading and the second how much has already been uploaded. This allows you to gauge how long the upload process will take which will depend on the speed of your Internet connection. A typical Photo or Yearbook may take five to ten minutes or more to upload using a broadband connection, or considerably longer for other types.
As soon as the file has arrived at the TotalPIX server you will receive an email message from us within a few minutes. This email message will be sent to the email address filled-in by you in the TotalPIX Editor under ‘Settings / Users’. If you do not receive this email, it is likely that you made a mistake when entering the email address. Correct the address and click on the ‘order’ button again. The email that you receive after the upload contains a link to your personal order pages on the TotalPIX server as well as a user name and a password. Click on the link and the order page opens. After you have filled in your email address and password (we suggest cutting and pasting the password to avoid errors) you are taken to the order page. This is where you select the colour you require (for Photobooks and Yearbooks), the number of copies and provide details of the delivery address.
You will then be taken to the secure payment page. All our transactions use Bibit Payment secure payment services.
As soon as your payment has been received, you will receive a confirmation email with an order number. This order number (the letters AP followed by a combination of figures) is important, because it is the indication that your order has been passed to production. Without an order number your order cannot be delivered. After your credit card payment has been processed, you will receive a second email confirming this.
If you do not receive these emails, this means your payment has not been processed correctly. Please, try again. Double payments for the same order will not be accepted. We reserve five workdays to process your order. Delivery of your project will be within 10 working days of receipt of your uploaded file unless there are any delays in the payment transaction.
Once all this has been completed, all you need do is to simply look forward to your order arriving!