The Page Editor - Adding images & creating layouts

Modified on Thu, 14 Mar at 1:23 PM

Your projects are built in the Editor tab. The Editor tab is sub-divided into three types of editors: Book, Page and Cover.

The Page editor displays a single spread or sheet, the photo collection pane, the layouts/templates/styles pane, and editing tools.

Adding a single photo to your page

When you drag a single photo onto the canvas, it will be added to an image frame, no crop, dead center on the page.

Adding a single photo to the page background

To add a photo to the page background, drag it onto the double-spread icon over the page.

To fill the background of a single page side, drag the photo onto either the right or left side icon over the page.

Adding a multiple photos to your page

When you add multiple photos to your page, they will automatically appear in a double-spread layout. To select multiple photos on the collection pane:

checkmark each image individually, or
hold Ctrl on your keyboard then click on the selected photos

Once selected, drag one of the images to the page - the rest will follow.

To generate an auto-layout on a single side, drag a selection of images onto the left or right-side layout icon over the page.

Drop the selection on the double spread icon to generate layouts on both the left and right sides. Note how the gutter is respected - no images straddle the center of the page.

Drop the selection on the full spread icon to generate a layout over the gutter.

Building layouts manually

Add an empty image frame by clicking on the Image frame icon.

Image frames may be resized using the handles on the edges of the frame, and dragged into a new position on your page.

Photos may be dragged from the collection pane into empty image frames.

More information on image frame options is available in the next article.

Adding Layouts to a Page

Layouts may quickly applied from the Layouts pane on the left pane of the screen by clicking them on one at a time. Add layouts to the left or right side page or as a spread. Browse through the layouts by number of image frames per spread.
(Learn more about layouts in detail in a special article in this knowledge base.)

Shuffling Layouts

Layouts may be applied to a page with images already on it - you can reapply layouts as many times as you want to try out different options. You may click on any layout on the left side to apply it to your page - paying attention to respect the number of photos on your page.

To browse though variations of your current layout with photos in place, click on the Layout Preview icon over the canvas. Click on any of the layouts to apply it to your page.

Randomize your layout selection by clicking the layout icons over the page.

Shuffle only the right or the left side, or shuffle the entire spread, choosing to respect the gutter line or go over it. If image frames are placed across the gutter line, first reshuffle the layout to respect the gutter, then use per side shuffling.

Auto-Collage and Auto-Jumble

Auto-collage fills your entire page from margin to margin with a best fit of images. To auto-collage a page, add a collection of images on your page, then select the Auto-Collage icon on the right side menu.

Without selecting any images on your canvas, click on either the left or right side option, or the double-page or spread options. The images on the corresponding part of your canvas will be arranged into a new composition, filling the page or spread as the case may be. (Learn more about auto-collage. )

To achieve a scattered image effect, select the AutoJumble icon. Apply a jumbled effect to either side of the page, or both sides, or to a selected group of images on your canvas in the same manner as auto-collage. Adjust the slider to control the amount of rotation for your frames.

Adjusting Margins and Spacing

White snap lines and grey margin markers appear on the ruler edge of your page. Both the white snaps and grey margin lines may be dragged on the ruler. View the video overview of spacing options to learn more.

Your margins may be reset on a per page basis by dragging the margin markers. Any image, text or shapes that are snapped to the margins will reposition to follow. View the video tutorial on adjusting margins to see this in action.

The white snap lines indicate the edge of an image, shape or text frame. Dragging on a snap will cause its associated frames to resize.

Inter-image spacing is adjusted between frames with shared snap lines. To change the spacing between snapped images, change the Spacing slider, then apply a new layout. The images will move further apart.

Splitting an Image into a Mosaic

Select an image frame (empty or containing an image) to use the splitter tool to carve the individual frame into rows and columns. If the frame contains an image, the image will be split into a mosaic.

Multi-Image Arrangement

Select a group of images on your canvas – the arrangement tool will now be available. Click on the Arrange icon, and the selected images will be repositioned in a grid-style arrangement. If you have the spacing slider set to a particular value, the layout will take it into account. Once arranged, tweak the image position, shuffle the layout, or apply a specific layout from the left pane options.