Smart Photo Selection guide
How to Prepare a Wedding Album for Print
A print checklist for Smart Photo Selection: resolution and DPI, low-ppi warnings, centre fold, trim and safe area guides, bleed, sRGB colour and what to ask your album lab.
By Smart Photo Selection TeamUpdated 5 min read
Short answer
Before exporting, confirm the album size and DPI your lab wants, fix every photo flagged below 200 ppi, turn on View › Print guides (trim 0.125 in, safe area 0.375 in) to keep faces and text inside the safe area, make sure nothing crosses the centre fold, and check your lab's bleed and colour requirements. Then export full-resolution JPGs (or PNG/layered PSD if the lab asks).
What You Need
- Your lab's file specification: spread size, resolution, bleed, file format and colour profile.
- A finished album in Album Studio, with every sheet reviewed in the editor.
- Original, full-resolution photos in the booking gallery (exports always render from the originals).
Start with your lab's specification
Album labs differ. One may want 12 × 36 in spreads at 300 DPI with 0.125 in bleed on every side; another may want single pages, a different bleed or a specific colour profile. Ask for the written spec before you design, not after, because the size and resolution are set when the album is created. The concepts behind these numbers are explained in bleed, safe area and the centre fold.
| Album size (height × width) | Pixels at 300 DPI | Each page |
|---|---|---|
| 12 × 36 in | 10,800 × 3,600 px | 12 × 18 in |
| 14 × 40 in | 12,000 × 4,200 px | 14 × 20 in |
| 12 × 30 in | 9,000 × 3,600 px | 12 × 15 in |
| 10 × 30 in | 9,000 × 3,000 px | 10 × 15 in |
If the lab's size is not a preset, create the album with a custom size: in the AI flow choose Custom size… and enter Width (in), Height (in) and DPI; in the manual editor choose Custom size with Width, Height, Unit and Resolution (DPI). A landscape size folds in the middle automatically. If the lab's spec includes bleed in the file size, enter the size including bleed.
Step by step: the print check
- 1
Confirm size and resolution
With nothing selected, the
Propertiestab shows theDocumentsection:Album size,CanvasandResolution. The status bar shows the size too, for example12 × 36 in · … · RGB. Compare them with the lab's spec. - 2
Fix low-resolution photos
Photos printing below 200 ppi in their slot are flagged. Replace them with a sharper frame using
Change Photo, or make the frame smaller. Enlarging a frame lowers the effective ppi of the photo inside it. - 3
Turn on the print guides
Choose View ›
Print guides (trim 0.125 in, safe area 0.375 in). The outer guide marks the trim area that may be cut off; the inner guide marks the safe area. Keep faces, text and important details inside the inner guide. - 4
Check the centre fold
Look at the dashed
FOLDline. Photos and text are not allowed to cross it: anything dragged across is moved onto one page, and export is blocked withFix the layout before exporting:if something still crosses. Also keep faces a little away from the fold, since lay-flat and traditional bindings both hide some of the gutter. - 5
Check full-bleed photos
A photo that should print to the edge must reach the sheet edge, not stop at the trim guide. If your lab wants extra bleed beyond the trim size, add it to the album size; no bleed is added to the canvas automatically.
- 6
Review text
Zoom to
Actual pixels(Ctrl+1) and read every title and caption. Small, light text on a busy watercolour wash can disappear in print. - 7
Save and export
Click
Save Sheeton each sheet, thenExport. JPG at the default quality is what most labs accept. See how to export JPG, PNG or layered PSD.
Colour: what Smart Photo Selection exports
Smart Photo Selection works in RGB, 8 bits per channel. When a sheet comes from your own PSD template that contains an ICC profile, JPG exports embed that profile again. Otherwise the files have no embedded profile and are treated as sRGB, which is what most photo labs that print from RGB files expect. Smart Photo Selection does not convert to CMYK. If a lab specifically needs CMYK, ask whether they convert RGB files themselves (many do, with their own printer profiles), or convert the exported files in your own software.
Questions to ask your lab
- Do you want spreads or single pages? What exact pixel size per file?
- How much bleed, and should it be included in the file size?
- How much of the centre gutter is lost in your binding (lay-flat or traditional)?
- Which file format (JPG is the usual answer), and which colour profile?
- Do you accept RGB files, or do you require CMYK?
- How should files be named and ordered? (Smart Photo Selection names exports like
wedding-album-sheet-01.jpg.)
Tips
- Create the album at the lab's final size from the start; changing size later means re-checking every sheet.
- Keep the print guides on while you edit text, not only at the end.
- Export one sheet first and send it to the lab as a test before exporting the whole album.
- Keep a copy of the exported files outside the browser; projects are stored in IndexedDB on one device only.
Common Mistakes
Ignoring low-ppi warnings
A warning below 200 ppi means visible softness in print. Replace the photo or reduce the frame size.
Text in the trim area
Keep titles inside the 0.375 in safe area; anything in the outer 0.125 in may be cut off.
Faces right next to the fold
Even when a photo does not cross the fold, a face just beside it can disappear into the binding. Move it further into the page. See how to keep faces off the centre fold.
Assuming the file includes bleed
Smart Photo Selection does not add bleed. If your lab needs it, include it in the album size.
Frequently Asked Questions
What DPI should I use for a wedding album?
300 DPI is the common choice. Some labs accept 240 or 200 DPI. Use the value your lab specifies; the DPI is written into JPG and PNG exports.
Does Smart Photo Selection export CMYK files?
No. Exports are RGB. Ask your lab whether they convert RGB files, or convert the files yourself in other software.
Can I add bleed after designing the album?
Not automatically. Bleed is part of the album size, so set it when you create the album.
Why is export blocked?
A photo or text layer crosses the centre fold. The message Fix the layout before exporting: lists the layer; open the sheet in the editor and move it onto one page.
Related Guides
- How to Export a Wedding Album as JPG, PNG or Layered PSDExport one album sheet or the whole album from Smart Photo Selection as full-resolution JPG, PNG or a verified layered PSD, and download everything as a ZIP for your lab.
- How to Keep Faces Off the Centre Fold of an AlbumWhy faces disappear into the binding, how Smart Photo Selection keeps photos and text off the centre fold, and how to check and fix spreads before you export them.
- How to Design a 12 × 36 Wedding AlbumSet up a 12x36 wedding album at the right DPI, pick templates that suit the 3:1 spread, keep faces off the fold and export 10,800 × 3,600 px sheets.
- How to Colour Grade Wedding Photos in Smart Photo SelectionCorrect and grade wedding photos on an album sheet with Curves, HSL, Color Balance, Gradient Map and presets, then copy the look to every photo for consistency.
Related Features
Further Reading
- Bleed, Safe Area and the Centre Fold in Wedding AlbumsWhat bleed, trim, safe area and the centre fold mean for wedding album spreads, how binding affects the gutter, and how to keep faces and text safe.
- JPG vs PNG vs TIFF vs PSD: Which File Format for Wedding Albums?Which file format to send your album lab: JPG, PNG, TIFF or PSD compared on quality, size, layers and colour profiles, and what Smart Photo Selection exports today.
- 12 × 36 vs 14 × 40 Wedding Album: Which Size Should You Offer?12x36 vs 14x40 wedding albums compared: page size, ratio, pixels at 300 DPI, photo resolution needed and which layouts and clients each size suits best.
Try It in Smart Photo Selection
Open Album Studio with a photographer account, pick a booking and follow the steps above on your own photos.