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Author Topic: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?  (Read 745 times)

pflower

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I have always used InDesign for Blurb books, but my copy no longer works with my operating system (Mac OSX 10.14) so I have been exploring the Book Module for the 1st time.

I think the page layout options will work pretty well for me.  But my problem lies with the Covers.  These have the same grid lines as the pages and I cannot find a way to overcome this.  What I want to do is move the cover image up towards the top of the page so as to allow for more text below the image.  But the top margin does not seem to be moveable - you, or at least I, cannot grab the photo on the cover and drag it upwards.  The grid lines remain rigid.  In the Print Module you can always adjust the grid lines but not, it seems, on the cover of a book in the book module.

Can anyone with experience can offer any suggestions?
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john beardsworth

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Re: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2020, 04:10:34 pm »

You'll probably have to choose a cover template, then zoom in the image a bit, which lets you reposition it. In general, you have to be creative within the limits of the book module's templates and there isn't the kind of complete flexibility that you had with ID.
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pflower

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Re: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2020, 05:45:22 pm »

John

I have always been enormously grateful for your assistance in all matters.  I maybe being stupid but the problem I am finding is that in choosing a page layout for the pages in a book then  that layout also attaches to the covers.  So the page layout may be fine for my images but not necessarily for the covers.  You suggest that there might be a way to choose a cover template as distinct from a single template that affects both pages and covers.  Is that possible?  If so I really have struggled to find out how to do that.  Any suggestions?  I make very simple books - 1 image per page, no fancy layouts.  But to bring covers in line with books I have already made via In Design I want to reposition the cover (portrait mode) photograph by dragging it up about 5cm from the centre of the cover page so as to allow more text below. 

Any further guidance would be most welcome.

Thanks again
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john beardsworth

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Re: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2020, 09:02:51 am »

Sorry if I wasn't clear, but does this help? Just as pages have templates (x per page etc), the cover has its templates.

Covers are such an important part of a book and unique, so I often use Photoshop to make the cover exactly how I want. That's not to take away from my previous post, but the cover is such a one-off and it can be worth going out of Lightroom to get it exactly as one wants.

 
« Last Edit: February 15, 2020, 10:37:34 am by john beardsworth »
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pflower

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Re: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2020, 03:17:23 pm »

Ah once again you've come to the rescue.  I should have noticed the modification of the covers.  I also should have thought of going outside Lightroom to create the covers - I have a template from In Design which all my books used.  I can just export a cover from InDesign from an old computer and use that in Photoshop (I think).

Many thanks
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john beardsworth

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Re: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2020, 05:16:47 pm »

That's the kind of thing I would do. I'd try to do it in LR, but if that's awkward I would do what works. InDesign would allow PDF export, and PS can open PDFs and there may be other routes that work. Glad to break the logjam!
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Don.H

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Re: Book Module - Can you adjust Cover layouts Separately from Pages?
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2020, 10:39:15 am »

Bit of a late reply to this thread, but I've been digging into the Book Module's custom layout capabilities while stuck at home...

From what I have been able to test, you should be able to change or even delete and replace the photo and text objects in any predefined page template - including the cover.

If you want to clear out some or all of the predefined objects, just right click on a cell and select "Remove Selected Cell" - all the way to a blank page if you want.

Then you can add new Photo Cells (which come with optional Photo Text objects) and Photo Descriptions (free text or metadata based title, caption, or filename linked the corresponding Photo Cell).  These can be repositioned or resized freely on the page (or 2 page spread)

On a cover or any other page, you can also:
 - show or hide Page Text
 - optionally add a background color and/or image (the front and back cover appear to be treated as a 2 page spread)
 - and Photo Cells can span the gutter of a 2 page spread (use caution if you are doing that with a text cell or you'll lose text in the gutter).

That said, I've not tried any of this for the portion of the cover that covers the spine of the book.

So, while you still may want to go out to Photoshop or InDesign as your preference or to have even more control, you can do more in the Book Module than is obvious.

Hope this helps - and if any of this is inaccurate, please let me know.  Documentation is not the Book Module's strong point!

Don

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