Overview
On this page we'll give you a conceptual overview of Photojunction, and define some of the words we use. We've covered a few more basic subjects in the other pages in this section. Click here for lots of tutorial movies and other help resources.
Definitions
In Photojunction we work on Projects, which consist of four linked components: Clients, Events, Products and Exports:
We shoot an Event (eg a wedding) for our Clients (eg the bride and groom), who buy Products (eg albums). Clients can be associated with more than one Event, and each Event can have multiple Products. Products can have Exports (eg print files or movie files, depending on the product).
You can't create a new Product (let's say an album) directly. First, you must link it to both a Client and an Event. This is so Photojunction can keep track of all your work.
Album Resources and Lab Settings
Album Resources and Lab Settings are control files to help you ensure that the Products you design and the Outputs from them comply with what your suppliers need. For example:
• Your page layouts are the right size and follow your supplier's specifications.
• Your image files are the correct dpi, size and file type.
Not getting these basic requirements right leads to huge amounts of frustration and wasted time for both you and the vendor.
Layouts and page types etc
A LAYOUT is what you see when you browse through an album - the back of one PAGE and the front of another. Each page has two SIDES.
On a STANDARD layout each side acts as a separate design area. For example the Centre Align tool places an image in the centre of the side - you cannot place an image across the centre of the layout (the gutter or spine of the book).
On a PANORAMA layout, both sides comprise one design area: now you can place an image across the centre of the layout.
In Photojunction, you add and delete layouts from your album design. You cannot move or delete sides. You can move layouts forward and back in the album by dragging them in the preview Tools palette.
Apertures, cropping and effects
Finally, whenever you see an image on a layout, it appears in an APERTURE. The apertures in matted albums are self-evident (the holes in the card that reveal the print), but we talk about "apertures" in un-matted albums as well.
You don't necessarily see the entire image in an aperture (they appear CROPPED). Sometimes the aperture doesn't show the whole image simply because it has a different aspect ratio. Other times you'll want to zoom in and display just a part of the image.
You can add EFFECTS to an Aperture, such as displaying the image greyscale or sepia, changing its opacity or adding a border. These don't change the image in the aperture - they just tell Photojunction to display an image greyscale or sepia when it's in this aperture. Swap images and the effects will apply to the new one.
Start Window
The Start Window opens whenever you start the program or close all other windows. When it's open it's hard to miss the Start a New Project button. Just click it and start playing!
The Start Window has three panels, Recent, Browse and Uploads.
Recent shows the latest Products you've worked on. Click on a line and you'll go straight to it.
Browse calls up a list of all the Clients, Events and Products you've entered to date, rather than just the most recent ones. Use it to drill down to the specific Client, Event or Product you want (notice the Add, Edit, Duplicate and Trash buttons for each).
Uploads shows all your Queensberry FTP uploads. This panel will be empty until you submit your first order to Queensberry.
Notice the links at the bottom of the Start screen to the Photojunction website, blog, video classroom, forums and Store.
Event Window
The Event Window is Grand Central when you're working in Photojunction. It opens whenever you open an Event from the Start Window. It's also open while you're working on album designs, to give you access to the images.
But if that's all you use it for you're missing out on a lot of power.
You can review, organise and edit your images without leaving Photojunction; double-click on thumbnails to view them full-screen; compare, sort and reject images really fast; and help your clients build "collections" for albums etc.
The Event window also offers direct access to your image folders, products and templates (which can be opened in a separate window).
There are three main areas of the Event Window, the Navigation, Preview and Thumbnail panels. You can change the window's size and internal layout to suit your needs, preferences and the amount of monitor space you have:
Hide (or reveal) the navigation panel by clicking in the border ("splitter") between the panel of the rest of the Event Window.
Toggle between hiding and revealing the central Preview panel by clicking on the two buttons top left above the Navigation panel.
Allocate more or less space to the Preview and Thumbnail panels by clicking and dragging the border between them.
Album planning work space
While you're working on albums two more windows open, the Layout window and the Tools window.
Other windows also open if you create a slide show or proof sheets.
You can configure your work space depending on what you're doing and the monitor space you have available.