Shutterfly Question : Resizing to 7.95 = no chopping?

[Braves888]

Hi all,
I'm getting my layouts together for an 8x8 shutterfly book (well, two, with the BOGO!) I have read through all the shutterfly threads I could find and I still can't quite figure something out....I'm sure it's just me but I need someone to explain in very simple language... ;-)

What I understand is: with their full bleed process a tiny bit around the edges of each layout will be cut-off, so make sure not to put journaling or other important stuff up to the edge. Ok, got it.

What I don't understand is: When Katie's shutterfly action to resize to 7.95x7.95 (or doing it by hand), does that resizing then allow for the edges of the layout to be printed? Or do the two have nothing to do with each other? I did the resizing, then used the grids provided by S-fly - it looks like there will still be some cut off around the edges, according to those little blue lines.

Now, on almost every one of my layouts there's nothing so close to the edge that this issue even matters. But there's a few where there's some sort of decoration, like, a blended word on the very edge of the background paper, that will look a little funny if it's going to cut-off where the blue line hits. Or, painted edges that are right there in that blue-line area.

Would I be able to fix this by moving the background paper to be flush with the blue line, leaving everything beyond the blue line white? Or....use a different background paper altogether....??

Thank you to anyone who can help me understand this. I'm not usually such a doof.

Kristy

[esther_a]

Glad you asked! I'd like to know, too!!

[mugsbigsis]

I'd also like to add for the person who knows the answer to this question:
Why do we resize 8x8 to 7.95x7.95 (smaller) and we change an 8.5x11 to 8.59x11.12 (larger). I feel like if I know why we do this then I can get a better handle on what the outcome will be when printing.

[BillieBee]

I resized to 7.75 and still had stuff cut off -- I didn't use Katie's action (it wasn't available back then) -- neither did I use the SF template.

Another question: What size font can you use (approximately) on a 12 x 12 layout that is still "readable" once it's resized to an 8 x 8?

[omyjallopy]

oh, good question Billy about the font size, I've always wondered that too! I know someone is going to pop in here soon and amaze us all with their expertise!

[esther_a]

I had been wondering the same thing! I did print a page as a test run with 12pt text and I couldn't even read it when it was printed!! The text changed to 8pt when it was reduced to an 8" LO (probably could have worked that out with a bit of simple mathematics and saved myself some time lol!!).
It does depend on the font, but as a rule of thumb I have been using size 14 on my 12x12 pages that I might want to print 8x8. When you reduce the page, the font size changes to 9.3 and I reckon that's small enough!
Probably bigger would be better! Is that what others have found?
Esther

[nirecreations]

Billie, I always use 12 point. And when I got my (8x8) book it was all very readable. I use a slightly smaller font for dates and such.

Kristy:
I saw this earlier but I thought someone else would answer you (), Kristy, but I will answer from my experience as a graphic designer and using print houses to get files printed.

1. The action has nothing to do with the edges, the blue lines are the final judge of what will be cut off or not.

2. you do not want to leave 'white' beyond that blue line as you risk having that white show up on the edges of your pages and not necessarily in an 'even' way.

3. I would move the blended word or decoration within the line to be sure it prints otherwise you may lose some of it! As for the painted edges I will leave that for someone else to answer as I didn't have that on any of my pages that I printed and I think it might be a little tricky, maybe Cassie can field this one!

4. You are not a doof!

[nirecreations]

Originally Posted by mugsbigsis

I'd also like to add for the person who knows the answer to this question:
Why do we resize 8x8 to 7.95x7.95 (smaller) and we change an 8.5x11 to 8.59x11.12 (larger). I feel like if I know why we do this then I can get a better handle on what the outcome will be when printing.

Kelly, it just has to do with the final 'trim' size of the file. The trim size of a file is usually 1/4 inch smaller than the 'bleed' size required.

HTH!

[Denise Gormish]

I just did my first shutterfly album so this is my experience.

I did the layouts using the Shutterfly 12X12 Shutterfly template it was at the size Shutterfly says (11.95X11.95) and I kept everything within the blue guide lines. I uploaded them. If I had not stayed within the blue guidelines I am sure things would have gotten cut off. As it was, there was a tiny bit of cutting off especially with an overlay that uses the edges. I had moved those overlays so that would be a little outside the blue line and mostly inside.

So, I would advise to definitely use the blue lines and just a bit inside of it.

[Denise Gormish]

On the readability...

I did 14 point type and 12X12. When I reduced it to 8X8 it was readable to me and all o. DH said his mom and grandma might need a magnifying class, though.

[carollee]

My husband recently decided to try this - he created a Word document with pages at 12x12 and 8x8. Then we inserted the jpg of my layout into it to fill the document and viewed it at 100%. Then I was seeing on the screen what it would look like printed. (I think) He said it would anyway.

[esther_a]

That is possibly the same as viewing 100% in Photoshop. But it depends on the resolution that you've chosen for your screen, too, I think! For example, if you've chosen a low resolution then the page appears bigger than it will be.

[mugsbigsis]

I actually size my page on the screen until it shows the size that I want to print. If I'm printing at 8x8 then I look at my page while it shows literally 8 inches on my screen (no matter what the % is). This way I can see how big/small the type is. I think I got that from Cassie. Anna Aspnes told me in a chat once that for an 8.5x11 page the best font size is 11. She said that she's heard some people say 12 is too big and some say 10 is too small.

[Braves888]

Thank you, Erin, for your explanations! Very, very helpful and I now feel armed and ready to finalize my pages. Moving the edge decorations in towards the blue line but NOT leaving white - that's what I really needed to know.

And thanks to everyone else for your additional insight and experience!

4. You are not a doof!

Oh, but maybe just this ONCE. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha....ahem.

Kristy

[anxela]

Originally Posted by mugsbigsis

I actually size my page on the screen until it shows the size that I want to print. If I'm printing at 8x8 then I look at my page while it shows literally 8 inches on my screen (no matter what the % is). This way I can see how big/small the type is. I think I got that from Cassie. Anna Aspnes told me in a chat once that for an 8.5x11 page the best font size is 11. She said that she's heard some people say 12 is too big and some say 10 is too small.

Love this tip!

I've found that font size also depends much on the font. Some look more readable at, say 10 pt, than others.