ProSelect Software

Templates & Layouts

Designing & using Templates, ordering Layouts

Articles

Changing crop of image in a Room

Sizes are controlled by the Print Paper sizes that you have setup. I recommend that you watch the Quick Tip movie "Select Size View" movie - access under the Training menu (on the ProStudio Software website). Sizing when Working with Rooms works the same way as this. However, if wishing to change the cropping of an image, then you can do this two ways: Option 1 - using images When in Working with Rooms, double click on the image ...

Using Overlay Images with Text layers

Article updated in December 2015 Many composite layout designs include some text. While you cannot directly change the text on the layout within ProSelect, you can use the following techniques to update the text on your layouts or to have custom text set automatically during Hi-Res Production. Text generally falls into two categories: Text that you change occasionally and use the same way for a number of different clients or jobs such as upd...

My Templates have a Red X on them

If your template thumbnails display with a red X over them, then this means that ProSelect cannot find the overlay image file associated with the template. The overlay image files are stored in a subfolder of your ProSelect Resources Folder. The first thing to do is to check that ProSelect's Preferences are correctly pointing to where the ProSelect Resources folder is located. You can check (or change) this setting in ProSelect's Preferences --&...

Distributing Templates in Collections

If you have designed a set of templates that you wish to distribute to other ProSelect users, then the best way to do this is as a ProSelect Collection file (.tpk). You need to be using ProSelect Pro to do this. Creating a Collection If you have already created your templates, then Put them into a Template Group (in any Template Category) using the Template Manager (under Templates menu in v2012r2 and newer). Choose Export Collection ...

Using Photoshop Templates in ProSelect

ProSelect supports the ability to add Photoshop templates within the program or you can create templates yourself using ProSelect's built-in Template Editor. These can be either Traditional Matted Templates or Composite Templates (for digital books). Your initial files are generally .psd files and can be added as an Overlay Image to a template. If you already know how to create templates in ProSelect, then watch the "All About Templates Part ...

Mats replaces Styles in ProSelect 2018r1+

In ProSelect v2017r1 and earlier, there was a real style called "None". This style was automatically applied to all newly created layouts and book pages. By default, it had a white background and no borders. In ProSelect v2018r1 and newer, styles are now converted to Mats. However, in the new version, when you select "None" from top of the popup menu, this means that no mat is applied at all. Normally when you upgrad to ProSelec...

Producing full composites with mats

When you order a Layout as a "Composite" type, the Hi-Res Production feature will put all images on one piece of paper. When you order it as a "Traditional Matted" layout, the Hi-Res Production will produce all the images in your layout as separate print files. You select "Traditional Matted" or "Composite" when setting up your price list items or when creating a Custom Product in the Place Order dialog. Hint: As a check when ordering the lay...

Using Templates to quickly show Non-Standard Crops

If you wish to regularly display images at an actual size with a non-standard cropping aspect ratio (eg 12x20), the normal approach is to add this size to your Print Paper Sizes. If the image has not been cropped, it will be automatically centered within that size when you switch to Select Size view. To adjust the cropping you need to switch to cropping view and manually crop the image to the same ratio. An alternative method is to create a temp...

Using Templates to order and deliver Print Packages

Using a special template to handle your packages is an easy and flexible solution for a wide range of package types. Simply design a template big enough to fit in all of the sizes (eg. 6-5x7's and 4-4x5's), save it and add it as a new Layout Order to your price list at the "package" price in the Price List Setup (under Orders menu). When the client wishes to purchase this package, you can select the template (when in "Wor...

How do I produce a composite layout that I have designed

To turn your composite design (layout) into a final image that you can print or send to the lab, you need to use ProSelect's High-Res Production feature (see section below to find out if you have this). As a first step, you need to get the layout into the production system. The normal way is by ordering it through the shopping cart as part of a customer order. Alternatively, you can use "Send Book to Production" (under the Production menu) if pr...

Mats vs Styles (Important changes)

In ProSelect 2018r1 and newer, Mats now replace Template Styles used in earlier versions of ProSelect. When upgrading to the new version, any previous Styles that you have installed are automatically converted into the new mat structure and will mostly work the same way when applied as an Inner Mat to any templates and book pages. The one exception is that, where borders on Styles would always be applied in an inwards direction around each openi...

Missing prices and templates setup data after upgrade

Updating the ProSelect software doesn't remove your ProSelect Setup data (or Resources folder) data unless you manually did this or completely wiped your hard disk. If you start the newly installed version of ProSelect and find this data missing then: A) If you didn't select to clear your ProSelect Setup Data, then they should still be on your computer. You may have logged in to your computer under another User.&...

Backing up & Retrieving your Price Lists and Templates data

Your important ProSelect's setup data (containing your price lists, templates, rooms, music setup, frames etc) is stored on your computer in a single file (called "ProSelect_Data.xml"). Any associated image files are kept in your ProSelect Resources folder. This information can be lost by computer crashes, hard disk failures, file corruption etc. and while these situations are not common, it is time-consuming to re-enter, will possibly occur ...

Designing a Circular Template with a Mat

In ProSelect 2018r1 and newer, you can use work with irregular shaped items using the geometric opening options for templates to quickly create a circular wall product into which you can drop and image and display it on the wall in RoomView. If you wish to add a surrounding mat and/or frame to this, you need to take a few more steps using an overlay image to provide the Mat (and frame) to the product. If you are designing this template to be one ...

Backing up your ProSelect Setup Data

Keeping a regular backup of your valuable ProSelect Setup Data is important so you don't have to re-enter everything after a computer failure. For a complete understand of this process see the Backup and Sharing Section of the ProSelect Reference Manual (you can open this under Help menu in ProSelect). Below is a summary to get you going quickly. Apart from your preference settings, ProSelect keeps your setup data in two places: ProSelect Data f...

Creating products with textured double mats

"I am trying to create a style with a white top mat and a "Metal Marble" bottom mat. It's a variegated color mat that can’t be represented by a solid color key line between 2 bevels." Here is a trick for doing this: Create a template with a graphics block and an opening both exactly the same size. Align the opening exactly over the graphics block. Create a style with your texture image assigned to a graphics block and a border of bevel, spa...

Adding the new ProSelect included resources

The latest versions of ProSelect (from 2051r1 and newer) include some great new default templates, mats (with high-resolution graphics), frames, room view images and more. These are automatically added into ProSelect on a new install but not when upgrading from an earlier version, to avoid making unexpected changes to your existing setup. This article explains how you can add these resources to your existing setup after upgrading to these newer ...

Clearing Preferences & Resetting/Restoring your Setup Data

ProSelect stores your preferences and other setup data in two separate files. These are NOT uninstalled when you remove, uninstall or re-install the software as they are held in a separate location. This is so you don't loose them when you change versions. If either of these files become corrupted, then it can cause errors when starting or running ProSelect. Resetting these files will cause ProSelect to create fresh copies with default values. Re...

Creating and Ordering Image Splits

Labs are now offering products where an image is printed over several panels, maybe metal, canvas or photographic paper. When you are creating a product like this, it's important to have something to show the customer something that represents the product, shows it on the invoice and properly translates correctly into High-Resolution Production for lab ordering. With that being said, you will need to create a photoshop psd file the overall size o...

Merging templates between different computers

Combine different sets of templates from two different computers, is possible but the process can get a bit messy. This article explains how to do this however, you should be aiming to get everything you need onto one "master" computer then use one of ProSelect's Sharing options to synch your setup data between multiple computers. Transferring Selected Templates Between Computers In the instructions below Computer #1 is your master computer (t...