Here at bonusprint, we’re always on the look out for ways we can improve our photo book creation tool, and one of the most popular requests we’ve had is to offer more creative options. Well, today we’re happy to announce we’ve done just that – introducing our new Shapes feature in our Windows and Mac editor.
Creative with shapes
You can now easily add many different shapes like rectangles, stars and circles to your photo book pages and get super creative with editing all your page layouts. To help you get started, we’ve created 10 fun examples to inspire your next designs.
Where to find shapes in the editors
In the Windows editor shapes can be found in the left menu under ‘Shapes’.
In the Mac editor shapes can be found in the top menu under ‘New Shape’.
Little Ones
If you want to add a pop of colour to your photo books, using coloured blocks in between your photos will do just that. To create a warm look, go for soft pastel colors like pink and lavender. For a fresh look, try using bright colors such as blue and green.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Add two rectangular shapes to the left page and adjust their size.
- Step 2: Place the photo and use the cropping tool to get everything aligned.
- Step 3: Add a fun quote on the right page (located under Clip art > Words).
Free as the Ocean
Keep your books looking fresh by using new layouts for all your projects. In this example, we’ve placed different shapes on top of the photos to create an extra playful design.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Fill half of the left page with a photo and place a square on top.
- Step 2: Add a fun quote on top of the square.
- Step 3: To make it appear like the right photo is split into three sections, add two rectangles and resize them into thin lines on top of your photo.
Black & White
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Reshape a rectangular shape into a thin line and use the copy-paste tool to multiply it. Make sure all your lines are placed evenly by using the align- and distribute tools.
- Step 2: To place the photo over the lines, right-click on it and choose Position > Bring forward.
- Step 3: To place the photo behind the lines, right-click on it and choose Position > Send to back.
Adventure Awaits
Isn’t it fun to start working on your travel book when you return from your trip? This design is perfect to start off your book and bring back all those wonderful memories.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: To recreate the photo you spread out all your travel gadgets on the floor, also called flat lay photography, and take a photo from above.
- Step 2: Add a rectangular shape and place it on the right page. Try to leave some space between the block and the image.
- Step 3: Pick a fun quote and add the quotation marks separately in a different colour .
Baby Blocks
When you don’t have enough photos to fill your mosaic layouts, you can add some coloured rectangular blocks to them. To make a single photo pop off the page, place a colouredblock behind it to make the photo stand out more.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: When you use a standard layout like we did on the left page, the easiest way to add a coloured block to your design is by creating a separate image in Paint with the colour you want and then drag it into the layout.
- Step 2: When you are creating your own layout, you can easily add the coloured blocks by selecting the rectangular shape under Shapes.
- Step 3: For the right page , add a coloured shape behind the photo. You can change the order by right-clicking either the shape or the image and choose Position > Bring forward/send to back.
Live for the Moment
A simple way to add some more creativity to your double-page spreads is by adding some playful shapes and quotes to them. This design works best when you choose to create a layflat premiumphoto book.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Stretch out your photo so it covers both pages.
- Step 2: Select the circle under Shapes and place it on the left page. For this design we applied a gradient effect to the shape.
- Step 3: Pick a fun quote under Clip art > Words and place it over the circle.
Sparkly Wedding
Who doesn’t love a bit of sparkle on their wedding day? For this design, we’ve combined multiple shapes and made sure to add some glitter and gold to make the page look extra special.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Pick two sparkly gold photos to set as your background images.
- Step 2: Place your main photo on the left page and apply a circular mask via Mask > Shapes and symbols to cut it out.
- Step 3: Place a rectangular thin frame over it via Shapes > Thin frame. Add another rectangular shape, make it slightly transparent and add the desired text to it.
Thailand Travels
Shapes can also be used to add extra information to your photo layouts. In this example we’ve added bold word blocks to the photo mosaic to highlight the location.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: For the left page you add a white rectangular shape in the middle. To make sure the copy is perfectly aligned, you add three separate text fields underneath each other and play around to find the correct font size.
- Step 2: Mix in some bold fonts to make the most important words stand out, like we did for Thailand and 2019.
- Step 3: When you use a standard layout, the easiest way to add a black block to your design is by creating a separate black image in Paint and then drag it into the layout.
Wedding Rings
Want to show off your wedding rings to friends and family? Then let them shine as part of your wedding book.Combined with a meaningful quote, this photo book will become the perfect memory of your wedding day.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Spread the image out over two pages. This spread looks extra nice when you choose the lay-flat option for your photo book.
- Step 2: Simply add a rectangle to your page via Shapes and change it into a square.
- Step 3: Place the quote with quotation marks in the white square. If you’re quoting someone, use a different font and color for their name.
Rotterdam Travels
If you’re looking for a fun way to tell a story in your photo book, try playing around with handwritten fonts and transparent blocks. This style is perfect to show off your latest travel photos.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Add a rectangle to your page via Shapes and change the transparency to 80%.
- Step 2: Tell a short story about the photos displayed on the page.
- Step 3: Pick a handwritten font to your liking and make sure to drag it outside of the rectangle for a more playful effect.
Baby’s First Photo Book
Creating your baby’s first photo book gives you the perfect opportunity to play with different shapes, colours and fonts. In this example we’ve used circles, hearts and rectangle shapes to create a playful layout.
Recreate the look
- Step 1: Add four identical circles to the left page and carefully align them over the bottom of your photo.
- Step 2: Pick your three favorite images for the right page and combine them with a heart shape and two rectangular shapes.
- Step 3: Now add the desired texts to the shapes by placing them on top.
Get started with shapes
When you’re looking for beautiful backgrounds, fonts and an easy to use photo-editing program, we recommend the following free tools.
Unsplash.com: A website with free stock photos and background images
Dafont.com: A website that offers tons of creative free fonts
Canva.com: A super-easy photo editing tool to help you get more creative
We wish you a lot of fun working with our new editor shapes and can’t wait to see what you create with them!