LumaPix FotoFusion Tips and Tricks

[Sarah]

OK girls, as promised, here's a thread where we can share how-to's and info on LumaPix Fotofusion. Here are some basic instructions below. If you have something specific you'd like to know about, feel free to request. I've learned this all by trial and error, and I'm still learning, so if you've got something to share we'd all love to hear it!

OK, here goes...


Basic FotoFusion stuff:

AutoCollage:
A good place to start is by selecting
File > New Project > AutoCollage
Find the file your pictures are in by using the drop-down Folder menu. Choose your images by double-clicking, or dragging and dropping to the space on the left. Or to select several images at once, hold the ctrl button down and when you’ve clicked on all your images, click Add to List. At the top left, there are tabs. Click Canvas Size Options to change the size of your project. Finally, click OK at the bottom of the page to add your pictures to your canvas.
OK- got pictures on your canvas?

Basic Picture and Frame Tools:
Click on a picture- notice there are several buttons (or “handles”) on your picture. The blue corners and sides will resize your frame. The yellow squares just inside the blue corners will zoom in (crop) and out of your picture. The center button allows you to drag the picture up and down, side to side within the frame (pan). The button toward the top center allows you to rotate the image within the frame. You will notice that if you hover over any of these handles, their description pops up.

Adding a picture once you’re in the canvas:
Under “Main” click the folder icon- if you hover over it it says “Browse for Pictures”. Find the folder on your compter, and as in auto collage, hold ctrl down and select several, the OK, or double-click just one picture to add it to the canvas. If you select just one picture, it will automatically add the picture to the canvas in a new frame. If you select several pictures, you will notice them as small thumbnails by your cursor in the order they will be dropped. Hover over the canvas and drop either into an existing frame, or into a new frame- you’ll see what I mean. Or, under “Canvas”, click the icon on the far right the + sign inside a square- that will add a new frame to the canvas, and you can drop pictures into that.

To pick up and exchange pictures into different frames, either right click and select “Pick up Selected” or click the number that’s on the top of the frame.

To delete a frame, click the picture within the frame and hit delete on your computer.

If you click on a picture, you’ll also notice that a menu pops up titled “frame”. Hover over the square icon on the top of that menu and click to select either the image, the border, or the shadow- there are many options for each of these. Have fun playing around with that!

Text:
Go to Tools > Text > Add Text to Canvas.
Once your text is on your canvas, drag and drop the canvas box wherever you want, and resize using the side and corner handles.
To edit your text, double click inside the text box. When you click the text box, you’ll notice a text menu pops up- notice that you can edit the text, or the text shadow. In that menu, click in the text area to type whatever text you want in the frame. Use the dropdown font menu to change the font. Any ttf fonts you have stored on your computer will show up here. Play around with the options- you can change the color, opacity, shadow, outline, etc. Click anywhere on the canvas to get rid of the menu when you’ve made your changes.

Layering:
Learn to layer using text at first- start by either adding a second text box the way you added the first, or what I like to do is highlight my existing text box by clicking on it, then hitting ctrl+D to duplicate, Hit this several times to make multiple duplications (I also do this to duplicate frames). Then click in each individual text frame to change the font, color etc. Right click on the text frame and you’ll notice a ton of options for layering: bring to front, send to back, and moving up and down a layer. You also can change the opacity of the text to see through to the underneath- this feature is very useful for making monograms, and layering text over pics- how I make my sigs.

To save your project, just click file>save as, like you would for any other program. This saves it within the FotoFusion program. To export (and use your project anywhere else) you need to export. I normall expert to a .jpg file, 300 dpi- this works best for most applications. Export is on the lower left. You also can email your complete project to yourself or others. I share photo collages this way a lot. My family loves getting them. You can click Preview to see what your final image will look like, or Render to just get it.




OK, more to come. Let me know if that was clear and if you have any questions about this basic stuff!

[StephanieMN]

Awesome! Do you know if all this stuff can be done with the basic version?

[Sarah]

Yes. Although I have the Extreme version, you can actually choose which version you want to work in, so I adjusted my program to Basic to double-check everything as I made these directions.

[Alyssa]

Sarah - I want to create a magazine bound book of pics and stories for a wedding project. Do you think this software would work for this type of project?

thanks, alyssa

[Morgan]

Thanks for introducing me to & getting me hooked on lumapix.

I need to make an 11x14 collage, but my version does not support making anything over 12x12. Do you know if I can make the collage 1/2 size so it's the same dementions & then upload it into shutterfly & order it as an 11x14?

What resolution (# pixels) do you recommend saving the image as to order it as a print?

[Sarah]

Originally Posted by Mrs.B 2008

Sarah - I want to create a magazine bound book of pics and stories for a wedding project. Do you think this software would work for this type of project?

thanks, alyssa

Definitely! It's great for any kind of collage or layout project. It's probably a little on the expensive side though if it's not something you plan to use very often.

Originally Posted by Morgan

Thanks for introducing me to & getting me hooked on lumapix.

I need to make an 11x14 collage, but my version does not support making anything over 12x12. Do you know if I can make the collage 1/2 size so it's the same dementions & then upload it into shutterfly & order it as an 11x14?

What resolution (# pixels) do you recommend saving the image as to order it as a print?

I usually save everything as a 300dpi jpg. I'm not sure on the ordering it 1/2 size thing. I wonder if you saved it as 600dpi at half size if that would work? I don't know- just kinda thinking out loud. Although, I don't know if the version you have would support that either.

I've got the extreme version. If you want me to make the big collage for you I'd be happy to, then email you the jpg. Just let me know.

[Morgan]

Originally Posted by Sarah

Definitely! It's great for any kind of collage or layout project. It's probably a little on the expensive side though if it's not something you plan to use very often.



I usually save everything as a 300dpi jpg. I'm not sure on the ordering it 1/2 size thing. I wonder if you saved it as 600dpi at half size if that would work? I don't know- just kinda thinking out loud. Although, I don't know if the version you have would support that either.

I've got the extreme version. If you want me to make the big collage for you I'd be happy to, then email you the jpg. Just let me know.

My version will only support 250dpi for an 8x8 collage. I'm a little worried how this will look. I'll post once the project comes in. I may have to get your help for the 11x14. I'll let you know. I'm working on a photobook right now. I'll post it soon.

[Morgan]

Originally Posted by Morgan

My version will only support 250dpi for an 8x8 collage. I'm a little worried how this will look. I'll post once the project comes in. I may have to get your help for the 11x14. I'll let you know. I'm working on a photobook right now. I'll post it soon.

UPDATE- both looked good. Although 300dpi is considered ideal, lower dpi images can still work.

I set my biggest dimension (width or length) to 2000 pixels and see what my dpi ends up being. I have made even 12x12 photobooks and the resolution was good.

For the 11x14 collage, I made a 5.5 x 7 page at the highest resoltion I could. The collage poster printed nicely.

I am happy to see the essentials program I bought can do everything I need so far. I had a hard time deciding to spend $40 for the program & now I use it all the time. Everyone's christmas presents were made with lumapix. I have definitly gotten my money's worth.

The other thing I've noticed essentials won't do is allow you to make a margin to keep the pictures from getting tucked in the cracks of the book. I just have to make sure not to put pictures too close to the edge. The better versions of the program will draw a red line their for you. You can get the line with essentials, but you have to remove it before exporting.

Thanks Sarah for getting my hooked on lumapix! I'm going to take some pictures & post my recent projects this weekend. I have a box full of them to take home for Christmas.

[Abbie]

BUMP....
Thanks for this thread, I'm just getting started with lumapix, and found this by accident on here. Sarah you are so great with instructions! And Morgan, your projects have turned out awesome.

[Agape Gems]

this is super helpful, thanks!