Try this at home

Drag an image to the page – leave it selected – then hit ⌘1, ⌘2, ⌘3 ... through to ⌘9 (CTRL+1 through 9 on Windows). Cool, eh?

Then hit ⌘Z a few times (CTRL+Z on Windows) to try out Undo.

If you liked that, check out the rest of our shortcuts.

We try and get as much functionality as we can out in plain view (as buttons) because most of our users would rather be shooting pictures than learning software. But remember a few of these and you'll really save time.

HTH, Ian

What do you do?

You're designing an album and you want to take a quick look at the page layout, full screen. What do you do?

a) Click 'Album' on the menu bar and select 'Review Layout'

b) Click the resizing button in the bottom left corner of the Album Layout window and select 'Fit to Screen'

OR

c) Hit - ⌘↑R (Ctrl+Shift+R on a PC)

If quick is key, then it's easily shortcut c). You'll be able to view your layout at full screen in an instant.

Esc will take you back to your Album Planning space.

Guten Tag!

Stephen and I are planning to attend Photokina as visitors (not exhibitors).

We'd love to catch up one night and chat - maybe over a beer.

Email me if you're keen.

-Danny

Not Photojunction

Have you noticed that almost all album planning software assumes that (a) all albums are flush-mount, and (b) templates are the only way to design them. Not PJ.

Coffee table books are cool, and so are templates - but there are other albums, and other ways to design them.

Sales Talk

Queensberry offer sensible sales advice (using PJ, of course)

http://blog.queensberry.com/2008/09/no-surprise.html

Do your supplier a favour

PJ Remix has four great things going for your album suppliers: we built it from the ground up to resolve their challenges, it sends business to them (not just to their competitors), they don’t need to support it (we do) and it costs nothing for them to get started.

That's a good deal, don't you think?

We've had a few calls from new vendors as a result of photographers lobbying them – thanks for that!

If you'd like to encourage your suppliers to get involved, here's a link to send them.

Contextual slideshows

Contextual slideshows are all the rage.

Sort your images into groups or collections then right click on them to create a slideshow.

This will create a new slideshow of all the images in that particular group or collection. 

Opt/Alt-drag

Want the next image you drag to the layout to be the same size as the last one?

Hold down the alt key as you drag (the opt key on Mac).

If you don't hold down the alt/opt key, Remix uses the default aperture size that you set in Preferences.

HTH, Ian

PS You could also just copy and paste the aperture, then drag new images into the copies.

Guest post contender

Michael Moster of Langley BC has gotta be a contender for this month's guest post giveaway, with this, his "best marketing idea ever".

As I live in a rural area, I have to do a fair bit of driving to go to location shoots, run errands and get supplies etc, so I decided to have the following sign painted on the back of my truck. "If you see this vehicle being driven in an unsafe manner, please call 604 530 8022".

I tell you, I had to install two more telephone lines into the studio to handle the call volume.

The typical call might go something like this: "I'm calling to report that @#$% jerk driving the pickup truck. He was driving like a maniac. He cut me off and was passing everyone while in the curb lane"... etc etc.

My reply of course would go something like this... "Thanks for bringing that to our attention. We'll certainly look into it...

"But seeing as I've got you on the phone at the moment... How long has it been since you've had a family portrait? Let me tell you about a special we're offering..."

But wait, there's more: Question: What's the difference between a large pepperoni pizza and a professional photographer? Answer: A large pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four. Hey, we didn't say it. Thanks for making us laugh out loud, Michael.

Straight and Narrow

When you're dragging an image around on a layout you can hold down the Shift key to make the image "sticky" on one axis.

What's that mean? Hold down Shift while dragging and...

• If you drag in a roughly horizontal direction you won't change the vertical alignment.
• If you drag in a roughly vertical direction you won't change the horizontal alignment.

HTH, Danny