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Portrait Page Design

Portrait pages feature labeled photo grids organized by grade, homeroom, or staff groups. Use the portrait wizard to flow portrait groups onto pages. then customize your grids in the page editor using specific tools to keep the grid aligned, styling consistent and the portraits organized.

Note: Portrait pages are not designed by moving images and text frames manually onto the canvas in the editor. Portrait images and their associated data are imported and managed in Pixami and added to pages using specific tools that automate placement, image order, and styling. Don’t try to drag and drop portrait photos onto your pages!

Portrait Page Workflow

Follow these steps to design your portrait pages:

  1. Import your portrait package into Pixami by following the steps in the Importing a PSPA & Photos section of the Importing Portraits & Managing Data article.
  2. Review, correct, and add information to your portrait database by following the steps in the Managing Portrait Data section of the Importing Portraits & Managing Data article.
  3. Flow your portraits using the Portrait Wizard.
  4. Customize your portrait pages in the editor.

Portrait Page Structure

  • A. Portrait Grid – the arrangement of all elements on the page
  • B. Page Title – can contain auto-generated text or custom text
  • C. Portrait Images – added to the grid using the Portrait Wizard
  • D. Labels – display the name, salutation or job role of a person and are placed below the portraits or to the side of the grid

Flowing Portraits

After importing your portraits and managing the data as described above in Steps 1 & 2, use the Portrait Wizard to automate the design of your pages, and manage the placement of portraits. For example, you may add a series of classroom pages, flow a single large grade, make a staff section organized by department, or create a special section for the graduating class.

Tip: Before you start building your portrait pages it’s helpful to have a basic idea of how many portraits you will have in the section, and how many portraits you would like on each page.

It is generally easier to work with many small sections instead of fewer large sections. For example, create one section per grade.

  1. Create a Section with the number of pages you think you will need (extra pages can be deleted later) Learn more about Sections in the Book Management article
  2. Click Edit in the section menu to open the page editor
  3. Click the Portraits Tab
  4. Click Portrait Wizard
  5. Drag & Drop folder(s) from the left pane to the right pane
  6. Click Portrait Wizard
  1. Select Portrait Load Settings from the dropdown menu to load saved settings
    Note: Each time you launch the Portrait Wizard, your most recently used settings will be applied. If you have not yet saved any settings, you will be prompted to create a new settings file.
  2. Click OK
  3. Select Basic or Advanced Mode options for your page layout (see the Basic & Advanced Mode section below)

Tip: Check out the pre-made layouts created by Studio Source on the Saved Layouts Tab to make flowing your portraits even easier. These include layouts for flowing 2 classes per page and advanced layout styles. For instructions on how to apply a saved layout, skip to Steps 12-13 in the Custom Portrait Layout section of this article.

Basic & Advanced Mode

The Portrait Wizard has two different modes of use: Basic Mode provides the most popular standard layouts and features and is most suitable for novice users or users who want to quickly create basic portrait pages. Features in Advanced Mode allow for more detailed customization of your portrait pages. Don’t worry – you can switch  between these modes based on your needs!

Basic Mode Features

  • A. Portrait Settings: Adjust the number of frames in the portrait grid
  • B. Text Settings: Customize the header and portrait labels
  • C. Save & Load Settings: Save your current Portrait Wizard settings for later use
  • D. Help & Info: Indicates the number of pages required to flow your portraits based on your current settings.
  • E. Layout Preview: Shows a preview of your portrait grid.
  • F. Page Navigation: Displays your section pages and highlights the current page.
  • G. Apply to Page: Click to apply your current settings to the selected page.
  • H. Video Help: Tutorial video of the portrait wizard
Adjusting the Portrait Layout in Basic Mode

Portrait Settings define and adjust the layout of portrait grid on the page.

To adjust the portrait layout in basic mode:

  1. Click the Layout dropdown menu
  2. Select the number of portrait frames in the grid.
    Note: The number of pages required may change based on this setting.
  3. Click Apply to Page
Editing Text in Basic Mode

The Text Settings allow you to define and adjust the attributes of all text on the page.

To add header text in basic mode:

  1. Type the header into the blank field
  2. Click the field with the font name
  3. Select a font
  4. Click the Font Size dropdown
  5. Select a size
  6. Click the T to change the font color
  7. Click the Text Color Chip
  8. Select a color
  1. Click the Fill Color Chip to change the text box color
  2. Select a color
  3. Adjust the transparency
  4. Click Done
  5. Click Apply to Page

Tip: Click Previous Page and Next Page to move through the pages in the section, then click Apply to Page again to apply the settings to each subsequent page.

To customize portrait label text in basic mode:

  1. Click the field with the font name
  2. Select a font
  3. Click the Font Size dropdown
  4. Select a size
  5. Click the T to change the font color
  6. Click the Text Color Chip
  7. Select a color
  8. Click the Fill Color Chip to change the text frame color
  9. Select a color
  10. Adjust the transparency
  11. Click Done
  1. Click the Name Position dropdown
  2. Select:
    • Outside – Names will appear at the end of the portrait row
    • Center – Names will appear centered below each portrait
  3. Select Name Display
  4. Click Apply to Page

Tip: If you can’t find a setting that works for your desired portrait page design, click the Switch to Advanced button, where you will have more options.

Advanced Mode Features

The features in Advanced Mode are similar to those in Basic Mode, but they offer more options to customize your portrait pages.

  • A. Portrait Settings: Adjust the portrait layout
  • B. Text Settings: Customize the header (page title) and portrait labels
  • C. Flow Settings: Customize how portraits are flowed (multigroup, last row).
  • D. Save & Load Settings: Save your current Portrait Wizard settings for later use
  • E. Help & Info: Indicates the number of pages required to flow your portraits based on your current settings.
  • F. Layout Preview: Shows a live update of your portrait grid.
  • G. Page Navigation: Displays your section pages and highlights the current page.
  • H. Apply to Page: Click to apply your current settings to the selected page.
  • I. Video Help: Tutorial video of the portrait wizard
Adjusting Portrait Layout in Advanced Mode

The Portrait Settings in Advanced Mode allow you to customize rows, columns, and margins on the portrait pages

To adjust portrait layout in advanced mode:

  1. Click the Rows dropdown menu
    Note: The number of pages required may change based on this setting.
  2. Select how many rows of portraits you’d like on each page
  3. Click the Columns dropdown menu
  4. Select how many columns of portraits you’d like on each page
  5. Click the Top Margin dropdown menu
  1. Select how large the top margin will be
    Note: Larger margins will allow space for page headers or custom word art.
  2. Click the Bottom Margin dropdown menu
  3. Select how large the tbottom margin will be
  4. Click the Minimum Image Gap dropdown menu
  5. Select the distance between the portraits
    Note: A smaller distance will result in larger portraits.
  6. Click Apply to Page
Editing Text in Advanced Mode

The Text Settings in advanced mode provide the same features as basic made with the addition of name width and name gap.

To add header text in advanced mode:

Follow steps 1-13 above for adding header text in basic mode. The process is the same in advanced mode.

To customize portrait label text in advanced mode:

  1. Click the field with the font name
  2. Select a font
  3. Click the Font Size dropdown
  4. Select a size
  5. Click the T to change the font color
  6. Click the Text Color Chip
  7. Select a color
  8. Click the Fill Color Chip to change the text frame color
  9. Select a color
  10. Adjust the transparency
  11. Click Done
  1. Click the Name Position dropdown
  2. Select:
    • Outside – Names will appear at the end of the portrait row
    • Center – Names will appear centered below each portrait
  3. Click the Name Width dropdown menu, if you chose outside
  4. Select the width of the text frame
  5. Click the Name Gap dropdown menu, if you chose outside
  6. Select the amount of space between the text frames
  7. Select Name Display, if you chose outside
  1. Select the Name Lines dropdown menu, if you chose center
  2. Click the number of lines you want below the portraits
  3. Drag & Drop the items you want to display in the portrait label, if you chose center
  4. Click Apply to Page

Tip: If you see a yellow Alert icon on any of the portraits in the preview, this may mean that the amount of characters in the student name label will not fit in the allotted space. You may see more detail in the Help and Info section. You can adjust the font size, name position, and other settings until all of the names fit properly, at which time the alerts will disappear.

Flow Settings in Advanced Mode

If you selected more than one folder of photos on the Select Portrait Folders dialog, Flow Settings will appear, allowing you to determine how to separate the portraits from each subsequent folder, and how you would like a final, partial row of portraits to appear.

For multiple folders, place first photo of next folders:

  • On the Next Photo – The first photo in the next folder will be placed next to the last photo from the previous folder
  • On the Next Line – The first photo in the next folder will start on a new row on the same page
  • On the Next Page – The first photo in the next folder will start on the next page in the book

Place photos on partial rows:

  • On the Left – Partial rows will align to the left side of the page
  • In the Center – Partial rows will be centered on the page
  • On the Right – Partial rows will align to the right side of the page
  • On the Inside – Partial rows will align to the inside of a page
  • On the Outside – Partial rows will align to the outside of a page

For outside names, place names for partial rows:

  • Below the Other Names – The names will be kept in line with the other names on the page
  • Next to the Photos – The names will move over according to where the partial row photos are placed

Saving existing page decorations while applying a new portrait layout

If you have already decorated your portrait pages with custom backgrounds, text and clipart, click the “Keep non-portrait elements” checkbox.

If you do not check this box, the Portrait Wizard will delete existing clip art, elements, and floating image and text frames when updating the page.

Teacher Portraits in Basic and Advanced Mode

Basic Mode allows you to add one large teacher frame for each class. Advanced Mode allows you to add up to three large teacher frames per class – this number depends on the number of rows/columns in your grid.

Adding a large teacher frame in Basic Mode:

  1. Click the Large Teacher Frame dropdown menu
  2. Select Yes
  3. Select Right or Left Teacher Position
  4. Click the Checkbox if the teacher portraits are in the same folder as the students
  5. Click Apply to Page

Adding large teacher frames in Advanced Mode:

  1. Click the Large Teacher Frame dropdown menu
  2. Select:
    • 1 – Adds one large teacher frame
    • 2 – Adds two large teacher frames
    • 3 – Adds three large teacher frames
      Note: The number of available Large Teacher Frames depends on the number of portrait columns you have available. The maximum number of Large Teacher Frames is 3, which become available with 6 or more columns.
  3. Click the Checkbox if the teacher portraits are in the same folder as the students
  4. Select Right or Left Teacher Position
  5. Click Apply to Page

Tip: To learn about how to designate which portraits are teacher portraits and set their priority, check out the Managing Portrait Data article.

Choosing No Large Teacher Frames

If you do not choose to add larger teacher frames, teacher portraits can just be placed into smaller frames ahead of the student portraits. These teachers will just need to have their priority set to 1 (to appear first), 2 (to appear second), 3 (to appear 3rd), etc. on the Photos page. Learn how to set teacher priority in the Managing Portrait Data article.

To turn off large teacher frames:

  1. Click the Large Teacher Frame dropdown menu
  2. Select NO
  3. Click Apply to Page

Teacher Portraits in a Different Folder

If your teacher portraits were uploaded in a different folder than your student portraits, you can drag and drop teacher photos into their frames from the Portraits tab.

To add teacher portraits from a different folder:

  1. Locate the folder on the Portraits tab
  2. Find the correct teacher portrait
  3. Drag & Drop the portrait into the empty frame

Borders Menu in Basic & Advanced Mode

The Borders menu will allow you to change the shape, add borders, & drop shadows to the portrait frames. Borders work the same way in basic and advanced mode.

To change frame shape:

  1. Click the Gray Shape in Portrait Settings to display the Borders menu
  2. Click the Shape dropdown menu to change the shape of the portrait frames
  3. Select a shape
  4. Click Done
  5. Click Apply to Page

To add a border to the portraits:

  1. Click the Gray Shape in Portrait Settings to display the Borders menu
  2. Adjust the Border Slider to select a thickness
  3. Click the Border Color Chip
  4. Select a color
  5. Click OK
  6. Click Done
  7. Click Apply to Page

To add a drop shadow to the portraits:

  1. Click the Gray Shape in Portrait Settings to display the Borders menu
  2. Adjust the Drop Shadow Slider to choose an offset
  3. Adjust the transparency slider
  4. Click the Drop Shadow Color Chip
  5. Select a color
  6. Click OK
  7. Click Done
  8. Click Apply to Page

Alerts

If you see a yellow Alert icon on the preview in the portrait wizard, this indicates an error on the page.

Check the Help and Info section of the Portrait Wizard for additional information.

An Alert can appear due to things like, the amount of text in the student name not fitting in the allotted space. You can adjust the font size, name position, and other settings until all of the names fit properly.

The Alert icon will disappear when there are no issues remaining.

Saving Portrait Page Settings

You can save the current Portrait Wizard settings and then apply them to other portrait pages.

To save the current portrait page settings:

  1. Click Save Settings
  2. Type a name
  3. Click OK

To load saved settings:

  1. Click the dropdown menu
  2. Select the saved setting

To rename or delete saved settings:

  1. Click Manage Settings
  2. Select the saved setting
  3. Click Rename, or
    1. Type new name
    2. Click OK
  4. Click Delete
  5. Click OK

Editing Portrait Pages

Once your portrait pages have been created, you can use all of the design elements for customizing your portrait pages, including changing backgrounds, adding text candid photos, and adding clip art.

Check out these articles to learn more about these features:

Moving & Deleting Portrait Frames

You can delete or move individual portrait frames. The order of the portraits will be maintained, and portraits will reflow as necessary in response to any changes.

To move a portrait frame:

  1. Select the portrait frame
  2. Click More in the frame menu
  3. Select Unlock
  4. Click & Drag the frame to new location

To delete a portrait frame:

  1. Select the portrait frame
  2. Click Delete in the frame menu
  3. Select Delete Frame

Tip: You can Delete portrait frames, creating gaps within the layout to fit graphics or candid photos. The portraits will reflow to the next available frames.

Decorating Tips

When decorating your portrait pages, always keep label legibility in mind. The portrait images should be the focus of the page, and the labels should be kept free from distracting elements.

Be very mindful of the background you choose for your portrait pages, ensuring that all labels remain readable on every page.

Tips for choosing a background:

Choose matte, unshadowed textures, so that labels can stand out.

Avoid a high contrast background (If a label falls on all light, all dark, or mixed areas, getting the labels to uniformly stand out will be impossible.)

Make sure the area covered by the portrait grid is uncluttered (Images directly under the portrait grid can be distracting.)

Decorative word art graphics may be used as portrait page titles instead of being autogenerated by the portrait tab.

To clear space at the top of the page for Decorative Word Art:

  1. Click the Portraits Tab
  2. Click Portrait Wizard
  3. Click Portrait Wizard in the Select Portrait Folders dialog box
  4. Click the Top Margin dropdown menu
  5. Select a larger margin setting
  6. Click Apply to Page
  7. Click OK

Page Title Design Inspiration

Add a standard text frame in combination with graphic embellishments – rotated, and positioned out of direct alignment with the grid.

Page title graphics may be used anywhere on the grid. Use margins and knockouts to create extra room if required.

Tip: The Studio Source Catalog includes a collection of Letters & Numbers graphics under the Decorations area. Build your own title graphics one character at a time.

You may also want to check out the word art generator tool suggested in the Additional Design Elements article to create your own customer word art.

Tips for embellishing with shapes:

  • Use a simple tinted shape frame to create color blocks on a portrait page
  • Overlay a shape on to the background to define your portrait grid
  • Use Pixami’s Elements tab to find decorative embellishments
  • In-the-Classroom Photos or Student Art may also be added to a portrait page by deleting portrait frames, creating gaps within the layout. The portraits will reflow to the next available frames.

Tip: When adding decorative elements to your page, use the frame’s More > Layer menu to send them to the back of the page, behind the portrait grid.

Using Layouts on Portrait Pages

You can apply pre-saved portrait layouts to your pages before or after flowing your portraits.

Adding a layout after flowing portraits

  1. Flow your portraits using the steps in the Flowing Portraits & Basic & Advanced Mode sections. Click OK to close the Portrait Wizard after you have applied your images to the page.
  2. Click the Saved Layouts Tab, choose the Category dropdown menu, and select review the Portrait options: basic layouts, decorative elementary pages, two-classes-per-page, 3-classes-per-page, advanced layouts and large grids.
  3. Drag & Drop the layout of your choice onto the portrait pages
  4. Replace the placeholder text in the page titles and/or featured teacher portraits with custom text, as applicable.

The 2- and 3- class per page layouts are particularly useful when you’ve used flow settings to start the next group on the next line. You can format two or three small classes onto a single page with titles and featured teachers using this setting.

Senior Portrait Pages

Your senior class portrait pages will often have personalized quotes, mottos and/or special memories added under the students’ name. To format your senior class portrait pages with extra space for this text, choose one of the following procedures.

Option 1 – Use a Pre-made Layout

  1. Flow your portraits using the steps in the Flowing Portraits & Basic & Advanced Mode sections
  2. Click OK to close the Portrait Wizard
  3. Click the Layouts Tab
  4. Click the Category dropdown menu
  5. Select Special Portraits
  6. Drag & Drop the layout of your choice onto the portrait pages
  7. Replace the placeholder text under the student’s names with custom text

Tip: Check out the Senior Quotes category on the Saved Layouts tab for more pre-made senior portrait layouts.

Option 2 – Build Your Own Layout

  1. Go to Portraits Tab
  2. Click Portrait Wizard
  3. Click the Switch to Advanced button
  4. Set Rows to 3 or 4
  5. Set Columns to 2 or 4
  6. Decrease the Bottom Margin
  1. Decrease the Minimum Image Gap
  2. Click Apply to Page
  3. Click OK
  4. Add a text frame as a placeholder for the student’s custom text
  5. Move the text frame into position under the name label
  6. Customize with placeholder text and font choices
  1. Align text to the top of the frame for a consistent look
  2. Click More on the text frame menu
  3. Click Duplicate
  4. Move into place by the next portrait
  5. Repeat steps 15-16 for each portrait

IMPORTANT: Be sure to have finalized your senior portraits before beginning to transfer the students’ personalized memories into the placeholder text frames. If you add a missing graduate portrait or correct a last name, your portraits will reflow, but the text frames will not auto-arrange to follow the new portrait flow.

Tip: By request, Studio Source can enable an extra custom field in your portrait database to add extra text fields that will autoflow with your portraits. However, choosing this option will not allow you to customize the font for the extra text; it will appear the same as the entire label block. Contact Studio Source Yearbooks Support by email to request this option.

Custom Portrait Layout

Pixami allows for a lot of flexibility when it comes to the design of your portrait pages. The following steps will take you through creating a custom layout, saving it, and applying it to new pages.

To create a custom portrait layout:

  1. Click the Portraits Tab
  2. Click Portrait Wizard
  3. Adjust the settings in the Portrait Wizard to lay out your portraits in a layout as similar as possible to what you’re aiming to achieve
  4. Make Sure the “Teacher portraits are in the same folder” setting is Unchecked
  5. Click OK to flow the portraits
  1. Decide how you want to change the layout
  2. Unlock a portrait and the portrait label to have the ability to resize and move it to a new location
    1. Select each portrait & label individually or Select multiple portraits & labels (hold cmd/ctrl + click or click and drag the mouse)
    2. Click More on the frame menu
    3. Select Unlock
  3. Knock Out frames to open up space in the layout
    1. Select the portrait
    2. Click Delete in the frame menu
    3. Click Delete Frame
      Note: This will NOT delete the student, only the frame. The student will flow to the next frame and the rest of the class will reflow accordingly (be sure you are not kicking anyone off the page by doing so).
  1. Add any additional elements such as candid frames, text frames, or clipart to the page that you wish to apply to to the rest of your pages
    Note: Teachers will need to be manually dragged and dropped into the teacher frames. They will not automatically flow as they do when using the Portrait Wizard. Specific photos and text will not be applied either, but text boxes and empty photo frames you laid out will be applied for you to fill in.
  1. Lock all elements on the page
    1. Click Ctrl/Cmd + A on your keyboard to Select All
    2. Click More on the selection menu
    3. Click Lock
  2. Save the Layout
    1. Click Save Layout in the main toolbar
    2. Choose a Layout Category
    3. Select which side of the spread you intend to save (We don’t recommend saving the background at this time, there are some bugs in the software that keep it from applying correctly)
    4. Click OK
  1. To use the saved layout on another page
    1. Click the Saved Layouts tab
    2. Locate the layout you just saved
    3. Drag & Drop the layout onto the page
    4. Click the Portraits Tab
    5. Click Reflow Portraits
    6. Drag & Drop the class you want to use from the left pane to the right pane
    7. Click Reflow Portraits
  2. Check to make sure the Saved Layout applied correctly and no students were booted off of the page

Tip: For fine tuning, select the smallest Snap size to allow you to have more control over the incremental movement of your elements on the page. Learn more about this in the Snap Alignment section of the Frame Basics article.

Troubleshooting Portrait Labels

Longer names or low-lying characters may fall under the portraits beneath them. You can try three different techniques to fix this:

Change the label to a compact font and/or reduce the font size:

  1. Select the Portrait Label
  2. Click Edit
  3. Change to a smaller font size and/or a condensed font
  4. Click Apply

Expand the label frame:

  1. Select the Portrait Label
  2. Click More in the frame menu
  3. Click Expand

Increase the minimum image gap:

  1. Click the Portraits Tab
  2. Click Portrait Wizard
  3. Click Portrait Wizard in the Select Portrait Folders dialog box
  4. Click Switch to Advanced
  5. Click the Minimum Image Gap dropdown menu
  6. Select a larger image gap
  7. Click Apply to Page
  8. Click OK

Staff pages may include the job titles. The default spacing on portrait pages will not accommodate this extra information in the label.

To create extra space for job titles:

  1. Click the Portraits Tab
  2. Click Portrait Wizard
  3. Click Portrait Wizard in the Select Portrait Folders dialog box
  4. Click Switch to Advanced
  5. Click the Minimum Image Gap dropdown menu
  6. Select a larger image gap
  7. Click Apply to Page
  8. Click OK

To improve label legibility, try using a semi-transparent shape to tone down the background behind the portrait labels if a busy, high contrast, or shadowy background must be used.

  1. Add a shape to cover the entire page
  2. Change the shapes’ Fill to a light color
  3. Click More in the frame menu
  4. Select Transparency
  5. Reduce the transparency level
  6. Click More in the frame menu again
  7. Go to the Layer menu
  8. Select Send to Back

The label text will now stand out better against the light filter, but the background will still show through.

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