1 How to Create Montage This how-to provides guidance for the process of creating your Montage. Before you begin the process you should: i) Follow our recommendation to use either the Firefox or Google browser. ii) iii) iv) Have your photos and videos organized in the chronological order of the subject(s) age. How-To Guides are available to assist you in this endeavour; Decide your transmit method in either uploading or sending your photos/videos, and; Choose your Montage Package which best suits your budget/skill level with consideration of the other options available to you (ie. Photos Retouched, DVD or 1080P HD Blu-ray). You can always change your Montage Package at any time during the process. If you plan on uploading your photos/videos, you should have a good working knowledge of how to properly scan your paper photos, edit your videos and organize those on your computer. You can assess your comfort level in accomplishing these and other related tasks by familiarizing yourself with our various How-To Guides. If you plan on sending your photos/videos, you should package them properly along with any digital photos and videos and determine your shipping preference - either mail or courier. Steps 1. When you click on the Create Montage button you will be directed to the following page: 2. Click Proceed>> for your preferred Transmit Method and then choose your Montage Package: Decide whether you want your choice of 16 HD Themes, Text Captions, Photos Retouched, Videos Enhanced or if you want your Montage presented on DVD or 1080P Bluray.
2 3. When you decide on your Montage Package, click on the respective Proceed>> button and you will be directed to Registration: Once you register, you will be sent an email containing a link to verify your registration. You may have to look in your junk/spam folder to find this email. 4. After verifying your email account, you will be asked to login before you create your Montage: 5. Once logged in, you will be directed to your pending order. Simply click on the button under the Action (Upload Files or Send Files) to begin the create Montage process: 6. If you had planned on uploading your photos and videos, clicking the Upload Files action would direct you here:
3 If you had planned on sending your photos and videos, the process would begin in the Pick Theme page. Once you picked your theme, you would then provide the text for the opening/closing sequence and select your music. You will be billed after receiving your package. 7. If you possess a download link for either your photos or for your photos and video, then click on the + Add Download Link button: 8. Simply paste your download URL link in the resulting popup and then click submit: 9. Your download link will be saved and then click the circled X in the top right hand corner to exit out and continue with the process: 10. To upload your photos, click on the + Add Photos button: 11. In the resulting popup, you can either Drag and Drop your photos into the provided box or click Upload and locate your photos from your computer: The preferred method is to click the Upload button. To Drag and Drop, you will have to minimize the website screen and then open and minimize the Windows Explorer screen and locate your files to facilitate this feature.
4 12. When you click on the Upload button, the Windows Explorer will automatically open allowing you to navigate to the location on your computer where your photo images have been stored: You can select one photo or multiple photos at a time for uploading. If you had organized your photos into decade photos and renamed those image files as recommended, this task would be simplified and very convenient. Once uploaded, simply go to the next decade folder and upload those photos within and so on until complete. It is important to rename your photos prior to upload so that they are organized in the chronological order of the subject s age. You should assign a number to each photo, with 1, Photo 1 or Picture 1, being the first photo presented and so on, Photo 2, Photo 3, etc. Please note, that smaller image files will upload faster then larger ones and as a result, will be placed in order quicker in process. Also, JPEG formats will upload faster than PNG formats as PNG are larger uncompressed files. If the order of the photos is important to you then it is important to rename your photo images accordingly. Please consult the how-to guide on Organizing Digital Photos/Videos for addition information. 13. After you have selected your photos, click Open and a progress bar of your uploads will result: 14. Once uploading is Done you can click on the Upload button again to upload your next batch of photos. Or as shown, upload all your photos from one computer folder directory: Please note: if you have photo image files in different computer folders, then you do not have to wait for the upload to be done. Just click the Upload button again while the other photos are still uploading and select your next batch of photos to upload. Continue until you have uploaded all 100 Photos.
5 15. Once you have completed uploading all your photos, you can click on the Circled X in the top right hand corner to exit out and the photos uploaded will be revealed. Do not be concerned if your photos look distorted. This was necessary to fit on the page. Your photos will be as is. At this point, you can either add in your text captions (Gold and Platinum Packages) or click + Add Photos to continue unless you have already uploaded your 100 photos. 16. To add text captions, click on the + Add Caption under the photo you would like a text caption applied and the following popup will result: 17. Simply type your text caption in the box provided and click Save Caption. Your text caption will then be revealed under the photo: You can add up to 10 text captions for the Gold Montage Package and up to 20 text captions for the Platinum Montage Package. So plan your text captions accordingly for both your photos AND videos to ensure they are evenly distributed throughout your Montage.
6 18. When you have completed uploading all your photos (up to 100) and if applicable, have added in your Text Captions, then click on Done Uploading Photos button at the bottom left corner of the page and you will directed to the Upload Videos page: Please note, if you had separated your photos and videos into two download links, then click on + Add Download Link for your videos and submit. If you placed all your photos and videos into one download link and had already submitted that link in the Upload Photos process, then click on the Done Uploading Videos or click the Pick Theme tab to continue with the process. 19. To upload your videos, simply click on the + Add Videos button for the resulting popup: 20. As with uploading photos, either drag and drop your video files into the box or click on the Upload button, locate your videos from your computer and click Open : 21. Again, a progress bar will show as the videos are being uploaded and will indicate Done when completed:
7 When you have completed your video uploads (up to 5 for Silver Montage Package, up to 8 for the Gold and up to 10 for the Platinum), click the Circled X in the top right hand corner to exit. 22. Your video thumbnails will then appear on the page and you will have the option to add text captions should your Montage Package include this. Again, plan your text captions accordingly and do not forget to put the photo number of where you would like your video to follow. The placement of the video in relation to the photos should be displayed in either the video file name or in the text caption. For example, a Text Caption such as this; P33 It was a beautiful day in August when we wed, would mean you want the video presented after photo #33: 23. Click on Done Uploading Videos when you have completed your upload and if applicable, after you added your text captions. This will direct you to the Pick Theme tab: 24. Once you pick your Theme, click on Done Picking Theme and you will be directed here. Enter your Opening and Closing Sequence text and then click on Done Sequences :
8 25. You will then be directed to the Select Music page: 26. You can either Upload Music from your computer that you have purchased (ie. CD; itunes): 27. Or you can select songs from our Music Library. This is the preferred option for reasons stated: 28. Once you have uploaded or selected your music you can then click on the Proceed to Order Summary button, which will allow you to review your order: 29. Then simply click on Proceed to Checkout and your order will be processed. You do not need a PayPal account to pay with your credit card and you will receive a confirmation of your order.