The bookmarks I’m talking about are real ones, for real books, as opposed to digital bookmarks for ebooks. I’ve always liked bookmarks, but was too cheap to buy them. At $2 a pop, I didn’t think it was worth the money. And besides, I never liked commercial bookmarks. Their photos or designs or words weren't me.
So I thought, “if I can’t find something in the market that I like, why not make my own?”
Starting on the Wrong Path
I began by using Affinity Photo, a Photoshop alternative. After a few hours, it became evident that I spent too much time designing and setting up templates for photos to “drop” in. And I was not used to the Print Module to achieve the look I wanted with the bookmarks. My initial bookmarks were “okay,” but I wanted something more than that. I wanted something that said “Pow, this is me!’
Lightroom 6
As I noodled what to do to make my task easier, I looked at the print presets of Lightroom. I’m using Version 6 standalone, but you can use Versions 3, 4, 5 or 6.
I wanted to fill the page with bookmarks, so as not to waste paper. I wanted their initial size to be 1 ¼” wide, and experimented with lengths of 5’-7”. For me, that worked out to be 8 bookmarks (Template below, #3) on a letter-sized paper of 8 ½” x 11”. The template preset allows you to determine any of these numbers and dimensions. Of course, the wider or narrower the bookmark you choose, the more or fewer the number of bookmarks you’ll have.
Here’s how the template appears. You can select 8 different photos (check Zoom to Fill, Template below, #1), or 1 photo (additionally check Repeat One Photo per Page, Template below, #2), which will be repeated 8 times. For the former, select Zoom to Fill, and for the later, additionally select Repeat One Photo per Page:
LR6 Template, Print Module
Examples of 8 different selected photos:
Example of 1 photo, repeated 8 times:
How does the Template work with Photos in LR?
As you can see, the template is a horizontal slice of each photo. You need to decide whether to rotate the photo in LR—or not. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes not.
You can rotate in the Develop Module, or directly in the Print module. Or crop, say at a 30 degree angle, in Develop Module. Or enlarge the photo to fill your bookmark.
While you can move the photo slice up and down, you cannot move the slide sideways in Print. To change this “sideways move go to the Develop Crop mode, if you must get the exact cropping, right to left. Go to Develop/Crop (⌘-R on Mac, or Cntl-R in Windows). The example below takes the first image and crops a virtual copy so that there’s less space on the left. Note, the size is different: you may need to play with cropping or bytes, if you must have the same size (of bee, for example).
Changing Dimensions of Bookmarks
If you don’t like my dimensions for bookmarks, you can change them in the Print Layout section. Just change the Cell Size (See Template above #4) to the size you desire for your bookmark. Move the Left and Right sliders to get the size you want. Of course, you may have to change the Page Grid Rows or Columns or Cell Spacing (#5 or #6) if you change the layout I’ve provided. You can play, and LR is quite amenable to many layouts. Do be careful that LR may create another page, if the bookmarks don’t quite fit on one page!
Paper Selection
I needed a bookmark that flexed, but not too floppy. I loved matte finish, rather than glossy plastic. I tried my favorite, Epson Hot Press Natural, 18 mil thickness. This paper, though expensive, costs about 12¢/bookmark, including ink. I can make 16 of these bookmarks for what it costs to buy 1 small Starbucks black coffee! I feel it makes a much better bookmark than the cheaper, thiner, Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte, 10.3 mil thickness. I encourage you to try different finishes, like glossy, velvet, or satin. I’m not into printing on both sides, but that’s an option. As well as encapsulating the bookmark in plastic with a heat-sealer. But I’m not into preserving these forever. I’d rather use a variety of bookmarks to suit my mood and the book I’m reading.
Finishing
After printing, cut out the bookmarks with a rotary trimmer.
With 8 bookmarks in my hand, I found enjoyment in selecting which bookmark to use for the book I’m reading. And if I don’t like what I have, I just make some more…which I did, this second time with 1 ½” x 7”.
