SmartAlbums Cover Designer and Direct Album Ordering: Design, Preview, and Order Albums in One App
Albums are the most profitable product a photographer can sell. We just made them even more profitable. SmartAlbums now includes a built-in Cover Designer with real lab materials and 3D album previews, plus the ability to order albums directly from inside the app. Album cover design and ordering have never been this easy.
SmartAlbums Cover Designer: The First Cover Designer You Will Love
If you've been with us for a while, you might remember that we released a photo wrap cover designer back in 2022. It lets you design covers inside SmartAlbums, and plenty of you used it. But as you probably found out, it had a real limitation: there was no connection to your print lab's specs or material options. You were designing a cover without knowing exactly what your lab needed. That made it hard to trust what you'd get back.
So we built a completely new Cover Designer. We actually released it about five months ago. Some of you may have already seen it. But we held off on making it official because we wanted to make sure it worked the way it should before putting our name behind it. Photographers have been using it, ordering real albums, and telling us what they think. Now it's ready.
The SmartAlbums Cover Designer connects directly to your lab's catalog. It pulls in the actual specs, materials, and options your lab offers. Leathers, linens, colors, stamps, embossing. Not generic placeholders. The real thing.
Pick a cover material. Add a stamp or your logo. Change the color. Every choice updates instantly in a 3D album preview that shows you exactly what the finished album will look like. Not a rough mockup. A real representation of the product your client will hold.
No more guessing what "Dusty Rose Linen" looks like on a 10x10. No more ordering a cover and hoping it matches what you had in mind. What you see is what your client gets.
Your albums carry your name. They sit on your client's coffee table for decades. You should be able to see every detail before you hit order.
SmartAlbums Cover Designer is currently available with three integrated print labs: QT Albums, Vision Art, and Kiss Books. Because the cover materials and specs come directly from the lab, this feature needs a direct integration to work. We're adding more labs right now, and in the coming months, you'll see this list grow. If you want your lab included, reach out to them and ask about integrating with SmartAlbums. The more labs that join, the better this gets for everyone.
Direct Album Ordering in SmartAlbums: Design and Order Without Leaving the App
SmartAlbums now lets you order albums directly from inside the app. Design your album, customize your cover, and place your order. One app. No switching to a lab's website. No uploading files. No re-entering specs in a separate system. All that busywork used to eat into your time. Now it's just gone. We've integrated with three print labs to start:
When you order through SmartAlbums, your design files, cover choices, and print specs go straight to the lab. Nothing gets lost. Nothing gets re-entered wrong.
More Is Coming
The Cover Designer and Direct Ordering are the first pieces of something much bigger we're building at SmartAlbums. We want the entire album process to live in one place. Design, order, and a lot more after that. All so that every album you make takes less time and puts more money in your pocket. We'll share the details when they're ready.
Want to try it? Update SmartAlbums to the latest version. When you start a new project, choose one of the three integrated labs (QT Albums, Vision Art, or Kiss Books) as your lab. Design your spreads like you normally would. When you're done, go to export and click Start Order. That's where Cover Designer lives. Pick your materials, see the 3D preview, and place your order. All without leaving the app.
