Re-sizing non-standard apertur
Re-sizing non-standard apertures
Matted album vendors can turn off the standard Photojunction functionality enabling users to re-size apertures by dragging from the corner or edge. Some power users feel this dumbs down the application. The restriction can be over-ridden, but before we tell you how, we should explain why it exists in the first place.
Issues with non-standard apertures
No-one gets hurt when you use non-standard apertures in digital (un-matted) albums: all you're doing is resizing images on a piece of paper. But in matted albums, what can be done so easily in PJ may in reality be impossible, impractical or simply more expensive. That's why vendors can elect not to encourage resizing apertures in matted albums as easily as in digital albums.
We explain this in more detail below. For now, understand that if you choose to go non-standard you'll need to take personal responsibility for any re-design time, customer disappointment or extra charges that may result. Please check out your vendor's requirements and extra charges.
Experience tells us that people are very sensitive to things like irregular spacing between apertures, misalignment of apertures and minor variation in the size of apertures. They may be disappointed when they see the book, and if so the photographer/designer gets the blame.
On top of that, non-standard apertures confuse many users. Dimensions of standard and non-standard apertures may vary unexpectedly, and if so, they can't be aligned. Using non-standard apertures requires a very clear understanding of the relationship between image size and aperture size for example. It's easy to make mistakes.
Pick a standard size off a list and PJ does the thinking for you. Go non-standard and you're on your own.
It's true that it doesn't matter whether you're dragging apertures from the corner, or keying in dimensions - you can still get it wrong. But if you key in dimensions (or use the up-down arrows), and understand what you're doing, you CAN get it right. If you drag, it's harder to get it right, and easier to be less attentive to what's at stake.
Finally, non-standard apertures in matted albums can slow album assembly down dramatically, with the inevitable impact on costs. Your vendor may recover these by charging extra.
Over-ride restrictions
If you have read all of the issues, reasons for restrictions and still want to proceed, you can over-ride the vendor restrictions in Photojunction. To over-ride vendor restrictions, simply hold down the alt/option and shift keys while dragging from the corner or edge of the aperture.
