Shutterstock Editor has tons of easy-to-use tools that will help you make a multi-page graphic for print materials like magazine spreads or double-sided flyers.

In this quick tutorial I’ll show you how to use the Pages feature in our online photo editor to create a multi-page design. It’s perfect for things like magazine spreads, brochure design, or flyers. I’ll also show you how to save your design as a PDF so that you can easily share, send, and print it.

Follow along with this quick four-step tutorial, then apply it to your own multi-page design needs.

Step 1: Set Design Dimensions

In Shutterstock Editor you can change the canvas size in just one click. Head over to the Preset Sizes (P) tab to choose from a few digital media presets.

Since we’re making a design for print, I’m going to customize the document dimensions instead of using the presets. To do this, navigate to the Canvas Size tab on the right sidebar and change the dimension to Inches – that’s the typical measurement for print materials. I’ll use the standard page size of 8.5 x 11 inches. Be sure to unlock the dimensions using the padlock icon to ensure they aren’t constrained to each other. Save this size as a preset so that you can easily access it later.

Since I’m creating a multi-page document, I need to add another page. Navigate to the Pages (G) button on the left sidebar and select Add new page. This will create another page in the same dimensions as the original. You can add a few pages on this panel, and sort them by dragging and dropping in the order you want.

Step 2: Add Your Content

Shutterstock Editor lets you browse a collection of millions of images to use in your design, but you can also upload your own content. Simply click on the My Content tab on the left sidebar to upload content from your desktop, or to select images you have previously uploaded.

Select the image you want and use the handles to place and/or resize it on the page. I used the Shape Crop tool to crop the image in, and then the Align Right function to justify the image on the right of the page. After I place the first image, I’ll add an orange background from my saved content. Resize it to fill the page, then click on Send Backward in the Layers panel to move it behind the first image.

To work on the second page in the spread, go to the Pages (G) panel and select the second page you made in Step 1. Select your images and follow the same image placement and background steps as above to create a cohesive look across your multi-page document.

Step 3: Add Text

Now that I have the layouts finished, it’s time to add the text. Add headlines and subheadlines to your design with the Text (A) tool. Use headlines for big text, and subheadlines for any details you want to include. Remember that larger text is read first, then smaller text follows.

I chose Vidaloka for the headline. Change the Fill color to No Fill and increase the Stroke size for a headline with a simple, sharp outline. Copy and paste the text box to the second page and modify it there for a varying look.

Step 4: Save and Download as a PDF

Once your design is finished, click on the Download button on the top right of your screen. In this panel, select the checkbox that says “Download all pages” to make sure that you get both pages in your design. Then hit License and Continue. On the next page you can select the file format and DPI. Choose PDF – this file format makes it easy to send and print your design. Select 300 DPI, which is the standard for printing. Then hit Download.

Now you have a multi-page design in PDF format, ready to send to the printer!

See what else you can make with our photo editor in these helpful how-to’s. . .

I’ve always had bad luck with portable hard drives. Over the years I have had failures with several brands and models, so nowadays I have almost everything in the cloud for more security. The last time this happened was a couple of months ago: one of my backup hard drives became corrupt, I took it to the tech and they gave me a very high quote that at the moment I could not afford to pay.

As a photographer I’m not a very good computer technician, I do not know much about recovery software but a friend who is quite geeky suggested that I run a program called Wondershare Data Recovery on my other backup discs to see if I could rescue some of those same files that they were previously stored there before being transferred to the disk that was damaged.

So, for several days, I ran the program on all my hard drives, memory cards, even on the hard drive of my laptop. Many files were recovered but I soon realized that unfortunately most of them would not work for me since they were glitched — a mistake of interpretation and representation of digital data quite common in videos, audio, and photographs.

I carefully checked the almost eight thousand raw files. They were messy, with mixed names. I noticed the presence of the typical glitch: intense colors of pink, orange, blue, green, very saturated and textures with lines and stripes, images combined with photos from other shoots.

I was very sad, at that moment my desire was to throw everything away. I still hoped to be able to rescue at least two or three photos of each photo session. Suddenly this image hit me.

It had the glitch but I saw it calmly and I thought it was not quite ugly. It had a strange aesthetic, it looked like the banner of a DJ or some electronic music party. I definitely liked it and decided to look calmly at the photos that had the same effect and separate the ones I liked the most in a separate folder. So I put together a little more than 400 photos.

I am mainly a portrait photographer, so the images that I liked the most were the faces of beautiful models with that strange random digital look. I liked the idea that in the same photo faces of two or even more models were combined that have nothing to do with each other, they don’t even know each other and were originally photographed on completely different dates, but in the end they look a bit similar in expression and intention.

I ended with approximately 100 images that, when viewed as a series, I find quite interesting, with an aesthetic very different from what I have always done as a photographer. In my work I always use desaturated colors and dark themes. These Glitch images propose much more vibrant and intense colors, and a kind of futuristic techno feel that is very fun and refreshing.

I really do not know if I have any merit in making a series like this, because the effects and the finish is the product of a poor process of digital recovery. But I can recognize myself not to have allowed the frustration and sadness of losing my files made me throw everything away, and be able to create an interesting series within all that chaos.

Finally, while most of the photos in the series are directly the result of the recovery, in some of them I made a collage or combined with others that were not as interesting. I am happy with the result and the models loved them! People have liked it and have even suggested that I make an exhibition with them narrating this experience. I imagine they will look amazing printed on metallic paper!

I feel fortunate and above all, I am encouraged to think that when problems like this occur, not everything is lost. The next time you mess up your hard drive, remember that there can be amazing photos with glitches in there!

About the author: Eduardo Gómez is a photographer based in Mexico City. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of his work on his website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Each week, members of the 500px team curate photography that showcases the breadth of our community’s talent and diverse tastes in Editors’ Choice. A few of the themes that caught our eye in this week’s Editors’ Choice photos were relaxed, off-center posing, geometric framing, and wide-open seas and sky. Spot these trends and more in this week’s roundup, and explore some of the best photography on 500px today.

Meet the 500px team that chose this week’s selections:
Karen Biilmann
Laura Stanley
Paul Friesen
Camila Gargantini

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