Using the software: from photos to album, step by step

Once AI Album Studio is installed and you've trained at least one style profile, getting to an album draft ready for final touches takes five steps. The program guides you through every screen: just follow the questions.

Haven't trained a style profile yet? Read this guide first.

1. Pick your photos

From your projects home, click "Create New Album". The first question is "Where do you want to import this shoot's photos from?" and you have three ways:

• "📁 JPG files" — choose a folder on your computer with the built-in folder browser.
• "📷 Lightroom" — browse your Lightroom catalog just like in Lightroom's Folders panel, without exporting anything by hand.
• Photos already sent from the plugin — if you've already used the Lightroom plugin to send a selection, you'll find it listed here, ready to use.

2. Choose how to lay out the album

The program asks "How do you want to lay out this album?". Choose "Lay out with AI" to have the AI propose the page sequence, or Classic mode to compose everything by hand. With AI, you're asked to confirm the use of one credit.

3. Choose style and size

Give the project a name (optional), answer "Which style will we use for this album?" with the profile you want for this shoot, and set the spread size: one side is enough, the other is calculated for you. Then click "Analyze photos →".

4. Assign chapters with the spray can

The program asks "How do you want to assign chapters to photos?":

• "Use the assistant" — the AI proposes the main chapters; you review and refine.
• "I'll do it by hand" — you start right away and assign the chapters yourself.

On the "Chapter assignment" screen every chapter has its own color, like a spray can: pick a color at the bottom, then click or drag over photos to paint them. Shift+click paints a whole range of photos at once; the eraser removes the chapter. The "Photos per chapter" panel shows at a glance whether a chapter has too few, the right amount or too many photos. Tick "Remember my choice" if you always want to use the same method: you can change it anytime in Settings.

5. Generate the album and refine it in the Editor

When the chapters are ready, click "Generate Album". You have two ways:

• "Generate with standard density" — the AI picks the best photos up to the typical page count of your style.
• "Generate using all photos" — uses every available photo, handy when the client gave you only a few.

If there are empty chapters or photos without a chapter, the program tells you before going on: you can check again or continue. When generation finishes, you land straight in the Editor, where you refine layout, crops and photo swaps before delivering the album to your client.

Want to understand the general logic behind these steps first? See how AI Album Studio works.