Source: Ein, D. (2023). How to Create a Lookbook in InDesign: Envato Tuts+. Retrieved from https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-lookbook-in-indesign–cms-108178
What is a lookbook in fashion? In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to use InDesign to make a lookbook. We’ll also check out some lookbook examples and template designs.
Feel free to use these resources and assets along with this tutorial as you design. However, you’re also welcome to substitute them with any assets you choose. The concepts in this tutorial would still apply.
A lookbook is a curated collection of photos and images that showcase a themed collection. For example, it might showcase a new fashion line or a visual portfolio. You could use a lookbook to show styles for a season or event. Lookbooks can focus on a style, a stylist, a particular clothing line, and more.
One of the key parts of a lookbook is the cohesiveness. Think of it as a specific visual collection that is themed somehow. The theme could be quite narrow or broad. Regardless of the focus, it’s a visual showcase, and a lookbook is commonly a multipage document. If you’re exploring how to make a lookbook, InDesign is a popular choice.
Let’s start at the beginning. We’ll create a New Document in Adobe InDesign and start with our lookbook’s cover.
Begin by creating a New Document in Adobe InDesign. For this demonstration, let’s set the Width to 8.5″ and the Height to 11″. This is US Letter size. Set the Margins to 0.5″ around all sides.
We also want to toggle Facing Pages on because we’ll be designing a multipage document with spreads—or facing pages.
Once you’re happy with your settings, click Create to create your New Document.
And here’s what our New Document looks like. It’s only one page right now. Open up the Pages panel to take a look at your document’s pages. You can do so by going to Window > Pages.
Next, let’s start by importing an image into our lookbook. Go to File > Place and choose an image from your computer.
You can click and drag to place the image into your composition. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect right off the bat. We can adjust that.
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Next, choose the Selection Tool in your Tools panel. We can then click and drag on the resize handles on our image to resize both the image itself and the rectangular frame containing the image.
Here’s how I chose to arrange and crop my image.
Next, I wanted to create a cutout effect for the title on my lookbook cover. Let’s start with the Rectangle Tool in the Tools panel.
Set the Fill Color to White. You can do so at the bottom of the Tools panel. Then, click and drag to draw your rectangle. I made mine towards the bottom of my composition.
Now, let’s add some text to the cover. Before we dig into that, let’s open up the Character panel by going to Window > Type & Tables > Character. This panel allows us to select things like our font.
I’m going to choose Bachelor Display as my font. It’s a beautiful display font that would be perfect for commanding attention.
Once you’re happy with your selections, select the Type Tool. Then, click and drag to draw a text box and begin typing.
You’ll likely want to adjust your text, however. Let’s change up the text color.
We can select our text box and then turn to the Tools panel. Toggle Formatting Affects Text on, and the color selection here will change (it looks like a “T”). We can then click on this to select a new color. I chose a yellow that complements the photo.
I decided I wanted a subtitle here. So I followed the same steps here. Select the Type Tool. Then click and drag to draw a text box. Change your font’s appearance in the Character panel and the Color in the Tools panel.
I went with the Montserrat font at a smaller font size so that it would act as a complement. I also made this text a magenta color to again complement my photo.
Next, let’s move on to the interior pages of our InDesign lookbook template. Let’s go back to the Pages panel (Window > Pages).
We’ll want to create two new pages here. We can do that by clicking on the Create New Page icon, at the bottom of the panel. It looks like a little plus symbol.
Let’s begin by placing some imagery again, just like we did with our cover. Again, go to File > Place to choose imagery from your computer. I’m going to use this fashion photography from Envato Elements in this demonstration.
Use the Selection Tool to adjust your photo to suit your layout. Here’s how I chose to arrange my imagery on the page.
Next, let’s create a custom shape. I used the Eyedropper Tool (in the Tools panel) to select a yellow color that closely resembles the yellow in my photograph. This should be set as your Fill Color.
Then, select the Pen Tool and click to create points that will create your shape. I made three points here to create a triangle at the corner of the opposite page.
Next, let’s change the Fill Color to White. Select the Rectangle Tool in the Tools panel. Then, click and drag to draw a white rectangle. I layered this on top of the yellow triangle to create a cutout effect.
Since this is a lookbook design, you’ll likely want to showcase several different photos or clothing pieces. Let’s give that a try now too.
Remember, we can place imagery by going to File > Place. Then, select the image from your computer. You can resize any imagery using the Selection Tool.
Here are some fashion pieces that I added to my layout. If the positioning isn’t perfect, that’s okay. You can move and adjust as you continue to design.
Before we start adding text, let’s block out some extra spaces in our design. Turn to the Rectangle Tool again. Set your Fill Color to White, and then click and drag to add two rectangles to your composition.
I laid out my rectangles like this. My intention is to use them to highlight parts of what the model is wearing.
We can push this association further using the Line Tool. Set your Stroke Color to White, this time. Then, click and drag to draw lines that connect the boxes to the fashion piece—as if they are pointing to them.
Let’s turn to the Type Tool again to finish this concept. With the Type Tool selected, click and drag to draw text boxes that fit this space.
I used the Montserrat font here because it’s a clean, complementary font. Keep the font size small but readable in this space. I also used bold on the title of the clothing item, so it’s clear what these items are pointing to. Remember, you can turn to the Character panel to further customize your font.
Let’s go ahead and add even more type to this side of our spread. We’ll use the Bachelor Display font again, as we did on the cover. Use the Type Tool to click and drag to create text boxes. Then, you can add your copy—and remember, you can change the font in the Character panel.
I made two separate text boxes here, so I could keep the text separate and at different sizes. Check out how I chose to arrange my text.
Let’s turn to our Line Tool again. I selected a magenta color, similar to the one I used in our lookbook cover. Then, click and drag to start drawing lines. I drew two here, so it looks as if it’s going behind the model. I thought this would be a fun way to connect the two pages.
Rather than using the Type Tool to recreate every text box, we can also take advantage of copying and pasting. In this case, I copied one of the text boxes on my other page and pasted it onto the new one.
You can do so using the Selection Tool. Just select the item you’d like to copy, and then go to Edit > Copy, and Edit > Paste. You can use the Selection Tool to reposition the item in your design. I aligned this text to complement the shoe.
Repeat this process of copying and pasting for the other fashion item in our spread too. Now, all of our fashion items have some accompanying text to explain what they are, specify the pricing, and provide other information for the reader.
Let’s add some more copy to this side of our spread. Select the Type Tool. Then, click and drag to create a new text box. I opted to use Bachelor Display again for this headline. Your headline could say whatever you like.
I changed the Text Color to yellow, so it would complement my layout.
While lookbooks tend to have an emphasis on photos and imagery, you may also want to have some body copy to describe your focus. Let’s use the Type Tool again to click and drag to create a text box. This time, we’ll paste in some body copy (I used lorem ipsum, which is placeholder text, but you could use any copy you prefer).
You can turn to the Paragraph panel to change how your paragraph is set. To open this panel, go to Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph. For example, you could change the alignment here.
Color is a big theme in our lookbook spread, so I thought it might be fun to emphasize the color palette. Select the Rectangle Tool and set your Fill Color to yellow. Then, click and drag to draw a long rectangular shape, like the one below.
But a color palette is more than just one color! I copied and pasted my original yellow rectangle, but then I wanted to change it to a different color. Select the Eyedropper Tool in the Tools panel with the new rectangle selected.
You can use it to pick up any color in your composition. I used it to help me select a green color. Just click to make a color selection.
Repeat this process of copying, pasting, and selecting a new color for your rectangles. Here’s what my final color palette looks like. You could choose any colors you prefer for your lookbook spread.
Now, let’s finish up our spread. A page number is essential, but numbering each page by hand would be tedious. Thankfully, InDesign makes this easy for us.
Start by making a text box, just as you normally would—select the Type Tool and click and drag to create a text box. However, rather than typing, go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. This inserts a dynamic page number that will reflect the current page, even if you move your pages around.
Let’s finish our footer off with a subtle design element. Select the Line Tool and set the Fill Color to Magenta—one that matches our layout. Click and drag to draw a line in your composition. I made it visually extend to the end of my color palette, so it would better relate to my overall design.
Your layout might look a little overwhelming by default. Luckily, we can get a more true-to-life preview by toggling some options here.
First, go to View > Overprint Preview. That will remove many of the extras, like rectangular frames, from your view.
Then, go to View > Grids & Guides > Hide Guides to hide your guidelines.
These are all temporary and can be toggled back on similarly. However, check out how different our work looks now. We get a preview without all the extras, which can help gauge your progress.
We can also zoom out to get a feel for all of the pages in our document. Remember, you can turn to the Pages panel (Window > Pages) to check out all the pages in your document. Here’s a preview of what our cover and our first spread look like. In a normal workflow, you would continue creating spreads in this fashion.
If you’re exploring how to make a lookbook, InDesign is a perfect choice—and now you know why! Use these concepts to create as many pages and design spreads as you’d like for your InDesign lookbook. You can also take this tutorial to make your own lookbook template.
Source: Ein, D. (2023). How to Create a Lookbook in InDesign: Envato Tuts+. Retrieved from https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-a-lookbook-in-indesign–cms-108178