Create a custom print job

Create a custom print job

You can create a custom print job using your photos. Here are some things you can do:

  • Print photos inside a colored border or mat, including mats that contain text

  • Print a customized contact sheet so that you can look at many photos on one page

  • Make temporary edits to photos—use a sepia effect, change to black and white—that don’t affect other versions of the photo

When you create a custom print job, it is saved in the Printing category in the Source list until you create another custom print job.

The two tasks described in this section explain the basic steps for creating a custom print job. You can further customize a print job by adding or removing photos, reordering the print job’s pages, or editing a photo or text on the print job’s pages.

To create a custom print job:

  1. Select one or more photos in your iPhoto library.

  2. Choose File > Print.

  3. Click Customize.

    The custom print window appears.

    As you work, you can view your print job’s page layout by clicking the Page button at the top of the window and selecting a page, or view individual photos in your print job by clicking the Photo button (below the Page button) and selecting a photo.

    Image of the custom print window, showing the Page button

To set up a print job’s pages in the custom print window:

  1. Click the Themes button at the bottom of the window and select a theme from the pop-up menu.

  2. Click the Layout button and choose a layout from the pop-up menu.

    The layouts vary, depending on the theme you’ve selected. For example, if you’ve selected a border or mat theme, select the number of photos you want to show, and then select a layout.

    If you choose Contact Sheet, you can specify the number of columns on the sheet by dragging the Columns slider at the bottom of the window.

  3. Click the Background button and choose a background from the pop-up menu.

    Different themes include different background options.

    Tip:  Try repeating this task several times to get a sampling of the available themes, layouts, and backgrounds.

    Next you can customize the print job using one or more of the tasks in the next sections.