iLife '04: The Missing Manual

Publishing a Photo Book

After a certain point, gift-giving becomes exhausting. What the heck do you get your dad after you’ve already given him birthday and holiday presents for 15 or 35 years?

If you have iPhoto, you’ve got an ironclad, perennial answer. The program’s Book feature lets you design and order (via the Internet) a gorgeous, linen-covered, 9 x 11inch hardbound book, printed at a real bindery and shipped back to you in a slipcover. Your photos are printed on the glossy, acid-free, single-sided pages, complete with captions, if you like.

After a certain point, gift-giving becomes exhausting. What the heck do you get your dad after you’ve already given him birthday and holiday presents for 15 or 35 years?

A ten-page book costs $30 (extra pages are $3 each). That’s about the least you could hope to pay for a handsome, emotionally powerful gift guaranteed never to wind up in an attic, at a garage sale, or on eBay. In short, it’s a home-run gift every time.

But the iPhoto book is not only a gift. You should also consider ordering them for yourself—one each for your vacation, wedding, child, or whatever. These books are amazing keepsakes to leave out on your coffee table—the same idea as most families’ photo albums, but infinitely classier and longer lasting (and not much more expensive).

Phase 1: Pick the Pix

The hardest part of the whole book-creation process is winnowing down your photos to the ones you want to include. Many a shutterbug eagerly sits down to create his very first ...