iPhoto 5: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

Phase 6: Preview the Masterpiece

Ordering a professionally bound book is, needless to say, quite a commitment. Before blowing a bunch of money on a one-shot deal, you’d be wise to proofread and inspect it from every possible angle.

Print It

As any proofreader can tell you, looking over a book on paper is a sure way to discover errors that somehow elude detection onscreen. That’s why it’s a smart idea to print out your own, low-tech edition of your book at home before beaming it away to Apple’s bindery.

While you’re in Book mode, choose File → Print. After the standard Mac OS X Print dialog box appears, fire up your printer and click Print when ready. The result may not be linen-bound and printed on acid-free paper, but it’s a tantalizing preview of the real thing—and a convenient way to give the book one final look.

Turn It into a PDF File

Sooner or later, almost everyone with a personal computer encounters PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Many a software manual, Read Me file, and downloadable “white paper” come in this format. When you create a PDF document of your own, and then send it off electronically to a friend, it appears to the recipient exactly as it did on your screen, complete with the same fonts, colors, page design, and other elements. They get to see all of this even if they don’t have the fonts or the software you used to create the document. PDF files open on Mac, Windows, and even Linux machines—and you can even search the text inside it.

If you suspect other people ...