macOS Photos Help

After selecting your product options, you'll end up in the design portion of our app. On this page, you'll see your books pages in the left hand side box, all of the photos in your photo book project in the bottom scrolling box, and to the right you will see your current page you are editing.

The first two pages that show in the page setup preview are the Front Cover (FC) and the Back Cover (BC). From there, the book starts with Page 1 on the right side, as most all books that we print have a endleaf that goes on the left of Page 1.

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Below is the photos drawer, where all of the photos you selected for your project will show up. All of the images that are grayed out are currently placed on pages, making it easier to tell if you've already used an image or not. The page number it's on is in the bottom left hand corner of the thumbnail.

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In the largest area of the window is the current selected page layout. This is where most of the work is done. You can zoom in and out of this working area with the sliding bar to the bottom right of the working area.

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You can adjust all of the working area sizes in the app. Hover over the window separators until the Resize cursor is displayed to make your working areas smaller and bigger to better fit your current task.

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If you'd like to choose your photos placement in your book, you can choose a template and deselect Autoflow Images and then click Select Template to enter your book.

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Looking through hundreds of photos can become disorienting when you are trying to put together a photo book. Organize your photos with our Time Filter function. We divide your photos up into organized sets by date, and that way you can pick and choose photos from different events or holidays in a flash. You can also toggle whether or not photos that are already in use are still in your photo tray, or show all of your photos in your project.

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In order to purchase your product, you'll have to login using the app. You can do this in the top right hand corner of the app by clicking on the icon. You'll be asked for your PrestoPhoto login information for your PrestoPhoto account (this is not the same login and password as your Apple ID). If you have not created a PrestoPhoto account, enter your desired email and password into the Email and Password fields and click the Register button.

Once you are registered and logged in, the previous icon will be replaced with this icon: and your first initial attached to your PrestoPhoto account in the middle.

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To place an image on a page with predefined image boxes, select your desired image from your Photo Tray and drag it to the empty space. You can replace images that have already been placed by following this same process, just drag the new image in and it will replace the previous one.

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To remove an image on a page within predefined image boxes, you can either select the image you want to remove with Edit Layout mode off and click the Delete key, or select your desired image from your Photo Tray and drag it to the image you want to replace.

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To adjust how your image is displayed in the current layout, just click on the image. You can hold your click and move the image around in the image box, or you can adjust the slider that appears above the page layout to hide the slider again and bring back the icon to add Images and Text

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When you click Add Image, a new image box will be placed on your current page layout. To edit the size and placement of that image box, make sure you are in Edit Layout mode.

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To delete an image from your page, enter Edit Layout mode, select the image you want to delete, and hit the Delete key on your keyboard.

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If you need to add more photos to your project or started your project without photos selected, go back to your Photo Library or select a Photo Album, select the photos you want in your project. You have two options to choose from: either drag the photos to your project or right click and go to Add To and select your project.

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We have integration with Apple's photo editing in app for macOS 10.14 and up. Just select your photo (you can click on the photo on the page to quick select it from your photo tray), click the Edit button that appears below the photo, and the photo editor comes up. Once you've edited the photo to your liking, click the Done button and you will return to your book. Wait just a moment for the adjustments to the photo to be reflected in your photo book.

You can edit photo's in 10.13, but not in app. Just go back to your photo library, select the photo, double click to view the photo by itself zoomed in, and click Edit in the top right hand corner.

Rotate your Photo

Rotating photos is really easy too, just access the Edit mode and in the top right hand corner and click on the Rotate icon until it is the correct orientation. Once you're done, click the Done

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A backlit image is any image where the main light source (the Sun, lamps, any form of lighting) is behind the subject of the photo being taken. One of the biggest culprits are shots of people with sunsets, for example. They look pretty in real life, but they wreak havoc on photos. Images that have heavy shadows or are dark tend to print much darker than you'd expect. Unlike the human eye, printers can not perceive "shadows", but rather reproduce these as the color black, resulting in a loss of detail in images with shadows.

One thing you can do is to edit your photo's Levels, start by clicking the Edit button beneath the photo you need to edit. To the right hand column you'll see a slew of photo editing options, look for the Levels section. Take the middle Gray slider and adjust in closer to the left hand side Black slider. This should help your photos greatly in terms of seeing the main subject of the photo. Your background may lighten dramatically when editing your photo, but the subject of the photo is the most important part.

You may adjust some of the other knobs in the levels editor as needed and see if it helps your image, as every photo is unique, with a unique editing to get the optimal photo.

Alternatively, you can also adjust the brightness, or as Apple labels it the Light of the photo and see if that helps as well. With Photos, you can edit your photo as much as you want and revert the photo back to the original image if you went too far or don't like the way the edits look too, so don't worry about making changes.

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Image before editing for back lighting

Image after editing for back lighting

For the most seamless experience with the PrestoPhoto App to work when you don't have access to an internet connection, and if you have the available storage on your Mac, we suggest that you store your iCloud photos locally. Go to the top left hand menu for Photos and click Photos Preferences. In your preferences, choose the iCloud tab and select Download Originals to this Mac to store original copies of your photos locally.

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Above the page you are currently editing is a button that you can click to add page elements:

1. Add Image
2. Add Title
3. Add Caption
4. Add Paragraph

When you click Add Title, Add Caption, or Add Paragraph, a new text box will be added to your current page layout. Title will bring up a large font size, Caption will bring up a medium font size, and Paragraph will bring up a small font size. Double click on the box to type text and bring up the text editing options. When you are finished, you may want to click on the gray background to get access to the icon again.

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To move a text box, just click on the text you want to move and a bounding box will appear. You can now resize the box shape to reflow the text inside the box. You can also move the text box around the page by clicking and then dragging the box to your desired location.

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To delete a text box, enter Edit Layout mode, click on the text box you wish to delete to select it, and press the Delete key on your keyboard.

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The PrestoPhoto App has tons of options for text customization within it's text editor. It should be similar to certain Mac text editors you've used in other programs. Here are some of the features:

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To change your text color, highlight and select the text which color you'd like to change and click on the A in the text options field above and select your desired color. For more options, click on the color wheel in the bottom right hand corner.

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To add spine text to your book, click on the Edit icon on the Buy Now in the upper right hand corner of the Buy Now page after you have uploaded your book. On the next page that loads, select option 2, Cover, to get to your cover settings.Scroll to the bottom of this page and select the tab labeled Spine Text. Insert your desired spine text, then click Update Cover in the bottom right hand corner. You'll be able to see a preview of your spine text once it is done generating. Once you are satisfied, click Buy Now in the upper right hand corner to get back to the Buy Now page to finish your purchase.

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New projects will default to a hardcover book with a dust jacket template, or select the Hardcover option from the dropdown. To create dust jacket flaps place an image on the predefined image boxes located under the main covers. The project can be changed to a softcover option without dust jacket flaps, but any designed content will be lost in changing from a hard to soft cover format. Just click on the Softcover option from the dropdown menu.

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Above your book pages preview to the left is a button to add pages to your book and a to remove them. The will add new pages after your currently selected page one at a time.

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To add multiple pages at once, navigate to the Templates tray and to the right hand side of the tray select Choose Theme. Confirm the dialog box to continue to the theme change area. Instead of changing your theme with Replace in the top bar, you are going to switch your mode to Append, which will only add the number of pages you tell it to to the end of your current book. Enter the number of pages, and choose the template theme you want to use for the new pages, and when you're done select Select Template.

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To add a two page spread to your photo book layout, you can either click on the Add Page button and select Spread Page or right click on a thumbnail page on the left side and select Insert spread page. This will insert a spread after the page you have selected, and depending on where it is in the book it may add blank pages to keep pagination correct.

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The icon will ask to confirm if you want to delete your current selected page before it deletes it.

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The icon will duplicate the current selected template pages design, great for reusing a custom made template design throughout your book.

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To rearrange pages, select the page you want to move in the left hand box, and drag it to the new place in the book you would like it placed.

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Click the Edit Layout button to gain control over your image boxes and text boxes. You can make them bigger, smaller, a different size orientation, you can even rotate them.

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You can also flip your page designs with the Flip Vertical and Flip Horizontal tools to better suit your layout needs.

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In the tool bar below your current page is the Background Color button, where you can change the background color of your current page you are editing.

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To change your background color, go to the page that you want match and select the Background Color tab at the lower right of the editor. When you select the color tab the previously used color will be in the color tray. You can color match by also clicking on the color wheel in the bottom right hand corner and using the eyedropper.

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To add a background image to a page, you you'll need click the and select Add Image. Click the Stretch Vertical and Stretch Horizontal buttons to make it the height and width of the page, then place your background image. When you're done, you can right click the image, then select Arrange Send to Back. This will send the full size image to the back below all of the other images placed on the page, but above the background color of the page.

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Navigate to the Templates tray and then Click on a template page design for it to be applied to your current page layout.

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Our app now offers the option to apply template pages with borders.There are select templates that allow for borders, those include Simple Borders, Stock Book, SquarexSquare and Simple Shots. Navigate to the Templates tray and then Click on a template page with borders to be applied to your current page layout.

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To switch between different themes, click on the dropdown in the Templates tray to see options in another template. You can also select All to view all templates at once.

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Select the page you want a template applied to, so that it is showing in the right hand box. Click the Templates button beside the pages below your page layout view and select your prefered template options to find the right template.

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If you know what photos you want on a page but don't know what template, just use our Auto-Select button in the template tools tray below the page canvas. When you turn this mode on with a page with manually placed photos, it will automatically find one of our template that best fits the photos on the page. Drag a new image to the canvas to find a new template with your new photo included.

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If you need to undo an action on a page, you can go to the menu above and select Edit Undo to undo your last actions on the current page. If you go back too far, below is the option to Redo which you can redo something you've undone. When you switch between pages, this starts fresh so you won't undo an action made on another page you aren't currently on.

To rename your project title, double click on the title at the top of your screen with your project open, and type in your new project title. Press Enter when you are done to de-select the project title.

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If your project pages and thumbnails aren't updated to reflect your most recent changes, you can click on the Refresh button in the top left corner to regenerate your entire project. Depending on the size of your project, it could take a moment to fully refresh, so be patient until the refresh has finished.

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If you want to find out if you have the most recent version of the app, click on the in the top right hand corner and a window will pop down. This window has information on which version of the app you are using, your current macOS version, and some helpful links and information.

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To duplicate a PrestoPhoto project, find your project on the left hand bar of Photos, then right click or hold control + click on the project title. A dropdown menu will show up, click Duplicate Project. A new project will show up on the left hand side bar, you may have to scroll down to it if you have a lot of projects in Photos to see it.

Creating a Photo Calendar is very similar to creating a Photo Book. Select your photos for the calendar, then either right click or hold the Control key and click on one of your selected photos. In the pop-up menu that appears, go to Create Calendar PrestoPhoto. Choose between Landscape or Square photo calendars, and then the size of the calendar you want to create.

Now you need to select some options for your Calendar, like the Template, page count, max images per page, and whether you want to autoflow images or use smart placement. You can also choose between your Calendar Grid Style, choosing either Classic in a Sunday start format, or our Sheer calendar grid in a Sunday or Monday start format. Click Select Template and you can begin customizing your calendar with template page designs, custom text, and background colors. When ready, click Buy Now and place your order.

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Holidays can be placed within your calendar at the simple push of a button. If you have your contacts synced to your Mac with birthdays, those can also be added to your project. When you are ready to add the dates, bring your cursor to the birthday cake and click. Select if you want Birthdays, Holidays, or both and then hit “Apply” to add the dates throughout the calendar.

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You can add images into individual date boxes within the calendar! Mark someone's special day with a custom photo calendar.

Sync your contacts to apply birthdays to the app calendar. With a simple click, your calendar can have holidays and integrated birthdays applied throughout the year.

To create a print set, remember that our minimum print order is 4. If you make a print set and want 4 prints of the same photo, you'll want to drag and drop the image on each of the 4 pages in the print set. You'll have two different options for print types:

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Creating Wall Art is easy. Select your photo or photos for your wall art, then either right click or hold the Control key and click on your selected photo(s). In the pop-up menu that displays, select Create Wall Decor PrestoPhoto. You're given a few options for your wall art material (Acrylic, Ultra Gloss Metal, True Canvas, Faux Canvas, and Brushed Metal), then select your orientation (Landscape, Portrait, or Square), then the size of the wall art you wish to create.

At this point, you can apply the photo you wish to get printed and place it on your project, template page designs, custom text, and background colors. When ready, click Buy Now and place your order.

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To create a Photo Gift, start by selecting a photo or photos for your photo gift, then either right click or hold the Control key and click on your selected photo(s). In the dropdown menu that is shown, choose Create Other PrestoPhoto. You're given a few options for Photo Gifts (Custom Drinkware [including Coffee Mugs], Custom Ornaments, Custom Stationery, and other options are in Custom Photo Gifts [playing cards, puzzles, and mousepads]), then choose the specific product you wish to create.

From there, you can apply the photo you wish to get printed and place it on your project, template page designs, custom text, and background colors. When ready, click Buy Now and place your order.

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To purchase your project, click on the Buy Now button in the top right hand corner of the window. You project will then be uploaded to the website, and will show you all of the available purchase options for your project. You can continue editing your book by clicking Edit.

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When you are ready, you can export a PDF to upload to our website for print. In the top right hand corner beside Buy Now, there is an Export button which will export your project to PDF for purchase. Just choose your file name and where you would like to save the PDF, and click Save.

You also have the option of exporting individual files of each page and the cover as either PNG files or JPG files.

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Before clicking Add to Cart, make sure to preview your book using Flip Preview, located right above the cover of your photo book.

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First, verify which version of macOS you are using, and that you are using macOS 10.13 High Sierra or above. If you are using macOS 10.12 Sierra, you will only be able to use the Apple Pages portion of our App.

Next, verify that you are allowing the PrestoPhoto App to create Apple Photo's projects. Open your System Preferences, find and click the Extensions section, then navigate to the Photo Projects tab. Make sure the PrestoPhoto App has a checkmark in this tab, otherwise you won't see it in Apple Photos.

Still having issues? Contact us and we'll see if we can figure out the issue together. Please include the version of the App you are using, the version of macOS you are using, and where you installed the App from (macOS App Store or direct download) along with any other pertinent information related to your specific case.