Create Special Birthday Presents with iPhoto on Mac

The Challenge of Finding the Perfect Birthday Gift

Selecting a thoughtful and unique birthday present often presents a challenge, a sentiment shared by many. Beyond budgetary concerns, the primary difficulty lies in identifying a gift that the recipient will genuinely cherish. While gift cards offer a convenient solution, they often lack a personal touch.

Fortunately, a discussion with friends some time ago revealed an alternative approach to this common dilemma. The core idea is that individuals generally appreciate gifts that celebrate themselves. Therefore, why not present something that reflects this self-love? This doesn't mean gifting a mirror, but rather, offering images of the person themselves.

Locating a Familiar Face

What makes pictures of oneself so appealing as a gift? When thoughtfully arranged and professionally presented, these photos can transform into truly special birthday presents – a personalized photo book. Mac's iPhoto application is an ideal tool for this purpose, providing the necessary features to construct a customized book from the ground up.

The initial feature to utilize is the "Faces" function. This allows you to quickly locate photos containing a specific individual within a large photo library. This capability is crucial when aiming to create a personalized photo book as a birthday present.

Designing a Picture Book

The subsequent step involves creating the book itself – initially in digital format – and this process is remarkably straightforward, requiring only a few clicks.

Select the "Face" representing the person for whom the book is intended, then click the "Book" icon located in the iPhoto window’s lower bar.

Similar to other Apple applications like iWeb and Pages, a wide array of pre-designed picture book templates are available for selection.

Furthermore, you can customize various book attributes, including its size, cover style, and binding options.

Once you've finalized your choices, click the "Choose" button to proceed to the next stage.

Completing the Layout

A blank photo book, based on your chosen template, will appear in the central area of the window. At the top, a strip displays all the photos associated with the selected "Face" collection.

Begin by editing the text on the book's cover.

Then, simply drag and drop a photo onto the cover to set the image.

Adjust the picture's size using the slider and reposition it with the hand icon (Pan tool).

The initial page typically includes a description that you can modify.

The remainder of the process involves dragging and dropping photos to populate the book's pages. Navigate through the pages, inserting images as desired.

Depending on the template selected, additional pages with editable text may be present, such as the inside covers of a dust jacket or the back cover of a hardback edition.

Exploring Additional Features

Several other tools are available to enhance the personalized picture book creation experience.

The "AutoFlow" tool automatically fills the pages with photos. The "Add Pages" tool allows you to exceed the default page count for the chosen template.

You can alter the page layout using the layout tool, for instance, switching a description page to a photo page or changing the orientation from portrait to landscape.

Another customizable element is the background color, with options for white, grey, or black.

You can also change the overall theme (template) at any time by clicking the "Themes" icon. However, be aware that this may result in the loss of any text you've added to the book.

Selecting an image and clicking "Adjust" provides access to several quick photo editing tools.

The Settings button allows you to modify the font types and sizes used throughout the book.

Printing Your Photo Book

The final step in creating this birthday gift is printing the book. The most convenient method is to click the "Buy Book" button in the window’s lower right corner. This directs you to the Apple website, where you can order the book, and Apple will professionally print and deliver it.

However, if ordering from Apple is not feasible due to location or other reasons, alternative options exist. You can either print the book yourself or save it as a PDF file and take it to a local printing service.

Once you have the physical book, simply wrap it and present it to the birthday recipient. This gift is sure to be a memorable one.

Do you have other creative ideas for birthday presents? Have you ever tried creating personalized photo books? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image credit: Apple