Print Your Photos

With today’s inexpensive photo-quality printers and high-quality photo paper, you can quickly and easily make your own beautiful prints to share with others.

iPhoto offers several options for printing your digital photos, including printing them in standard print sizes, as full-page prints, or even as greeting cards. Or if you prefer to have your photos professionally printed, you can order Kodak prints directly from iPhoto. No matter what print option you choose, you can preview your photos to see how they will look before they are printed.

Tips

See a full screen preview before printing

To see a full-screen version of what your photos will look like when printed, click Print and when the Print window opens, click Preview.

Choosing a photo-quality printer

With iPhoto, a photo-quality printer, and photo-quality paper, you’ll be amazed at how professional your printed photos will look. When choosing a photo-quality printer, most users choose an inkjet printer. Inkjet printers are affordable, produce good resolution and high-quality color, and are easy to use. You’ll also want to make sure your printer is Mac-compatible.

Use compatible paper and ink

To produce the highest quality prints, use photo paper and ink that are compatible with your printer. Check with the manufacturer to find out about your printer’s specific requirements.

Dry, store, and protect your prints

After printing your photos, let them air dry, image side up, for at least an hour. Avoid touching the prints while they’re drying. If you want to stack your dried prints, insert a sheet of plain paper between each print. You’ll also want to keep your prints out of direct sunlight to prevent fading and to preserve the life of your photos; and make sure you don’t get them wet.

Add your photos to shirts and other items

You can use your printer to create iron-on photo transfers, which you can use to add your photos to items such as shirts, a family heirloom quilt, or even pillowcases—all great ways to show off your photos. You can purchase photo transfer paper at most office supply stores. Then, you simply print your photo on the photo transfer paper and iron it onto the item.

Steps

Adjust your print settings and print your photos

In iPhoto select individual photos or an album of photos you want to print.
From the File menu, choose Print, and then make sure you choose the correct printer from the Printer pop-up menu.
Choose a print setting from the Presets pop-up menu, such as Photo on Plain Paper or Photo on Photo Paper - Fine. An option that includes the word "Fine" will produce higher quality prints.
Choose a template from the Style pop-up menu, such as Greeting Card or Standard Prints.
Choose additional options based on the template you chose. Notice that the preview area shows you how your photos will look when you print them.
When you’re happy with the print choices you’ve made, enter the number of copies you want to print, and then click Print.