Create a book album

Create a book album

You can create a book album in two ways:

  • Select the photos you want to include in the book and then create a new book album containing the selected photos.

  • Create an empty book album and then drag the photos into it.

You choose a theme for your book when you create your book album. A theme provides a professionally designed set of master pages that determine how text and photos are placed on the page.

Create a book album

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To create a book album from a selection of photos: Select the photos you want to use in the book.

    • To create an empty book album: Proceed to the next step.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Choose File > New > Book.

    • Control-click a project, folder, or album in the Library inspector, then choose New > Book from the shortcut menu.

    • Choose Book from the New pop-up menu in the toolbar.

  3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the book album in the Book Name field, and specify the following:

    • Theme list: Select a theme in the list to see a preview of its design on the right.

    • Book Type pop-up menu: Choose the physical size of the book.

  4. If you’re creating a book album from a selection of photos, make sure to select the “Add selected items to new book” checkbox.

    If you’re creating an empty book album, make sure the “Add selected items to new book” checkbox is not selected.

  5. If you plan to use the Apple print service to print your book and you want to check the pricing for your book type and theme combinations, click the Options & Prices button.

    Pricing options for ordering printed books through the Apple print service appear in your web browser.

  6. When you’re ready, click Choose Theme.

A new book album appears in the Books section of the Library inspector. You can add photos to a book album by dragging photos to it from the Browser. For more information, see Place photos in a book.

Change the theme for your book

It’s important to choose the theme you want at the beginning of a project. Although you can change themes after you start a project and Aperture will attempt to convert your book structure to the new theme’s master pages, you may need to redo some of your work to make up for differences between themes. It’s not recommended that you complete a book and then change themes to see it with different layouts.

WARNING: It’s possible to lose text when you change themes. If you change book themes, make sure to first copy the text you’ve entered into another document so that you have a backup copy.

  1. In the Book Layout Editor, click the Theme button.

    Figure. Theme button in the Book Layout Editor.

    A dialog appears, alerting you that you may lose text when you change themes and that any custom layouts you created will not be preserved.

  2. Click OK.

  3. Choose a book size from the Book Type pop-up menu.

  4. In the theme list, select a theme.

  5. Click Choose Theme.

After you change the theme, Aperture updates all of your pages to use the new theme.

You can also create your own custom theme with the dimensions of your choosing. However, you can’t order books from Apple created with custom themes. For more information about creating custom themes, see Create and share custom themes.