My Photo Calendars User Guide

1. Installation
2. Getting started
3. Creating a customized calendar
4. Calendar size information
5. Months & holidays
6. Navigation
7. Customization
8. Toolbar and menu commands
9. File Menu
10. Edit Menu
11. Personalize Menu
12. Helpful Information
13. FastTrack
14. Ordering your calendar
15. More about images, colors, resolution, and printing.
16. Printing and Bleed
17. Support

Installation

Windows Users Double-click the file MyPhotoCalInstaller.exe to install My Photo Calendars and Cards. After installation, My Photo Calendars and this User Guide will be added to your "Programs" menu.

Mac Users Simply unstuff the MyPhotoCalInstaller.sit archive.

Getting Started

Upon launching My Photo Calendars and Cards, you will be offered Five options:

• Open Saved File - open a calendar project you've already started.
  
• New Calendar - create a new calendar project.
  
• FastTrack - a guided, semi-automated process to create a calendar project.
  
• Cancel - Quit

Select the appropriate option, which will determine the next window you see. NOTE: If you would like to create calendars quickly and with amazing ease, try the FastTrack feature. See the FastTrack section on this page for more information.

Creating a customized calendar

Upon selecting New Calendar... from the "Open or Create Project" box, you will see this screen:

Select the desired template by double-clicking on it or by selecting it and pressing the "OK" button.

The templates are meant to be a starting point for the calendar creation process. Once you've selected a template, you have the ability customize almost any visual aspect of the calendar.

You can change the template at any point during the design process - just be sure to confirm that your new template is in harmony with the design scheme you have already set. If it isn't, you can always modify your design scheme to fit the new template.

Currently the only size we offer for calendars is 8.5 x 11. This is because this size fits our output devices and results in the least amount of wasted paper (see below for more info).

Calendar size information

Our calendars measure 11" x 17" when open, 8.5" x 11" when folded at the center "wire-O". Each 8.5" x 11" page is printed on both sides. The calendar can be hung on the wall from a standard 1/8" drill hole.

Months & holidays

After you've specified your template, you will be presented with the months and holidays customization screen:



Here you can specify a starting month & year, a week start day, as well as the sets of holidays that you would like to have printed on your calendar. Note: You can always come back later and modify any of these selections.

After clicking OK, the calendar main project screen will open with the first month displayed:

Navigation

There are two ways to move from front cover to last calendar month. The fastest way is to use the forward/backward arrows in the Management Control Center located at the upper left-hand corner just under the toolbar.



Clicking the blue right/left arrow buttons will change the calendar page displayed on-screen. You can also use the drop-down arrow to display a list of calendar pages from which to choose.

The second way to move from month to month is by using the navigation column located along the left side of the screen. Here you have a thumbnail view of each calendar page. Just click a month and the month will appear on-screen.

Customization

An assortment of customization options is right at your fingertips, allowing you to:

• Add images
• Add graphic elements
• Add text
• Add & edit cell contents

Each of these options allows customization in a variety of ways:
Images - The quickest way to add the digital photos that you would like have appear on your calendar is to simply drag them from your desktop and onto each month. You can also drag them to the Images tab of the navigation column (just below the Management Control Center) to use later (you also have the option of using the Add Image & Add Folder buttons located on the Images tab). And of course, you have the option of using the Menu to add pictures (Personalize/Add New Picture...) as well.

Once you have added an image, you can now manipulate it in a variety of ways. First click the image to select it. The Image Management Controls appear:



Using the Image Management Controls (located to the right of the Management Control Center), once you select an image you can:

• Add borders to an image.
  
• Rotate an image. Don't worry about making mistakes here - the "reset rotation" button will always undo any undesired rotation of an image.
  
• Round the corners of an image.
  
• Fade an image.
  
• Crop an image. A cropping box will appear over your image. Resize the image as you'd like and click outside of the cropped area to complete the cropping.
  
• Resize an image to fill the page.

Graphic Objects - You can add a square/rectangular object to customize your design scheme. Just create or select an existing object and the Objects Management Controls appear:



Selected objects:

• Can have their borders adjusted.
• Can have their fill adjusted.
• Can have their borders rounded.

Text - You can add text to your calendar and customize it in all of the standard ways. Using the Text Management Controls, additional customizations become available. You can:

• Add borders and fill.
• Round the corners of borders and/or fill.
• Rotate text. Don't worry about making mistakes here - the reset rotation button will always undo undesired rotation of text.

Cell Contents - Every aspect of the actual calendar grid can be customized: text, images (you can drag an image to any spot on the grid), cell shape - even the grid itself! Click on any text on the calendar grid and the following Cell Management Controls appear:



Events can be added & edited to the day cells by using the Personalize/Events menu items or by double-clicking on a day cell. You also have the option of adding clip-art:



That's really all there is to designing a calendar. If it seems complicated, don't worry; My Photo Calendars includes FastTrack, a speedy calendar creation tool. See the FastTrack section for more information.

There are still some things left to discuss, such as what do you do with your calendar after you've finished the design process. We'll get to that, but first we will discuss some basics. Feel free to skip ahead if you come upon information that you already know.

Toolbar and menu commands

As with all software applications, My Photo Calendars has a fairly standard Toolbar and menu arrangement, as well as aspects that are unique to this application. For the sake of brevity, we will discuss in detail only those toolbar buttons items and menus commands that are unique to My Photo Calendars.

Toolbar buttons - (left to right):

[New] [Open] [Save] [Print] [Undo] [Send To Greenerprinter] [FastTrack] [Zoom In] [Zoom out]

Send to Greenerprinter - This will send your calendar project to our facilities for professional printing and finishing. Your calendar will be printed on high quality paper. We use the latest in digital printing technology to produce professional quality results. The calendar will be bound and shipped to your address within a few days, hassle free!

Menu commands:
File Menu

• New...
  • New Calendar Project...
    This will start you on your way to create a new calendar project.
    
    
  • Page Setup...
    Each calendar is designed for a specific paper size. Thus, post-design changes to the page setup may negatively impact your calendar. If you decide to alter the page setup, you will see this message:
    
  
  
• Send To Print At Greenerprinter...
  This will send your calendar file to Greenerprinter for professional printing and finishing. After the file transfer is complete, you will be taken to a checkout page on our site, where you can specify quantity, turnaround time and shipping info. Your calendar will be printed on high quality recycled paper. We use the latest in digital printing technology to produce the finest professional results.
  
  
• Preflight/Preview...
  This will check to see if your calendar photos are of adequate resolution. Photos whose resolution is considered to be too low (less than 300 DPI) will be listed on a resolution status screen that will come up. This screen will only come up if at least one photo has a resolution below 300 DPI.

Edit Menu

• Global Font Change
  • This allows you to change the font, size, color & style of any or all calendar text at once.
    
  
  
• Layout
  
  • This allows you to re-order the elements on the page (photos, graphic objects, text). The options are: Bring Forward, Bring To front, Send Backward, Send To Back
    
  
  
• Grid
  
  • Define Grid
    This allows you to place a (non-printing) grid over the calendar to help facilitate the design process.
    
  • Show Grid
    Displays the design grid as an overlay on the calendar.
    
    
  • Snap To Grid
    This will cause dragged or resized images, objects, and text to align with the nearest grid line. Great for achieving uniform alignment of multiple objects.
    
  
  
• Printer Options
  
  • This allows you to define the printer resolution so as to improve printing speed, as well as to print large images using lower printer and computer memory.
    
    
  
  

Personalize Menu

• Select Template...
  This brings up the template selection screen, on which you have the option to switch from your currently selected calendar template. NOTE: If you decide to switch templates mid-or post-design, please carefully review your calendar to be sure that your design scheme and new template choice are in harmony with each other.
  
  
• Calendar & Holidays...
  This will bring up a screen where you can specify a starting month & year, a week start day, as well as the sets of holidays that you would like to have appear on your calendar.
  
  
• Events...
  
  • Manage Events...
    This brings up the Events management screen where you can edit and delete existing events.
    
    
  • Insert Events...
    This brings up the Insert Events screen where new events (with images & clip-art included) can be easily added to your calendar.
    
    NOTE: You cannot delete predefined events (such as national holidays). If you do not want an event to appear on your calendar, use the "Visible" checkbox to hide it. You can also go back to the Calendar & Holidays customization screen (Personalize/Calendar & Holidays...) and remove an entire set of holidays.
  
  
  
• Insert Month Thumbnail
  This allows you to add a thumbnail-size calendar to a previous, current, or next calendar month - or any combination of the three. These can be added to specific months or to all months at one time. You can also resize the month thumbnails, and they can be dragged to any location on the calendar page. Even more modifications are possible using the Month Thumbnail Settings screen (just double-click on the thumbnail to bring it up). Below are the menu items that you will see under Insert Month Thumbnail:
  • Add To All Months
  • Previous Month
  • Current Month
  • Next Month
  
  
• Calendar Look
  • Lock/Unlock Date Grid
    This allows you to fix the calendar grid in place, or allow it to be moved around on the page.
    
    
  • Date Location...
    This allows you to set the location & size of the date cells as they appear on your calendar with pinpoint accuracy. NOTE: You can also use the mouse to relocate and resize the date cells. To enable dragging and resizing using the mouse:
    1. Click-select the date grid.
       
       
    2. Click the "Unlock Date Grid" icon in the Cell Management Controls. You will now be able to move and resize the date grid manually. Be sure to Lock the date grid (by clicking the "Lock Date Grid" icon) when you are finished.
       
       
    
    Changing the date location will change the date location on all pages!
    
    
    
  • Days Header...
    This allows you to change the size & style of the day of the week headers.
    
    
    
  • Colors & Fonts...
    This allows you to change the color scheme, font size & style for Empty, Holiday, and Default calendar day cells.
    
    
    
  • Day Contents...
    This allows you to customize the location of every aspect of the date cell contents. Just left-mouse button click and relocate any of the various cell aspects for every cell on your calendar at once.
    
    
    
  • Day Style...
    This allows you to customize the day cell border & background color and shape (rounded corners or diamond shaped, in addition to the default square shape). NOTE: The terms "border" and "frame" are used interchangeably with regard to calendar projects.
    
    
    
• Localize
  This allows you to set the language of static calendar elements to the language of your choice as long as the language is supported by your computer's operating system.
  
  
  
• Add New Picture...
  This brings up an Open File dialog from which you can select an image. Acceptable image file types are: JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, and GIF.
  
  
• Replace Selected Picture...
  This brings up an Open File dialog from which you can replace the currently selected image. Acceptable image file types are: JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, and GIF.
  
  
• Insert Object
  
  • Picture...
    This brings up an Open File dialog from which you can select a image. Acceptable image file types are: JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, and GIF.
    
    
  • Text...
    This adds a text object (default text: "Your Text Here...") to your calendar page. Please see the Text Management Controls section above for information on editing text.
    
    
  • Graphic Object...
    This adds a graphic object (default: square, frame only) to your calendar page. Please see the Object Management Controls section above for information on customizing graphic objects.
    
    
  • Clip Art...
    This brings up a clip art selection dialog where you have the option of choosing from an array of clip art images. The clip art that you select will be added to your calendar page, and can be resized & relocated.
    
  
  
• Image Commands
  
  • Load Picture...
    This allows you to replace a selected image or clip art object with an image from your computer. Acceptable image file types are: JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, PICT, and GIF.
    
    
  • Resize Picture to Fill
    This allows you to enlarge a selected image or clip art object so that it fills the entire calendar page, side-to-side & top to bottom.
    
  
  

Helpful Information

Mouse Right-button-Click
Placing the mouse over an object - or anywhere on a calendar page - and clicking the right-mouse button will bring up a context sensitive menu. This menu will include those commands that are relevant to the object/area. These menu commands have the same functionality as the like commands previously described. They also include Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, and Duplicate, as applicable.

Dragging & Resizing
You can move any object on the page by selecting the Arrow curser in the Management Control Center, clicking the left-mouse button over the object, and dragging.

You can resize a graphic object by selecting it, and placing the mouse at the border or corner of the object until the curser becomes a resizing tool. For example:


NOTE: Pictures may also be resized, but they always retain their original width/height proportion regardless of how large or small they appear on screen.

FastTrack

To make creating your calendar even easier, My Photo Calendars has a feature called "FastTrack" that virtually automates the design process. FastTrack guides you through the creation process through a series of questions and dialog boxes, so that in no time, your calendar project is finished and ready to print!

To use FastTrack to create calendars, click on the "FastTrack" button in the "Open or create project" dialog:



You will then be taken through a series of steps:

1. Choose a template.
   
2. Choose a starting month and year.
   
3. Select a national holiday set (or sets).
   
4. Add images to your calendar pages, either one-by-one, or by using the "Auto Fill" option to populate your calendar with photos from a specified folder. You can also choose to add images later.
5. Add captions to the photos
   
6. Choose whether/how to display next/previous month thumbnails
   
7. Create and add personal events
   
8. Switch to manual mode to review the results and make further edits

Even though you could theoretically complete your entire calendar using FastTrack, most likely you will use it to get all of your basic information and photos in place, and then go back through the calendar in "manual" mode to make final touches and adjustments. The real strength of FastTrack is that it can save lots of time in the basic setup of your calendar.

Ordering your calendar

In order to send your calendar to print at Greenerprinter, you will need to be connected to the Internet and have a web browser. To begin:

1. Under the File menu, select the "Send to Print at Greenerprinter..." menu item, or click the "Send to Greenerprinter" button located on the main window toolbar.
   
   
2. The software will lead you through the process of uploading and ordering your calendars.
   
   
   
3. Our system will process your calendar and prepare it for printing. When this is done, your calendar will be uploaded to the Greenerprinter server for printing.
   
   
4. In order for the upload of your file to commence, you will need to be connected to the internet. You will see the following dialog box:
   
   Choose "View" to view the project file as it will be sent to print in a PDF format. It is highly recommended that you proof your project at this stage. Check for typographical errors, fonts used, missing or low quality images, or any element that may not be displayed properly on the page - anything that does not look right. How your calendar appears in the PDF file is how it will appear when printed as well. You will need Adobe Acrobat Viewer to view the file. Select the "Get Acrobat" button to download it from the web. Choose "Continue" to start the upload process. If you wish to correct anything in your calendar project, click "Cancel," then simply go back to your project, fix what needs fixing, and repeat this process again.
   
   
5. Once the upload is complete, your web browser will launch to our web site.
   
   
   
6. Once on the Greenerprinter site, you will be guided through the checkout process, which will include:
   • Selecting quantity and turnaround time
   • Setting up shipping methods and addresses
   • Payment via credit card or Greenerprinter account
   
   
7. Your order will be moved into production, and you will receive a confirmation email.

More about images, colors, resolution, and printing

When dealing with digital images and digital printing, a common question is "Will my printed image look exactly as it does on my computer monitor?" The answer is usually "Close, but not exactly." This is due to the differences between computer generated images and printed images.

Color scheme
Scanners and digital cameras create images using combinations of just three colors: Red, Green and Blue (or "RGB"). These are the colors that computers use to display images on you computer screen. Printing presses, on the other hand, reproduce color using four different inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (or "CMYK"). So, before printing can commence, RGB images must be translated to CMYK. There are RGB colors that cannot be created with CMYK - such colors are said to be "out of the CMYK color gamut." These colors cannot be reproduced in print exactly, but are approximated as closely as possible. You will likely only notice this color shift in photographs that contain very rich, vibrant colors, particularly oranges, greens and blues.

Image resolution
The captured digital image is formed by a series of pixels. The amount of pixels used to create the image is known as the image DPI (or Dots Per Inch). Traditionally, images are displayed on a computer screen using a 72-96 dot-per-inch metric (or screen DPI). Because printers reproduce images at resolutions of anywhere from 300 to 1200 DPI, printing requires higher image resolutions (Printer DPI). If a printer is given a low-resolution image, it will re-render that image to its own resolution. However, it will not be able to noticeably improve the image... it will simply use its extra "dots" to reproduce the relatively low number of pixels in the image. Think of it as creating a piece of artwork from mosaic tiles... you can reproduce much greater detail with thousands of tiny tiles (i.e, pixels) than you could with a few dozen large ones.

So, it is always better to start with higher DPI. As a rule of thumb, a 150 DPI image should print fairly well, while a 300 DPI image should look as good as a traditional photograph. Another thing to keep in mind regarding resolution is that it will change when you scale images. For instance, if you have a 300 dpi image, and you enlarge it 200% on the page, you now have a 150 dpi image. Be careful not to scale an image so high that it becomes low-resolution.

Keep in mind that most people will not be able to tell the difference between 150 DPI and 300 DPI unless they examine the image from close up and are looking for discrepancies.

Printing and Bleed

No printing press can print all the way to the edge of a sheet of paper. So to create that effect, a printer must use a sheet larger than the actual document size, and print beyond the edge of the document size (usually 1/8"). The sheet is then cut down to the actual document size. The area that gets trimmed off is called "bleed."

The white ("paper") area of the calendar page that you see in the software represents the final size of the calendar (11" x 8.5"). If you are adding artwork or images that you wish to go all the way to the edge of the page, make sure the artwork extends at least 1/8" into the border area indicated by the light purple color surrounding the page. Note: Artwork should not bleed between two calendar pages (i.e, across the wire binding).

For More Information

For additional help creating or sending your calendar, you may contact Greenerprinter Customer Service at: 1-866-978-8547 or email us at csr@greenerprinter.com. Our normal business hours are 8:30 am to 5:30 pm (PST), Monday-Friday.

Thank you, and have fun creating your calendars!

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