10.7. Phase 7: Send the Book to the Bindery

10.6. Phase 6: Preview the Masterpiece

Ordering a professionally bound book is, needless to say, quite a commitment. Before blowing a bunch of money on a one-shot deal, you'd be wise to proofread and inspect it from every possible angle.

10.6.1. Print It

As any proofreader can tell you, looking over a book on paper is a sure way to discover errors that somehow elude detection onscreen. That's why it's a smart idea to print out your own, low-tech edition of your book at home before beaming it away to Apple's bindery.

While you're in Book mode, choose File Print. After the standard Mac OS X Print dialog box appears, fire up your printer and click Print when ready. The result may not be linen-bound and printed on acid-free paper, but its a tantalizing preview of the real thing ”and a convenient way to give the book one final look.

10.6.2. Turn It into a PDF File

Sooner or later, almost everyone with a personal computer encounters PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Many a software manual, Read Me file, and downloadable "white paper" come in this format. When you create a PDF document of your own, and then send it off electronically to a friend, it appears to the recipient exactly as it did on your screen, complete with the same fonts, colors, page design, and other elements. They get to see all of this even if they don't have the fonts or the software you used to create the document. PDF files open on Mac, Windows, and even Linux machines ”and you can even search the text inside it.

If you suspect other people might want to have a look at your photo book before it goes to be printed ”or if they'd just like to have a copy of their own ”a PDF file makes a convenient package.

Here's how to create a PDF file:

1. With your book design on the screen in front of you, choose File Print.

   The print dialog box appears.

2. Click the Save as PDF button, if you have one, or choose "Save PDF" from the PDF pop-up button.

   The Save sheet appears.

3. Type a name for the file, choose a folder location for it, and click Save.

   Your PDF file is ready to distribute. (Fortunately, the recipients will be able to correct the rotation within Adobe Acrobat using its View Rotate Counterclockwise command.)

POWER USERS' CLINIC
The Secret Really, Really Final PDF

Reviewing your final book as a PDF file is a pretty darned effective way to give it one last look-over.

Incredibly enough, though, even this PDF doesn't show you exactly what you're about to submit to Apple. It doesn't show you precisely the final type layout, for example, which is why some people discover chopped-off text boxes that looked fine in Preview. Nor does it show whether any photo files are corrupted, resulting in blank pages.

When a book doesn't print out quite right, Apple is generally very forgiving , and will invite you to resubmit the book's file to try again. But sometimes, you don't have the time to wait for a second attempt, like when it's December 21 and you really need the book for Christmas.

In such cases, you'll be glad that you know how to inspect the actual, secret PDF book file that iPhoto sends to Apple. Here's how to find it (these directions are for Mac OS X 10.3):

Assemble your book, and click the Buy Book button. Just after the "Assembling Book" progress window disappears, you arrive at the Order Book screen shown in Figure 10-13.

Switch back to the Finder. Choose Find File. Set the first row of pop-up menus to read, "Name," "is," "iPhoto."

Click the + button to create a new row. Set its pop-up menus to read, "Visibility," "invisible items," as shown here.

Click Search.

On the Search Results screen, you'll find a folder named iPhoto.Double-click it to find a secret file named something like ipbook-6393968.pdf. When you open this PDF, you'll find it filled with wacky crop marks and other oddities , but it shows exactly what you'll get when that handsome volume arrives at your house in published form. This is your last chance to look it over for imperfections.

This is the actual file that you'll send to Apple's printing plant.

If it looks good, close the document, return to iPhoto, specify how many copies you want, and click Buy Now.