Tips for Creating Calendars

Choosing Photos

When creating a calendar, try to choose photos that relate to a given month. Use photos of a family member for the month of his or her birthday. If you have some particularly fine holiday shots, use them for the month of December. This sounds obvious, I know, but you’d be surprised how many times I see iPhoto calendars with photos that bear no relationship to the months in which they appear.

Think vivid. I’ve ordered several calendars, and in my experience, photos with soft, muted colors often print poorly. You’re likely to see faint vertical stripes, sometimes called banding, in the photos. I get the best results when I use photos that have bright, vivid colors. Black-and-white photos work beautifully, too, provided they have strong contrast.