Aperture tutorial: Get to grips with Aperture’s print options

Aperture is one of the best photo-editing suites available, and that’s also true when it comes to printing. In an age when photos are usually shared digitally, it’s rare for people to learn the best methods for printing great shots. You can get great results with a standard inkjet printer and a few clicks. Using our supplied images, you can practice printing in different ways. Firstly, you’ll learn how to output one pristine borderless print. Then you’ll be shown how to print a contact sheet, complete with all the information you need. Finally, you can get more creative with Aperture’s Sequence printing, which enables you to automatically cut, slice and arrange images on one page, for an impressive showcase of your best images.

Step 1: Standard settings

Select Molly1 and go to File>Print Image. Click the Standard preset, and change the Orientation to Portrait. The preview area shows you your print.

Step 2: Print manager

Under the Printer, select your model. You can leave the Color profile as Printer Managed, or if you know your printer well, select an appropriate profile.

Step 3: Paper Size

Your default Paper Size is A4, so load 4×6 paper into your printer and change the Paper Size to 4×6 borderless. Your image will be printed without a white border.

Step 4: Contact Sheet

To see how images look when printed, select them, go to File>Print image. Choose the Contact Sheet preset. Change the Orientation from Portrait to Landscape.

Step 5: Preview time

Change the Paper Size to A4. Under Layout, change Rows and Columns to 3. When using your own images, always check the preview for any issues.

Step 6: More Options

Click the More Option box, and under Metadata and Page Options change Metadata View to Contact Sheet. Your printout will now contain useful information.

Step 7: Sequence select

Select all the images, go to File>Print and choose Sequence and set to 5 Photos per Page. Under layout change Rows to 1 and Columns to 5.

Step 8: Printing adjustments

To make adjustments at the printing stage without affecting your originals, check the Image Adjustment box, and adjust the Brightness, Contrast and Saturation.

Step 9: Full details

To present the images for review, go to the Metadata and Page Options, change Metadata View to General, Position to Below Image, and check the Title box.

(Click on the image below to zoom in and view the annotations)