London Drugs Home Edition, Version 2
Calendar User Guide
Welcome to the London Drugs PhotoLab Home Edition Calendar and Cards Userguide.
Getting Started
Upon launching My Photo Calendars and Cards, you will be offered Five options:
- Open Saved File - either a calendar or cards project.
- New Calendar -creating a new calendar project.
- New Card - creating a new cards project.
- FastTrack – a guided semi-automated process to create a calendar or cards project.
- Cancel - Quit
Select the option that fits your need. The next window that opens depends on the selection you make here.
NOTE: If you would like to create cards or calendars quickly and with amazing ease, why not give our new
FastTrack feature a try. See the section on FastTrack further on for more information.
Creating a customized calendar
Upon selecting New Calendar… from the “Open or Create Project” dialog, a template selection screen will come up.
Select the desired template by double-clicking on it or by selecting it and pressing the OK button.
Each calendar starts with a template, though once selected, you can customize almost any visual aspect of the calendar.
The software comes with templates in the following sizes:
- 12" x 18 - Bound at the top
Each 12”x18” page is single-side printed and bound at the top.
- 11" x 17 - Center Fold
Calendar measures 11" x 17" when open, 8.5” x 11” when folded at the center binding. Each 8.5” x 11” page is printed on both sides.
- A3 - Bound at the top
Each 42 cm x 29.7 cm page is single-side printed and bound at the top.
After double-clicking (or clicking OK), you will be presented with a calendar 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
- Add images
- Add graphic elements
- Add text
- Add and 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.
- A 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 all too complicated don’t worry; this version of My Photo Calendars and Cards includes FastTrack, our new speedy calendar & card creation tool. See the FastTrack section further on 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 and Cards 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 and Cards.
Toolbar Buttons (left to right)
Send to London Drugs: This will send your calendar project to our facilities for professional printing and finishing. When printing at London Drugs, your calendar will be printed on high quality image quality paper. We use the latest in digital printing technology to produce professional quality results. The calendar will be bound and ready for pick up at a London Drugs store 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.
- New Playing Cards Project…
This will start you on your way to create a new playing cards project (more about this in the Cards section).
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Page Setup...
Each calendar is designed for a specific paper size. Thus, post-design changes to the page setup may negatively impact your calendar. The following is the message that will come up if you decide to alter the page setup:
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Print Locally...
This allows you to print your project on a home or office printer connected directly or via a network to your computer. There may be restrictions on what you are able to print based on your current DigiLabs license. Learn more about printing at the special printing section at the end of this guide:
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Send to Print at London Drugs
This will send your calendar project to our facilities for professional printing and finishing. When printing at London Drugs, your calendar will be printed on deluxe image quality paper. We use the latest in digital printing technology to produce the finest professional results. The calendar will be bound and ready for pick up at a London Drugs store within a few days, hassle free!
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Export...
- Export as PDF...
This will export the project file as a multi-page PDF file. PDF files can be opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader. To use the export feature, you must own a commercial-use license.
- Export as JPEG...
This will export the file as a set of JPEG files. This feature is only available if you own a commercial-use license.
- 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... :The 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 printed 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 (Personalized 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 Lock
- 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:
- Click-select the date grid.
- 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...
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.
- Graphics 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.