How to Create a photo book

1 Create a new book

From your main photo library or an album collection, choose File > Create > Book. Photos will ask if you want to download a project extension. Ignore that and click Continue to keep using Photos to design your book.

2 Choose a format

The next step enables you to choose a book format and size, as well as telling you the different prices for each. Pick one now, but you can change this later if necessary, as well as altering layouts, text and more in the next steps.

3 Select a theme

From the next page, select a theme for the book. Again, you can change this later. Provided you had no images selected, The app autofills the book with pictures. You can clear these using the Clear Placed Photos button if you wish.

4 Customise image layout

Name your book. At the bottom right, set the pop-up to Placed Photos (or Unused if cleared), then drag any image from the filmstrip to a placeholder on a page. To reframe a pic within its slot, double-click its page, then drag the pic.

5 Change page layout

Double-click a page to take a closer look, click the Options button below it to choose a new layout and then drag in pictures to fill any new slots. To change the page’s background colour, use the swatch in the Layout Options window.

6 Add and edit text

Many themes have text boxes alongside pictures. To edit this text, simply click in a header or body area and enter your own words. A text properties box lets you choose font, size, alignment and more attributes.

7 Move, add or remove

To move a page, return to the book overview (by clicking the back button, top left) and click on the page number, then drag the page to a new location. Or select a page and use the add/remove button to delete or insert a new one there.

8 Edit photos

You can tweak any photo by clicking on it, which opens the Edit window. From here you can apply ready-made filters, zoom and crop, or click the Edit button to open Photos’ full image-editing tools. Edits affect the book but not originals.

9 Order your book

When you’re finished, choose File > Export > Book as PDF to output a local PDF copy of the book. Or, click Buy Book at the top-right corner, add a shipping address and click Place Order. You’ll need to enter payment information.