Tutorials

Inside the relationship between iView MediaPro's layout options and how they drive print style.

Intro
Like many of iView's Export functions, printing is based on "what you see is what you get." What you print out looks like layout of each view, as defined by the user using the Layout dialog in the Edit menu. Add colors, fonts, styles and fields, in any of the three views, and then launch the Print dialog to print what is on screen.

Printing views
Each view has its own properties and options:

• Content view is useful for printing a table of contents of your catalog. To add or remove fields to this, or any of the three views, use the Layout dialog in the Edit menu. You can also rearrange the order of the columns and add picture icons from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the application window.

• Thumbnail view is used for printing contact sheets and posters. There is an additional Hi-Res option for quality printing. Remember, thumbnails are imported into the catalog by using the fileês built-in thumbnail or ones created by iView. If your thumbnails are printing poorly, choose Rebuild Thumbnails in the Action menu (CMD-B). The size of the thumbnail determines the maximum size of the thumbnail in the printout.

• Media view renders the full size, hi-resolution images from original files. Since some of these files may be quite large and require quite a lot of memory, this view is recommended for printing quality prints of 1 to 8 images per page.

Change the size of the displayed and printed media, by using the Size drop-down menu at the bottom of the application window, or within the Print dialog. In Media view, there is no need to crop or resize the original image.

The most useful of these is Scale to Fit, as it automatically rescales the image to fit within the predefined layout format or print area. Other useful options are Actual Size, Fit Width, but they may hide parts of the image, when the size and shape of the original image is larger than the rendered area or printed cell size.

Print Options
The Print dialog offers a number of additional options to further customize your print:

• Define the Print Area size for full page images, standard or custom size paper sizes for brochures and posters, as well as CD and other disk cases, like Zip or Jaz. If you select Full Page in the Print dialog, iView uses the page size defined in the Page Setup dialog (File menu). The options will differ according to the type of the printer installed. iView supports large-format plotter printers. You can add your own print templates to this list to specify particular sizes formats, such non-standard photo frame formats. See Print Template tutorial.

• Margins allows you to further adjust the Print Area Size on all sides. With the Mirror Margins option, you can include spines for binding documents.

• Headers enables you to place a label on the top (header), bottom (footer), right and left sides of your print out. You can adjust the type and style of the labels. In the Special drop-down, add page numbers, date, time and more. These settings are retained globally with the application.

• Grid defines the number of rows and columns on a page with this option. Occasionally, this may override the image size settings, or possibly crop some of the field text, if the Print Area Size is too small. You can print the entire catalog, the current page, or define the print range in the Range drop-down menu at the bottom of the Print dialog.

By default, printing starts from the beginning of the catalog. To printing from a particular page, click on the up and down arrow buttons. You can print just the current page or begin your print from the previewed page in the catalog.

For additional explanation on iView's printing functionality, see:
• Pages 38-42 of the iView MediaPro manual
• Printing FAQ
• Print Template tutorial