To begin creating your calendar, log in to your account and click the 'store' tab. Next click the 'calendars' link located in the 'photo products' list on the left side of the page. From the 'Calendars' page, click the 'create' button to proceed.
There are a few steps before you begin adding photos to your calendar. These are general options that pertain to the style and format of your calendar.
The Calendar Builder offers a unique and rich experience with many options to personalize your calendar. It might look a bit confusing at first, but following the steps below will reveal just how easy and fun building your calendar can be. If you would like to reset a page of your calendar at any time, click the 'Clear Page' button located directly above the calendar preview area on every page. Clearing a page of your calendar will remove any changes you have made to your calendar, including image edits done with the calendar image editing tools and any captions you have entered.
Customizing the Cover
You will see the cover of your calendar when the Calendar Builder loads.
If your layout provides an area for a caption, click that area to add text to your cover. When you click a caption area, the Caption Editor will open. For more information on entering text into the caption areas, please see the Caption Editor section.
Note: You can change the layout or wallpaper of your cover at any time by clicking the respective tab. If you choose different wallpaper, the builder will retain changes you have made to your image or caption. If you choose a different layout, then any changes you made to your caption will be lost but your photo will remain. You might have to edit your photo again if you selected a layout with a different sized aperture. Your photo, in its original form, will still be available as a choice in the 'Albums' tab.
Individual Months
The following instructions outline how to create each of the months in your calendar. After you have designed your cover, click any of the months listed in the tabs above the calendar builder. You can also click the 'Next Month' button located in the bottom right of the Calendar Preview window. When you initially view a month you will be presented with the full view of that page of your calendar.
The top view will function similarly to the cover. You can choose a layout for the top part of your calendar by clicking it, or by dragging and dropping the preview onto your calendar. Once you have a layout that you would like to work with, you can add photos by clicking the 'Albums' tab. To insert a photo simply drag the photo over the empty area on your layout and drop it. To enter a caption for the month you are viewing. You can choose a new layout at any time by clicking the 'Layout' tab.
Adding Photos
You can add photos from any of your albums by choosing the album you would like to work with from the drop down menu above the photo preview area.
By clicking a date and using the Date Editor, you can make those important days throughout the year even more special with a personalized caption and one of your favorite photos. You can also add photos to an individual date by dragging and dropping the photo directly onto the date you'd like to highlight.
If you choose a Portrait (vertical) image for a Landscape (horizontal) space in a layout, it will automatically be adjusted to fill the horizontal frame and vice versa. Use the Photo Editing Tools to preview, crop and edit your photo to ensure correct positioning on the calendar. To avoid any image distortion, try to select your favorite images that correspond to the spaces in each layout. See, Photo Editing Tools.
Note: you can add photos from each of your albums. To personalize your calendar select a photo and drag & drop it onto the space provided on the month you would like it to appear.
Layout and Customization
To see all of the layouts available, click the 'Top View' tab. Choose a layout for each month by clicking the 'Layout' tab to preview the available options. To see how a layout will look on your calendar, simply drag & drop the layout onto the month where you would like it to appear.
If you change your mind about the layout or designs you've used, you can restore the page to its default by clicking the 'Clear Page' button located below the calendar preview page.
The Caption Editor
If you chose a layout with a place for a caption, then you can enter and modify a caption.
Using the Caption Editor, you can:
Change the position of your caption to the top, middle or bottom
When you are ready to save your caption and continue working on your calendar, click the 'Apply' button.
Photo Editing Tools
You can access the Photo Editing tools by clicking on a picture in the Top View or by clicking an individual date. When you are looking at at layout with many photos, the photo you are currently editing will have a blue border around it.
With the Photo Editing tools, you can:
Choose colour, sepia, or black and white
With these tools you will be able to choose exactly how you want your image to look.
The Date Editor
Keep track of important dates all year long! To add text to an individual day, click the day you would like to edit. The Date Editor will open with many options available to customize the picture and text for that day. You can:
Clear the photo by clicking the 'Clear Photo' button
With these tools you will be able to choose exactly how you want your image to look. Click the 'Save' button when you are ready to make your changes to the date.
Navigating the Calendar Builder
Use the Month tabs located at the top of your calendar to navigate between the different months.
Or you can click the 'Next Month' or the 'Previous Month' buttons located in the top right corner of the Calendar preview area to move between consecutive months.
You can also click the 'Cover' button, or click the 'cover' tab at any time to return to your cover.
Use the tabs above the calendar preview to switch between the different portions of your calendar and to return to a full view to see the top and bottom portions at the same time.
You can also click the top or bottom of your calendar to zoom in on it. If you are viewing the top or bottom of your calendar, click anywhere around the outside of the preview to return to the 'Full View'.
Reviewing your Calendar
Before you are ready to begin the ordering process for your calendar, be sure to review each month by clicking its tab at the top of the page. Check each photo and each caption to ensure that the calendar is exactly as you would like it to look. When you add your calendar to the cart you will have a chance to review the top and bottom of each page to be sure they look right.
Ordering your Calendar
Once you have created your calendar, click the 'Add to Cart' button to begin your order and refer to our ordering help content if you require assistance.
Note: Please be sure to preview your calendar before sending it to your cart. Check each of the months and each of your photos so that you know they are arranged exactly as you wish.
Saving your Calendar
You can save your calendar and return to it later to continue working on it. You might want to save often in order to protect the progress of your calendar creation. Click the 'Save Calendar' button located in the top right corner above the calendar builder window whenever you would like to save your calendar. Enter a name for your saved calendar that will allow you to easily identify it later.
Returning to a saved calendar
You can access your saved calendars by clicking the 'home' or 'photos' tab and then clicking 'calendars' in the orange menu on the right hand side of the page. Your calendars are stored in the order that they were created. The top calendar will be the one you created most recently. The order that they are arranged does not reflect the order that you last worked on them.
The Calendar Builder offers a truly rich online experience and puts powerful editing tools at your fingertips. The terms and hints below will help to make sure you get the most out of making your new calendar!
Drag and Drop
The calendar builder is based on a drag and drop model. To drag something means to click an item once, and hold the mouse button while you move the mouse to the position where you would like the item to appear. To drop something means to lift your finger off the mouse button after you have dragged something to a new location. It's that easy!
Tabs
The calendar builder makes extensive use of tabs. Tabs are usually rounded and have a word or two on them that suggests what they refer to. Think of a hanging folder with many different tabs to organize a lot of files into a small space. Tabs on a webpage offer a high degree of functionality all in one location, instead of having to load different pages in order to do different things. Many current generation web browsers incorporate tabs into their usability because tabs increase the ease with which we can view lots of information quickly.
View
Use the tabs above the calendar creation window to switch between sections of your calendar. They are marked 'Full View', 'Top View' and 'Bottom View'. Top view allows you to change layouts and wallpapers for the top portion of your calendar. Bottom view allows you to select wallpapers for the bottom portion, and also add text and customize the individual date boxes as well. The full view of your calendar lets you make large scale changes to your calendar. You can change the wallpaper of individual months by clicking the 'Full View' tab. Note: you can also click anywhere around your calendar preview to return to the full view.
Clear Page
If things are not turning out the way you would like on a page of your calendar, you can click the 'clear page' button to reset the page you are working on. This will erase all of the work you have done on that page. A popup with a warning message will appear. Click the 'ok' button to erase all changes you have made to photos and dates on the month of your calendar you are viewing. If you would like to change the top part of your calendar, but not the bottom part, then click the top view tab, or click anywhere around your calendar to return to full view and click the top of your calendar in the preview. Dragging and dropping a new layout on the top of your calendar will reset your captions.
Customizing an Individual Date Box
One of the exciting features of the calendar builder is the ability to customize dates that are important to you. Clicking the date you would like to customize will open the Date Editor. Please see the Date Editor section for detailed help.
Layouts
Layouts allow you to modify your calendar to give it a truly personal look. To add or modify layouts, click the Top View tab and choose from the layouts presented by dragging and dropping them onto your calendar. You can also modify the appearance of your cover by choosing different layouts. Note: this will reset any changes you have made to images and captions.
Captions
The Caption Editor allows you to enter the text you would like to include in your calendar and make some formatting changes to it. Please see the Caption Editor section for detailed help.
Photo Editing Tools
The photo editing tools offered as part of the Calendar Builder put a robust suite of photo manipulation options at your fingertips. See the Photo Editing Tools section for more information on how to use these tools to shape your calendar into a masterpiece!
Wallpaper
The term wallpaper refers to the appearance of your calendar behind your photos and the dates. You can modify the wallpaper without losing any of the content of your calendar by clicking the 'Full View' tab and selecting wallpaper from the options presented. Note: wallpaper can only be changed while in the Full View of the calendar builder.