Plug for iPhoto calendars

As I mentioned, my husband and I used iPhoto to make a personalized calendar as a Christmas gift for his family.

I wholeheartedly recommend it!

First off, iPhoto offers a number of different layouts which are easy to use and nicely done. I have iPhoto 8, but the latest version currently advertised on apple.com doesn't have the calendar option (just books and announcements) so don't upgrade if you want to make a calendar. I used the standard "Picture" layout which is the most basic and lets you display the largest pictures.

After adding all the pictures we wanted, putting pictures of family members on the day of their birthday in the bottom part, and picking a title, we ordered 5 copies. They cost 17.99€ a piece, but then there's TVA added and 6,90€ shipping. Shipping charges were the same whether we ordered 1 or 5 calendars, and maybe up to 10 (limit for 1 box), but I'm not 100% sure.

We paid online Saturday evening, the pictures were uploaded, and on Wednesday UPS was trying to make the delivery. Yep, it took only 3 business days to arrive! The calendars were printed in Prague, so they came quickly.

Quality wise, I have to say they are worth the 17,99€. The paper is very nice; the colors are great and all the pictures of nicely printed; the spiral binding is nicely done; and last but not least, they're delivered in a nice silver folder with the Apple logo. You get your money's worth.

The only downside is that you can't change the language of the months/days of the week or whether Sunday or Monday starts the week. They do have national holidays for most countries, but you can't change the language. I figure the family will use it more as decoration than to really consult the date.

So if you're short on ideas for Christmas gifts and worried about something taking too long to arrive, I recommend doing a personalized calendar. Depending on how many pictures you want to include (and how much you want to rearrange them) it could take time to finish the layout, but don't blame Apple for being slow to deliver!