The Print Shop

The Print Shop
Manufacturer: Mackiev
Retail Price: $59.95

Ever since my first Apple IIGS, The Print Shop has been fun and it keeps getting better and better through the years. This version, number two, is the best one so far and I imagine the software engineers at MacKiev will keep improving it as time goes on.

The last version of The Print Shop had fifteen project modules: Greeting Cards, Signs, Pamphlets, Banners, Photo Pages, Letterheads, Business Cards, Envelopes, Calendars, Postcards, Post-it Notes, Online Greetings, Certificates, Labels and Blank Pages. The new two disc version adds Gift Tags and Tickets, Newsletters, Booklets, CDs and Cases, and Quick Prints for a whopping twenty templates. Each one has sections so the user can choose the QuickStart Layout, Help Me Design and Start from Scratch.

As I’m writing this review with The Print Shop open, I got a message telling me that there is an update available, and it is version 2.03. I closed the application and downloaded the update. MacKiev is like that; they send updates and new modules for various holidays to registered users without the user having to go to their site to find the updates.

The Print Shop has hundreds of images that one can use: images of fine art, illustrations, photographic images and clip art about every subject imaginable. I don’t know how many images are new, as there doesn’t seem to be a folder of images, as I seem to remember from long ago versions. Suffice it to say, there are more than you would ever use.

A Fun Project
I created a calendar for the birthday of my friend, Dorothy. I used The Print Shop and photographs of family members and trips Dorothy and husband Tom took, that Dorothy’s daughter loaned to me. I also used clip art from The Print Shop.

There are many formats of calendars and I wanted one that had large spaces for each day to hold the graphics and large enough so Dorothy could write in her appointments. I selected the format I wanted from the 90 available, clicked off the photo, background and graphics and placed the ones I wanted. For birthdays of friends and family, I used the clip art of a cupcake with a candle in it. I used a shot of the family member who has a birthday in that month and put it at the top of the page. (See March with the photo of a grandson holding his Mac.)

As Dorothy and Tom are new NCMUG members, I put a graphic of the new iMac that Tom bought on the third Tuesday of the month to remind them of the general meeting. I probably should have put that graphic on the meeting dates of the Intermediate and New User SIGs too, as they plan on attending those meetings.

I used luster paper to print the calendar which turned out beautifully. Leaving a margin of an inch at the top of the page allowed for the spiral binding that Kinko’s used to bind the pages together. I told the Kinko’s employee I wanted a cardboard backing and he suggested a clear plastic sheet for the front cover, which would look good. I had created a cover page of Dorothy standing at a favorite vacation spot with Dorothy’s Calendar 2024 in big letters at the top.

The Print Shop is a great program and one that people should have if they like to have fun with their Macs and do something creative with a bit of help from MacKiev.