Printing Contact Sheets

Here is my process for creating a contact sheet, with file names, on the iMac using only the software that comes with the machine.

1. Import photos. Import them anywhere. I use the Photos app for this. I just need to get them off the camera.

2. Move photos to your catalog. I don't catalog photos in Photos, so I manually move them from the folder in the Photos app and into my library (saved to a directory on Dropbox with a sort of catalog system).

3. Rename photos. This is obviously optional. We like our photos to have individual index numbers so they're easy to find later. For example, "2017-010-001", or YEAR-FOLDER-PHOTO #. To rename the photo, highlight all the photo files in the folder (Finder window), "right" click, then chose "Rename # items". Choose to "replace text", and then replace the auto text that the camera assigned with the correct catalog folder number. For example, replace the "IMG_" with "2017-010-" so that IMG_001 becomes 2017-010-001.

4. Move/Copy everything back to Photos. The contact sheet itself comes from Photos, so you need to copy everything back to Photos to get the contact sheet. I have an extra "holding" folder in Photos that I use for this.

5. Print. Highlight all the photos you just moved over and Print. Choose "Contact Sheet" as the layout. Choose how many columns you want. To print file names, click on "Captions" and check "Filename". Hit print.

You could surely skip steps 2, 3, and 4... but I'm sure if printing the file name is important to you then these steps will apply. I hope this makes sense!

you can make a contact sheet in Photos.

If you create an album, then select the images you want to print as a contact sheet and move them into that new album

then select all, go to file, print

and you should then see on the right hand side a contact sheet option, once selected will give you options

to print the contact sheet as you like.

It is even simpler than that. No need to move anywhere. Just select the images you want to print, Command-P, choose "Contact Sheet", and select what you want for Captions by clicking on, er... Captions. "File name" is one of the options.

I've been trying this method but as soon as I press Command + P it automatically goes to the printer. No dialogue box pops up. I've tried taking myself off my network so the printer couldn't be accessed, and that still happens. Does anyone have any tips or settings to change, so the dialogue box pops up?

I'm assuming that I have to select the photos right in Finder, then go to print? Please correct me if I'm missing something! Hopefully someone sees this, despite the thread being a bit old 🙂

Command-P in the Finder goes directly to the printer - that is how it works.

My suggestion, a long time ago, was about the Photos application.

Yep you can select what you want without a need for creating an album, but thought it was a bit neater

just so you can keep track.

just thought it was one way of showing the OP that Photos can create a contact sheet.

can you not create contact sheets in lightroom.

do you have adobe bridge?

contact sheets can be created there too

so lots of alternatives.