OS X Contacts: Printing Out Your Data

My iPhone has seriously handicapped me. I’m convinced that, should civilization end, I would be one of the first people thrown into a volcano due to my lack of any non-technological skills. 

Volcano image source: USGS, via Wikimedia Commons.

As an example, I can no longer remember phone numbers. I was driving the other day and realized that if my car broke down and my phone died simultaneously, I would literally not be able to call anywhere except my childhood home. Not helpful! So if you’re like me and have iPhone Brain Syndrome, it may be a good idea to print out a list of your most important contacts and keep it in your car or wallet. And that’s my long-winded intro to telling you how you’ll do just that.

First, open the Contacts program, and then go through and select which people’s info you want to print. Click on a group to print everyone in it, or hold down the Command key and click on a few contacts to highlight only those.

When you’ve got the right folks selected, choose File> Print (or press Command-P). Here’s where the magic happens: Click on “Show Details” if you see that button…

…and then you’ll have tons of options for how your contacts will print. For example, you can click on the “Style” drop-down menu to choose the type of printout you’ll get. My favorite is “Lists,” but “Pocket Address Book” is also a good option for this.

As you make your choices, you’ll see the leftmost pane update to show you a preview of your printout.

This is the “Lists” style.

And this is how the “Pocket Address Book” option will appear.

Finally, you can select which information you need to print at the bottom-right of the window (within the “Attributes” pane). I almost always turn “Photo” off even if I don’t make any other changes. I am not gonna waste ink on that!

Be sure to also decide how you want your font to look and which orientation (portrait or landscape) you’d prefer. Anyway, when all of your options are exactly how you’d like ’em, click “Print,” and your list will be ready for your car or wherever. Hooray for not being stranded without knowing how to call anyone!

Wait, do pay phones even still exist? …Crap.