# Preferences | Options

On Mac, choose Comic Life->Preferences... to display the Preferences window and customize Comic Life's behavior. On Windows, choose Edit->Options... to display the equivalent Options window.

The Settings are divided into two groups: General and Ruler.

## General Settings

- For New Documents: You can choose whether the template chooser or a blank document should be shown when Comic Life launches.
- Save as package: Allows you to save as a standard Mac OS X document package. Note this is not portable to Windows or easy to upload to Dropbox.
- Keep Images External to the Document: Normally, Comic Life copies photos into your comic so that they are always accessible. If you check Keep Images External to the Document, however, Comic Life will refer to the image in its external location rather than copying it in.

  This can make your comic file much smaller and open and save more quickly, but if the external images move, get deleted, or otherwise become inaccessible, then your comic will be incomplete. Keep Images External to the Document can be a good option if you're mainly using images from your photo library and don't plan to work on this comic on a different computer. If you've been using external images and wish to move your comic to a different computer (or just change your mind and wish to copy the images into the comic), choose File->Consolidate Comic... from the menu.
- Show Script Editor on right: by default the script editor will be shown above the comic layout editor. For users with widescreen displays locating the script editor on the right by default might be preferable.
- Camera: You can choose which camera Comic Life should use. This is useful if you have more than one camera attached to your computer.
- Editing: Normally, balloons and lettering are not clipped by panels, because many photos do not have room for them. If you prefer these to be clipped by default (clipping provides a crisper look to the comic) enable the "Clip new non-image elements" checkbox.

  Usually Comic Life plays entertaining sounds while you're editing the comic. If you'd like to turn these off, uncheck "Play sounds while editing."
- iPhoto Import: If you have gone to the trouble of providing your photos in iPhoto with comments or titles, Comic Life can use that information to add captions automatically.
- Software Update: Normally, Comic Life checks for updates every time it is launched. This allows you to keep up with new releases as they become available. If you prefer not to get these automatic notifications, uncheck this preference. If you'd like to check manually, choose Check for Updates... from the Comic Life menu or Help menu.

## Ruler Settings

- Default Zoom: Set your preferred default zoom level.
- Ruler Units: By default Comic Life uses Points (in countries that normal use traditional units) or Centimeters (for metric countries), but you can select different units if you prefer.

  For centered ruler origins check the "Place origin at center of ruler" box.

  By default the comic layout pages are centered in the view. Uncheck "Center the comic page in view" to left-align the comic pages.
- Alignment Guides: lets you pick a preferred color for the alignment guides
- Spacing Guides: lets you pick a preferred color for the spacing guides