I am able to get thumbnails to display with template functions by using "printPopularImages(12)", "printLatestImages(6)", and "printTopratedImages(6)" but i dont seem to be able to print a set amount of pictures from a specified album.

im guessing i would go about it as such

am I doing something wrong? all other functions seem to work find, i just cant seem to call up a certain album and a set number of pictures

I don't understand exactly what you are trying. The functions you mentioned print as their name says the latest, popular and toprated images. It's not meant to print images from a specfific album. There is no function "printAlbum()". Take a look here:
http://www.zenphoto.org/trac/wiki/TemplateFunctionsGuide (although it's not complete yet and missing several newer functions)

If you want to print a subset of the images in an album you need to place a counter in the next_image() loop and execute a break command when the number has been reached.

The Stopdesign theme does something like this, but for the albums on the index page.