I love trying new tools, whether they're for "my" craft or not. So when My Memories offered me a free review copy (plus, another copy to giveaway to my readers!) of their digital scrapbooking software My Memories Suite, how could I resist?
Here are two project ideas of mine (other than creating traditional scrapbook pages):
Idea #1 My Postcard Project
My first idea was to use the scrapbook software to showcase my jewelry for possible postcards or flyers to use at craft shows. Here's one example for my upcoming show at Northern Colorado Writers:
This is the one of the "casual" layouts with the number and position of the squares already arranged. You just click on them and import your photo inside. The notepad and pencil were in the "embellishments" section which included items like buttons, brads, ribbon, and layered flowers. You can add frames around the photos like I did and color them, which is a fun option. There were several size options for saving the layout as a JPG from web/email (600 x 600 pixels) to large (3600 x 3600 pixels).
Idea #2: Blog Hop Links Project
I know that some blogs have used Linky Tools for blog hops which does create a nice visual list. But I thought it'd be fun to take that idea one step further and create something that's visually appealing as a whole. This software allows you to add "hot spots" to different parts of the layout so you can add links. (If you're a web designer, this is the same thing as creating an image map.) Here's an example featuring a few of the designs from the recent Very Vintage Blog Hop Challenge:
|
You can click on the pictures and names and go to that person's blog. Pretty cool, right? This is so much more appealing than a list of text links. I think I might want to do something similar for the participants in the last 2011 challenge, Secret Snowflake. (There are just a few kits left, if you still want to play!)
Product Review
On the Plus Side . . .
On the plus side, the scrapbook software seemed easy to install and use. It didn't hurt that I'm
comfortable with graphics software like Picnik and Photoshop, so I understood the more advanced menu options such as "gridlines" (for precise
alignment of elements) and "move to front" (to layer items so that the
one in the back is moved to the front of the stack). But even if I didn't have that background, the basic menu options such as Fonts, Backgrounds, and Shapes were all clear and easy to understand. The included background patterns, colors, and embellishments seemed fairly standard; more sophisticated design packages are available for sale on the MyMemories website.
I think this is great software if you're a traditional scrapbooker. You can make nice pages in just 10-20 minutes, which is perfect for
busy moms.
The Minus Side . . .
However, if you're like me and you want to use tools in ways that they were never intended or if you have a strong perfectionist streak and want to control every aspect of your design, you're probably going to find this software a little frustrating. At best, you'll need to use additional tools to get the results you'd like.
For example, with my postcard project, if I were to get those printed, I'd probably need to submit a precise size and resolution required by the printer, which may or may not be one of the four choices in the software. (In fact, as a test I saved the file at the largest resolution and when I opened it in Photoshop, it came up as being "72 dpi" which is the default setting for web, not print.) Of course, I can resize the photo and make it fit my needs, but that does require a second program.
For my blog display, I had a couple of frustrating moments. The first was when I was doing the "hot spots" and couldn't figure out how to copy and paste links into the fields. (It turns out you can't; the only option is to type them in.) It wouldn't be too big a deal if I were linking to main home pages with short links, but some of the blog post links are huge! It's not just a lot of extra time to type them in, but you're likely to introduce typos, which means more testing time after you're finished.
Unfortunately, the second problem was much worse: there's no way to export this file with all the links for the web! The "Interactive Album" option allows you to save to DVD. That's it. Again, great if you're a traditional scrapbooker who wants to create a DVD to send to the grandparents, but not so great if you're a non-traditional user. I ended up just saving the image as a JPG and then adding the links again by using Dreamweaver, a website editing software.
Bottom Line
Discount Coupon Code
As a special for all of my
readers, here's a coupon code that provides a $10
discount off the
purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10
coupon for the
MyMemories.com store: STMMMS37180
Giveaway: Digital Scrapbook Kit
To enter, visit the MyMemories.com website and then come back here and leave a comment on this blog post that answers this question:
Which of the kits is your favorite?
Deadline: Enter by November 22, 2011.
I'll pick one random winner and announce the winner here on my blog on November 23. This giveaway is open to both U.S. and international entrants. Good luck!
Update 11/22/11: Giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Sarah for winning the scrapbooking kit!
Standard Disclaimer: MyMemories provided this software to me for review, along with the free copy for the giveaway and the discount code coupon. I received no compensation for this review and the honest opinions (as usual) are all my own.