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Sunday, December 21, 2008

HOW TO MAKE PERSONALISED GREETING CARDS FOR HOLIDAYS

Since we are near Christmas holiday aren't you tired of sending the same kind of greeting card every year,every birthday or sending the same party invitation.Here we are going to give you some tips on how to make greeting cards using your own photos.Why do it?
It's Something special-Everyone one loves to see picture of their loved ones,especially members of your family who live far away.This will show that you care enough to create something unique and it's great to make somebody lough even for some minutes.
It's cheap- A box of store-bought cards can cost, on average, about $12 for a box of 10. Customized cards purchased online cost about $6 for the same number. And that includes shipping.
It's easy-Creating your own holiday cards is as easy as a few clicks of your mouse. There's no need to trudge though slush or snow to pick up a box of cards. Just follow our tips below and you'll receive your personalized greetings in days, delivered straight to your door.
It's lovely-There's nothing grandparents love more than a picture of their adorable grandchildren (other than a visit with the real thing, that is). These cards are sure to be plastered on the fridge or carefully placed in a purse for an impromptu show-and-tell.

Now follow these tips and you will do a great job.
1.Decide what kind of card you need-All the work you are going to depends on what kind of card you want to make.For example you want to send greeting card for Christmas,for New Year or every other kind of fest,or you need a invitation card for a party or an event.Having a vision ahead of time can speed up the process even if you'll be using templates straight from the software.
2.Choose the photos you are going to use-Go throw your whole gallery photos or if you don't have nothing suitable start shooting some photos and our previous tips will help you do that.Some quick tip for holiday cards of your kids or family are:
  • Keep outfits simple- With babies, less is better. “Newborns look best naked,”For toddlers and bigger kids, think basics and solids; no metallic fabric, writing, logos, characters, stripes, prints, or polka dots. They’re distracting and date the photo. Similarly, have your kids dress for their age in clothes they like. Don’t put a toddler girl in a stiff frilly dress or a toddler boy in a suit or a buttoned-down collared shirt. Besides being uncomfortable, grown-up garb will camouflage your child’s personality, which should shine through in the photo.
  • Coordinate the clan-If you’re taking a family photo, have everyone wear different shades of the same color, such as light blue to navy, or pale pink to burgundy. And avoid white if you’re shooting outside; it can be too reflective.
  • Don’t worry about the backdrop- If you’ll be taking your own holiday photo, don’t fret about finding a perfect pastoral scene in your neighborhood. People receiving your photo will concentrate on your family, not the scenery.But focus on the children’s faces and do make sure the surroundings aren’t too busy. An adorable expression gets lost when it has to compete with with a jumble of toys, furniture, traffic, and other people in the background
  • Don’t tell your kids you’re taking holiday-card photos. It’ll make them self-conscious, which will come through in the photo. The less kids are preoccupied by the camera, the better off you are. In lieu of a posed shot, pack your camera on family outings and watch for impromptu card-worthy photo opportunities, or tell your kids to go play while you casually click away.And always take holiday photos hen your kids are happiest.
  • Take holiday photos when your kids are happiest. That could be right after a meal rather than before or immediately post-naptime.
  • Use previous vacation photo. If you got a great summer vacation shot, it’s fair game for your holiday photo card, even though it may be six months old by the time it’s sent. But if you have a baby or a toddler is better to make new photographs as they change so much within a few months.
3.Choose an online site if you want them to print your cards and a lot of other options-Is important to google for a site that will help you make your greeting cards.When you find a site with designs that appeal to you, create an account and upload your photo to the website. Most sites will provide terms of use that you will have to read and accept to proceed. Sites also normally provide editing tools to crop or remove red-eye. Play around with these tools until you’re satisfied with the results.

  • Kodak.com offers Best Quality, Best Options, Most Expensive-You'll find different options on here, like making a coloring book out of your favorite photos (cool!!), and Kodak does have an exceptionally high quality printing service. This is definitely one of the best products on the web, but not necessarily best for your money.
  • Shutterfly.com offers Good Quality, Good Options, Good Price-I'm a big fan of Shutterfly, because they have options that continually surprise me, and their photo books have a lot of customization without being outrageously expensive. This is the most popular online photo service, with good reason--they are a great intersection of quality, options, and price.
  • PhotoWorks.com offers Good Quality, Great Options, OK Price-Generally, I find PhotoWorks a little more expensive than it's worth (especially for photo books) but for their holiday cards they have a surprising amount of really elegant options that I really fell in love with. Still a little expensive, but they have options I haven't seen elsewhere.
  • Walmart.com offers Decent Quality, Fair Options, Unbeatable Price-Yes, it's Walmart. Their printing quality is decent and wholly comparable, their options are limited but still solid, and their prices are totally beyond compare. They are definitely the cheapest option in the business, so if you are printing a bulk amount of holiday cards, they would be a good choice to consider.
4.Use appropriate software- If you are already familiar with the operation of PageMaker, InDesign, or other professional desktop publishing software.An extremely useful piece of software that shows you how to turn your digital pictures into charming Christmas photo cards is the MonkeyPhoto Version 3.0, from Monkeymen Software.But we are not going to talk about this in this post,maybe we will do that in another post.
5.Find an appropriate greeting-Based on the occasion choose a message .Depending on the style of card you chose, you'll have between 50 and 500 characters to create a personal message. Folding cards allow much more space as the message goes on the inside. You can often choose your own font as well. Want to make it even more personal? Not only will Shutterfly allow you to develop a separate message for each card, but they'll also address, stamp and mail your cards. (Note: This option is more costly.)
6.Preview your card-View your card complete with photo and personalized greeting. Most sites allow you to change your photo or edit your text. And many also allow you to choose a different design for your card if you're not happy with the original. Note: Once you click “choose another design/card,” Wal-Mart and Snapfish automatically insert your picture into all of their greeting cards, making it much easier to visualize which card will look best.
7.Specify quantity and pay- Choose the number of cards you'd like (they all come with envelopes –Kodak Gallery lets you choose the colour of the envelopes while Shutterfly will add a return address). Then, enter your shipping address. Once you've chosen a method of shipping (expedited – more expensive or regular – cheapest) it's time to approve the overall cost. Then, enter your payment information and wait for your shipment. Note: Wal-Mart is substantially less expensive than the other sites. Cards cost roughly $0.33 each and shipping is cheap (or free if you pick the cards up from a nearby store). I ordered 20 cards and only paid $9.10 with shipping, while mailing me 10 cards from KodakGallery cost $15.81.

1 comment:

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