Archive for March, 2009
March 30, 2009 at 10:45 pm
· Filed under 1 ·Tagged digital photo album, digital photo printing, digital printing, digital prints, digital scrapbook, free online photo album, free photo editing, online photo album, photo books, uploading photos
If you are looking for a fun new hobby you and your child can both enjoy, try getting them involved in creating a digital photo album for their favorite pictures. You can spend quality time together while teaching your child the basics of photography and computers.
The best way to get your children interested in a digital photography hobby is to start your own online digital photo album. Be sure to work on it for a short time each day somewhere in plain view of the kids. Most children will take an interest in whatever their parents are doing, especially if they see pictures of themselves or interesting colors or clipart images on your screen. You can begin by asking their opinion of different options when you are editing your photos. This will make them feel like they are involved in the process of creating your digital photo album. Make sure you show them the finished product so they can see how their choices affected the results.
Once your children have shown interest in getting their own digital photo album, it is time to sign them up for a free account on your photo sharing site. Never include any real personal information when creating an online account for your child and use a password that is totally different than any of your other ones. It is not advisable to let them use your account because they may accidentally delete your existing digital photo albums, especially if your children are young and not accustomed to using the computer yet. Of course, be sure you have your own backup of their image files before allowing them to upload the pictures to their photo albums.
Kids will have a lot of fun adding clipart and other neat effects to their photos. Depending on the child’s age, you may have to help out with the editing part of their digital photo album. Remember that this is their project and let them have total control over what changes are made. You should have a backup copy of the photos they are using, so it will not matter if they make a change that comes out looking awful. If you cannot undo the change with the photo editor, simply re-load the original file and let them try it again from scratch. Let your child’s imagination run wild and encourage them to experiment with different colors or things like wind effects.
After they have their digital photo album customized to their liking, you can show your child how to share with the family. Most photo sharing sites have a “share this” link they can click to send an email with a link to a specific photo or album. Of course, you do not want small children bombarding your family’s inbox with emails, so it is best if you supervise this process. If your child wishes to share a lot of their photos, have them send a link to the entire album instead of sending each picture one by one.
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March 20, 2009 at 7:43 pm
· Filed under 1 ·Tagged digital photo album, digital photo printing, digital printing, digital prints, digital scrapbook, digital storytelling, free online photo album, online photo album, uploading photos
With extended families spreading out across the world more and more, it has become more difficult to stay in touch with everyone. In the past, people would gather at least once a year for holidays to share memories and show each other the latest photos of their kids. The Internet has brought many new ways to keep in touch with family and bridge the gaps caused by distance. Instant messaging, email, and social networking allow people to stay in contact with each other no matter where in the world they live. Now you can set up your own online digital photo album as a way to share your images with your loved ones.
Using a free online photo album has several advantages over simply emailing a picture to a relative. The first, of course, is that it eliminates the need for file attachments. Instead of sending a copy of the photo itself, you can send a link to your digital photo album. This can be helpful for family members who receive their email at work since many companies have begun to block all unauthorized file attachments. File attachments may also not be a good idea if you have older family members who are not educated about computer viruses and spyware. You do not want to encourage them to open attached files unless they know exactly who is sending the message.
Sending a digital photo album allows you to tell an entire story to someone instead of just throwing them a snippet of information here and there with an individual snapshot. You can set up your photo album in a narrative manner that follows a child or special event in chronological order. You can even add your own personalized comments to each picture in the album to fill-in some of the details of your story. If your family members sign up for their own photo sharing accounts, they can respond to your notes with comments of their own, allowing you to get different perspectives on your common memories.
Some sites allow you to set up your digital photo album as a shared account, so other relatives can also upload their photos and contribute to the family collection. This is a nice way to collect photos of everyone’s children so you always have an update on their growth. People love sharing photos of themselves and their kids, so you will have no shortage of contributions if you make it easy for your family to access your digital photo album.
Family members who would prefer having physical keepsakes can easily order prints from the photo sharing site, along with many other types of customized merchandise. You can place your photos on calendars, mouse pads, t-shirts, or coffee mugs to create your own personalized gift items for delivery right to the family. Instead of giving pictures that have no use other than mantel decorations, you can use your digital photo album to send grandma a new coffee mug with your child’s latest picture.
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March 11, 2009 at 11:06 pm
· Filed under 1 ·Tagged digital photo album, digital photo printing, digital printing, digital prints, digital scrapbook, digital storytelling, free online photo album, free photo editing, online photo album, online photo sharing, photo books, uploading photos
A wedding day is one of the most important days of someone’s life. Of course, it is also an occasion where a lot of pictures are traditionally taken, with many people hiring a professional to take pictures of the ceremony and the guests in attendance. Whether you hire a professional photographer to photograph your wedding or do it yourself, there are a number of advantages to using a digital photo printing service to provide the actual prints to everyone. Here are four great reasons to use a digital photo printing site for your next wedding.
1. Better quality. You are able to edit your photos beforehand, which can provide you with much better results than traditional photo processing. Along with the ability to touch up the photos, most digital prints are of far better quality than regular film developing. After all, you want the best possible results for photos that are as special as your wedding pictures will be. Don’t take any chances with such and important event in your life. Also, digital printing services are usually less expensive than traditional processing, making this the more cost effective choice as well.
2. Added control over the final image. Prior to sending any wedding pictures off to a traditional film processor, consider the possible problems that may occur. There may be red eye issues or people may have the top or side of their head cut off by the edge of the film. Using a digital camera lets you quickly and easily edit these pictures before sending them off for digital photo printing. That way you know that every picture you receive back from the printer will be of the highest quality only. You can also weed out any photos that will be unusable, saving you money on printing costs.
3. Faster turnaround. Unlike traditional photo processing, which can take anywhere from an hour to several days, you’ll be able to instantly tell how your photographs will turn out when you are using a digital camera. Instead of finding out too late that an important photograph didn’t turn out, you can immediately decide whether or not a photo needs to be retaken. For times like these, when pictures really matter, it’s important to have the ability to quickly retake a photograph.
4. More convenient to share photos with friends and family. Now that you have received your prints back from the online digital processing site, it is time to show them off. It is very easy to order prints that can be sent directly to your family members’ homes. Now there is no more time spent sitting around writing out addresses on envelopes. Simply input your list into the site and you can blast out photos to everyone at the same time. Some sites even allow you to save your frequently used contacts in an address book, making the process even quicker and easier. In addition to sending out physical copies, you can usually set up online photo albums to display your wedding pictures.
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March 3, 2009 at 10:53 pm
· Filed under 1 ·Tagged digital photo album, digital photo printing, digital printing, digital prints, digital scrapbook, digital storytelling, free online photo album, free photo editing, online photo album, photo books, uploading photos
If you have an online digital photo album, you want to make your pictures stand out from all the rest. There are quite a few things you can do to your photos to give them a personal touch. Most photo sharing sites have fun images and effects you can add to your pictures, along with custom backgrounds and themes to use for the pages of your album. Here are four ways to personalize your photos and give your free online photo album a unique twist.
Before editing any of your digital photos, be sure you have a backup copy of the files. It is generally easy to make a duplicate copy right on the photo sharing site itself, so you may want to just make a copy of your entire photo album as a reference point.
1. Use online photo editing tools to add special effects or color schemes to your pictures. Of course, you should always do some basic touch up work and clean up any undesired objects in the background. Most photo editors will allow you to brighten the image and remove the dreaded “red-eye” effect. Check the available features on the photo sharing site you use. Many of them offer additional effects such as adding a wind-blown look to the photo or a colorful border around the image. You may also be able to choose from a number of fun color themes to give your picture a unique style. If preset schemes are not available, you can always adjust the hue of certain objects by using your photo editor’s color tools.
2. Add clipart images into your pictures for a humorous touch. Many of the top photo sharing sites include a selection of clipart images that you can use to customize your photos. Some fun ideas include adding a cartoon character to a child’s birthday picture or placing a goofy-looking hat on someone. You can use images that complement the tone of your photo such as a stack of poker chips for your Las Vegas vacation pictures.
3. Make use of any audio options provided by your online photo sharing site. Some websites now allow you to attach a sound file to the images in your free online photo album. You can upload a friend’s favorite song or simply record your own personalized message to someone. This gives an added personal touch that just cannot be conveyed with a traditional film photograph.
4. Turn your free online photo album into a customized gift for a friend or family member. Most online photo sharing sites offer merchandise that can be personalized with your photos. You can have an actual photo album with all of your favorite pictures delivered right to the recipient’s home. choose different covers, Other fun gifts that can be given a personal touch with the right digital photo include t-shirts, mouse pads, calendars, or coffee mugs. This is also a convenient way to handle holiday or birthday gifts without having to hassle with gift wrapping and mailing them out yourself.
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