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After a glorious, sun-soaked vacation, you’ll have lots
of wonderful memories – and probably hundreds of photos,
too. This might be a scrap-booker’s paradise, but for those
of us who are overwhelmed by stacks of photos, scissors, and glue, here
are some ways to create wonderful memory albums from digital photos.
When you’re working with digital images, you have a lot of
creative options available. Do you want to create a paper book or
calendar? Or how about a slide show? Or maybe you want to
distribute an electronic extravaganza on CD, complete with music,
narrative, titles and subtitles, and swishy special effects.
It’s all possible – and easy, too!
If you like the idea of a paper album or calendar, but creating one
yourself seems overwhelming, try one of the online creation
services. You can upload your special pictures, lay them out as
you please, add captions and titles, and then simply click the button
and wait for your paper production to arrive in the mail. Lulu.com, vistaprint.com, blackphoto.com and cafepress.com
are some popular online sites that will organize your photos into a
coffee-table album or a wall calendar, or else print them on anything
from mugs to T-shirts to posters. Search the internet for
“photo books create”, and watch your options appear!
If you’d simply like to display your photos in a slide show, then
a digital picture frame might be the answer for you. Like regular
picture frames, you can purchase various sizes. These devices are
essentially flat-screen monitors with storage capacity. They let
you copy your digital photos into their memory, and then they display
them in a constantly-changing slide show.
If you’re feeling a little more creative (or if you don’t
want to spend a lot of money), you can make picture shows using
Microsoft PowerPoint® or Windows Movie Maker®. Both of
these programs let you insert photos, create a sound track, add text,
create transition effects between slides, and save to a CD or DVD for
distribution.
If you already know how to use PowerPoint®, it’s a good tool
– go and play! But if you don’t own or have never
used PowerPoint®, I suggest Windows Movie Maker®. It
comes included with Windows XP® and Vista® operating
systems. Depending on what version of Windows® you have, you
may find Windows Movie Maker® in various locations, so click on the
Start button, then All Programs, and start looking. Sometimes
it’s right under All Programs, but if it’s not there, look
under Accessories, Communications, or Entertainment.
Once you find Movie Maker®, you can follow the handy steps 1
through 3 in the lefthand pane to bring in your photos, create titles,
transitions and soundtracks, and publish your show to web or CD.
If you get stuck, click on the Help menu, and you’ll find
detailed instructions on how to use all the tools.
When you’re done, you’ll have your happy times beautifully
recorded – to give as a gift, or simply for you to enjoy whenever
you want. What a way to make the fun last!
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By: Diane Henders, Bright Ideas Personalized
Learning Inc. Bright Ideas Personalized Learning Inc. is a
Calgary-based mobile computer training company that provides on-demand,
cost-effective training to corporations and individuals. For more
information about this topic, or to schedule a training session, please
call (403) 269-2347.
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