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Michelle Franchi's Posts


Michelle Franchi
Marketing Specialist

September 2, 2009

Personalized Sports Cards

Attention devoted sports fans: whether you're a professional tailgater, practice chauffeur, or team photographer, let's take a timeout for a home print project. Show your team spirit or be your favorite athlete's biggest fan with personalized sports cards created using KODAK EASYSHARE Software, version 8.0 for Windows!

The Creative Projects tab gives you free access to hundreds of templates for printing quarter-fold greeting cards at home, using ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS Software. Choose from a variety of sports templates seen below.



Select a template, insert your picture, and then click share so that you can save the card as a picture.



Bring the image into EASYSHARE Software v8.0 using the add pictures workflow, and use the crop option in the editor to trim down the image into the desired print size. Tip: 2.5 x 3.25 inches is a perfect size for team trading cards while 8 x 10 inches makes for a great end-of-the-year certificate.



Now use the Add Text tool to personalize the card. You may want to note a special accomplishment, team record, player statistics, season dates, team name, and/or athlete name.



Use the Print at Home tab and your KODAK All-in-One Printer to create borderless photos that dry instantly and last a lifetime.






To be sure you don't commit a foul by missing a great picture this season, check out our tips for photographing sports and action.


July 22, 2009

Introducing KODAK EASYSHARE Software v8.0

It's time to share the moments you'll want them to remember; introducing KODAK EASYSHARE Software v8.0, for Windows. Whether you use on Facebook TM, YouTube TM, and/or Kodak Gallery, this release of EASYSHARE Software makes it easier than ever to share your KODAK moments! Download it now for FREE at www.kodak.com/go/easysharesw.

First up is an addition to our easy upload to third party sites. As you might recall, we gave you the option to upload to YouTube TM last year, and now in v8.0 you can upload pictures and videos to Facebook TM. Simply drag selected items into your picture tray and click on the Facebook TM logo in the My Collection tab.



You'll just have to enter your account information once, and we'll store it for you in the future. You can create a new album or add your pictures to an existing one.
 


We've also added some exciting technology to improve the upload speed to Kodak Gallery. EASYSHARE Software is now one of the fastest ways to upload your pictures to Gallery!

Finally, we redesigned the Creative Projects tab to offer you an even easier way to get creative with photos. There are eight choices for home print projects, which are perfect for that last minute birthday card or album page. If you are looking for the perfect photo gift or unique creative project, then upload your pictures to Kodak Gallery through the redesigned tab.



With more ways to share and easier ways to get creative, we are sure you'll love the new KODAK EASYSHARE Software v8.0 for Windows. Download it now for FREE!
 


March 13, 2009

Go Green with KODAK EASYSHARE Software

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching and once again, KODAK EASYSHARE Software comes to the rescue with a neat trick to get you into the Irish spirit. The editing toolkit has a "color balance" feature that is intended to remove a color cast from an entire picture. Traditionally, you would click the eyedropper on any neutral color, such as white, area of the photo. The tool works great for taking the yellow tint out of older, scanned photos and the blue tint out of snow scenes.

Now for the neat trick, if you click the eyedropper on any pink/red area of a photo, it will turn the picture green.



If there is not anything pink/red in the photo, simply use the add text tool and type in fuchsia colored font.





Use the eyedropper to click on the text to turn the photo green, and then crop the picture to remove the text.
 


You can use your green picture in a variety of ways including on your social network profile, or on personalized St. Patrick's Day photo greeting cards.



You asked for it, you got it. KODAK EASYSHARE Software, v7.1 for Windows, now with more editing tools and creative options. Download it now for free!
 


January 30, 2009

Valentine's Day Home Print Projects

Is your child restless from being indoors during this cold, wintery season? KODAK EASYSHARE Software v7.1, for Windows, comes to the rescue, again, with a couple of print at home Valentine's Day projects that will surely keep your child busy.

For their school's holiday party and card exchange, your children can easily create personalized photo Valentine's Day cards using a similar method as described step-by-step in my last post. Visit the Creative Projects tab and launch the ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS Quarter- Fold Greeting Card module. Depending on how you downloaded the software, the five free Valentine's Day templates may not have been installed. To add those templates, simply click "Get More Templates" in the upper right hand corner of the application.

To create the card, select a Valentine's Day design and drag and drop an image of a classmate into the template. Save the project as a picture and open the jpeg in KODAK EASYSHARE Software. Crop down to size and bring the pictures into the Print at Home tab. Since children's Valentine's Day cards are traditionally smaller in size, I selected the 2.5" x 3.25" option. When printing on standard size photo paper, 9 cards will fit on each page.



When sending Valentine's Day cards to family members, have your child add an even more personalized (and fun) touch. After selecting a favorite picture of your child, creating the card in ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS, and importing the jpeg back into KODAK EASYSHARE Software, open the image in the editor. Choose "Fun Effects" and then "Coloring Book."
 


I would recommend printing a bigger image, such as a 5" x 7" or 8" x 10", so that it is easier for your child to color. Most markers will work on glossy picture paper, but if your child is still in the crayon phase, use normal printer paper.

Want more templates? As a special promotion, we are offering free access to ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS Valentine's Day Quarter-Fold Greeting Card templates. The Valentine's Day ones are considered premium templates, but if you use coupon code "greeting09" before February 15, 2009, you can use them for free. If you want to purchase the additional Album Page premium templates, use coupon code "valentine09" for 20% off. Visit www.kodak.com/go/valentines for more information.
 


December 18, 2008

Holiday Home Print Projects

How can it be this late in December already? The holidays are fast approaching, you have a hundred things to do (like send out your holiday cards and plan your dinner party), and you are trying to watch your budget. Well have no fear, KODAK EASYSHARE Software v7.1 is to the rescue!

The new Creative Projects tab in KODAK EASYSHARE Software v7.1 gives you access  to hundreds of templates for printing quarter-fold greeting cards at home, using ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS. In this selection, there are a variety of holiday templates. With the spectacular quality of the KODAK All-in-One Printers, creating holiday cards at home is the perfect solution that will save you time and money. The screenshot below shows a sample of the many different templates you can choose from in ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS. Depending on how you originally downloaded EASYSHARE Software, you may not have received all of these templates. You can download a package of additional free templates at www.kodak.com/go/downloads. If you prefer to make half-fold cards, you can use the 15-day trial or purchase the full license of the module through ARCSOFT.



For my Christmas card this year, I decided to send postcards to save money on envelopes and postage. I designed my own, but if you don't have the time here's a neat little trick. Select a template in ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS, insert your picture, and then click share so that you can save the card as a picture.



Bring the image into KODAK EASYSHARE Software v7.1 using the add pictures workflow, and use the 4x6 crop option in the editor to trim down the image to postcard size.


 
Now use the Add Text tool to create your own personalized message on the card.



Use the Print at Home tab and your KODAK All-in-One Printer to create borderless photos that dry instantly and last a lifetime.

Now that your holiday cards are done, what about invitations and name place cards for your dinner party?

Take a picture of your holiday decorations to use as a background for your invitations. Be creative and test out the different modes of your KODAK Digital Camera. Take pictures of your tree using the night setting, candles using the candlelight setting, and ornaments using macro mode.

Once you've chosen your favorite, use the Add Text tool to write the details of your dinner party for the invitation. You can only use a single font, size, and color within each text box, so if you want to have different sizes, you'll need to make multiple text boxes by finishing the first, clicking accept, and selecting Add Text again.



Once you save the file, you can just attach the jpeg to an email and send to your guest list!

Finally, when it comes time for the table seating chart and place cards, it's a great time to have some fun with your guests. Find pictures of them in your collection. If you don't have any on you computer, try looking on a social networking site. You'll be sure to find some pretty interesting and funny pictures of your guests. Use the Add Text tool to print their name at the bottom of the image. It's fun way to spice up what could be some pretty boring name place cards and might even spark some interesting stories and conversation.

Since you'll want the cards to be smaller than a normal print, choose from one of the variety of sizing options that you'll find in the Print at Home tab. I used 2.5 x 3.25 inches which is a wallet-sized photo.
 


You asked for it, you got it! KODAK EASYSHARE Software v7.1 now with more editing tools and creative options that will save you time and money this holiday season! And don't forget that ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS offers templates for a variety of holidays and occasions including Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Happy Holidays!
 


December 10, 2008

You asked for it, you got it. KODAK EASYSHARE Software v7.1

Part 4 of 4: New Creative Projects Tab

For those of you who still haven't downloaded the latest version at www.kodak.com/go/downloads, I'm sure this entry will send you over the edge, as I've saved the best new feature for last! We've redesigned the Creative Projects tab to make it even easier to get creative with your photos. It's just so exciting that words aren't enough, so check out this demo. (make sure your sound is on)

So you are probably pretty familiar with how you can use KODAK EASYSHARE Software to create photo projects at the KODAK Gallery, but I bet you didn't know about the ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS projects! New with this release, EASYSHARE Software will ship with PRINT CREATIONS Software to offer users a full array of home print projects.

If you visit the Creative Projects tab, you will find that there are 8 home print projects, each button takes you to a different project module. The first two, Quarter Fold Greeting Cards and Album Page, are completely free. Pre-downloaded on your computer will be a handful of templates, and through the PRINT CREATIONS application, you will be able to download over a hundred more templates, free of charge! Ever since we first decided to work with ARCSOFT, I've been playing with the software, and let's just say, I've gone a little crazy. Here are some of the album pages I've made:


 
I started out making cards for actual upcoming events like family birthdays and Halloween, but it was just so addicting that I went card crazy making designs for all occasions: Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Independence Day, Sports, thank you, Valentine's Day... (I think you get the point).
 


There are also buttons in the software to make other home print projects like photo books, calendars, scrapbooks and different sized cards. These modules are free for the first 15 days. After that time period, your trial of those extra modules will expire and in order to keep using the ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS Software, you will need to purchase the full-license. There will be a prompt when you start the application that will lead to you their site to make the transaction.

I've been printing out all the designs that I've made using my KODAK ESP 5 All-in-One Printer on KODAK Ultra Premium Photo Paper. The quality is out of this world. I mailed copies of my beach album page to relatives, and they couldn't believe the quality of my home printer.

The ARCSOFT PRINT CREATIONS Software is the ideal solution for creating last minute birthday cards and printing out multiple invitations or album pages. If you want to create merchandise or gifts with your photos, then you might want to check out the offerings at the KODAK Gallery.

Regardless of how you want to share and be creative with your pictures and videos, it all starts with KODAK EASYSHARE Software. Download the latest version today! www.kodak.com/go/downloads