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Okay, Lots of Digital Images...
What Can Your Customers Do With Them?

Albums & Scrapbooks Continue to Soar in Popularity

By Janine Kachadourian

September 2001

Digital Image Bloat
By no means am I alone when it comes to stockpiling digital images on the computer. According to Meg Weston, president and CEO of Printlife, an Internet-based digital imaging printing company, there is a trend happening with digital photography, where digital photos end up on a Website, CD or computer where they are simply forgotten about. Nancy Carr, vice president, Digital and Applied Imaging, Eastman Kodak Company agrees and added, "Consumers tell us that — whether they use digital cameras or film — 95% of their pictures are still in their cameras, or on their computers."
Turns out that there is a lot more that folks can do with digital photos. While photo sharing via the Web is a great way to keep everyone abreast of just how adorable your baby/dog/hubby is, by no means is it the only way to showcase digital photos. A number of companies offer software that can organize your photos into albums — either virtual albums to be viewed on your computer or tangible ones delivered to your door. Both offer ways to edit, view, organize, and e-mail digital images, photos and multi-media files. They also afford the user an opportunity to be inventive with their photos and to create something special and unique.

Print Your Life
Printlife, an Internet-based digital imaging printing company, offers the Printlife PhotoBook, a bound, hardcover album that "enables consumers to express, share and print their life's stories."
Because the album holds only 16 pages (48 images max), it'll be a short but worthwhile read. The PhotoBook is created on a PC with software that can be downloaded at www.printlife.com or installed from a free direct-to-consumer CD-ROM.
According to Meg Weston, president and CEO, the printing plant is fully operational and is equipped with the latest, high-definition digital printers — capable of producing thousands of books daily, which ensures that consumers won't be waiting long for their albums. Check out www.printlife.com for more information.

Kodak "Album" Moments
Kodak's Auto Album software allows consumers to organize and print their digital pictures as individual album pages. The software is available free on CD or via download at www.kodak.com/go/printatkodak, and offers another way for consumers to get their digital pictures out of their computers and into albums with Kodak Picture Pages. The software allows users to view, enhance and automatically arrange their pictures onto double-sided 8.5x11-inch Picture Pages that showcase digital pictures from digital cameras, Kodak Picture CDs or any scanned photograph. The idea behind the software according to Nancy Carr, vice president, Digital and Applied Imaging, Eastman Kodak Co., is to spend less time making albums and more time enjoying them. "Although people would like to organize their pictures into photo albums, they just don't have the time," said Carr. "Kodak has taken all the work out of creating a photo album — digital pictures can be arranged with just a few clicks of the mouse. Once the pictures are laid out, it's easy to add a few captions then press the mail to: Print@Kodak button to have them printed over the Internet. The Kodak Picture Pages arrive at your home a few days later," she said.

The Virtual World
E-Book Systems, Inc., a developer of advanced software for viewing, managing and editing digital images, offers consumers FlipAlbum 4.0 and FlipAlbum CD Maker software for PC users that automatically organizes digital images into realistic 3-D page-flipping virtual picture albums.
The software automatically lays out the pictures that you've uploaded onto album pages and generates overview pages containing thumbnails, a table of image contents, and an index. You can organize your images into separate albums or folders according to any occasion, topic or subject. The software also allows you to open more than one album at a time — which makes overviewing an entire collection of images simple and makes copying, moving and editing between open albums a breeze. FlipAlbum also efficiently e-mails the albums to friends, family and business associates.
The photo album created works like a real one, with pages that can be flipped by clicking on the lower corners of the pages, or by using the auto-flip option for hands-free picture viewing. The albums can be personalized by adding text and even background music.
Flip Album CD Maker 1.0 software allows users to create 3-D digital photo albums with the added benefit of being able to store them on CDs for easy, non-commercial distribution to friends, family and colleagues. Recipients of these CDs, called FlipAlbum CDs, simply need to insert them into their CD-ROM drive, (no installation required) and the book-like interface displays the digital album.

Hot Off the Press
Hot Off the Press makes scrapbook pages and idea books. Pages are available in both 8 1/2"x11" and 12"x12". New are Vellum pages and tints. They also offer books already mixed and matched with colors and patterns that will work together for those uncoordinated crafters. They also offer coordinating stickers and cut-outs for embellishing the finished scrapbook page.
Card making kits are also a new product being offered by Hot Off the Press. Paper Flair kits in a variety of designs including Birthday and Holiday are available.The kits include all of the paper, embellishments, templates and materials including ideas for making 10 cards. www.hotp.com.