Letter to Parents: Photo Books . . . Great Christmas Gift Idea

Dear Parents,

As the holidays draw near, I've been thinking about gifts for my family. I'd like to give my parents something personal that they will treasure. But they have everything that they want and need. So, I found a gift that they can't give themselves. And the more I learn about this idea, the more excited I get about it as a gift and something I can use personally to preserve our family memories.

Most of us have graduated from the traditional 35 mm cameras to digital. If you are like me, you have literally hundreds or thousands of digital pictures stored on your computer's hard drive and backed up on CD's and DVD's. The bad part, is that I print very few of these. It takes so long to print them, and usually, I'll be in the middle of a large print job and the ink will start to run out. The pictures are no good, and I have to start all over again. Not to mention the cost of ink. So, only a few pictures get printed.

And when I want to look back at pictures, or find the ones I want to print and frame, they are not readily available. It's a pain to dig through discs, guess at which one I need, and then search through the pictures. There has to be a better way to do these things.

Shutterfly.com offers unlimited online storage of digital photos. This would alleviate my disc and hard-drive space. They also sell prints of photographs. This will save me the printing time, ink, and storage discs (which I'm told have to be backed up periodically because they don't last forever).

My next concern is that I've wanted to make scrapbooks for my family photos since my 6 year old was born. But, between the time, money for supplies, and the mess involved, I've only finished a few pages. I've been researching a company called Picaboo. This is what I've been SO excited about!!!

Picaboo was founded in 2005 by Howard Field and Kevin McCurdy. They were aware of the massive amount of digital photos that are taken and never printed. They felt that that photo books would be the next wave in photo finishing. And, at prices like $9.99, they are cost effective too. I never considered Photo Books as an option before, because I thought they'd be too cost prohibitive. But, by the time you buy photo paper, ink, a scrapbook, scrapbook paper, and embellishments, it is possible to spend far more than $9.99.

The Picaboo system offers their software for a free download. You build your photo book using this software, then submit your order. Their software includes the following:

• Their books are completely customizable.
• They offer 240 page layouts, then you drop-and-drag your photos into the page.
• They offer dozens of pre-loaded backgrounds with the additional option that you drop-and-drag a background of your own.
• The ability to add journaling with a diverse selection of fonts.
• Story flow tool allows you to group pictures to be placed on a page together based on the theme of the book. Once the book is built, photos are completely editable.
• The software contains photo tools for cropping, enhancing, and correcting your photos.
• There is the option for custom covers.
• Free to share your photo book online.

I am so excited about this tool. I've downloaded the software and can't wait to use it. My parents better be prepared, because all my children's' grandparents will be getting personalized Photo Books for Christmas this year.

Then, it will be my turn. I can see all the books I need to make already in my mind, and I can't wait to see them in person. This feels much more doable than traditional scrap booking, and much less overwhelming.

I'm so excited! If you'd like more information, check out the links below:

• Create a Photo Book. Starting at Just $9.99. Try it
• Shutterfly ¿ Give unique, custom Photo Gifts for all occasions.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I am.

Sincerely,

Eve Lawson