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Remember the old days when you would just pick up a box of greeting card at the store, sign them and send them off to faraway family and friends.  Maybe you included a picture of two, maybe not. Well, because of our great digital cameras, we now have modern Christmas cards as well! You just take your pictures and then upload them to a photo printing site. In just a few days you will have fun holiday photo cards to send to everyone you know.

But what makes a good picture for holiday cards? You may want a holiday or winter background – something that just screams “holiday magic, snowmen, & fun!”. Or maybe a traditional family group shot, with everyone perfectly posed. It is your choice, because it is your family photo card!

Here are a few tips for getting a great picture for your card:

• Prepare! If you are taking your own family photo, spend some time at the location. You should get a feel for the lighting – what direction does the light come from, do you need a flash, where are the shadows.
• Use your flash! Even in a sunny or bright location you may need a flash to brighten faces that may be shadowed. Use a flash diffuser to soften the light from the flash. You can make your own diffuser by placing a piece of tissue secured with a rubber band over a pop-up flash. Or tape a piece of tissue to the flash on a point and shoot camera. You will find you like the lighting better if you use a diffused flash.
• Don’t expect perfection. Taking group shots is hard, it is almost impossible to get everyone looking the right direction, smiling at the right time, etc.  Allow yourself to relax! Pictures don’t have to be perfectly posed, and everyone in their Sunday best to have a great photo!  I love this photo for that reason.  This photo shows family love – look how much these kids love being together and hamming it up for the camera.  This might not be the setting you would choose for a holiday card, but it really shows their personalities!
• Put your self in the picture! How many pictures do you have of everyone else in the family – but not you? Use the self timer on your camera (most cameras have them), or invest in a remote shutter cable.  Remember the WHOLE family – not just the kids!

With a little bit of planning and a little less worry about perfection, you can create the perfect modern Christmas cards to send to all your faraway friends and family. And of course you will need to save some to scrapbook!

Time for another FREEBIE! Click here to find it.

If you ask anyone in the graphic design or professional photography field, they will tell you that Photoshop is the best photo editing and graphics program on the market. True, it is a fantastic product with a wide range of capabilities. But, these are people that use it every day. What about the average user who wants a program for digital scrapbooking that also helps them get the most out of their digital photos?

While Photoshop is the industry standard for professionals, it has features and capabilities that will never be used by the casual user. So why spend hundreds of dollars on a program that has features you won’t need or use?

Announcing Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8. Complete photo and video editing made easy. Buy now.

Let’s take a look at Photoshop’s little sister – Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements and Photoshop are both made by Adobe. They have similar interfaces and both are capable of photo editing and graphics work.

When deciding which program to buy, you need to look at how it will be used – and how often. Most consumers want a program that will allow them to edit their digital photos – remove red eye, adjust color tone, etc. They also want a program to use for digital scrapbooking or digital card making. While both programs will do these things, Elements is a user friendly program that is easy to learn and use.

One of the major differences in the two products is price. Photoshop retails at around $650, while Photoshop Elements is priced at $99. This makes Elements much more attractive to the average consumer.

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Adobe designed Elements to have all the Photoshop tools that the average user would need. It is named Elements because that is what it has – the core elements of Photoshop. Some people mistakenly thing that Elements is a ‘dumbed down’ version of Photoshop. This is simply not true. Elements is a product with a different focus than Photoshop. There are many online tutorials and forums that are dedicated to learning both Photoshop and Elements.

In the end, it is really a matter of choice and budget. Both programs will give you everything you need for photo editing and digital scrapbooks and cards. So, which will it be – Photoshop or Elements?

This is a little quick page freebie I offered on my other blog a while back. So if you already grabbed it from there, sorry.  But for all you new followers – enjoy this Trick or Treat QP!

Enjoy your Halloween photos!