Will You Ever Make Time?

-5 Tools to Tame That Photo Collection Once and For All!

By Jessica Reinhart

There’s something about a newborn that brings out the amateur photographer in all of us. Thanks to modern technology, sharing new snaps of your little bundle of joy is easy as 1-2-3, but sending shots via e-mail will clog up your family and friends inboxes faster than you can say “smile!” Thankfully, there are loads of great options for sharing photos of your new little love with those you love. (And even if there's not a brand-new kidlet in your house, you can surely use these tools to share images of your same-old crew, too!)

Most of us already know and love sites like shutterfly.com, snapfish.com, photoworks.com and ofoto.com. They make uploading and sharing photos a cinch and (perhaps best of all) they’re free! But there are lots of great lesser-known options available for the avid photographer with a flair for creativity. Here are a few of our favorites:

Scrapbooking for the modern mom. You know those moms who have scrapbooks depicting every minute of their kids lives? Who has time for that? Well, thanks to How Fast They Grow, YOU do! Dubbed the “home of the 7 minute scrapbook page”, How Fast They Grow has taken the time and frustration out of traditional scrapbooking by making it digital. With the click of a button you can choose from a bevy of cool designs, insert your favorite pics, come up with some snappy verbiage – and voila – you’re done. Just wait for your high quality 12x12 printed pages to arrive in the mail and slide them into a standard scrapbook album. Members that use them daily call the site addictive. Check them out and see what you think – each page costs $7.50.

ProShow Gold. Part slideshow, part digital scrapbook, ProShow Gold is a great way to show off your favorite candids while injecting your own personal flare for design. The software makes it easy to design a high-quality personalized family keepsake that can be shared through their website, or uploaded to YouTube, Flash or QuickTime. The cost of the software is $69.95 for an electronic version or $79.95 for a boxed version.

Smile! Whether you fancy making slideshows, photobooks, scrapbooks, or greeting cards you’re only 3 steps away from having a photo masterpiece with Smilebox. Seriously – 3 steps is all it takes! 1. Choose from hundreds of designs; 2. Add your photos, videos, words and music; and 3. Share them via email, blog or print. It’s so easy it’ll make you smile! You can purchase a monthly subscription to Smilebox for $5.99 or yearly for $39.99 or send for free (with ads and without the ability to print).

Make a Muvee. This is seriously cool – for the aspiring rock star in all of us (or closet addicts of Rock Band) – check out Shwup.com. In addition to being a “fall off your chair” easy to use photo sharing site, shwup.com automatically takes the photos and videos in your album and creates amazing music videos. You can also choose the content and music, and pick a visual style to make and share your own video mash-ups. They call them “Muvees”. We call it cool. And best of all, it’s all free. Check them out www.shwup.com.

Presto! It’s hard to believe that there’s anyone out there who doesn’t have a computer. But the fact of the matter is that 63% of Americans over the age of 65 haven’t made the leap to cyberspace. That leaves a lot of grandmas and grandpas missing out on weekly emails of your little one’s cute candid’s. Enter Presto. Coupling an HP Printing Mailbox ($149.99) with Presto Mail service (as low as $12.99 with a yearly subscription), you can share everyday moments by sending e-mails, photos, reminders and more without the hassle and expense of the senior needing a computer and Internet connection. The “e-mails” arrive on the printing mailbox tray as easy-to-read, color printouts. What a great way to stay in touch and keep connected!

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