droolicious : photos

7 Days of Dad: Can You Picture This?

JeanneSager — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:01:00 GMT

He ponied up for Mother's Day, so now it's time to get cracking on how to make Dad's day. Lucky for you, we were wondering too. So we're offering up seven days of what we'll be giving the guy who reads bedtime stories and changes stinky diapers.

Pictures of his little munchkins always make Dad's day, but do you think he really wants another t-shirt he'll have to shove to the back of the closet? Another coffee mug with their mug?

Greet him on Father's Day morning with a giant canvas made from his favorite pic. The folks at Shutterfly take art-worthy shots to the next level of presentation with high quality prints wrapped around immense wooden canvases (my husband's only words? "wow, just wow" when he saw a pic I picked of our daughter remade as a 20 x 30 shot for our wall). They'll take dad's appreciation for art to another level too.

A few tips:- depending on what size canvas you're going for, pre-crop your images so you get exactly what you want. Remember: a lot of today's digital SLRs do not take a standard size photo, so you can leave it up to Shutterfly, but they will have to do some adjusting to make it fit the canvas. Also, key in on the focus in your pictures - at 20 x 30, mistakes show up big time! You want to pick a picture that reprepesents the best of your kids' scrapbook.

The canvas prints are on sale until June 16. At $50 off, now's the time to get one, so check them out at Shutterfly.

Want to save a little dough and still go the photo route? Shutterfly's 252-piece puzzles give him something to do WITH the kids. Their photo is superimposed on a sturdy cardboard sheet, then cut to make a game for the whole family. At $24.99, it's easy on the pocketbook and did we say it gives them something to do? That's priceless!

A few tips: choose a photo that's VERY colorful. Monochromatic photos or those with a lot of one color in the background make for a major puzzle challenge. The pieces are small, so this is for your older kids (age four at the minimum - although it depends on your child's puzzle skills).

Check out more gifts for Dad this week on the 7 Days of Dad.

Amazon Deal Alert: Epson Perfection V300 Scanner On Sale

Chris Ford — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Saving digital memories is a job for parents that (either thankfully or not) our parents never had to deal with. But what's the best way to save those non-digital memories, digitally? The Epson Perfection V300 Scanner is the same scanner I've used to convert many photos and negatives of my family's memories with great success - and it's on sale now at Amazon.com.

The Epson Perfection V300 Scanner is a basic flat-bed scanner that will scan any flat piece of paper (photo, kids' artwork, written document) as well as photo negatives and slides. It also comes with Epson's software that will take your scanned image, correct the color and remove dust and other imperfections. The software suite you get also comes with something called "optical character recognition" software, making any documents you scan readable and (more importantly perhaps) searchable by your computer.

In my experience it worked very well under all conditions. I was able to scan many, many negatives as well as photos without hardly any hiccup.

But the most important thing about this blog post is that it's available now from Amazon.com for only $93.24, which is 33% off the regular price. So if you've been putting off this chore, now might be the right time to start archiving. (Oh, and once you do, don't forget to back up your hard work - but that's another blog post.)

Epson Perfection V300 Photo Color Scanner, $93.24 from Amazon.com.

Re-Stickable Decal Photo Frames

Chris Ford — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:00:00 GMT

My daughter's new favorite thing is to draw a picture and then scotch tape it to the wall - any wall she can find. Her room and playroom are covered with her creations. Although she's not printing out her own photos yet, I'm guessing that in the future her obsession with displaying her work will continue. Which is why these re-stickable photo frames are so cool. When you get bored with your picture, you just pull it down, replace it and put it back up on the wall.

An 8 pack of Wall Decals costs $20.00 (or two for $36.00) and are made of "pliable, premium vinyl". I'm doubting I'll be able to get my daughter to use them now, but it looks like the sort of thing that she'll really be into when she's older.

Re-Stickable Decal Photo Frames, $20 from Photojojo.com

Win Your Own Coffee Table Quality Photo Book

elizabeth leach — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:30:00 GMT

MyPublisher is a pioneer in the photo book industry and it’s easy to see why they continue to be one of the leading on-line photo book companies. Details on how to win your own photo book after the jump...

MyPublisher produces their books on site instead of farming them out to other companies (which most photo book companies do), so the lead-time is very quick and each book is hand-checked for quality. Their software downloads quickly and is easy to use. And, most importantly, their work is absolutely beautiful.

To win a coupon for $40 to create your own photo book, e-mail babbledesign@gmail.com and tell me which book style you like the most on their website. Please put “My Publisher” in the subject line. (Most photo books cost $30.) I will choose a winner on Wednesday, February 3. Good luck!

CES 2009: Canon Selphy Portable Printers

Chris Ford — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:30:00 GMT

Canon has updated their Selphy portable printers, and for some people a printer that only prints 4x6 pictures might be overkill. But for families I think they're pretty great.

All the Selphy printers use dye-sublimation printing and (in my judgement) make great looking 4x6 prints. Two units the ES3 (on the left) and the ES30 use a cartridge system, which keeps the paper and "ink" (dye really) all in one unit. So there's never a situation where you run out of ink before you run out of paper or vice versa. The CP770 (on the right) and CP760 use a separate dye and paper system. All of them are portable, and they even have features where you can put borders, words and other "creative" things onto the prints - a feature particularly good for kids.

The printers take all forms of cards directly from your camera as well as the Pict Bridge system or a USB connection to your computer. The prints will cost you about $0.28 per print.

Prices range from $99.99 to $199.99. Check them out at USA.Canon.com.

CES 2009: Barbie B Nails - Inkjet Fingernail Printer

Chris Ford — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:30:00 GMT

If you ask me, Barbie B Nails from Mattel is a home run. It's basically an ink jet printer that prints designs (and even photos) on your nails. If it's reliable, I can't see how Mattel won't have little girls demanding this for Christmas in 2009.

The Barbie B Nails works in conjunction with your computer. The girl picks out a design in the software (there are over 1,000 or she can upload a picture of her own) and then puts her hand inside the machine. There's a little camera inside so she can place her fingernail in just the right place, and then when she presses the button the design gets printed on her nail.

The Barbie B Nails (I'm not sure exactly what the "B" in the name means) is for ages 8 years old and up and should be available in the fall of 2009. No price has been announced.

PhotoStamps: Pint-Sized Perfection

Cathy Hale — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Give your ordinary postage a boost this year with PhotoStamps. I started using these stamps a few years ago for my holiday cards and have been addictied ever since. A piece of mail rarey leaves our house without a cutie-pie stamp. It's just a neat way to make mail more personal and exciting. You simply upload a photo, customize your design by adjusting the image size and/or adding a border and then place your order. It's that easy! I've always received my stamps within days of ordering them and the images (color) look perfect. And yes, PhotoStamps is officially authorized by the US Postal Service. Build your pint-sized picture.

Kid Customized Picture Frame

Lisa Mulcahy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:58:00 GMT

Got some great fall pictures? Let the little ones doodle decorations for the season with this sketchpad frame.

Designed by Ran Lerner for Umbra, the Doodlebook Frame, $16.50, holds a 4 x 6 photo surrounded by an 80-page pad. It’s a fun way to add a little art to your photos, while keeping the kids busy with something creative to do.

D.I.Y. Block Photo Kit

Erin Behan — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:35:00 GMT

This D.I.Y. project seems perfect for parents who want their kids to make something for grandma but don't really have the time, or expertise, to set up the project themselves. For $25 at Elsewheres, you get two kits to make two block photo projects. The kits include eight woodblocks, foam brush, sandpaper, photosafe glue, sealer and instructions. All you need is one adorably cute 4 x 6 photo. And for you made in the U.S.A. die-hards, the kits are made in New York.

Hat tip: Better Living Through Design

Easy Framing (Online, Of Course)

Erin Behan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:34:00 GMT

The internet is really working for busy parents at a new site called Real Memories that makes framing family photos quick and easy. The concept is simple. Upload your digital photo to Real Memories, choose a size, a mat, a frame and you're done. (There are more than 2,000 frames and mats from which to choose, so it may take you a while.) Of course, you can also add details--varying openings, adding foil-stamping, etc. What I find nice about this site is that all the materials are top-notch as only non-glare, archival glass and acid-free mat board are used. As a former framer, I find that attention to detail reassuring, especially since the price starts at just $19. Now if only they would eliminate the chirping bird from their website!

CES 2008: Canon Selphy Compact Photo Printer

Chris Ford — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:07:00 GMT

The Canon Selphy is a compact photo printer that only prints 4-by-6 photos. The idea is that if you have a small, (relatively) inexpensive printer that just prints photos, you'll end up printing more photos and enjoying your digital camera even more. The Selphy is not unlike a lot of other printers available just like it, with a few cool exceptions.

The Canon Selphy prints great 4-by-6 photos (the image quality of the examples they showed were really quite good), connects to your computer via USB and can take all forms of removable media cards as well. Like some other printers, you can also edit the photos right on the machine and include some goofy effects like "thought bubbles" onto your photos, but the coolest feature to me is in the ink and paper.

Instead of loading paper and ink separately, they both come in one handy cartridge (the cartridge is pictured sticking out of the machine on the right side). Each cartridge has the paper pre-loaded with enough ink for that much paper. Once the paper is out, you load a new one with fresh ink. No more "out of ink" messages--if you're out of paper, you're out of ink. It's a simple solution that I think would work not only for parents but also for kids who are taking pictures with digital cameras. The cartridges are $14.99 for a 50 pack, which comes out to about $0.28 per photo. One odd thing though: The backing on the paper has lines for postcards (as if everything you printed you were going to turn into a postcard). It's kind of weird, but I can't really think of a reason why you would care what's on the back side of your photos anyway.

The Canon Selphy has an MSRP of $199. (There is also a smaller version without the editing features or the cartridges for $99).

Zap Your Holiday Pictures to and Fro with Eye-Fi's Wireless SD Card

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:02:00 GMT

The Eye-Fi Wireless Card ($99.99 from Amazon.com) plugs into your digital camera's memory slot just as a regular SD card would (currently, SD memory is all that's offered), but besides offering 2GB of storage for your snapshots, the card also lets you send pictures via Wi-Fi to your PC, printer or photo-sharing service -- from Flickr to Wal-Mart to your Picasa Web Album. Great for those of us who don't want to buy a whole new digicam just for wireless functionality, as well as for those of us who don't really care how this wireless stuff works; we just want our pictures to go somewhere we can print 'em. Before you buy, visit Eye-Fi's support site to see if your camera is compatible.