For the past few years we’ve been sending our Christmas greetings online. And yes, it saves a lot of time and money. But the main reason is that it’s so much fun. We pick about fifteen or so pictures that represent what our year was about. It takes the family a couple of hours of browsing through the photos. While we browse we laugh and remember.
Many years ago we used to make a photo collage out of our pictures and copy them. We’d insert the photos into the cards and mail them. A few years ago my computer wizard child suggested doing them as an online slide show.
Photo Story is a free downloadable program from Microsoft. We’ve used this several years in a row.
There are tutorials online to show you not only how to do the slideshows but provide inspiration for making yours special. We love the “Ken Burns” effect where it slowly zooms in on a particular part of the photo. This motion really does bring the photos to life. There’s some built in music you can choose to play for your slide show, or you can download your own tunes from your own music library.
There are other options. Google’s Picassa web gallery lets you select photos and play them as a slide show. Flickr lets you invite friends and family to see your photos online.
For Apple people, Iphoto will allow you to choose which transitions you want, adjust the timing of the photos to music, and can be easily emailed or burned to a DVD. PC users are able to view it. Iphoto will also let you do photocasting. It’s like podcasting – people can subscribe to your cast and they can view your photos as you add new items.
I also have to admit that part of the appeal of this e-card is that this is such an easy way to do Christmas greetings. It’s much more entertaining and easier to create than a Christmas letter. Our friends and relatives have been very impressed. It’s a fun family project and a great way to share our lives with people we don’t see very often.
Also See:
Christmas Cards – Don’t Forget the Beauty of Them
Simple Christmas Card Decorations