Creative Memories All About Images Blog

Photo Panels Are Not All the Same

Beginning June 1, Creative Memories completely changed the Photo Panel product line in order to offer a unique product that is not available elsewhere. Photo Panels are perfect for gift giving or for display around the house. They give new life to your favorite digital project.

1. Our sizes now align with popular page sizes: 5x7, 8x8, 11x8.5, and 12x12.
2. We have implemented a new color management system to improve color reproduction as well as to improve consistency.
3. We are using new, more stable colorants to produce Photo Panels, with predicted lifetimes under average home lighting exceeding 50 years.

When creating a Photo Panel in StoryBook Creator, start with a new photo panel project and select your size. Next, copy your favorite StoryBook page or Page Print into your photo panel project. You can also start from scratch. Once your Photo Panel is compete, upload it to the Digital Center and place your order. I placed the first order and am impressed with this product.

New Photo Panel Sizes Will Launch June 1

The new 8x8, 8.5x11, and 12x12 Photo Panels will be launching June 1. The 5x7 Photo Panel, which is perfect for displaying a single photo, will remain in the product line. If you have ordered Photo Panels before, you will love the improvements to this product.

• Our new sizes align with our most popular StoryBook and Page Print  sizes. Now customers will be able to display their favorite pages anywhere.
• Our new color management system improves image quality and consistency from Photo Panel to Photo Panel.
• Our new Photo Panels will preserve photos with improved light stability.
• StoryBook Creator Plus will include these Photo Panels as a project type.  
• The Creative Memories Digital Center will have an improved customer interface for an improved customer experience.

New Photo Panel Sizes Delayed

New Photo Panels Sizes We recently announced that new Photo Panel sizes would be coming May 1. Well, we have a few kinks to work out yet, so keep watching to find out when the new sizes will be available. You should continue to offer the current sizes, and remember that Photo Panels make great gifts for moms, dads, grads and EVERYONE!

More Details - Creative Memories is enhancing the Digital Center to improve the ordering process. These changes ensure that our customers will have the best possible experience, and unfortunately, they have resulted in a delay to the Photo Panel launch. We are currently assessing the impact of these changes and will launch the new Photo Panel sizes as soon as possible.  See Creative Memories Introduces New Photo Panel Sizes for more information on the new sizes. 

Creative Memories Introduces New Photo Panel Sizes

From: Katherine McCauley
Sent: Wed 4/7/2010 9:56 AM
Subject: New Photo Panel Sizes Available in May

Wooooo hooooooo!!!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH I HAVE BEEN NEEDING THESE FOR YEARS!!!!!

PLEASE THANK THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE FOR THIS ADJUSTMENT IN OUR PRODUCT LINE

HAPPY DANCE…HAPPY DANCE…HAPPY DANCE!!!

 

Katherine McCauley
Creative Memories Director and Digital Trainer

In May, Creative Memories is introducing several new Photo Panel sizes, including 8x8, 11x8.5, and 12x12. These sizes, which align with traditional scrapbook page sizes, allow customers to display completed pages on their tables, desks, and walls. After all, the value of a single photograph is in the completed page, which includes journaling, embellishments and other memorabilia. Unlike a single photograph, the completed page tells a story.

Photo Panels use dye sublimation to transfer color from a printed sheet to a high-gloss receptor. These panels have a strong visual impact and call attention to the printed page. Photo panels resist abrasion, stains, and fade. Like traditional photographs, photo panels can be expected to last 10-20 years under typical home display conditions before noticeable color change. 

With this change, we are introducing an improved color management system designed to better maintain color consistency. We have also reduced in-house processing time to 1-3 days and improved product packaging.

 

 

Polaroid Film Now Available

Just when you though it was safe to write Polaroid film off to the annals of history, The Impossible Project has reintroduced film for Polaroid cameras. At this time, the Impossible Project only produces black and white film, which is far easier to make than color film. Film is $21.00 a pack.

So, dig through your closets and attics, find your old Polaroid camera, and renter the world of analog photography. Rediscover the joy of not knowing what your photo looks like until you see your final print. 

Will this new film find a market? I don't know, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has used it.

Stolen Memories

A recent article in the Toronto Sun Camera Thief Steals Memories details the sad story of a couple who had their camera and all of their photos, including five additional memory cards, stolen while they were in the hospital for the birth of their newborn son. I have two recommendations based on this story:

1. Back-up all photos.
2. Do not keep the back-up with your camera.

Feel free to share your experiences here.

Image Permanence Institute - Is it harmful to display my photos?

The March issue of Archival Advisor includes a detailed discussion on Is it harmful to display my photos? Their solution: display your photos but place an additional copy in your album. I would add to this recommendation use high quality albums or StoryBooks. Low quality products, such as magentic albums, are not an effective solution. 

Even the Brain Fails

Even the brain fails at electronic storage. The printed page is clearly the best option for preserving digital photos. For more details see Watch a Neuron Go Bad and the related video A normal neuron and a mutated neuron develop side by side.

Facebook: Now With Larger Photos

Facebook is now keeping all uploaded photos at 720 pixels for the longest dimension, instead of 604 pixels. This 20% increase will improve the quality of Facebook photos, allowing users to create better quality photos and projects from images uploaded to Facebook.

This increase means that Facebook photos can be used in StoryBook Creator for projects with photo openings up to 3". Quality may be reduced if the longest dimension of the photo is larger than 3".

At Infotrends last year I learned that 70% of Facebook users do not realize that Facebook saves only a low resolution photo. With the latest change, the resolution of a Facebook photo is still reduced; it is just not reduced as much. For this reason, the original photo will have the highest resolution and should be used whenever possible. 

Brain Scans Can Read Memories

It's scary. A recent study has shown that scientists can determine what people are thinking about by looking at a brain scan. The subjects of this study were asked to view a number of short films and then to think about the films. Current capabilities are relatively limited, but I can only imagine how the technology to access memories that we all have within us will evolve over the next few years. Until then, there is always the Creative Memories StoryBook to preserve memories. For more details on the original study see Traces of the Past: Computer Algorithm 'Reads' Memories.