ClickArt 1.5 Million (2008) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I shopped around quite a bit before I got this one and I am happy with my purchase. This has tons of photo objects, photos, and vector art. A good portion the contents is of good quality if you are not looking for large pictures. I do a lot of web design and it is perfect for me. The search capabilities are impressive. When typing in a word or two you can search most of the collection in seconds. It uses hemera's search program and probably contains most of hemera's photo objects. In fact, it has just about anything you are looking for. This is both good and bad and is the only reason why I marked it 4 stars instead of 5. This collection is so extensive it also has stuff in it I don't want to see. Beware of women dressed very immodestly. I haven't looked to see how immodest they might get, but I don't plan on it either. Nevertheless, if you're thinking about children using this or if you have problems with porn, you probably should proceed with extreme caution. Nevertheless, if you have enough self control or don't care about that kind of stuff then this product is pretty useful. For the most part if you are not searching for something bad you won't come across it. In addition, all the pictures are fairly small when you're searching and you have to put in the right dvd and click on the image in order to make it large. So if you are trying to avoid seeing something inappropriate, it is somewhat possible.
This product comes with quite a few fonts, several leave more than to be desired, many are nice. If you want to install all the fonts you will be in for a treat. They are all in separate folders and it forces you to install them one at a time...unless, you know what your doing... I downloaded a program named FileMonkey from download.com and used it to exact all the files from each folder and place them in one folder on my desktop. Then I merely copied all the fonts and pasted them into my font folder inside of my control panel. Nevertheless, this will slow down some programs that use these fonts, because having over two thousand fonts on your computer is a little more than normal.
Also on a different note...
If your a stickler for copyrights, there are some copyright issues associated with this package. Nevertheless, most of it boils down to that you can't sell the pictures inside of the package to other people. You can make something with the images and then let other people display your design, but you can't sell your design. I don't believe this mean that you can't charge people a fee for the creation and ability to display the design, but you can't sell your design to them and allow them to in turn market your design to others. At least, this was my understanding after reading their rights of use.
For those who are concerned about Vista compatibility... it works great. I have been using on Vista for a little over a month and haven't had a problem yet.
Overall the product is quite nice for web designers and for graphic artists who don't need large picts. The downfalls it posses are probably shared by most other competing products.


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ClickArt 950K v2 (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this product and I was very disappointed! In fact, I returned it. All the images are low resolution and cannot be used anywhere except on websites. They are not print quality and; therefore, cannot be used for any print media such as books, brochures, advertising projects, newspapers, magazines, etc. I think vendors who sell clipart and stock photography should be REQUIRED to list the resolution of all the images they are selling. Plus, alot of the images are repeated, just in different sizes and file types. It's not 950,000 images and they are not print quality resolution; therefore, useless to most of us.

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Hallmark Card Studio for Mac Review

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(More customer reviews)A year or so ago, I found Hallmark Card Studio 2009 (Hallmark Card Studio 2009 Deluxe) and installed it on the Windows side of my Mac Pro, and really enjoyed the professional quality card that it produced, especially when I used the Hallmark Premium paper. Unfortunately, a Windows 7 update occurred, and suddenly the program crashed, and no repair, reinstall, etc., worked to get it working again. The installation of the 2010 version, (Hallmark Card Studio Deluxe 2010), though, worked until, you guessed it, another update for Windows 7. There was a patch that the software folks had that helped, but that only worked for a short while.
When I received a notice that Hallmark was coming-out with a version for the Mac, I waited to see if it would be sold on Amazon.com, and finally it was. I have used it for almost a month, and while I find that has a different interface, probably one from an older version, the ability to "tweak" the program is the same as the Windows, only a little more rudimentary, and most notably the quality of the card is as good as one you would buy in the store (see uploaded screen-shots of "crabby lady" card. All without the crashes!!!
There are two differences that I have noticed out-right. The first is that you cannot tell whether the card is a "half-fold" or "quarter-fold" until you go to print; however, when printing, depending on your printer, you have several options available, according the the limits of your printer. In my case, I can print the card as "half-fold,' "quarter fold," "side-fold" and "top-fold." I have printed the manual, and am trying to discern if there is any short-cut to doing this other than to make like you are going to print the card and see in the preview what type of card you are printing. I am sure I am missing something, but what I am doing before I start individualizing the card is I look to see what type of card it is by selecting "print," then not executing the print command BEFORE I put any effort into individualizing the card. On a positive note, the requirements of going through a "print" subprogram to determine how you insert the paper in your printer is no longer required for printers that print on both sides of the paper (my printer is an HP Photosmart Premium). You just select printer from the drop down menu and check the box for printing on both sides, and let the printer do everything. UPDATED: There are time, though, when, if you have "borderless" printing selected, you have to take and manually reinsert the card for printing the inside. My HP printer HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One Inkjet Printer (CC335A#ABA) prints from the front, and that means I have to place the paper, print-side up, with the back of the card going into the printer first, to print the inside (I'll post a picture of this).
With regards to inserting pictures, changing type, inserting text, etc., the program is pretty intuitive, and is, for me, a lot easier than the Windows version, especially for inserting text and/or changing the font. I have a lot of nieces and being able to individualize these cards is a godsend, especially when even the biggest card shop does not have that many cards devoted to nieces. With Hallmark Card Studio for Mac, I can easily modify the card, and even change out the graphic in seconds. When you want to insert a picture, don't be alarmed, as I was at first. Going to the "Insert" menu, it has Get Picture from Camera or iSight, and I thought, I want a picture from a file or desktop. Choose "Get Picture from Camera or iSight." Then, at the bottom of the work screen that shows a recent picture, choose "Choose." From there, you will be shown your drives and files. What is really neat about the picture insert process is that you can slide the picture around and crop it using a "slider," even hit a button to get the "sepia" or other picture-types one gets when you take a picture using your iSight camera. (I love my Mac!)
Using the premium card stock, Hallmark Half-Fold Glossy Premium Photo Greeting Cards - 15 count, or the matte version Hallmark Blank Greeting Cards Half-fold Matte Premium 20 Count and you will produce cards that no one will ever know, unless you want them to, is one you've made yourself.
Thank goodness, this finally came-out on the Mac platform. (I updated this to include the instructions for printing both sides of the paper if you have "borderless" printing activated. I've used this Mac version for two more months, and I'm finding it even easier to use, and no "crashes," even with updates to the Apple Operating Software.)

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PrintMaster Platinum 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been a loyal Printmaster user for years. I have upgraded many times because of the ease of use and the variety of design elements available. I recently got a Mac so I purchased the new 2.0 version to use with my new Mac computer. WOW, AM I DISAPPOINTED. The product STINKS!!! Everything that I loved about the older versions is gone. First of all, you have to install all of the art onto your computer. This is a 23G program! But still, the templates are limited, the clip art is awful and I can't seem to layer them onto my own designs without the white background showing around the clip art, so if I have a colored background in my design, I can't get the clip art on my project without the white around it. I imagine it can be done because the white is not in the ready-made templates, but I can't seem to edit it out. If anyone knows how, please let me know. I can't copy and paste outside clip art into it either. It just puts a box with the name of the item and there is no way to activate the contents. As I said, I have been using PrintMaster products for a long time and I can usually figure out most software programs without a problem, but this version has me so frustrated that I will probably uninstall it from my computer. It is not worth the enormous amount of space it takes up. Sadly, I probably can't return the opened item so I am just going to have to eat the $39.99 I paid for this inferior version of a once-loved product. I will try to contact the company to see is there is a satisfaction guarantee, but I'm not hopeful. I would NOT recommend this version of PrintMaster.
UPDATE: Thank you Amazon for your great return policy. You sent a return shipment label and bar code immediatly when I asked to return for a refund on this Horrible Product. Initial shipping was free, so for less than $5 for return shipping, it is well worth it to be rid of PrintMaster 2.0. AMAZON IS THE BEST!

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PrintMaster Platinum 2.0, the quintessential toolkit for creating thousands of amazing projects.With an enormous library of elegant templates, beautiful artwork and expressive fonts, producing "store-quality" creations has never been easier.


Create Personalized Print Projects in Minutes
New--Easy-to-Use Software Drag-and-drop photos, text and design elements with incredible ease and quickness.
PC and Mac Compatible Use the program on a PC or Mac and create, edit and share files seamlessly.
Easy Design Tools Edit photos to make them perfect, add text and add amazing artistic effects with an arsenal of creative tools at your fingertips.
Perfect for Every Occasion Choose from a gallery of spectacular designs to capture life's special moments--birthdays, graduations, holidays, weddings, anniversaries and more.
Tons of Projects Select from ready-made designer templates or start fresh with a blank template for:

Easy to Share Print at home, email or publish your latest creation on the web to share with friends and family.

What's New? PrintMaster Platinum 2.0 is the next generation in print software.Completely built from the ground up, this comprehensive toolkit takes advantage of the latest technology to significantly improve ease-of-use and provide you with the utmost design flexibility.
All Content Inside the Box All designer templates, graphics and fonts available on discs so no downloading is required.
PC and Mac Compatible For the first time ever, you can create, edit and share files between PC and Mac users.This is a great cross-platform software program to have in a home with both PCs and Macs.
Streamlined Workspace With a sleek new workspace, it's easy to find and switch between the various tools quickly.Create anything you want with a robust collection of photo editing, design and text tools at your fingertips.
Drag-and-Drop Quickly add photos and graphics to your workspace with speed and ease.
Auto-Fill Wizard Too busy to look through your photos?Save time with the convenient auto-fill wizard that searches and imports photos automatically.
Advanced Color Match Technology Click on an object with the eye-dropper tool to find the perfect color match.
Text-to-Shape Create text to flow around a circle or square for a contemporary look.
Slider Tools Compress or amplify graphic effects by sliding the cursor left or right.
Thumbnail Preview Easily switch back and forth between multiple pages in a scrapbook project.
Integrated Professional Printing From within the program, directly order your greeting cards, scrapbooks/photobooks and calendars from an online photo site to get "store-quality" printed designs shipped right to your home.
Check Project The project check feature helps you check for errors and misspellings in your projects.Examples of common errors include photo or text boxes going off the page.

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PrintMaster 2011 Platinum SB Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I pre-ordered this through Broderbund. Somewhat satisfied and dissatisfied with it's predecessor I decided I would take a chance. My evaluation isn't about the software because I won't put the disk in my Mac. Why? I was sent a cheaply created (burned) copy of the program with a homemade adhesive label. I'd expect this from a new software company but Broderbund??? Tacky and potentially damaging to your machine. It's stupid to put disks with adhesive labels in your computers and cd players.
After arguing for 40 minutes and threatening a fraud alert with the BBB they finally agreed to credit me for the disk, shipping and let me keep the disk because they wouldn't pay for return shipping. Will it be the same way with Amazon? I'm not sure. I do know that the supervisor told me there are no boxes for the product even though there is one pictured here AND on Broderbund's site. I'd investigate first unless you're OK with adhesive labels.
***UPDATE**** I had to look at this product. If you look at the software product just before they released this one (PrintMaster Platinum 2.0) you'll see that people didn't have the greatest opinion of it. I gave it a 3. I think they whipped this one out to 'fix' the fatal issues of 2.0. Well, "Back to the drawing board Broderbund!"
***The labels got slightly better. SLIGHTLY. You still have to literally copy and paste your address for every single cell. No Find/Replace. Very time consuming.
***The calendar is basically a graphic. Yes, you choose the year or the month depending on whether you are doing an annual or monthly. However you have no way to type items into a cell/day. With Print Shop you can. An improvement but like the labels, a very SLIGHT improvement.
****EVERYTHING IS ONLINE. People complained about everything being installed and killing your hard drive but now you have to be able to access the Internet if you want to create anything. Yes, this is normal for print software but at least you get some on the disk or installed. But with this one it looks like you need the Internet for everything. Let's put it this way. Everything I tried to find kept needing the Internet. Maybe the clipart is on the disk but the projects don't appear to be. Very sad.

****Tackiness: I'm a teacher and I'm picking about spelling. I'm adding a graphic that shows how poorly they were at Broderbund when it came to looking at things before releasing this 'burned' disk. They spelled 'coming' as 'comming.'
****Going back to labels I'm also including a graphic of a sheet of labels aimed at Halloween. First the design has graphics all over the sheet. Next they have the instructions mixed within the labels themselves. Huh? It's a bunch of gobbledygook.
If you're interested in this product look at 2.0 but I'm still very glad I got my money back. Big, big, big disappointment. It keeps it's 1 because they did a shoddy job 'fixing' up a piece of software that they screwed up in the first place. So not worth $40.00! Back to Print Shop for me and praying I can find a good one for my Mac.*****UPDATE***** I wanted to create business cards/behavior punchcards (yeah, I didn't fully take it off) and the program printed some crazy enlarged business card that had the right side of it printed on the left side and vice-verce. I have NEVER seen a printing program this messed up!!!

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PrintMaster 2011 Platinum
The Fun and Easy Way to Create Personalized Projects and Crafts
Create personalized print projects in minutes - anything you can imagine, you can create!*

PrintMaster 2011 Platinum is easy-to-use design software that's great for making a greeting card, capturing memories in a scrapbook, creating a calendar or writing a newsletter to keep in touch with friends and family. It's the ultimate creative toolkit for all your craft projects.

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