PhotoShow News

PhotoShow DVDs – One Mom’s Reason To Get Them

If you get the PhotoShow newsletters and offers you’ll almost always see an offer for a Photoshow DVD.  If you’ve never gotten a PhotoShow DVD before is it because you don’t understand the value of them?  Do you see the offer and think, “What’s the point of that?”  I’ll tell you what I know about the value of PhotoShow DVDs.  As a mother of one fantastically cute little boy I take pictures and when I can I make a PhotoShow.

I’m not even sure I’d call it making a PhotoShow.  More often than not it feels more like I’m crafting a keepsake.  I won’t always order a PhotoShow DVD but when I have those great moments like first smiles, first steps, first words, and first hug and kiss, those are certainly the moments that I’ll craft a compilation of the moments into a PhotoShow and get a few PhotoShow DVDs made for me, Grandma Janet, Grandma Sally, Nana.  You don’t just have another DVD.  You have a PhotoShow DVD that you made with the moments that you captured and made into motion picture scrapbook.  The professional packaging really punches up the impact of the keepsake.

Both Grandmas really like to watch the PhotoShow DVDs with the rest of the extended family that live near them.  Nana just likes to get them because none of her other friends with grandkids make DVDs of their kids.  (Nana believes that one of life’s greatest mysteries is why the man who wasn’t good enough to marry her daughter is the father of the smartest little boy in the world.)

Now let me break down the dollars and cents.  The best offer that I have ever seen offered was the PhotoShow DVD 5 Pack.  (Keep your eye out for this offer.)  They let me buy 5 coupon codes for 5 PhotoShow DVDs.  The coupons don’t expire until June.  The price was $49.99 which made each PhotoShow DVD cost me $9.99.  That is the cheapest price per PhotoShow DVD that I have ever seen offered and/or had.  And I know that if I make a PhotoShow DVD I’ll buy at least 2 or 3 of the same PhotoShow.  One for me, one for Grandma, and maybe one for the other Grandma, and of course one for Nana.  The coupon codes last for a good amount of time so I can use them at my leisure but I picked two of the PhotoShow DVD 5 Packs up to hold me over until June.  So far I’ve used 4 of my 10 coupons.  (Valentine’s Day PhotoShow DVDs for the grandparents.)  I don’t know what I’ll use my other 6 coupon codes on, but I’m sure we’ll have a PhotoShow DVD after our trip to Mexico.

For me, the mother of one adorable little boy, PhotoShow DVDs truly do make great gifts and fantastic keepsake for me.  The cost is very reasonable if you take advantage of the email offers and so far, I’ve found the PhotoShow DVD 5 Pack to be the best deal going.

PhotoShow.com Styles — Instant Photos

My name is Suzanne and I am a PhotoShow mom. My little 1 year old has to keep in touch with all of his little girlfriends and since all of the grandparents live in all different places, I’ve found that making and sharing PhotoShows is the best way to keep everyone in the loop with what’s going on with the lil’guy.  I’ve also found it a useful thing to do with my pictures.  Otherwise, they’d just sit on a hard drive.

One of my favorite styles on PhotoShow.com right now is the Instant Photos.  You may not know what to think when you see a style named: Instant Photos.  Remember the Polaroids that your super cool cousin had?  Now apply that to your digital memories.  Cool.  Using this style you can use as many pictures as you’d like.  I’ve found that if I use 10 photos my PhotoShow comes out just perfectly.  If I use 11 photos it gives my last photo a real emphasis.  In the PhotoShow that you see here, I’ve used 11 photos so that you can see what I mean by emphasis.

I’ll keep posting notes on the styles as they come out and as I use them.

Cool Tools for the Power User

Hi there! My name is Dave Seropian, and I am a QA Engineer here at Simple Star. Around the office I am known as a PhotoShow “power user” because of my skill at making PhotoShows. I come by this expertise honestly, having made hundreds of shows over the years. What can I say? I just love making PhotoShows!

If you’ve ever visited our online store at www.simplestar.com, you know that our marketing copy touts how amazingly fast and easy-to-use PhotoShow is—and it’s true: with PhotoShow 5, you really can make a great-looking show in just a few seconds. But if you have a bit more time to spend on your PhotoShow project (say, a couple of hours), you can use PhotoShow 5’s tools to produce a result that is truly dazzling! With that in mind, here are three tips to help you take your PhotoShows to the next level:

1. Try adding video clips to your show. Most digital cameras are capable of shooting high quality video clips as well as still photos. PhotoShow 5 treats these clips just like regular photos, making it easy for you to include them in your shows. Nothing makes a PhotoShow come to life like a few seconds of live-action video, so give it a try!
2. Choose your own transitions. PhotoShow 5 includes a bunch of One Click Styles which automatically apply a series of specific transitions to the images in your show. But if you are interested in an end result that looks truly polished, take the time to select the transition between each image yourself. Play off visual queues in the images, avoid repetition, and don’t be afraid to experiment.
3. Use a variety of songs in your soundtrack. Changing the music is a great way to keep your PhotoShow fresh and interesting (especially a long show), and choosing different songs can be very effective in demarking the different chapters of your PhotoShow. And don’t forget: besides the hundreds of songs included in the PhotoShow Jukebox, you can also use mp3s from your own music collection to add a more personal touch!

You can learn how to do all these things (and lots more) in the PhotoShow 5 Tutorials, so be sure to check them out. Who knows? With a little practice, you might become a power user too!

New Greeting Card Styles

Check out our new "Greeting Card" one-click styles - located in our "Themes" category.

They are a whole new reason to send a PhotoShow...

We've started with ten card-worthy occasions.

• Happy Birthday
• Congratulations
• Get Well
• Miss You
• Just Because
• Sorry
• Thank You
• Thinking of You
• Boy's Night Out
• Girls Night Out

More "Greeting Card" styles are on their way in the coming weeks.

So, let us know what you think and come back for new styles.

PhotoShow as a Marketing Tool

Here is an archive of a recent Radio interview with Simple Star CEO, Chad Richard on how to use PhotoShow as a marketing tool...

Introducing: PhotoShow video download

New features on PhotoShow.com today! The first one is video download, which lets you save any PhotoShow as a standalone video by clicking the Get it on Video button below the show...

You can try this out with my show Sunday in the Mission - or any other show on PhotoShow.com.

The format for PhotoShow videos is MPEG-4 (.mp4), which happens to be pretty versatile. By default, mp4s will probably open in the QuickTime Player, but you can also import them into iTunes and then drag them onto your iPod or iPhone. Or share them with friends on YouTube...or burn them to DVD...you get the idea! Your PhotoShows are now portable, so you can watch them anytime, anywhere.

One thing to note: We lovingly prepare each PhotoShow as a 640x480 video file, which looks beautiful onscreen but also may take us a little while to complete. So if your PhotoShow video is not quite ready when you first request it, we'll automatically send you an email when it's available for download.

We have more news about new features coming soon. For a sneak preview, check out the new RSS subscription options on my San Francisco channel...

Aurigma Image Uploader security issue

Aurigma Imaging Technology announced last week that there is a potential security vulnerability in its ImageUploader tool. The uploader is a widely used ActiveX addon for Internet Explorer that many websites have incorporated as a photo import tool. If you've ever uploaded photos to Facebook or MySpace, chances are you've used it. And the Easy Uploader option we offer on PhotoShow.com also uses the Aurigma tool.

Aurigma Easy Uploader on PhotoShow.com

It's not yet known how serious the vulnerability is; Aurigma is currently working on an update that addresses the problem. In the meantime, we have temporarily removed the Aurigma uploader from PhotoShow.com and all PhotoShow widgets, including our Facebook app. In its place, you'll now see our Simple Uploader tool:

   
Simple Uploader on PhotoShow.com (left) and Facebook (right)

Our Simple Uploader is safe and does not require an ActiveX installation. We do love the Easy Uploader, though, and we promise to bring it back as soon as Aurigma makes a secure version available.

Please note: PhotoShow is not the only site that uses the Aurigma uploader. You should be careful whenever you upload photos on the internet, and especially when you are prompted by your web browser to install an ActiveX control.

PhotoShow Tools for Developers

As much as we love PhotoShow.com, we know that folks like to hang out and keep their photos in lots of different places on the web. So last month we launched PhotoShow Developer Tools, which make it easy to incorporate PhotoShow creation and viewing into any website.

If you're the proprietor of a website - large or small - your users can now create PhotoShows using photos stored on your site, without ever leaving your site. (Users can also upload photos from their PC.) Our PhotoShow authoring tool can be embedded directly onto your pages or popped up in a new window. Here's what it looks like:

PhotoShows can be automatically posted on your site with your branding in the playback window - or they can be posted on blogs, social media sites, you name it - basically anywhere users can copy & paste HTML code. Shows can also be made into personalized DVDs and even broadcast to TV in selected cable markets.

Developers also get access to another nifty tool that we're calling instashow - this lets you automatically display a set of photos as a PhotoShow, which the user can later customize with their preferences. Our friends at Tribbit.com have already done a great implementation of this on their tribute pages. Here's an example.

We have many more features in store for PhotoShow application developers. To get started today, visit developer.photoshow.com and register for an API key.

PhotoShow app on Facebook

We know you're a fan of PhotoShow. If you're also a fan of Facebook - and we're guessing there are at least a few of you out there - you'll be happy to hear that we have just launched a PhotoShow app on Facebook.

Our application lets you create a PhotoShow from your Facebook photos (or any photos, actually). You'll have all the great styles and music that you know and love from PhotoShow.com. And when you're done making your show, you can display it on your profile page and share it with your Facebook friends.

If you're already on Facebook, you can check this out by adding the PhotoShow app to your Facebook account.

Let us know what you think!

Welcome to the PhotoShow blog!

Hi everybody, and welcome to the PhotoShow blog!

We're very excited to be debuting this space - we'll be using it to keep you informed about the latest new features and other happenings in the world of PhotoShow. Your comments and questions are always welcome, and we will do our best to respond quickly when you chime in.

In these pages you'll hear from various members of the team here at Simple Star - we're the company that makes PhotoShow. You'll get to know everyone from our company management to the folks who design and build the PhotoShow product.

Since I'm getting us started, a quick word of intro about me - my name is Dave Parrish and I've been at Simple Star for two and a half years. I'm responsible for product management, and I also work closely with some of our external partners in the cable TV world, particularly on the PhotoShowTV service. By the way, we'll have some exciting news to share about PhotoShowTV very soon...

Thanks again for joining us here at the PhotoShow blog, and please stay tuned for more news & updates.

ps: To subscribe to this blog's news feed, click here.