Anyone who has done traditional paper-based scrapbooking knows how expensive and often time consuming the hobby and craft can be. Though scrapbooking has become a multi-billion business industry, digital scrapbooking has made the craft even more accessible and less costly because resources can be found online – often for free or at low cost. CraftStudio, which is available for free download until July 8th, and for $4.99 afterwards, provides an easy way to create scrapbook pages and share them online or print through the online printing site Snapfish.
Once you get past the fifteen-second flash introduction to CraftStudio, you can immediately start creating scrapbook pages by selecting the orientation for your project–horizontal, vertical, or square card layout.
The app includes a couple of dozen free colored and patterned “paper” backgrounds to get you started. But of course the app also provides scrapbooking kits featuring backgrounds, stickers, papers, punches, etc, available for in-app purchase of $1.99 a kit.
The layout process works similar to say Photoshop Elements, in that you basically tap-and-add elements to the canvas board. When you select any element of your project, a menu of tools pop up allowing you to layer, crop, pinch and resize, and lock your selection in place.
You can import photos from your iPad Photo Library or snap a photo with the device’s supported camera. (CraftStudio does also work in the iPad 1).
The app includes an abundance of several other embellishments, including stickers, stamps, glitter, textured boards, fonts, and punches. Unfortunately there doesn’t to be a way to add your own custom embellishments, except maybe to import them to your Photo Library and then use them in CraftStudio.
CraftStudio also includes tools for typing, with a large selection of stylish fonts, and a multi-size marker which however is not as smooth as those found similar drawing apps, but it’s adequate. There’s also an undo button and eraser for getting rid of content.
When you’re done with a project, you can share via email, Facebook, Twitter, your Photo Library, or send it to Snapfish.com for printing. Your projects also get saved to your gallery where they can be re-opened and edited.
If you’re looking for some scrapbooking inspiration, CraftStudio has got you covered. You can find three pages of invitations, greeting cards, stationary, layouts and templates by tapping on the Gallery button in the top-left menu bar of the app.
You can double-tap on a selection to import it into the project area for customizing. No doubt this area of the app will grow over time.
Finally you can tap to see other Martha Stewart apps – Martha Stewart Cookies, Whole Living Smoothies, and Martha Stewart Cocktails – linked to in the iTunes App Store.
Let us know what you think of this stylish app. It may not be the best replacement for traditional paper-craft scrapbooking, but if you don’t have a lot of time, it can be a very creative and relaxing tool for using your digital photos. For other digital scrapbooking ideas, check out our directory of articles.
0 comments:
Post a Comment