Photo Book Opportunity

Many of you have been asking about my preference for photo book printing.  My favorite place to print books is Blurb.

Why?

• The prices are very reasonable.
• They have many book and paper choices.
• Some of the book styles hold up to 400 pages.
• You download their free software for Mac or PC, then you may create your book without being connected to the internet.
• You do not have to upload all of your photos to a website, which can be time consuming.
• Your book projects are saved on your computer as well as their website.
• Once your book is completed, you upload the entire book as a whole project.
• The software auto-populates your pages for you, if you choose.
• They host a free online bookstore so you may choose to display your book for others to view and purchase.
• They offer a very fun option to have your book made into an eBook that can be viewed on mobile devices.
• They have a fast turn around time of 7-10 days.
• They offer free tips, tutorials and webinars.
• If you are a blogger, they can "slurp" your blog into a book.  Very cool feature!
• They provide many special offers and online coupons.

Click this link for 15% off your first book:

Here is an introductory video showing how the process works:

Getting Started with BookSmart (2:11)

Take our 2-minute book making tour and see how easy it is to get started with BookSmart.

Panstoria Partners With myStory For Digital Scrapbooking Solution In Australasia!

Click Here To View Artisan

Exciting announcement for those in Australasia!

Panstoria partners with myStory for digital scrapbooking solution in Australasia

Dayton, OH – June 27, 2013 – Panstoria, developers of the Artisan 4.0 digital scrapbooking software, today announced a partnership with myStory Pty Ltd, a new Australian-owned digital scrapbooking and photobook company, that will bring Panstoria’s software to the Australasian market.

Panstoria has partnered with myStory to produce myStory Designer powered by Panstoria® Artisan®, a digital scrapbooking application that is full of features for the advanced scrapbooker but also intuitive and easy to use for the beginner. The combination of Panstoria’s software and the myStory print platform will bring a powerful and exciting print solution to digital scrapbookers in the Australasian market.

“We have worked with the team behind myStory for several years on other projects,” says Panstoria CEO, Mike Carroll. “They are not only a skilled and experienced technical team, but have always been committed to providing their customers with high quality products and services. We are very excited about our new partnership with them.”

The myStory Designer software is free to myStory members, and it’s free to join. Members will be able to create photo books, posters, calendars and other products, and have them printed by Australia’s premiere print supplier.
For more information please visit www.panstoria.com and www.mystory.com.au

Communication Update

Click Here To View Artisan


Due to the vast amount of changes occurring in the digital scrapbooking market in the last week, and the information in the article posted below, I have been flooded with questions.  It is becoming impossible to individually answer everyone's questions in the manner that I normally like to do, so I compiled a list of questions and answers for you to refer to until I can catch back up on my communication.  Thank you so much for your continued support and your patience!

6/24/2013  This information was officially announced from Creative Memories regarding digital software and products:

What is the future of StoryBook Creator and Memory Manager Software? And what is the overall plan for digital?

All along, Creative Memories has contracted with a company called Panstoria, who developed and owns the rights to StoryBook Creator and Memory Manager. So even though Creative Memories is transitioning out of the software, and the new company will not sell the software in the future, that doesn’t mean that StoryBook Creator and Memory Manager will not exist or be supported. We’re currently working with Panstoria and other digital vendors to define what the future looks like for the digital business.

We’re working hard to find an answer that supports digital customers, enables a great consumer experience, and is more pleasing than shutting it down. We’re taking a strong stand to find a way for the digital business to continue, so current and future digital customers can be supported. The best-case scenario is that we can find a backer for the digital business so existing software customers can order products uninterrupted through a different interface. Those conversations are in process, and we expect to have more to share with you in a month or so.

The new company simply can’t bring digital forward in its current condition. The new company will include digital; it will just be starting with a new foundation.


Questions:

1.  Can I still use StoryBook and Memory Manager?
Yes, both programs are installed on your computer.  They will continue to work.  The issue is future software support and updates.

2. Do your templates I purchased from you work in Artisan?
Yes, they are .page files so they work in SBC 3.0, SBC 4.0 and Artisan.

3.  How do I convert my Creative Memories digital content to work in Artisan?
At this time, I would not spend time converting content.  Creative Memories and Panstoria are still in Bankruptcy proceeding negoiations and it has not been determined yet if Creative Memories will allow Panstoria to unlock StoryBook digital content for Artisan users.

4.  What is "Historian"?
Historian is software designed by Panstoria that will be released soon.  If you currently use Memory Manager, you will be able to open your vaults in Historian.  NOTE: If you have Memory Manager 3.0 you DO NOT have to upgrade to Memory Manager 4.0 in order to open your vaults in Historian.

5.  Where do you print your projects?
I prominently use Blurb and Shutterfly for photobooks.  I use Scrapping Simply for 12x12 page prints.

I will keep the updates coming as fast as I can!
Thank you,
Laurie

Status update from Panstoria

This status update was just emailed a few minutes ago:

Panstoria understands the difficult situation that many of you find yourself in with regard to the future of software developed by Panstoria but sold under a third-party brand name.  We cannot answer all of your questions yet, but are working diligently to be able to do so.  Here is what we can say at this time. Panstoria Historian (photo editing and organization software) Panstoria will soon be releasing its Historian software for photo editing and organization.  The Historian software will be 100% compatible with vaults created by other Panstoria-developed photo editing and organization software.  You will not lose any information by opening your vault with Historian.  In fact, the process for moving to Historian is as simple as installing Historian and using the Open Vault function to browse to your current vault. Panstoria Artisan (digital scrapbooking software) 1. Panstoria’s Artisan software is already available at http://www.panstoria.com/store. 2. Artisan can open user-created projects and pages if those projects and pages are in 3.0 format—that is, the project is named “manifest.projectx” and the page files have an extension of “PAGE”.  Files with an extension of SBPAGE cannot be opened by Artisan.  You can use the options on the “File > Save as” or “File > Save project as” menus to save current projects or pages in 3.0 format.  The pages do not have to be saved in JPG format in order to be used by Artisan. 3. Users of Artisan who purchased Artisan prior to August 2011 can open third-party digital content in PACKAGE files (i.e. the file extension is PACKAGE).  However, no Artisan users can presently open third-party digital content in SBKIT files. Artisan is prevented from using this digital content by legal barriers, not technical barriers.  We are hoping to be able to remove those legal barriers. 4. If the digital content from a PACKAGE or SBKIT file has been placed on a page and saved in 3.0 format, then the user can use that content when the page is opened by Artisan. 5. Artisan can use any digital content in JPG, PNG, or TIF formats. 6. Artisan does not have any built-in print provider.  However, you can export your projects and pages in a variety of formats, including JPG and PDF, then upload those projects to be printed at any number of places on the internet. We do understand everyone’s frustration.  We are doing what we can to address your concerns and the limitations on the use of third-party digital content.  If you are not already on our email list, please go to http://www.panstoria.com and fill out the form on the right-hand side of the page to receive updates. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving your photo editing, organization, and digital scrapbooking needs in the future. Panstoria, Inc.

Using Storybook Content In Artisan?

Click Here To View Artisan

Hi Everyone,
I have stepped away from my blog for some time now.  Many changes have transpired since I last posted here.

First of all, I would to say that I am very sad for all of the Creative Memories consultants and customers right now.  Many of which are my close friends.  I was a consultant myself for four years and I started my digital scrapbooking business around Creative Memories software and products.  There is so much going on and so many things are unknown at this time following the companies second filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  There are uncertainties about the companies future and product offerings going forward.

I know many of you are from Australia where Creative Memories sold their business there to Close To My Heart earlier this week.  I know you are searching for what to do next.  There is still no official word as to what is going to happen to Storybook Creator and Memory Manager in the rest of Creative Memories market.  Hopefully, there will be answers from the bankruptcy court soon.

I have been using both Storybook Creator Plus 4.0 and Artisan since it was first released in 2011.  Both versions of the software have been developed by Panstoria and are so similar it is hard to tell them apart.  I am one of the lucky ones who purchased Artisan before August 22, 2011, so all of my .package files of digital content purchased from Creative Memories will open in Artisan.  For anyone who purchased Artisan after August 22, 2011 this is not the same.  I am hoping that if Creative Memories chooses to not support Storybook Creator Plus in the future, there will be a way to use their content in Artisan.

If you feel you would like to try Artisan, there is a 30 day free trial available by clicking on the link above.  I have decided to be an affiliate for Artisan.  That means that if you click on the link above and download the free trail and decide you would like to purchase the software later, I will make a percentage of the sale.  I want to be open and honest with all of you about everything I am doing.  In no way am I trying to undermine Creative Memories or any of the consultants or their possible future sales.  (Remember, they are my friends!)  I just want to offer a possible solution to those of you with no other options.

I  have discovered a work around for you to try for you to use your Creative Memories digital content in an Artisan project if you already own Storybook Creator and Creative Memories digital content!

I know this is a cumbersome way of doing things but it does work and it is legal if you already own the software and content.  Perform the following steps:

• Open a project in Storybook Creator Plus - (SBC)
• Open a project in Artisan.
• In SBC use your Content Manager to search for the content you would like to use on your page.  
• Add a paper or an embellishment to the page.  
• Select the element.  
• Choose copy.
• Switch to Artisan.  
• In Artisan, click on an open page.
• Choose paste.  
• The paper or embellishment is added to the page.
• You may add and select multiple elements to copy and paste if your computer has enough RAM and hard drive to process the function.

In the screen shot shown above, I have both programs running simultaneously on the same screen in Windows 7.

This is only a temporary solution, but it allows you to maintain the file structure of your libraries, categories and tags in your Storybook Creator Plus Content Manager.  It is also much easier than saving each element in your Content Manager as .jpgs and .png files, which I know some of you are doing.

If you give this a try, feel free to leave your comments below as to how it worked for you.  We can all help each other.