Graphics Programs for Crafters

Graphics Programs to Make Original Greeting Cards

Graphics Programs Update

It should be noted before we get into the review of greeting card and graphics programs that this is one of the first articles I wrote for The Artful Crafter in 2004.

Since then, some of the programs I discuss have been discontinued by their publishers - others have not been updated for a while and might not work with Windows Vista or Seven. It seems the online greeting card is taking over.

However, that is unfortunate since even the simplest of these programs could do much more than make cards.

Now it appears that only PrintShop and Print Master are still being supported by Broderbond. PrintShop just came out with Version 23.

Of course, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, which are in a different league, are still going strong.

You can still buy some of the other programs I discuss on Amazon, eBay or at garage sales. They are great bargains as retailers try to clear them out.

However, if you have a Windows Vista or Seven system, you might find a lot of the older programs will not work.

Graphics Software Programs Review

So much can be done with modern graphics software programs. Even the simplest allow you to design greeting cards, posters and calendars, manipulate images and do major customization to just about any printed craft project.

Many crafters also use images they print out on their computer for crafts such as collage and decoupage. So while most of these programs are presented by their publishers as simple greeting card software, they have a much wider range of graphic applications.

My current favorite greeting card and graphics software programs are Broderbund's Print Shop and Adobe Photoshop.

Print Shop is the grown-up version of American Greetings CreataCard, the greeting card graphics program that got me started in computer crafting.

With both these programs you can use prepackaged greeting card designs or, better yet, create your own greeting cards from scratch. Of course you can do much more than make greeting cards: calling cards, brochures, posters, calendars, and even tree ornaments can be made with these programs.

Photoshop is the industry-standard for graphic and Web designers, photographers, and video professionals. The learning curve is steep but once you've climbed it, you can do incredible things with graphics and photos!

CreataCard

I recommend CreataCard as an accessible greeting card and graphics software program for beginners. It is extremely user-friendly and yet quite a comprehensive and powerful graphics program.

The art library has the same content as big brother, Print Shop. The home page is a cutesy graphic of a card store. Clever!

For greeting cards, go to the card rack and click on the type of card you need. For other craft items, go to the revolving racks on either side, then click on a category from posters and banners to iron-ons or stickers.

I believe CreataCard is a good choice for beginners because of the "Start from Scratch" tool box up on a shelf of the virtual card shop. You can start with pre-designed projects and get familiar with the general graphics capabilities of the program, from changing type fonts to cropping images and adjusting color, saturation or hue. Once you have learned to do this you can progress to creating your own original greeting cards from scratch.

If you get hooked on computer crafting, you will eventually outgrow CreataCard because its user-friendliness, not surprisingly, comes at the cost of flexibility.

The most cumbersome parts of this graphics program have been corrected in Version 7. Elsewhere in this article, I suggest that you can sometimes buy earlier versions of software at very reduced prices with little loss of functionality. In this case, do not do that!

Pre-7 versions of CreataCard have a primitive art library format and interface for opening and saving files. The library looks like a photo album - a real page-turner.

It lacks a search feature and therefore you have to flip through page after page of the album to seek a particular graphic. Very tedious.

The interface for opening files and saving to disk limits you to one directory - not a terribly bad idea for beginners; but once you start accumulating a lot of designs, you need the full flexibility to create folders for different projects or occasions.

Finally there are some bugs in CreataCard Platinum 7, the latest upgrade I purchased. I have never been able to send an electronic greeting card although that capability is supposed to be available. I've had a couple of computer crashes that may have been due to this program's incompatibility with my computer system.

None of the problems are serious and I do hardily recommend this program to beginners. It is easy to get going and you will be delighted at the results you get. You can print out a customized greeting card within minutes of opening the program.

Version 8 of this graphics program was the last version made.

American Greetings has chosen to discontinue this program. You might find copies available on eBay or at a garage sale. Be warned, it will likely not work with newer operating systems.

Instead it now offers the ability to send e-cards, as well as paper ones from its website, American Greetings. In addition to cards there are printable templates for scrapbookers and more.

Print Shop

When you're ready to move up to the adult version of a greeting card graphics software program, or if you decide to jump right in at a higher level, I recommend Broderbund's Print Shop.

Before writing this review, I checked the Internet to find out what Broderbund has done with Print Shop lately and was stunned to learn that there have been several versions since I last upgraded. I have Print Shop Select 22 and the latest release is 23.

When the Print Shop home page comes up, it appears right in the middle of the desktop where you will be working. You have the option of using the home page menu (the grown-up version of CreataCard's card shop-like home page) to start or closing the home page and using the top task bar to get going. This allows you to get directly to work if you know your way around.

If you are comfortable using the top task bar in word processing or spreadsheet programs, you will feel immediately at home with the Print Shop task bar's "File, Edit, View, Insert, ... Tools, Window, and Help" choices. The other choices, "Arrange, Effects, Text, Table, and Web", may give you a moment's pause but once you've tried them, you'll love them!

In Print Shop, saving or opening files is the same as with any word processing or spreadsheet program. Put your files where you like. Open files from anywhere you want. The graphics library has a very nice search facility and makes finding your graphics as easy as 1, 2. Click on the graphic library icon; type in your search word. Voilà!

As an aside, several reviewers of Print Shop's more recent versions bemoan the fact that there is no longer a hard copy manual. But this is true with almost every new computer program on the market. The program is so intuitive, all you need to do is play with it a bit to see its capabilities.

For a program not designed for photo or graphic manipulation, Print Shop does an excellent job. The only time I choose to use Adobe Photoshop is to do complex photo or graphic manipulation which I then save to a JPEG file that I bring into my Print Shop project. Print Shop's graphic manipulation capabilities are the same as CreataCard's and are very good.

Oh, one more thing with respect to computer graphics programs: you may have noticed that I make no mention of the myriad templates for greeting cards or other projects included in these programs. That's because I rarely use them.

Nor do I use the (pricey) pre-scored greeting card or business card stocks. I prefer to do my designs on a "Blank Page" and then cut them to size if needed. Please visit Craft Supplies for Graphics for more information.

Also visit How to Choose the Right Paper for Your Project for a paper weight charts and tips on how to pick the right paper for your needs. For greeting cards especially, the right paper can make your card truly memorable.

Also visit How to Create Your Own Line of Greeting Cards to learn how to create your own logo to personalize your greeting cards. Slowly start up your own home business by including free advertising on every greeting card you send or sell.

For tips on making greeting cards with Print Shop, please visit Printing Tips For Print Shop and Printing Greeting Cards.

Note that versions of Print Shop prior to 22 either did not work or did not work well with Windows Vista or Seven. Broderbund offered an online version of the program which did work on these operating systems, but was slow and clunky compared to versions actually installed on the computer.

Also this program now ships on a DVD which should not be - but might be a problem for some of you.

Adobe Photoshop

For a more advanced photo and graphic manipulation program, there is just no other choice than Adobe Photoshop CS, now in Version 5.

As I said earlier, it is the industry standard graphics software- and with good reason. This is the program you need if you want to radically change any graphic.

Say you have a lovely photo of your niece, except she is standing in front of a garbage dumpster. With Photoshop, you can cut her image out of the photo and paste it onto a background of your choice.

If she has a zit on her nose, you can cover it up in an instant.

If one of her blouse buttons is undone revealing her bra, you can clone a button from elsewhere and button it up for her. You get the idea.

You can make a cloudy day sunny or turn daytime into night. Photoshop is simply amazing! You may be called on to put a Santa hat on a picture of someone's dog, as I have.

Moreover, for craft projects, you will more likely use Photoshop to do such things as posterize a photo or give it the appearance of a chalk drawing or watercolor (neat, huh?) or to enhance sub par graphics.

Perhaps you scanned something from a magazine and it has a lot of moiré (it has the wavy pattern of silk moiré) or you downloaded a graphic from the Internet and it appears very pixelated when enlarged (it looks like it was made with tiny mosaic tiles). It's time for Photoshop!

The only negatives I can think of are that Photoshop has a relatively high price and a very steep learning curve. I was quite fortunate to have a generous friend and Photoshop guru offer classes.

With what I already knew from my Broderbund graphics software programs, I only needed five or six sessions before I was off and running. His classes were more demonstration than lecture - allowing us to witness what Photoshop can do and inspiring us to go home and play with it.

Adobe Photoshop CS is quite costly, but well worth it if you plan to do a lot of work in this field. If you or a family member are a student or teacher, Adobe offers a low cost way to purchase the program, but does require written proof.

Older versions are available on eBay and even in computer stores at very reasonable prices. The differences between versions are usually slight (but the changes from Version 7.0 to CS5 are huge) and you might be able to save tons of money. Make sure the license keys will still work.

As Simple As Photoshop

If you decide to take the plunge and purchase Photoshop, I've found an excellent how-to video book to help you move quickly along the learning curve A.S.A.P! It's called A.S.A.P., which stands for As Simple As Photoshop.

When you buy this program, you get a series of pictures. You then follow the interactive lessons the author calls Tips or Recipes, manipulating the same picture the author does while the video shows you step by step what to do.

The program even contains animations that show you exactly what menu items to use. You can go directly to whatever tool or feature you are interested in at the moment and go back for review as frequently as necessary. So it becomes not only a training tool, but also a reference book.

You can get a free trial download of this program at many different sites. The program itself is remarkably inexpensive.

I have really gotten in Digital Scrapbooking which makes extensive use of the power of Photoshop. I have written several articles about how to take advantage of the many features of this program. Do a site search to find them.

Photoshop Elements & Paint Shop Pro

There are other graphics software programs that are also quite capable, but cost a lot less. Adobe sells a "lite" version of Photoshop, known as Adobe Photoshop Elements. In spite of of its lower cost, it still has many of the same features that the full version of Photoshop has.

Another very capable and affordable (and apparently discontinued) graphics program is Jasc's Paint Shop Pro which looks like it is now unsupported.

While some of the functions and capabilities of the full Photoshop program will be missing, these programs allow the user to do just about everything necessary to create truly unique graphic output. These are excellent choices for casual users or for those who would only make use of such a program occasionally.

Also, if you have purchased a digital camera recently, check the software that came with it. Many of the camera manufacturers bundle software programs that not only allow you to correct, file and print your photos, but also provide some simple graphics editing functions. For example, my Canon camera came with seven graphics programs from ArcSoft which allow me to edit photos and also to create greeting cards containing photos I took.

Print Master & Print Artist

I have two other greeting card and graphics programs that I use quite a bit, but only for their graphics libraries. It's not that the programs aren't good on their own; it's just that I'm so comfortable and satisfied with Print Shop's interface and work style, I choose not to bother learning another software program in depth.

Print Shop claims to have a whopping 170,000 graphic images; another Broderbund product PrintMaster has more than 143,000; and Sierra's Print Artist Gold an additional 150,000.

"How could I possibly want that many graphic images?" you may ask. Trust me, if you get hooked on computer crafting, you will! Also most of these programs now have even larger online libraries you can access, although there may be a small fee involved. You can mix and match these graphics, edit them and resize or even re-color them, so that every greeting card, business card, calendar, etc. that you make is truly original.

New computers come with Microsoft Works preinstalled. It used to include a graphics program Picture It. There were some very attractive graphics there and the program provided some of the same graphics capabilities of the other programs I've discussed. Also the program contained some very attractive greeting card designs that you can use a starting point in the customization process.(Picture It has also gone the way of the dinosaurs and will not work on newer operating systems. But if you have it installed on your computer, give it a try.)

I hope my insights into computer graphics programs have been helpful. I have also written articles about my experiences crafting by computer, the computer setup, ink and ink cartridges, printers and supplies I recommend. Please visit Computer Crafting, which is the gateway to all computer related articles on The Artful Crafter's website.