![]() ![]() ![]() So we've designed a new way to bring your photos and videos to life. So what is Smilebox, and how is it different from all those other photo sharing sites? Here's a snippet from their website to give you an idea:Īt Smilebox we believe that how you share your photos should be as memorable as the photos themselves. Well, I have yet to create a single holiday card, and I already love Smilebox. I'm always on the lookout for nice online card companies (and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get together with some of my favorite bloggers and friends!), so I accepted the invite and agreed to download the Smilebox application and try it out. This year they invited me to a holiday blogger lunch to show me how Smilebox can create holiday cards. I was perfectly happy with Flickr, so I saw no need to change. I first heard of them a couple of years ago, at BlogHer, when they contacted me and invited me to try their service out. One company that is helping me think outside the box is the aptly named SmileBox. It doesn't seem like there's any reason to change the way I share photos - but sometimes we need to step back, see things in a new light and think outside the box. I used to email my photos to my parents and family, until Ofoto and Snapfish came along. Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor’s site, where you can download the latest version of the software appropriate to your system.There are times when we get so stuck in our ways, we never realize there are new and better ways to do things. While Smilebox lacks some of the fine-tuned controls that professionals and perfectionists will want, it still offers a quick and easy way to create polished slideshows for sharing. And the end results are polished enough for sharing with groups large and small. Saving and sharing your slideshows is easy, though, as Smilebox lets you decide whether to send it via email, post it to Facebook, a blog, or another Web site, print it, or save it to a DVD or a file. Instead, you have to start over from scratch. ![]() I also wish that changing a template were easier: Once you create a slideshow in one template, you can’t simply switch over to another template to compare. Smilebox says this is because it retains some of its older designs that are popular with users, and these lack the more robust controls that the newer designs offer. ![]() Some, for example, allow you to adjust the speed of your photo display, while others don’t. Unfortunately, though, not all of the templates offer the same options. Smilebox offers plenty of slideshow templates to choose from, and while the number of available templates can seem daunting, they are neatly arranged into categories (such as “Seasonal” and “Special Days”) that make them easier to browse. Smilebox’s scattered-photo effect is pretty, but doesn’t make it easy to organize a slideshow. And when you add a photo to a slide, it’s not removed from the pile, which can be confusing if you’re working with a lot of photos. It arranges the photos to look like they’ve been scattered on a table, which is cool, but not as useful as if they were laid out in neat order. Smilebox displays your uploaded photos in a column on the left of the screen. Doing so gets you access to all of its templates, as well as the ability to share ad-free slideshows in full screen, add music to your slideshows, and store your creations. If you’d like to do anything more-and “more” includes accessing many of the most popular slideshow templates, such as the only plain one I could find-you need to pay $40 a year to join Club Smilebox. But Smilebox’s free offering is very limited, allowing you to do little more than create and share very simple slideshows. Smilebox offers separate installers for Windows and Mac.Īll you need to do in order to use Smilebox is sign up for a free account with your email address. Although Smilebox calls attention to its free offering, many features-including the most popular templates-require the $40/year subscription. It also includes templates for creating electronic greeting cards, photo albums, and scrapbooks, too. As fun and friendly as its name suggests, Smilebox offers an easy way to create animated slideshows. ![]()
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