Amazon.com Review

A fast and easy way to create greeting cards and more, Art ExplosionGreeting Card Factory is not only fun, it is also quite functional. GreetingCard Factory can assist anyone in creating colorful and attractive presentationsto share with friends and family. Clearly not a program intended forprofessional use, Greeting Card Factory can be shared together with children andadults in producing many different kinds of arrangements.

The application's quick-start menu gives users a wide selection of availableprojects: greeting cards, photo cards, announcements, invitations, envelopes,labels, postcards, gift tags, e-cards, stationery, signs, posters, and crafts.Each one of these sections then includes a diverse range of categories. Userscan personalize projects within these categories, or use the templates provided.Furthermore, each category has the option to work with a blank template,allowing a more creative person to completely customize their projects.

The most exciting and original feature of Greeting Card Factory is the craftssection. In this section, an engaging and unique offering of projects isavailable to the user. Such projects include: craft cards with gift enclosuresand money holders, book covers, bookmarks, door hangers, envelopes, gift bags,gift baskets, gift boxes, masks, origami, paper airplanes, party hats, andtickets.

One major drawback to using Greeting Card Factory is the e-card section. Ase-cards are becoming an increasingly popular form of missive, this was anextremely important section to us. However, we found that Greeting Card Factorydoes not support the use of any mail program other than Microsoft Outlook. Ifusing Microsoft Outlook, Greeting Card Factory will send your e-card in thewidely compatible form of a JPG file. However, if using any other kind ofprogram, the recipient of your e-card cannot easily read your attachment.

We found the combination of sophisticated publishing tools, combined with the simplicityof graphics and auto-functions, made Greeting Card Factory an extremelyuser-friendly application. The clip art available within the program ranges frombreathtaking photographs to colorful cartoons and animations. All in all,Greeting Card Factory came through on all its promises: to help anyone creategreeting cards and much more for special occasions, holidays, or just for fun.--Kendra Hayden ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great program for making cards
Easy to use and features a nice selection of cards and other publishing projects. Used the program to make birthday cards, invitations. Good variety of graphics and fonts included.

Best I've Ever Used
This is great software at a great price. I've used American Greetings CreataCard and Hallmark Card Studio, but this one has them beat. The versatility, selection and total creative control this program gives you puts it in a class by itself. Many will find it hard to use because it does offer such variety and control of all aspects of card creation. With limited choices and "canned" card designs, CreataCard and Card Studio are easier to use. But if you really want to be able to create all sorts of cards, labels, stationary, etc from scratch or be able to modify to the last detail the designs that are available, this program is for you. It truly is an explosion and endless arangement of graphics and fonts, as well as your own digital photos.

User friendly
This is the best ever greeting card program! I have used Hallmark and American Greetings greeting card programs and there is no comparison.

Awesome graphics!
I loved this program enough to purchase their Christian Greeting Card Factory and just ordered Greeting Card Factory 2. The only problem I had with this particular program (and I own many others: Print Shop 10, Print Master 12, CreataCard 7 Gold, Am.Greetings Sprititual Expressions 6) is for some unknown reason, I had to use print preview or parts of the card would be missing (mostly the bottom and one side border). The graphics are so good, it was worth the extra bother. To the person needing help, their online technical services are wonderful and fast. And FREE as opposed to sitting on the phone forever and for $$. Happy Printing!

Fun and Easy to Use!
This is an easy-to-use greeting card software program. You can customize the set of pre-made cards simply by right-clicking on the card: a menu will appear and with a simple click, you can customize the card. There are a number of cool fonts, too. The graphics, especially the fine art grouping, are excellent. The only complaint is that the clip art is not customizable and some of the colors of the clip art are just plain ugly. There are thousands of graphics, though, so you won't be disappointed. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Features

• Just choose a layout and paper type, then choose from the mountain of included artwork -- you can even import your own
• Enhance your designs with color-correction, brightness and contrast tools
• Add your text to custom greetings -- you have the control over your text font, style, size and color
• Save and share your creations through e-mail print or the Web

Amazon.com Product Description

With Hallmark Card Studio Deluxe 3.0, it's easy to make personalized greeting cards on your home PC. It features a friendly and easy-to-use interface, and contains 3,500 high-quality Hallmark-branded greeting cards and sentiments for any occasion. There are also 10,000 all-new art images and 24 Hallmark fonts for a virtually infinite number of possible combinations. The program enables users to print traditional-size greeting cards, using specialty Hallmark paper. And all greeting cards created with Card Studio Deluxe 3.0 can be sent via e-mail. Users can also attach prerecorded sound files to their e-cards. Instant PhotoExpert enables users to organize, enhance, and store their personal photographs in a digital format. Choose from over 50 special photo effects and import any image directly into your Hallmark greeting cards. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Not good!
This product sounds great when you hear what it is! But, if you have any computer smarts, you could do this on your own! If you have access to Power Point, you don't need this program! You can create your own! There is a VERY limited selection of cards and when creating labels, there are only a few choices for the different Avery label sizes. The ONLY good thing is the program already has the card and label sizes formatted for you! If I knew what this program was to begin with, I would have NEVER purchased it!

THIS PRODUCT IS THE WORST!
This product is the worst. Changing text is a NIGHTMARE! How could Hallmark let their good name be associated with such a badly designed program. It is only Ok if you want a card exactly as formatted. We previously had an older American Greetings program that was great. My 9 year old could write birthday cards; thank you notes; etc. with no help from me. We changed or designed every card, it was easy. Now we have a new computer with XP and no adequate software options.

Hallmark Card Studio Deluxe 3
This product is not worth the money I spent on it. It allows you very little access to creativity. Basically you print what's there the only nice feature of this entire program is the event minder to remind you of upcoming events. That's about it.

A little disapointed
I use Card Studio 2 more than 3. I expect when I get an upgrade that it will have all the old stuff with NEW stuff added. I found some of my favorites had been deleted on 3 plus when I added a picture from my scanner or camera that it came in distorted on the new version. I do find Hallmark Card Studio as a whole, very user friendly and I love the cards. I do allot of cutting and pasting and cropping to make different cards. I do not like the regular graphics (very simplistic and harsh for the most part) that come with it so I just use the ones off the cards. It would be nice if they would add a program to work with pictures that you import in. I often make cards that have graphics from several different programs, and I use this as my home base.

Good, but looking for better
I wish you could type in a keyword and let you sort through pictures to choose from like microsoft greetings. I like it but just not quite what I expected. Looking for better programs. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A waste of your money!
I've loved previous versions of Hallmark/Sierra...but this is awful. It's a limited version and most cards don't allow any modifcation (so unless you just want to always send to Grandma, you're out of luck!). Don't waste your money on this product.

Not the full version
This version of Card Studio 3 only has 500 cards, whereas the boxed version has 2,500. It's actually Card Studio 3 "Special Edition". It has a very limited selection of cards, like 8 birthday cards. I returned it and got the Card Studio 2003 one which is much better. ... Read more

Features

• Choose from a huge selection of templates for mailing labels, shipping labels, folder labels, CD/DVD labels and more
• Features total support for 15 different barcode formats, including PostNet barcodes to speed mail delivery
• Built-in address book and mail merge tools for mailing labels more easily
• Easily create your own labels for videotapes, diskettes, office equipment, inventory tags, Rolodex cards, name tags and much more!

Features

• Print productivity software with layouts, clipart, and fonts
• Create professional business cards, letterheads, envelopes, and more
• Choose from over 2000+ templates; create layout templates
• Customize a text box, picture box, line, graphic item, or group
• Import personal photos, clipart, graphics; easy to use

Features

• Match the layout of any card or envelope onscreen for hassle-free printing on any stationary size
• Create gorgeous stationary for all your parties and events -- birthday parties, moving announcements, holiday cards and more
• Customize the look of your print projects -- alter your text, fonts, color scheme, photos and graphics
• Take images from your scanner, camera, CD or any other source
• Import names into the Address Book from Outlook to create unique mailing lists for each projects

Features

• Full-featured, professional, yet easy-to-use genealogy program
• Track, organize, print, and share family history
• Provides access to over 3 billion names
• Comes with American Greetings Scrapbooks and more
• Tools for discovering and remembering the past

Amazon.com Product Description

PrintMaster: Party & Crafts Creator is a creative project solution for crafts, parties, and hobbies. It offers more than 850 professionally designed craft projects and over 50 party sets, including invitations, hats, banners, place cards, and centerpieces. Use ready-made project templates or your own imagination to create unique crafts for home, hobbies, or your next party. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Go beyond greeting cards into the realm of food garnishes, banners,hats, gift bags, and mobiles. Whether throwing a kid's birthday party or awedding shower, users will find hundreds of printable templates and instructionsfor assembling creations into envelopes, baby booties, and other fold-and-gluemasterpieces. Most of the items can be personalized with the names of hosts andguests, and there's even a section where card makers can select the appropriatesentiment to put inside homemade cards. Examples of the offering: a birthdaycard that cheerfully asserts "Oh well, better to be over the hill than underit!" and another that features a group of kittenspurring "Come to my party--eat, drink and be meowy."

The user interface is simple, and there's an area of blank templates andwriting and painting tools for people who feel they can do better than AmericanGreetings. There is also a fairly sneaky area, where the unwary could end upordering ready-made cards. Those handy with scissors and glue--or at leastimmune to a bit of imperfection--are likely to appreciate CreataParty most. Itsbest use may be in planning kids' parties: children can build anticipation fortheir birthday party as they create decorations for it.

Bottom line: For folks who love a well-coordinated party--banners that match thenut cups that match the invitations--this is a dream come true. But thosewhose idea of party planning is buying a 12-pack, tossing together a pot ofspaghetti, and inviting some friends over will wonder what all the papery hooplais about. --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very good, yet somewhat annoying and can be expensive.
I like this program a lot, but if you buy it and want to have a large variety of cards to choose from, prepare to shell out more cash. The program comes with a very linited supply, but you can upgrade. I have purchased 3 additional sets, and still am not extremely happy with the selection I have (example -- I currently have only three cards for a father's birthday -- actually, one down now and two more to go -- but then what? ). Also, the cards that you purchase are on a separae CD, so you have to continually switch back and forth from the Creat a Party cd and the Art and More Store CD. Annoying! Also, there is no option to e-mail the cards as you can in other programs, but I do like having all of the other accessories, such as banners, cup covers, mobiles, signs, posters, caledars . . . ... Read more

Reviews (6)

You need this one
This is the best version of Hearts and Spades I have ever played. It's worth the money, because it is so much fun. Other card games that I tried were pretty boring. Fun and excitement set this game apart from other card games.

Urban educator.
These card games are wonderful, and allow my students to develop their abilities in logic, mathematics, and other higher order thinking skills while having great fun at the same time!

Great Games
These are wonderful card games. I especially like that I can play cards with my Mom and sisters (who live in different states) and chat at the same time! It's like sitting around the kitchen table at my Mom's house (one of the rooms is even a kitchen)!!! If you love to play cards, this game is for you.

The Best
We have played all the computer card games and this one is the most fun. Clever,skillfull and creative.

colin's classic card games
Great graphics and a lot of fun. I can now beat my friends in hearts! This guy has it goin' on! Buy it now. ... Read more

Features

• Allows users to try out new typefaces
• Includes 2,000 true type fonts
• Add style and pizzazz to documents
• Invigorate letters, business presentations, and school reports
• Easy-to-use; intuitive user interface

Reviews (6)

Nice wallpapers- everything else lacking
The wallpapers on this activity studio are really nice, and the images are different from the ones available to download from the official website, but everything else is very similar (the format of the calendars is pretty much the same as the format of the posters, and of the flyers....) I was a little disappointed.

Great Acitvity Studio
This is a great CD (and it is clearly labeled Activity Studio). The wallpapers are creative, large and high resolution. The other features are great also, including screensaviors, Art, Graphics creation like calendars, posters and bookmarks, charcter profiles. It's a must have for the Tolkien fan who likes the New Line Movies.

It is what it says it is - an ACTIVITY STUDIO
Come on, folks! Read before you buy. It is clearly labled as an activity studio, not a game.

Don't give it bad marks because you goofed. The product is great for it's price. I collect the trading card game cards by Decipher and the movie cards by Topps. My problem was that I had been looking for cool LOTR-themed binders to store them in without any luck. I've had to settle on those binders with the clear plastic sleeves on the outside covers. Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to find good images to print out and insert into those sleeves. Then I stumbled across this software and my problem was solved.

I'm a happy camper.

shop carefully!
Be careful! Don't order this program if you want a video game - it's a quasi-creative program for using images from the movie, creating printable images of the characters, etc. I didn't realize that when I ordered it - too hasty to get those christmas presents, I guess - and when my son just as hastily opened it on Christmas morning it was too late to return it. Caveat emptor - This buyer didn't beware and paid the price.

Disappointed
This is an activity studio, which was not on the title when I ordered! I thought I was ordering a game!!! ... Read more

Features

• Insert text and graphics into any template -- drag and drop to build unique designs
• Resize graphics, import your own graphics from a digital camera or edit text - all with a click
• Built-in clip art for adding fantastic graphics - animals, flowers and everything in between
• Useful tutorial introduces kids to the world of home publsihing
• Includes t-shirt

Features

• Hundreds of greeting-card and t-shirt layouts
• Royalty-free images in 19 categories for every occasion
• Customizable and importable images, clipart, text, and sounds
• Make special t-shirts for events, parties, school, or just for fun
• Create that special t-shirt or greeting card you saw but didn't buy

Features

• Over two thousand ready-to-use images are included in black-and-white or full-color
• Add the images of your choice to any flyer, greeting card, certificate, or other printed document
• There's also a heavenly collection of angel art that adds a festive touch to your documents
• Labels, envelopes and even Websites will benefit from having these beautiful decorations you can add instantly!

Reviews (2)

All right!
I recently ordered this program. I love it! When you have three 4 1/2 yr old grandsons, it sure comes in handy. I love being able to make pop-up cards(this has more of them then there is in the creatacard program-which I also have). I've even began to make some of my own pop-up cards. There are party favors to make, ornaments, and mobiles-an endless array of things to make.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Creatacard newer versions are terrible. After version 3 which I love and still use, Broderbund sales people keep saying that the newer versions will be closer to the old one, but they lie. They don't work as easily and you have to go online to get what was already there on the version 3. This one stinks! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Superb!
When I purchased this program I was unsure if I would like the layout for it, but when I received it --- I LOVED IT! My 4 year old daughter even made her daddy a Father's Day award using this program. I would like to recommend it to individuals that are looking for an easy program, maybe a first time user, or a young child to get started on. I am also in the process of looking for another edition of this program.My sister had also purchased this version and loved it too! I am satisfied very much with this version, I would like to thank the makers of this cool program which is very easy to install and to add text or just to view in different interesting areas. I do encourage you all to let your children try this version of the American Greetings CreateaCard. It's fun and easy. There are also some cute and colorful screensavers included. ... Read more

Features

• Find the perfect project in seconds with the convenient Find-a-Project search tool.
• Turn snapshots into works of art by correcting flaws & adding special effects
• Choose from a set of exclusive sentiments and captions, all fully searchable
• Add your own special captions to your favorite photos, for a little history and background