January 31, 2011

Super Bowl Sale

Remember to check out with coupon code: super45 to receive free shipping. The print prices will be manually changed in our system for these 3 days only!

Also, feel free to leave us notes or instructions in the instruction box! Love notes are fine too:)

January 30, 2011

Photo Books vs silver halide Persnickety photo paper

We appreciate Photo Books- but will they last?

"If it’s not photographic output, it’s either going to be an ink-jet or it’s going to be electrostatic (fancy word huh – think color copier with toner and paper). While some ink-jet prints are shown to last as long or longer than photo prints, it depends entirely on using a particular printer, ink, and paper from that printer’s manufacturer. Do you know exactly what combination someone is using to print yours? If it varies one bit (like using a lesser grade paper or ink) it can significantly impact the life of your layout. And most home printers we digital scrapbookers use are not suitable for archival quality output – unless you dropped a couple of thousand on your ink-jet! The same issues are magnified with electrostatic prints – the toner can vary from batch to batch, as can the paper. And as most electrostatic prints are on the low end of the price range, you know the labs that use them are saving every last penny to keep the cost down."



 
These are photo books from 2008 
Less than 3 years old, and they are already falling apart.
We prefer single page photographic prints for our memory keeping.
Why? Because they are archival, waterproof, and will last a lifetime!

 
Chemically processed layouts are beautiful! 
Our software also reads your sRGB profile in every single layout- 
 the colors are amazing! 

You are spending time creating beautiful layouts- why compromise?

Wilhelm Imaging Research conducts research on the stability and preservation of traditional and digital color photographs and motion pictures. Silver Halide ranks the leader in the photo industry.

January 27, 2011

January 24, 2011

Are we obsessed with Facebook?

With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people on earth, with over 250 million of them (over 50%) who log in every day. The average user still has about 130 friends, but that should expand in 2011.
48% of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up, with 28% doing so before even getting out of bed. The 35+ demographic is growing rapidly, now with over 30% of the entire Facebook user base. The core 18-24 year old segment is now growing the fastest at 74% year on year. Almost 72% of all US internet users are on now Facebook, while 70% of the entire user base is located outside of the US.
Over 700 Billion minutes a month are spent on Facebook, 20 million applications are installed per day and over 250 million people interact with Facebook from outside the official website on a monthly basis, across 2 million websites. Over 200 million people access Facebook via their mobile phone. 48% of young people said they now get their news through Facebook. Meanwhile, in just 20 minutes on Facebook over 1 million links are shared, 2 million friend requests are accepted and almost 3 million messages are sent.



January 22, 2011

Facebook Makeover


You may have heard of a little film festival called Sundance?
Persnickety Prints is located in Orem, Utah...  which is at the base of Provo Canyon and the Sundance Resort.
The Film Festival is in full swing right now. Being a local has it's perk's. You can get into party's and movie premier's simply by knowing the right people- or at least pretending to know the right people.

 

The husband and I haven't missed this event in years. It really helps liven up a drab and dreary January. Last night we were able to attend the Ralph Lauren Party at Park City's Cisero's Nightclub. The RL Big Pony Fragrance Collection made it's debut.

Upon arrival we were given a wristband to wear.. and what do you know... these wristbands were scented - those Ralph Lauren marketing geniuses! So the whole place smells like one of these 4 new fragrances. I had blue- the scent is still lingering...

This Ralph Lauren debut was all based around digital media, and social networking- nope, facebook isn't going anywhere!
A digital photo booth complete with a vintage ski lift enables guests to immediately upload and share their photos with friends on Facebook and Twitter at a custom iPad station. Read more about the marketing tactics of this event here... what it comes down to, if you don't have a facebook or twitter account, you don't get to play!



One Republic gave a gggrrreat performance with some fun U2 and White Stripes covers. They even threw in a little Justin Timberlake "sexy back". If you beg- I will put up live video.


Anyone love that first season of the Bachelorette? Yes, Tristan and Ryan are still together!
It was a good night.
(thanks mom for babysitting!)

So speaking of facebook- and all of it's powers- I have been meaning to show you some ways to juice up that profile picture of yours. You can use this to your advantage- and "stand out" from the crowd!
Here is our Persnickety facebook profile picture.

Facebook is always changing things, but for now you can have a profile picture of 200x516 pixels. 
Why would you want this? Well... because it gives you more room to shout, that's why. You have 200x516 pixels of shout space, and until everyone else catches on, you will be "different".
Different is Good.
If I were a designer, like my friend Deena Rutter... and I just finished a great new kit... I may want to shout about it, or put it in your face... like so...

Ok... so how do I fit my picture or logo in that tiny little square facebook uses for the news feed?
 A-ha... you can edit it! 
Facebook PAGE
Once you have created your new 200x516 profile image, upload it by hovering over your profile picture, choosing the little pencil, it should say "change picture".
Upload. Refresh.
Hover over your profile picture again and this time choose "edit thumbnail"

Now drag the image around until it is cropping the portion that you want in the news feed. Click Save.
That's it! Done.



You can do this to your personal profile as well.. but the steps will look a little different.

Do you have something to say, and need some shout space?
Here are some .psd templates to help get you started.

          


I matched the web color on my monitor to the color facebook uses, so that it will flow with the top bar. Check it out on our facebook page here. Download this .psd template HERE.


    



Here is the very template I used for Deena's facebook sample.
Download it HERE.

Hope this helps- we would love to see what you have to say! Post your new profile pic on our fb wall!

-Chari

January 19, 2011

Persnickety Perfection

We have been a pro lab printing on chemical based photo paper for over 20 years.
Our prints are processed through the same chemicals as your good old film pictures (yes, we still use a dark room) and are the most archival. 


Kenny is the print Master =adjective; having or showing very great skill or proficiency : a master painter.
He prejudges every one of your images and is able to make your pictures lighter, darker and improve color saturation. He can also add a bit of contrast or density to make your page elements nearly 3 dimensional.
Most corrections are for contrast, density and bleed. 
If you compare your Persnickety Prints to others, you will notice a difference in sharpness, clarity and color tones that you didn't know could be any better!
Kenny also spends many hours adjusting, tuning & setting our machines just right to avoid "overlaying" bleed problems. 

We also inspect every page before it is shipped, to make sure it is perfect!
Thank You Kenny & Devin!

January 17, 2011

Crazy Love Freebie



Both of these layouts were made in about 2 minutes start to finish in Picasa, Google's Free Photo Editing Software.
We are Picasa lovers- it's a little crazy.

If you haven't heard about Picasa... you are in for a treat! It is fast, it is easy, and it is free!

Persnickety Prints has teamed up with Google to allow you to order your prints directly from your Picasa Account! 

 

 

 

 

Picasa Tutorials

Step ONE

Step TWO

Step THREE

Ordering directly from Picasa is so easy!

  Need a Persnickety Account? It's Free- Get Started HERE.



We hope you can try it out sometime and see for yourself how great this is! All of your paper scrapbooking friends that you left behind can now join you in digi land with Picasa!

 Crazy Love Papers for you to download


... and an additional "Picasa Ready" Paper set can be downloaded HERE

... Now go and get Crazy!!

Some of you have been having a hard time unzipping the box.net download? Here are some new links from Chari's personal Mac Sharing account. These folders must be "zipped" in order to produce one download link, otherwise we would need to supply a link for each individual paper. If you are still having issues, check your "unzipping" program.
Crazy Love Papers
Crazy Love Papers- Picasa Add-on

January 16, 2011

Recoloring in Photoshop

Did you know that you can recolor your digital products and use them over and over?

Rhonna from House of 3 has just put up this great tutorial on her blog showing how to easily recolor a flatten file in any PS program. This also works for papers, and most digital supplies.
We were able to print this beautiful 2011 REmarkable Calendar Kit for the House of 3 live web show last week. There are so many ways to use this calendar. I personally loved Heidi's printable calendar magnets and how Rhonna displayed this 16x20 calendar that we mounted. She dolled it up with chains, roses and charms! So.. cute!


 
You can watch the show here.
Hop on over to Rhonna's blog and see how she changed this Calendar color over and over...


January 15, 2011

Creating a Scrapbook Page with Google Picasa - Step 3


Whew! If you have made it through all of our Google Picasa Tutorials- well, done!
Step 3 is probably the most important! This is where you learn how to get that collage into your online Picasa Web Album (free)- and ordered directly from Persnickety Prints! You do not have to download and then upload- we have integrated with Picasa to make this so easy!

OK.. if you are confused and wondering what I am talking about- It's all about making life "simple" this year, Google Picasa can help and why everyone needs be using it!

Find previous tutorials: Step ONE and Step TWO

Step 3: Adding background paper to your collage and ordering your prints!
I made this layout in under 2 minutes.

Here is how you can do it too-


The video tutorial:






We have also included this basic black "Picasa Papers" Kit for you to get started! (at this time Picasa software is compatible with .jpgs only. However, it does read your font files- get creative with webdings and such!


Download these papers HERE via box.net 

MORE PICASA TUTORIALS (written)
 by Sarah at Clover Lane

As always please email us with any questions- we are happy to help!
info@persnicketyprints.com *Persnickety Prints is not affiliated with Google or Picasa. Picasa support can be found here.

January 12, 2011

PP Free Love Cards

"love is in the air"
The candy is out on aisle 5, Valentines is around the corner. If you failed to send out a Christmas Card- you have a chance to redeem yourself! Or if you just want to send some love-
here are some Free Valentine templates to help.

 
5x5 Slimline Photo Card. 25 for $19.99
Includes Envelopes.

 5x7 Slimline Photo Card. 25 for $19.99
Includes Envelopes.

 4x8 Slimline Photo Card. 25 for $16.99
Includes Envelopes.

all .png files
Download HERE via box.net