am I missing them?

[m&m]

Hello

I have just tried your beta version for the first time - although I scrapbook and do digital photo editing so am not a complete newbie to this

I cannot find a few things that I would find very useful. I thought I would list them here in case they are not yet part of the program.

1- simple shapes (for example ovals, circles, triangles, squares, etc. like the ones most used by paper scrapbookers) I like the ones you offer too

2- corners only - there are many fancy corners used to embellish or stick on photos

3- edges like the scissors that are out there (waves, stamp effect, dots, curves, etc.)

4- Being able to move the text into various curves or angles

5- being able to rotate the photos and the shapes independently and together

6- Being able to move and resize the photo independent or the shape so that you may frame the part of the photo you like best (or place it on an angle, etc.)

Once again, if these already exist in this program please direct me to them.

[Desmond]

Hello,

I've attempted to answer your questions below. Please let me know if I've missed anything:

1.
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Some of the simple shapes you mentioned can be found in Scrapbook MAX!:

a. Double click on a photo in your scrapbook
b. Make sure the 'Custom Shape' checkbox is checked
c. Click on 'Change Shape'
d. On the left side of the window that appears, click on 'Special'.

If there are other shapes, etc. that would improve your scrapbooking experience (you mentioned triangles, etc.), please feel free to post back here and we'll see what we can do.


2.
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We include some corners for your photos:
a. On the menu bar, choose Object > Embellishment
b. On the left side of the window that appears, click 'Corners'.

Are those corners what you were looking for?

3.
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Edges for photos are handled through the 'Custom Shape' functionality (as shown in #1). Would more shapes modeled after the scissors that you can purchase in scrapbook stores be appropriate? Perhaps another category such as 'Edges' and 'Special'?

4.
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At this point in time, the text does not support curves. As far as angles, you can rotate text as you can any other object. There's more information on rotation in the user's guide.

5.
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You can rotate groups of objects just as easily as you can single objects. To select multiple objects, click on the first object, and then while holding Shift, click on each additional object that you would like in that 'group'. Then, when you rotate one, they all rotate! (Tip: Try holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard when you're rotating multiple objects, and see what happens!)

6.
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Unfortunately this is not possible; however, you can 'crop' your images so the part of the photo you like best is the only part that's shown. This allows you to center images, and get rid of the undesired 'fluff' (so to speak).

To crop a photo, first select it by clicking on it, and then choose Effects > Crop from the menu.


Thank-you for your questions/suggestions. Keep them coming! We're eager to hear what users like about the product, and what they'd change given the chance.

Happy Scrapbooking!

[Corey]

Just to follow up on what Desmond (great avatar D-man!) mentioned, if you have some specific requests for some basic shapes, etc. We'd love to hear them. Those are the sorts of suggestions we help out with wherever possible.

[Desmond]

It looks just like me! (Except his gl***es are better).

[Lorne]

I love how "***" in "gl***es" is picked up by the bad words filter.

BTW, m&m, here's a tip for shapes: use a Paper Scrap object and apply a Shape Effect to it to make a custom shape, like a paper cutout.

It's even possible to make your own shape effects (grayscale images will work) if you're good at that sort of thing.

[m&m]

Is it possible to make my own shaped frame? Like making a paper oval and then make it a frame?

Is it possible to outline a picture so that only the people are cut out? (my other photo editor does this and it makes a great effect)

Would it be possible to make a photo or embellishment look as if it is raised up off the page - perhaps a darker shadow effect?

[Corey]

Hi.

1. Yes, you can apply custom shapes to photos. Simply double click it and check OPTIONS > CUSTOM SHAPE then use the "Change Shape" button to surf to one of the frame masks in the gallery and apply it.

2. Yes, using a mask as in step 1. But that's tricky so you might be better off cutting them out in your photo editor and saving them in PNG (with transparency) format for usage in Scrapbook MAX! Basically you would be making your own embellishments using your photo editor.

3. The default shadow effect makes them pop up somewhat, but it's not adjustable. A simple workaround would be to make a copy of the object and stack it atop, that way the shadow would be "twice as darK". Or you could also add your own drop shadow in a photo editor and export for use in Scrapbook MAX! anytime.

Hope that was helpful.

[Desmond]

Hello!

Regarding your first question, it is possible to make your own shapes.

a) Create a shape in photoshop (or whatever graphic program you use). Black is what will become transparent, white is what will show through..
b) Save as a PNG file.
c) Copy the saved PNG to the shapes directory (C:\Program Files\Scrapbook MAX!\Gallery\Images\Shapes\Special)
d) Add the new shape to your photo by following corey's directions above.

Please feel free to share your published creations through the online image gallery (http://www.scrapbookmax.com/gallery/).

Good luck!

[Corey]

Ahhh, yes I see that there are no frame masks in the gallery, just shapes. sorry my bad. Yes Desmond is right, you can even invert the existing shape masks in a photo editor to create correspsonding frames if you're comfortable editing graphics. I'll see what I can do about posting a bonus pack of frame masks.

[m&m]

Hello!

Regarding your first question, it is possible to make your own shapes.

a) Create a shape in photoshop (or whatever graphic program you use). Black is what will become transparent, white is what will show through..
b) Save as a PNG file.

Any advice on how to find a good free graphic editor?

More frames - ovals, circles, hearts, zigzags, flowers, stars, etc would be a wonderful addition.