Creative Memories vs Shutterfly

Have you heard of www.picaboo.com? I have found that I can do almost anything I want with their software, and their costs are more reasonable like shutterfly.

Shutterfly is tops in the online industry and has a much longer track record there. Constantly being noted in polls and magazines as easy to use and reliable. I've used it for years and really like it.

I haven't tried CM's digital software, but Shutterfly is easy, fast and reasonably priced. I made a book for our family at Christmas time and I put the whole thing together within a couple of evenings!

I got a free Shutterfly book after I had already used a site called Picaboo and was really disappointed with the usability of their program. They didn't have a lot of options and the formatting was pretty strict. Picaboo is better in that the software is on your computer and then you can just drop and drag from their site and when you are ready to order you just submit. I am thinking that Creative Memories is probably even a step up from Picaboo so it is all what you want for your final outcome. I wouldn't use Shutterfly.

A 3rd party photo book company is going to give different results than Creative Memories software which allows you control over your pages. There was a posting that indicated that Creative Memories did not allow you to change pages but that is not true. You can create pages from scratch or use a template. The text is unlimited unlike some 3rd party sources. In addition, the large hardcover books are made in the US. They are also stich bound versus glued. Creative Memories does rigorous testing on the durability of their materials for lasting photo preservation. Creative Memories belongs to (www.i3a.org, www.savemymemories.org) a standardization group. I hope this helps, they are really not in the same category. If you are looking to compare shutterfly to other 3rd party services, there is a great comparison on www.digitalhomethoughts.com

I hope this helps.

Have you ever heard of Heritage Makers? I became a consultant with them in January - my website is www.MyPhotobookStory.com. I used to use Shutterfly and was frustrated with the templates.

The templates with Heritage Makers are 100% customizable and it is all online - no downloading to your computer! Plus, there are webinars and youtube videos to help you along.

Watch this 5min video to give you an idea of what we are about! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irdqtq7mF6Y

Please contact me at ____@____.com for more information.

I have made several Shutterfly books and they turned out beautiful...but it took me forever!!
Close to my Heart is coming out with something new this Spring, Studio J Design Studio. If you go to www.studioj.com you can get a feel for how it will work. As a consultant I have access to it and I must say it is soo simple and just beautiful. I have seen the printed projects and they are wonderful quality as well. The first 2-page layout I made (without reading any instructions or anything!) took me less then 5 minutes to make. Best of all you don't have to buy any software or download anything to your computer! It is all online.

Have fun preserving your memories in whatever way you choose!

I recently did my first book on Creative Memories and it turned out great! I was so happy with the quality. I was able to do whatever I wanted to it. I gave it as a gift for Xmas and my mom was beyond excited and takes it with her everywhere (very durable).
I dont know if you need to have a rep to order one, I already have a person that I order from so i entered her info. If you need her info let me know and i can send it to you (she is not a pushy sales lady, she does CM for her own enjoyment and is WONDERFUL to deal with)

I have used Shutterfly to make vacation scrapbooks in the past and I absolutely LOVE that site!!! The picture quality is amazing! It's very user friendly. It tells you if a picture size you have chosen (ie: 8x10 vs. 4x6) will have poor quality. They can even prefill pages with the pictures you have chosen. It really takes the guesswork out of scrapbooking! All the books no matter what size or hardback vs. paperback come with 20 pages. I didn't think that sounded like a lot but some of the books I did I found it hard to fill all the pages :) And you can easily add a number of pages for like 80 cents. The books I have are the 8x8 in paperback and the 12x12 in hardback. I use the smaller version for "casual" picture events and the 12x12 for the really special ones. I've even been able to later add thongs like ticket stubs or other important memorabilia to the scrapbooks once I recieved them. Now the books can be a bit pricey, but if you subscribe to the Shutterfly e-mail list, they'll send you regular coupons. So I go one the site and create my scrapbooks but wait to order them once they have a sale (since you can save your projects there). In short, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Shutterfly, and it's super easy to use. Good luck with you projects :)

N.

I love shutterfly for printing, but for actual scrapbooking I like Close to my Heart and it's cheaper than Creative Memories. It is very easy and you don't need any experience. Plus you can mix and match your pages in the future if you want, whereas Creative Memories have books that don't work with any other format. So you can't add to it with pages you make on your own or if you find something you like better.

See my blog about it
http://conansgirl1.webs.com

I have been doing Shutterfly photo books (scrapbooks) ever since my daughter was born in 2007 and I ABSOLUTELY love them! They can get a little pricey, but WAY faster than trying to sit down and actually do a scrapbook. I am still at Christmas of 07' with my scrapbook! Haha.

I don't know anything about Creative Memories, but I use Shutterfly and I'm very happy with it. I've made a lot of photo books that way, and I think it's pretty easy. I'm also glad to have all my photos uploaded to Shutterfly in case something happens to our hard drive. I find it easy to organize my photos on Shutterfly, or to share them with family.

I actually went and bought the digital scrapbook from Hallmark. They have several different types (family, love, vacation, etc) and it worked out great. You can even save it to your computer and use it again and again for different people. It was very easy to use and you can add music, pictures and other fun stuff. I also just had a family member do the Shutterfly one and she said that was really easy. I don't think you can go wrong no matter which one you choose.

I don't have experience with the Creative Memories software but their books are great (I've seen those). I don't think you have to have a consultant but check out their website for info on that. Shutterfly is quick and easy but I am not as happy with their photobooks as I am with others (and believe me I have tried A LOT of them). My current favorite is Smilebooks... the final product is AMAZING. Another great one is Blurb. Smilebooks and Blurb are a little bit more expensive but worth it. If you want something like Shutterfly though.. I'd go with Snapfish. I like their printing better than Shutterfly.

I LOVE Creative Memories! They are a little more expensive than Shutterfly, but the quality is great. I used Shutterfly & the quality was not too good. The pictures were blurry & Creative Memories was way better They are both pretty easy & you can get as creative as you want :) Good luck

I have no idea about Creative Memories, but I used Shutterfly for Christmas photo books and I thought it was great. It has features that make it really easy to organize your pictures on a page. I also thought the quality was great!

My Sister-in-law is a creative memories consultant and does a lot with it so I have seen her books (both printed and done by hand) and they turned out wonderfully. A couple years ago there was a sale on shutterfly books so I printed a book of wedding photos but was disappointed with the quality versus the creative memories quality. I know shutterfly costs less so I guess it depends on if quality or cost is more important to you. If you need a consultant I can pass on her info to you- let me know.

I'm a fan of Shutterfly. I made a digital scrapbook for my first daughter and am in the process of doing the one for my second. They have a new feature where you just upload a bunch of pictures and they'll throw them into a book for you. Then you just spend time picking the background and rearranging the pictures. I was very happy with the finished product of the one I did 3 years ago so I'm assuming this one will be the same quality or better.