My Blog Has Moved

My blog has been moved to the WordPress platform. I have enjoyed the simplicity of Blogger, but am interested in the more advanced features WordPress offers.  It has a brand new layout!  All of the posts here will be transferred to the new site.

Come visit!  http://fruitofherhands.net

Collage It

As a follow up to my Top 5 Free Photo Managers post, I'd like to share another free but different photo utility.  I'm always keeping my eyes open for ways to make my time on the computer productive and more enjoyable.  After looking at several free collage makers and being disappointed with the results, I recently ran across one that is actually worth using and recommending.  It's called Collage It.

It's a relatively simple program.  Just add the picture files you want included in your collage, set your page size and layout settings, add a background or change its color, hit the "generate preview" button until the collage looks the way you want it, click on and move each individual picture to center it within its frame, then click on save!  It's quite easy, and creates a very nice looking collage.

If you have a wide screen monitor, you could set the size to 1600 pixels wide by 900 pixels high to create a personalized wallpaper for your desktop... or choose any size you want for printing, emailing, or posting on the web.  The photos can be in nice neat rows, as in the picture above, or they can be randomly positioned at whatever angle you choose... it's up to you.

One other program worth mentioning is Shape Collage.  It's a good program, but the free version leaves a watermark at the bottom of the created collage.  There are also online services such as Photovisi and Picnik, but they require you to upload your photos to their server, and so it takes more time.

If you have lots of digital photos, a collage is a creative, fun project.  Give it a try!

My Top 5 Free Photo Managers

I love taking pictures.  Just ask my family and friends.  (I drive them crazy, probably!)  I'm estimating, but I probably have near twenty thousand digital photos that date back to 2004.  I even have a 1 terabyte(1024 gigabytes) external hard drive hooked up to my computer, just to hold my pictures and videos!

I have spent many hours downloading and trying free photo managers that are available on the internet, and found several I like and would use.  These are my five personal favorites... not in any particular order.

1.  FASTSTONE IMAGE VIEWER

• Simple, easy to use interface
• Limited categorizing capabilities
• Photo editing: YES
•  Great for viewing, resizing, cropping and basic editing

2.  ZONER PHOTO STUDIO FREE

• Well-designed, intuitive & customizable user interface
• Categorizing & annotating capabilities; can even add audio notes to photos
• GEOtagging
• Photo editing: YES
• Make panoramas and 3D images
• Upload to Flickr web albums or Facebook
• Email photos from within program

3.  PICTOMIO

• Innovative, fun to use interface, but can be cumbersome
• Categorizing and annotating capabilities
• Photo editing: NO
• GEOtagging

4.  PICASA

• Innovative interface, but can be irritating
• Categorizing & annotating capabilities
• Photo editing: YES
•  GEOtagging
•  Face detection technology
• Create collages & other projects
• Email photos from within the program
• Upload to Picasa web albums or Blogger blogs
• Order online prints

5.  PHOTOSCAPE

• Basic viewer & editor interface
• Photo editor: YES
• No categorizing or annotating capabilites
• Lots of easy to use, creative utilities
• Includes a RAW to JPG converter

Note: Most of these programs do have editing functions, but I am recommending them for their managing ability, not their editing.  For editing digital photos, I still highly recommend and use Sagelight Editor, which is not free ($40).

But if you need a free editor as well, try Zoner, Picasa, or Photoscape.

Here's an example of editing a photo using Sagelight Editor. I started out by auto-balancing the entire picture, but Whitney's hair and face were totally washed out by the sun, so I also toned down the reflection in her hair using the "dodge and burn" function, and added some extra color saturation to her face using the "masking" function.

Just in case you're curious to know which photo manager I use, my favorite is Zoner, but I also regularly use FastStone, depending on what I'm doing with a photo.  Photoscape is great for creative photo projects.  Picasa and Pictomio are very good, but Picasa sometimes irritates me with its constantly "moving" interface, and Pictomio just doesn't offer all that I am personally looking for.  I prefer viewing and working with photos on a dark background (which is why my blog has a dark background!) because it makes the colors stand out and is actually easier on the eyes.  From the five I listed, Zoner, FastStone, and Pictomio are the only ones that have that capability as of this writing.  Many people swear by Picasa, and most websites give it the highest rating of any free photo manager, so you may love it.  Pictomio is just cool, and fun to use.  As you can see, they all differ, and so it's really a matter of personal preference and needs.  If you're looking for a photo manager, give one or all of these a try.  Let me know which one you like!  Or if you find a better one, let me know what it is... I'll want to check it out :)

A List of To Do's

I received this list in an email not too long ago and thought it was worth sharing.  Have a blessed day, everyone :)

1. Pray every day and throughout the day.
2. Go to bed on time and get enough rest.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. 
4. Say "No" to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your emotional or mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.  Less is more.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big projects over time. Write out a plan.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do about it. If you can't do anything about a situation, give it to the Lord, and get busy doing for others.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. You have two ears and one mouth. Listen more and talk less.
15. Do something you enjoy everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in various places.
18. Eat right.  Refuse to put certain foods in your mouth.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. While driving, listen to music or preaching that is spiritually uplifting.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
24. Make friends with godly people.
25. Keep a list of favorite Scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you, Jesus .'
27. Laugh every day, and often!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude.
31. Be kind to unkind people.
34. Slow down.
36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before.

Do you have anything you would add to the list?  If so, add a comment or email it to me!

Rainlendar

I have tried a lot of organizers over the years.  I've made simple lists, used a Franklin Day Planner, and utilized computer software.  None of them suit me perfectly, but probably because I'm just not a naturally organized person.  I'm a "S.H.E.", which stands for "Sidetracked Home Executive".  If you too struggle with organization and haven't read the book Sidetracked Home Executives, by Pam Young and Peggy Jones, you should read it just for the laughs and encouragement.  If you think you're unorganized, you probably aren't compared to where these two sisters started out!  I also have a dejunking video by Pam and Peggy that is very helpful, and loaded with humor.
My latest way of keeping track of our busy schedule is using a combination of my Franklin Day Planner and a free computer program called Rainlendar.  I looked at Rainlendar years ago and because at first sight it didn't impress me, I quickly set it aside.  A few days ago when searching for something automated that I could use alongside my paper and pen method, I ran across Rainlendar again and decided to look at it more in depth.  What I really like is that it runs on my desktop, so my calendar, events and todo's are always in view and only a click away.  I also like that it's semi-transparent, so it sits on top of whatever photo background I use on my computer's desktop.  (The picture above is a screenshot of my desktop with the waterfall photo as my background and Rainlendar on top.)  And it's not overly complicated like many calendar/planner programs are, which keep track of too much information.  I just need a visual of my schedule and tasks, and because I love computer programs that look and feel stylish, Rainlendar caught my eye.  It took a little time for me to tweak it to my liking (if you want to know how I did it, ask and I'll be glad to help you!), but I am now happily planning our summer schedule!  Now if I will just DO what I PLAN, these tools I'm using just might work! :)

Real-Time Weather

Check out my new weather widget... scroll the page until you see it on the right sidebar.  Click on the image and a full screen will appear with a graphic image of what the weather is like outside right now.  As the time and weather changes, so does the picture and the animation.  Pretty nifty.  I get the biggest kick out of stuff like this.  Maybe you do too!

UPDATE: I have removed this widget from my side bar and now use it on my iGoogle page.  If you are interested in it for yourself, go to www.yowindow.com.

Other Finds

With the snow keeping us in, I've taken advantage of the computer time and searched for good free software for my computer.  I'll just list them here, in case anyone is looking for something such as these!  I downloaded and tried A LOT of stuff, so these recommendations come with lots of testing behind them.  Just sharing :)

E-Sword (not a new find, but thought it important to mention.  wonderful, free, Bible study software, a must have!)
http://www.e-sword.net

FastStone Image Viewer (has some editing tools, but I like it for just viewing, organizing, and emailing my photos)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Viewers/FastStone-Image-Viewer.shtml

Lightbox Image Editor (mentioned in last post, great program, a must for improving digital photos)
http://www.sagelighteditor.com/downloadfree2.html

Music Bee (music organizer and player, will rip cds but not burn them like windows media player does)
http://www.getmusicbee.com

EsyPlanner (organizes my calendar and todos, mentioned in another post, takes a little working with it to get the hang of it, but a great program)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Diary-Organizers-Calendar/esyPlanner.shtml

KMPlayer (media/video player, i just like this over the others, personal preference)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/KMPlayer.shtml

MemoriesOnWeb (slideshow maker, i have the program MemoriesOnTV Pro -- which is not free -- but for anyone wanting to dabble in slideshow creation, this will get you started, great program)
http://download.cnet.com/MemoriesOnWeb/3000-12511_4-10598456.html?tag=mncol

Jarte Word Processor (i like the uncluttered interface)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Office-suites/Jarte.shtml

Glary Untilties (keeps your computer system running efficiently, has 1 click maintenance, nice feature)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/Glary-Utilities.shtml

Avast! Antivirus Protection
http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html?tag=mncol

SuperAntiSpyware Protection
http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpyware-Free-Edition/3000-8022_4-10523889.html

Online Finances & Budget Planning
http://www.mint.com

What a find!

Ok, for those who might care, I have found an image editor I am truly excited about.  It's called Lightbox.  (Actually I bought the advanced version called Sagelight, but Lightbox is still great for basic editing, and it's free!)  If you take digital photos and feel they need color correcting or they're too dark or need sharpening, and you feel you could never learn a complicated program -- download this free software and see how easy it can be!  I've looked at a lot of free image editors and this one is my top pick.

http://www.sagelighteditor.com/downloadfree2.html

Planner Program

Just this morning found a very interesting planner and calendar program, and it's free!  Gonna give it a try :)

1/24 Update: Ok, so I love it.  Whitney thinks it's confusing, but confusion is what I'm trying to overcome with the busy life we lead!