Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Holiday Gifts: How to Choose the Best Photos for Phone Cases (*Guest Post)

The holidays are here! With the flurry of fun Christmas greetings, cookies, and parties comes the reality of shopping for your family and friends. Just like you would design Christmas photo cards online, why not consider creating a personalized iPhone case for someone in your immediate circle? Whether your friend or family member has the new iPhone 6 or an older version, cases are a great way to protect their investment and help them express their personal style. Some may find it intimidating to design a case for someone else, but here are some tips to help you get started:






* Select something that’s meaningful to them. Browse any non-copyrighted photos you have and think about choosing a picture that features the people in your friend's life, her favorite vacation spot, or something else that’s personal to her. Remember, you want something that expresses her style and a little about her life – and often, these are the things that matter most to us. Another option is to design an iPhone case with a favorite quotes. Find or create a PNG or JPG image (that’s not copyright protected) featuring the quote against a backdrop your friend will love.

* Make sure the photo you pick has a high enough resolution. Photos without a high resolution will look chunky or blurry when printed. Most phone case photos should have a dpi (dots per inch) of around 300 or higher. For a brief comparison, most computer monitors display images at 72 dpi.

* Don’t choose a photo with a lot of white space. You don't want to waste space on your friend's new case, so crop the image as closely as you can in order to narrow in on the interesting part of the photo. Remember that, depending on the case and the size of the image, the photo may not totally fit on the case as is – so be sure when you load the image and place it on the case (during the design phase) that you’re okay with exactly where the photo will be cropped.

* Don't limit yourself. Many makers of iPhone cases will allow designs with more than one photo. Sometimes you can fit two, three, or as many as six photos on one case. See if a collage like this may be something you’re interested in. This works especially well if you don’t have one great photo or have too many to choose just one!

With the upcoming holidays comes the opportunity to get creative with your gifts. Have fun and happy designing!

Author Bio: Heather Hewitt is a seasoned writer and guest author who enjoys connecting people with thoughtful products, services and ideas as they relate to crafting, photography, gift giving and personal expression.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Spread the Word: Giving Tuesday

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Everyone knows these days dedicated to getting your holiday shopping season off to a quick start. 

Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. This year, we’ve set a goal of raising $50,000 on Giving Tuesday, which will be matched by a generous partner. That means we have the opportunity to help connect kids with up to 1 million meals — all from one day's work. With your help, together we can make sure that every kid gets the healthy food they need to succeed, this year and beyond. 

You can spread the word today here, and join Team #NoKidHungry on social media December 2nd to celebrate #GivingTuesday and help us reach our exciting goal.