New Features in RocketLife

This video shows some of the new features we added to RocketLife-powered software in Summer 2012, including:

• Social Sharing — now you can easily upload your creations for friends and family to see, order, or even personalize further.
• New Templates — browse dozens of professional designs for everything from greeting cards to T-shirts. Get started fast, then add your personal touch.
• 15 New Designer Fonts — add personality to your creations with our new Art Fonts, including several styles of handwritten letters.
• Faster Editing — we've enlarged the controls, simplified the layout, and added full 360° rotation, page shuffling, right-click support, and more.
• Canvas Prints — you can now design and order gallery-wrapped canvas prints. (Availability depends on location.)

What would you like to see in future videos (or versions)? Please leave a comment below.

Printing Photo Projects at Home

Learn how the new Print Panel in RocketLife-powered software makes it easy to print your photo projects at home. We show how to resize images to fit the page and even optimize the layout to save paper and simplify cutting. (Click the Full Screen button to watch the video in HD.)

This demo shows a version of our software with print-at-home capability. However, you can create similar gridded layouts in all RocketLife-powered software. Just select the Design tools and then click the Photo Layouts tab.



What would you like to print? Let us know in the comments below.

Make Your Own Monthly Photo Calendar

Your calendar occupies a prime position on your wall, so why not make it truly personal? This video shows how to create a great-looking calendar from your photos in less than two minutes, using RocketLife-powered software. You’ll learn how to add photos, choose a theme and starting month, and customize the calendar grid itself to complement your photos. (Click the Full Screen button to watch in HD.)

These tips apply to all of our calendar projects, including ship-to-home, print-at-home, and pick-up-at-store versions.



What’s on your calendar? Let us know in the comments below.

Add Style with the Monochrome Airbrush

RocketLife software offers four airbrushes to make your photo creations even more creative. This video shows how to add a beautiful black-and-white effect with the Monochrome brush. You’ll also learn the secret key command to clean up edges and apply highlights. (Click the Full Screen button to watch in HD.)

Try the other airbrushes, too. Sepiatone adds an antique brown. Blur lets you soften distracting objects in the background. Rub Through erases parts of a photo to reveal another photo underneath.



What techniques have you discovered? Let us know in the comments below.

Quick Tip Video: Make Your Own Holiday Card

RocketLife's greeting card templates help you create a personal message fast. Here's a 90-second video to show just how quick it is. (Click the Full Screen button to watch in HD.)

Of course, like everything RocketLife, your creation is still completely customizable. Our templates aren't limited to a specific number of photos. Pick your favorites; the program lays them out artfully, and then adjusts as you resize or add more.



What features would you like us to cover next? Please leave a comment below.

Happy holidays from RocketLife!

RocketLife on TV: Turning Movie Magic into USO Photo Books

Yesterday, Fox 40 TV visited RocketLife to show how we’re using our background in movie magic to help anyone create truly personal photo gifts. (RocketLife’s founders developed visual technologies used in Star Wars, Titanic, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and dozens more.)

The first shot was in our science fiction museum, where President Daniel Kaye and CEO Mike Moore spoke about bringing the visual magic behind movies to everyone. (The anchor calls it the “RocketLife Science Foundation,” but it’s just our lobby.)

Next, Daniel showed how easy it is to create a photo book with RocketLife. He chose our USO Photo Book as an example, because it really shows the joy handmade photo gifts can bring.

Afterward, reporter Bethany Crouch summed it up on her Facebook page: “This is so awesome! A local software company is teaming up with the USO to help send a slice of home (for free!) to soldiers serving in the military. I love stories like this.” She also posted ten photos from our museum.

For more on the USO Photo Book program, visit http://USO.RocketLifeProduction.com.

“I had so much fun making the book!”

Recently, we asked people who made RocketLife photo books for their loved ones to describe the experience: How did it feel to make the book, and how did the recipient react?

The answers were especially poignant because the makers were mostly women with husbands and sons deployed abroad. Through the USO Photo Book program, families such as theirs can create and send a 5x7 soft cover photo book to any overseas US military address at no cost. RocketLife prints the books and the USO pays for shipping.

Our 5x7 soft cover photo books are big enough to hold 60 photos, yet small enough to fit a soldier's cargo pocket. (Click to enlarge.)

We published several comments on our Facebook page about the emotional effect of making and receiving photo gifts. Here are two that speak to the creative side.

❝This offer was amazing! Eric received the book fast and enjoys it regularly, I'm told. I had so much fun making the book for him and playing with the different features! It's making this 12-month deployment to Iraq a little easier.

I loved being able to use a picture from my gallery for the background on a page for other pictures to lay over top of. These abilities make my album look like a high-quality professional job I paid big bucks for. —Kat Malette

* * *

❝I was so excited that I would be able to send something like this to my deployed soldier. While I was making the book I felt so proud of him and missed him terribly, but going through all our pictures just reminded me how lucky I am to have him...so to be happy and not sad! He absolutely loved when the book came in the mail. He was so surprised at the quality of it and he knew that I had made it, so it is very special to him.

I found the software very easy to use. You could get so creative with it. I liked the feature where you could put a picture as your background. I took pictures of all the letters we've written back and forth to each other, so every page of the book has wording in his handwriting. I never would have thought to do that unless I had the RocketLife software! —Amy Schuster

Learn more about the USO Photo Book program — and start your book — at USO.RocketLifeProduction.com.