Hi ballybock,
What you want to do *MAY* be done more cheaply, but not without a
great deal of effort and frustration. If you plan to do any photo
editing and printing, you can?t beat the following two programs, Paint
Shop Pro, and PhotoAlbum. Once made by Jasc Software, they are now
owned by Corel. Most less expensive programs will not have all these
features, and will leave you frustrated. You can download a free trial
of both programs. Some of the features may not work, but you can get
used to the feel of the program, and you may be able to achieve your
results. Remember too there are many ways to achieve desired effects?
different tutorials may direct you in different ways. Almost any
bookstore has Paint Shop Pro books available.
You?ll first need to place all your photos into one folder, for good
organization. PhotoAlbum also lets you batch re-name your photos.
Rename your ¼ inch photos differently than the originals so you can
easily distinguish them from others, perhaps saving them in a
subdirectory.
Resize each photo to ¼ inch square and save. In PSP, open a new image
window, make a grid, either visible or invisible, and place your
photos on the grid. Open your pictures, (PSP will allow you to open
numerous pictures at one time) and copy and paste them into the grid.
Working with 10 at a time, may help you keep organized.) Save often as
you go! With Paint Shop Pro, you can use the ?Snap to grid? feature,
so the photos align themselves well. Once you have all the photos
aligned, save as one layer, Merge. (under the layers toolbar)
Snap to Grid
http://mardiweb.com/web/psp7/menus/view/view.htm
Merge
http://www.web-helper.net/PSP6/PSPLayers/default.htm
Layers Tutorial
http://www.psphelp.com/v7_layers.php
Once the layer is saved, you can use the layer sliders (see
tutorials below) and drag the transparency to one you like. Now open a
new layer and add the text.
=========
Software:
=========
Paint Shop Pro:
---------------
For an all around great graphics program, look at Paint Shop Pro.
$129 . This will do all you are asking, and more. You can place text
over graphics, shape text, make textured text, and much more.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pfid=1047024307383&pid=1047023911984
PSP has a grid making tool included, one that looks similar to this
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=4753
Here are a user?s tips for making a grid
I made a four-square window-pane in white, by making a square
selection holding shift, fill with white on a new layer.
Selection>Contract 10 px, delete to leave an outline.
Then used Edit>Trim to get rid of all the transparent background.
Edit>Define Pattern.
Then I filled on a new layer over the photo with the Paint Bucket with
Pattern (instead of Foreground). Resized my grid a bit, then cropped
the photo so there were no partial squares on the edges.
On the grid layer, Layer Style>Inner Shadow, slight Bevel/Emboss>Down
Sounds harder than it is, really! I just wanted to include all the steps.
Like I said, much faster in FF, but still super easy in PS if you know
how to make patterns and use layer styles. If you don't, hopefully
these instructions are helpful.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6221#post6221
Also this one:
Made using a Single Row Marquee tool (click the little arrow on the
Marquee tool to open the other options), horizontal and vertical, then
on a new layer I did Edit>Stroke in white. Then did Layer style,
Bevel/Emboss>Down with some light Texture to look like grout.
This technique is great for bathroom tile look too, just put the grout
layer using View>Rulers to space the marquees evenly, on top of a
white layer for the tile. You can add texture or gloss the tile layer
too. Duplicate the grout layer and give it an Outer Bevel, Fill 0%, to
make the tile look raised.
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=4758
Paint Shop Pro has a free Web Seminar, August 2, 2005 on Getting the
Most from PSP. Signing up gives you a chance to win your own software!
http://placeware.viewcentral.com/events/cust/search_results.aspx?cid=corel&pid=1&cbclass=114
Photo Album
------------
Photo Album is the best batch photo editor I have seen. This means you
can select 320 photos, place them in one folder, and tell Photo Album
to resize them all. No clicking and manually resizing a plethora of
photos. It may take your computer a few minutes to process this many
photos, but you can walk away and make a phone call or get another cup
of coffee! It?s a fabulous program, one I can?t do without. This
program has some photo edges, but you?ll find everything else you need
in Paint Shop Pro.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pfid=1047024307383&pid=1047023910213
Paint Shop Pro Tutorials
http://www.hypergurl.com/tutorials.html
This page lists numerous tutorials on using Paint Shop Pro. You?ll
want to pay particular attention to Basic Use of PSP and Learning
about Layers.
http://www.designsbyjoy.net/PSPTutorials1/
Fading images
http://www.bysarah.com/mg/masks/gradmasks.html
Faded Edges Tutorials
http://www.pluspsp.net/p/tutorials/pixel/fadededges.html
Making your own textures
http://www.stacksplace.com/make_your_own_textures.htm
http://www.designsbyjoy.net/Starting-n-PSP/Texture.htm
Making ¼ fold cards with PSP
http://www.bjwebart.com/qtr-fold_cards.html
More tutorials
http://www.cathyscorner2.com/psplinks/authors_2.html
http://www.laura-art.com/PSP/Default.ASP
Faded edges
http://www.brookekroegerdesigns.com/FadedEdgeBorderTutorial.html
http://www.geocities.com/jdmc83/FadedTexturedBg.htm
A user posted this tutorial on grids:
http://www.zimmertech.com/tutorials/paint-shop-pro/12/grid-tutorial.php
Transparent grids
(This site does not allow copying ? find this tutorial about half way
down the page.)
http://www.ravensdarkside.com/pspqna2.html#grid
Someone else posted this tutorial on making a mesh grid using PSP
?First open up any image..
like so..
I'm going to be using this picture of Elizabeth Taylor.
If u want to change the color of the grids u can.. just simply click
on the color palette.
Like this one here
Now.. go to your toolbar and look for this
Scroll down til u see "GridMaker" click on that, then click on that triangle.
then this will popup after u clicked on that triangle. You can change
the grid size to any size u want.. I usually make mines 2 or 3.
Then click OK
So, after u clicked OK.. you'll get this.
So now... go to properties
Then it'll take u here.. I'll just put mines on overlay (you can just
play around with it) Experiment with it.
So here is the final results
Welps i hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial.. haha i'm not really good
at it.. but this is the best way i can explain it.?
http://www.createblog.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t38751.html
===============
Other Programs:
===============
LumaPix
LumaPix allows you to download a free trial. See if you like it!
http://www.lumapix.com/
There are many tutorials for LumaPix here
http://www.fotoscraps.com/gallery/index.php
Print Shop
Print Shop, by Broderbund. This program, not nearly as powerful or
full featured as PSP, will allow you to make a grid and place photos
on it. It has been several years since I have used it, but I remember
it had a template, into which you could copy and paste photos that
have already been resized. The price is less, and the learning curve
quite a bit less. You will still need to have, in my opinion, Photo
Album to batch resize so many photos. You can fade photos with this
program, but I don?t think you can add textures.
http://www.fotoscraps.com/gallery/index.php
Free graphics programs.
-----------------------
I doubt any of these will accomplish what you want to do, but you may
want to try some of these.
http://www.mnsi.net/~jhlavac/freeware/graphics.htm
Picassa is a free photo organizing program. It allows you to lighten,
crop and rotate photos. It does not perform advanced features as the
Corel programs do. You may want to try it though, for other purposes.
http://picasa.google.com/index.html
Whatever programs you use, I would recommend these steps for
beginners, and they?re not a bad idea for a pro either!:
Make a copy of your original photo, and work with the copy. If using
PSP, save the picture in .psp format, as this is a lossless format.
When you are done editing, save as a .jpeg for printing.
Save often! If your PC freezes, you won?t lose your work.
Print a draft, using the draft mode of your printer, to get an idea of
how the final product looks. This will save ink if you need to make
changes.
Different textures of paper will give you a different look. Glossy,
textured, mat cards all produce different effects.
======
Cards
======
4x6 Inkjet cards
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=4x6+inkjet+cards&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-42,GGLD:en&sa=N&tab=ff&oi=froogler
Textured Cards
http://www.jerrysartarama.com/art-supply/catalogs/0059421000000/?GCID=C12646x001
Canvas Cards
http://www.mcgpaper.com/textured.html
Other greeting cards
http://www.mcgpaper.com/greetingcards.html
Linen Cards
http://www.mcgpaper.com/greetingcards.html
Confetti Cards
http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Avery_Avery_Inkjet_1_2_Fold_Textured_Greeting_Cards_5_1_2_X_8_1_2_Confetti_Box_Of_30
I hope this is what you were seeking. If not, please do not rate this
answer. Simply request an Answer Clarification, and I will be able to
assist you further on this question.
Good Luck!
Regards, Crabcakes
Search terms
============
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Graphics programs
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