Busy parents in search of a fast way to preserve special memories may want to consider taking advantage of the features available on the Smilebox website. Founded in 2005, Smilebox.com offers a quick and easy way to create scrapbook pages, photo slideshows, greeting cards, and more.
Using Smilebox
To use Smilebox, you'll need to download the company's software program to your computer. This process is relatively simple, however.
The Smilebox program should download and install in less than five minutes if you have a high speed Internet connection.
While you should always make sure your virus protection is updated before downloading programs to your computer, Smilebox is not known to cause problems with infected files, adware, or malware.
Smilebox software is available for both PC and Mac users.
Making Baby Scrapbook Pages Using Smilebox
Although Smilebox.com wasn't designed with parents in mind, this website can be very helpful for those with young children at home. If you have friends and family who live too far away to see your baby on a regular basis, you can use the site to make a slideshow or create baby scrapbook layouts that show how much your little one has grown. The site's drag and drop interface lets you create a project in just a few minutes, so there's no need to lose any sleep fussing over your creation!
Design Options
The Smilebox program has an impressive set of templates for every occasion imaginable, including many designs that are suitable for everyday use.
For baby memories, there are designs suitable for boys and girls in addition to several options that are fairly gender neutral.
Smilebox uses professional designers to create its templates, including scrapbooking leaders like K&Company. The designs do tend to be relatively traditional in nature, however. If you're looking for contemporary or "artsy" templates, Smilebox software might not the best choice for you.
Although Smilebox templates aren't completely customizable, you can make adjustments to the background color and the level of embellishment on your baby scrapbook layouts. Some of the designs also include multiple title options, so you can choose the title that best fits the story you are trying to tell.
One interesting aspect of the Smilebox scrapbooking approach is that you can use video clips in conjunction with your photos to make a unique multimedia layout. You can also add music to any Smilebox project, including your scrapbook pages.
Paid vs. Free Membership
With a free Smilebox account, you can post your finished projects to your blog or Facebook profile. You can also choose to send your creation to friends and family via email. If you upgrade to a paid premium subscription, you'll have access to additional design templates as well as a chance to print your scrapbook pages, burn slideshows to DVD, or save your creations for playback in a digital photo frame. A premium Club Smilebox subscription costs $5.99 per month or $39.99 per year.
Is it worth paying for an upgrade to use all of the features of Club Smilebox? If you are primarily a traditional paper scrapbooker just looking for an easy way to make a slideshow or to share a few selected images, you'll likely be happy with the free features of this website. However, if you want to be able to print your creations or make copies of your work to save for future reference, paying for access to all of the features of the site makes sense. Many traditional scrapbookers spend more than $5.99 to make just one layout and digital scrapbook kits can often cost $5 or more for each design. In comparison, a Smilebox.com subscription is a good value.
Other Software Options
There are plenty of other digital scrapbook software options on the market. You may wish to read the reviews for My Memories Suite 3 and San Serif Craft Artist.