Example: Card for Mom

The card for mom illustrates the use of mixed images and freehand cropping. The steps to create it are:

• Scan artwork as needed to create digital image files.

• Start a new composition by selecting File/New from the main menu, then use the printer and page setup window to pick the desired printer and set the  page to 8 1/2"x 11", landscape orientation, 0.5" margins all around. Click OK.

• Add the images: select Add/Add Images to get the Select Images window, hold down the Ctrl key to pick more than 1 image at a time, and select the images. Click OK. If the scanned images and your snapshots are located in different folders, you will need to do this at least twice, once for each folder.

• Crop: use the mouse to drag the images around the page to spread them out, then right click each for the image menu, select Crop/Freehand, and crop each picture freehand to include the best parts. If you screw up a freehand crop part way through (you're superhuman if you never do), cancel the crop by either pressing the ESC key or clicking outside the polygon you've drawn, then start again.

Cropping Tip: It is much easier to crop a big picture than a small picture. Before cropping, I often drag the image up to the upper left corner of the page, then resize it using the lower right corner of the image to make it as large as possible on screen. After cropping, it just takes a second to put it back where you want it. This helps with all styles of cropping, but especially with freehand, which takes a deft touch to do well.

• Add Caption: Select Add/Add Caption, drag a rectangle over the image in the middle, then enter the text and set the caption properties as desired. Remember to pick a contrasting foreground color when placing text on top of an image.