ZoomAlbum - Review and Giveaway

***CONTEST CLOSED. THANKS FOR ENTERING!***

Think back to the number of times you've encountered this scenario: while making a quick trip out to run an errand, you unexpectedly run into someone you haven't seen in quite a while. When they ask you how your family is doing, your first reaction is to want to show them updated pictures of your children, or describe to them a fun, recent trip that you've taken along with your family or significant other.

The only problem? Aside from badly-lit cell-phone pictures (and perhaps a wallet-sized photo or two), you don't have the photographic evidence to show your 7-year-old's newly toothless smile, or the fact that your 3-month-old is twice as big and adorable now as he was when your friend last saw him as a newborn. You can describe the events of that trip you took to the shore over the summer, but it's hard to convey just how much fun you had at the beach with your family - not to mention the fact that time won't allow for a detailed explanation.

Enter ZoomAlbum, an innovative photo album product that allows you to "take your life with you". With the help of familiar technologies found in most households today (a PC, digital camera, Inkjet printer, etc.), ZoomAlbum kits allow you to create a small, portable photo album with a professional look that can be carried inside a purse or pocket and shared easily with others as a handmade gift or keepsake.

Each ZoomAlbum kit contains everything you need to create three 3" x 3" photo books displaying 12 photos on glossy, high-quality paper. Just select your desired photos, organize them with the exclusive ZoomAlbum photo album software, and print them out on the patent-pending ZoomAlbum paper. Follow the step-by-step instructions printed directly on the photo paper, and in a matter of minutes you'll have created a unique, customized digital photo album bound in a convenient hard-cover (which is, incidentally, also customizable).

Here's a quick video tutorial on how to assemble and create your very own ZoomAlbum once you've printed your pictures out on the photo paper:


If it looks a little too easy to put together, that's because it is! The hardest part about creating your ZoomAlbum is narrowing down the hundreds of pictures that you've probably taken of your kids to only 12 per photo book!

Thanks to my membership at The Product Review Place, I was given the opportunity to try ZoomAlbum out for myself. I received one full kit for review, which included the following:

ZoomAlbum Creator Software CD - Easy-to-use photo album software program allows you to arrange your photos and print your page and album covers just how you want them.

(3) Glossy Photo Sheets - Unique patented photo pages are scored and self-adhesive, so you can assemble your one-sheet, 12-photo album in minutes

Glossy Album Cover Photo Sheets – High-quality paper means vibrant colors and long-lasting covers that you print yourself right at home.

Custom designed templates – Eliminate the guesswork! Just plop in your photos, print, and assemble your own Hardbound 3"x3" Photo Book.

One of two cover styles: Hardcover Album or Make-Your-Own-Photo-Cover Album

Complete, Easy-to-Follow Instructions that guide you each step of the way – printed right on the photo paper!

After giving it a bit of thought, I decided that I would use photos from my family's recent trip to the PA Renaissance Faire to create my very first ZoomAlbum.

The first step to begin the album-making process was to install the provided software onto my computer. Once this was taken care of, I was given the option of browsing various files and folders until I'd selected the 12 photos that would be used in the photo book. For my Renaissance Faire ZoomAlbum, I decided to use the following images:

Next, I was asked to select a page layout for my album, as well as a border (or picture frame) style for each of the 12 photos. Since I wasn't planning on using any text in my ZoomAlbum (I didn't want to detract from the size of the photos by bumping in words), I simply left the default page layout selected and went on to choose a lovely, antique-style border for the pictures. Here's a screen-shot of my selections:

Afterwards I was brought to the Prepare menu, which allowed me to crop my pictures down to size as they would appear in the finished product. In addition to this, I was given the opportunity to create a custom album cover using a photo of my choice. Luckily I had a gorgeous scenery shot of the main square at the Faire grounds, so I decided to use it as my photo book's cover.


The final step (before making preparations for the printing process) was to add text to the album cover. The software allows you to change the font, color, and style of your album's text, as well as positioning it however you'd like (right or left-aligned, or centered). There is also an option for adding a background to each block of text, and for adjusting the transparency of the backgrounds that you've chosen.

At this point it was time to preview each page of my photo book (as well as the front and back covers and book spine) to make sure that I was satisfied with the way everything looked. If not, I had the option of going back and re-cropping photos, changing around the cover text, etc. I was, however, satisfied with the finished product, so the only step left was to enter the Print menu.

This is where a bit of confusion may set in, as specific care has to be taken to adjust your printer's settings accordingly. Currently there are no known compatibility issues with either Epson Stylus Series printers or Canon Pixma Series printers, which was convenient for me since we use a Canon Pixma in our household. With a bit of help from the ZoomAlbum User Guide, I simply changed the Paper Type and Print Quality settings in my Printer Properties menu, selected the correct Album Size from the drop-down menu, and inserted a sheet of regular 8.5" x 11" paper into the paper feed tray for a test-print.

Since the test sheet showed no errors to be fixed (everything was perfectly centered and there were no problems with the margins), I inserted a sheet of ZoomAlbum glossy paper into my printer and waited until the beautiful, full-color images were completely dried. Then I used a glossy album cover photo sheet to print out the customized front-and-back cover for my ZoomAlbum. This worked in much the same way - feed the paper into the printer in the direction that the instructions ask you to, then wait until the ink is dry (which only takes a matter of minutes) before removing the sheet and continuing with the ZoomAlbum creation.

Assembling the album is not at all a complicated process, provided that you follow either the instructions printed in the User Guide, or the step-by-step video tutorial available on the ZoomAlbum website (also featured above). Here are some sample pictures of the final product, in all of its 3" x 3" glory:

BUY IT!
ZoomAlbum Photo Cover Photo Album Kits contain everything that you need to create three 12-page 3" x 3" photo books and can be purchased from the official ZoomAlbum website for $32.95.

WIN IT!!!
ZoomAlbum has generously offered to gift one (1) lucky reader with their very own ZoomAlbum Photo Album Kit, good for creating three pocket-sized photo books (with personalized covers)!

MANDATORY ENTRY:
Think about what you would use your ZoomAlbum Kit to create - a photo book gift for a relative, a stocking stuffer for your husband or wife, a brag book to show your children off with. Then let me know what you've come up with! This is required and must be left as a comment at the end of this post before additional entries are submitted!

EXTRA ENTRIES:
Feel free to do any of the following to increase your chances of winning. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each additional entry!

1. Become a Follower of this blog. If you are already following, please let me know! (1 Entry)

2. Follow me on Twitter. (1 Entry)

3. Follow ZoomAlbum on Twitter. (1 Entry)

4. Tweet the following:

RT @MommasGiveaways: Take your life with you! Enter to win a pocket-sized photo album kit HERE: http://bit.ly/1ObKKS! @zoomalbum

Leave the link to your Tweet so I can take a look (if you're unsure about direct-linking on Twitter, please see this page). (Can be done Once Daily for UNLIMITED ENTRIES)

5. Become a Facebook fan of ZoomAlbum. (1 Entry)

6. Subscribe to the ZoomAlbum blog. (2 Entries)

7. Grab my button and add it to your sidebar (if it's already there, let me know!) (1 Entry)

8. Fave me on Technorati (by clicking the link on my left sidebar) and leave your user name in a comment. (1 Entry)

9. Blog about this giveaway, with a link back to Ruminations of a Twenty-Something Momma, then leave the permalink so that I can visit. (3 Entries)

10. Enter any other on-going giveaway here at Ruminations, then let me know which one you've participated in. (1 Entry Per Giveaway)

Open to all entrants. Contest ends at 11:59 PM (EST) on November 11th, with a winner drawn via Random Number Generator the next day. If your email address is not visible in your Blogger profile, please be sure to leave it in your comment so that I can contact you if you are the winner! You will then have 48 hours to confirm or a new winner will be drawn.

Good luck!