Is This the Best Collage Maker for You?

(Save days of research with this five minute review)

Overview/Pre-Summary

One of the things I was most impressed with was how quickly collages could be created. In just a few clicks (literally), you can create collages, scrapbooks, greeting cards, posters, invitations and calendars.

Unlike many of the other programs that were reviewed, this program did not takes days to master.

After easily downloading the product, I was able to slap together my first collage in under 20 minutes. (And that was without looking at their video tutorials or referring to any Help screens.)

After spending 30 minutes learning about the program, I tried it again. This time it took less than 15 minutes to create an even better collage. And if you think 15 minutes is a long time, at least 8 of the 15 minutes were spent deciding which photographs to use. Pretty impressive (their software, not my collage).

Another plus was that you do not need any specific collage-making experience to use this program. "Picture Collage Maker Pro" lets both seasoned collagers (is that a word?) as well as new hobbyists become productive in literally minutes.

Although you can develop a collage from scratch, one of the best features of this collage package is its large library of professionally-drawn templates. Don't get me wrong - most photo collage packages include templates.

But... many of the templates included in other packages look like they were thrown together by a six-year-old. That is definitely not the case with this software (just one of a few reasons why I have rated it #1 in this category).

Features & Capabilities

1. Templates -There are over 125 templates for collages, greeting cards, invitations, and calendars; all of which are easily accessible by scrolling through a thumbnail menu on the program's main screen.

   Once a template is chosen, I liked that you have complete control over paper (or "canvas") size and orientation. You can input text, frames, backgrounds, masks and photos by using icons or the drop-down toolbar on top. In addition, there is a decent-sized catalog of usable clip art available for use.
   

2. Image Manipulation - This is another area where the software excels. Images can be cropped, rotated, re-sized, and freely arranged within the collage so easily that I felt I'd been using the software for months rather than minutes.

   The program supports drag and drop image placements, resizing and multiple layers for images and clipart decorations (objects can be placed on top of other objects).

   Your final collage can be saved as a new JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIF, or TGA image and/or set to be your computer's wallpaper.
   
   

3. Photo Collage Wizard - If you're in a hurry, use their wizard to create a photo collage automatically. Just select your photos and click the mouse one time!
   
   
4. Real-Time Editing - See the changes made to your collage immediately, without having to save and then reopen the file.
   
   
5. Frames, Borders, Clipart, Photo Masks - A large number of each of these are included in the collage maker. At the risk of sounding like a broken record... the selections included in this package provide just about any combination you want to enhance your collage.

   I would not have been as impressed with their selection had I not seen the "mediocre-to-poor" selections used by over a dozen other collage maker programs.
   

6. Filters and Photo Effects - Advanced photo editing tools allow you to stylize the look of collage images through the use of various filters. A few examples include black-and-white, sharpening, contrast, saturation, hue, radial zoom, and a blur filters.
   
   
7. Light & Color Managemanet - Allows you to edit an image's brightness and color. Picture Collage Maker give you nearly as much control over editing as what is usually found in your basic photo-editing software packages.

   Don't get me wrong - you will not be able to perform "Photoshop-like" editing with PCMP. However, most people who use collage maker programs, don't need that level of sophistication. If you do, you probably want to consider the winner of the Professional-Level Collage Maker category.
   

8. Printing - Print your collage directly from Picture Collage Maker Pro
   
   
9. Multiple Undos - Allows you to undo several recent collage changes as a group - major time-saver!
   
   
10. Email - Send your collage to others through email
    
    
11. System Requirements - Microsoft® Windows 98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003 Server/VISTA compatible.

Screenshots

There are dozens of background designs to choose from, or you can use a photograph for your background.	Various types of masks can be chosen for any photo in your collage.
Several different editing effects can be done easily and quickly.	You have complete artistic control over each separate photographic element (image or clip art) as to position, rotation, frame, mask, etc.
You can use the "collage wizard" to quickly and easily create collages.	Choose from over 125 different templates.

Negatives

It took me a while to figure out that in order to reposition an image within its frame, the cropping tool must be used. Not very logical to me, but hey - I'm a photographer, not a software developer.

However, now that I know, I just have to remember. I should point out that once the function is performed, it does so flawlessly, as does the traditional cropping function.

The Navigational Pane Menu on the left-hand side of the application is clean, flexible, and well designed. On the other hand, the tool bar located on the top of the menu, is slightly more cluttered than I prefer.

Hovering your mouse over each icon displays a tool tip explaining each function. Although most users will rely on ToolTips less and less as they become more familiar with the program, they are necessary in the beginning to know what you are looking at.

To be fair, there is also a drop-down menu which clearly describes every option you have in the system. If you tend to use menus rather than icons to navigate through an application, you will be quite comfortable with PCMP's menu structure.

Price and Value

This payment gets you free lifetime support for the product and an unlimited-duration license (no future renewal fees for the life of the product). Following purchase, you even get a 30-day Moneyback Satisfaction Guarantee.

After having more fun with this program than I thought was legal, I did something that I have never done before. I contacted the manufacturer of Picture Collage Maker Pro to see if he would be willing to provide a special discount just for my visitors (that would be you).

Much to my surprise, he agreed. Therefore, here's the deal:

1. Download the Free Trial Software
   
   
2. Play with it for 15 days and see if you like it (there truly is no obligation to buy it)
   
   
3. If you do decide to purchase Picture Collage Maker Pro, do so through the "Help Menu." This will save you 15% off the price, plus you'll receive our no-cost COLLAGE BONUS PACK

• Panorama Software
  
  
• Photo-editing Software PLUS Free Instructional Videos
  
  
• Mosaic Software
  
  
• A 9 page e-book: The Must-Have Photography Checklist

Brief back story - A recent analysis by a photography association has shown that the single largest growth area for photography-related gifts is Photo Holiday Cards.

With Picture Collage Maker Pro, you can easily design your own holiday cards and then have inexpensive prints made at Costco or an online lab. So how much money are we talking about?

This is a quick cost comparison between purchasing 50 photo cards from a merchant versus designing your own (with Picture Collage Maker Pro) and then having 50 copies made. The following are actual costs (as of October 2009) of what it would cost to run off 50 copies of two different sized photo cards at Costco (which by the way, has extremely competitive prices and above average quality).

Summary