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Lasting Impressions Product Review MemoryMixer software
Review by Rachel
I have to be honest and say that I was scared silly when I volunteered to do the Memory Mixer Software by Lasting Impressions review. I am not a digital scrapper at all. I love the feel of paper, adhesive and ribbon. I am a texture girl! I want to feel it and have it in my hands. I also can sometimes be what my husband calls "software clumsy." That means that I get nervous when dealing with a software program that I don't know, and make errors out of something that is really so simple. I have needed my computer geek husband's help only once during the install part. I did everything else by myself. I kept getting a weird error message but my husband figured that out and I was on my way! WOOHOO!! Okay, that gave me confidence to get in and get my hands messy! Oh, wait, this is digital scrapping! No mess involved!
Lasting Impressions is best known for their brass stencils and embossing software. This time they created a digital scrapbooking program called MemoryMixer! MemoryMixer goes beyond a regular digital scrapbooking program and makes the experience a multimedia presentation. It includes music and video! WOW! Yes, you can take one of your favorite songs that you have saved on your computer, create an album, add a video with sound, and you have an incredible multimedia presentation! MemoryMixer allows video files in QuickTime movie (.mov), AVI (using Cinepak, DV or Motion JPEG codes), Mpeg (.mpg) and Flash (.swf) formats. Music files accepted include: WAV, MP3, AIFF, and MIDI sounds. MemoryMixer retails online at the MemoryMixer website for $79.95 and does not include shipping.
Once you have installed the software and read through (glanced through like I did) the 83 page User Guide; you are ready to start creating your albums. There are three immediate choices: InstaMix, QuickMix, and Scratch. Instamix automatically places your photos on your choice of backgrounds. Quick Mix lets you choose from over 30 designer mixes with a theme of your choice and place your photos where you want them. The rest of the album is already designed for you but you can make changes and customize it to suit you! Scratch means that you are in control and you start from Scratch! You pick your background, your pictures and placement of them, your embellishments, and your journaling.
I used all three settings to make layouts and albums. I found that the QuickMix is the fastest. With the wonderful designer mixes you just need to plug in your photos. You can make changes if you like, and it is done without spending too much time on the album or layout. The InstaMix and Scratch take only a few seconds longer. My albums and layouts came together in about 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Oh, and beware, don't cook anything while working in this software program! You will burn it! On the MemoryMixer blog, they were saying their customers commented that the box should have a warning label on it; I have to agree! Housework ceases to exist when you are digitally scrapbooking. I am not going to tell you what I burned (Mac&Cheese) and who wants to vacuum when you are having so much fun! Okay, I did tell you! I told you just so you won't feel bad when you do the same thing!
I decided I wanted
to do an album about all the things we are doing this summer called
Summer Fun!
Products used:
MemoryMixer Software, Lasting Impressions
Patterned paper, Smooth Sailing Scratch
Brads, Seaside, Lasting Impressions
Ribbon, Orange Grosgrain, Lasting Impressions
Flourishes, White, Corner Flourish, Lasting Impressions
Flourishes, White, Flourish, Lasting Impressions
Daisy, Gerbera Daisy, Life is a Garden, DSP
Font: Gilligan's Island
Another feature I love about this program is that can change the order of your layouts within the album.
Leesha and Noah:
Products used:
MemoryMixer Software, Lasting Impressions
Textured paper, Forget Me Not Burlap
Alphabet, Mailbox Tag Brown, Lasting Impressions
Flourish, Base, Lasting Impressions
Bubble, Life3, Lasting Impressions
Font, Chunky Monkey Extended
Don't forget to check out the rest of the Review Team's layouts in the Lasting Impressions Gallery!
This program has over 1200 different embellishments and overlays. The embellishments range from ribbon to brads to definitions and flourishes. Lasting Impressions has partnered with All My Memories and SEI to give you some amazing choices in embellishing and overlays. It has 400 different digital backgrounds in both square and landscape orientation. These backgrounds range from nature, metal, patterns, and textures. It has so many choices and I never once had a hard time matching anything. I found the color chart in the User Guide extremely helpful! I printed out just those pages and referred to them many times.
MemoryMixer software allows the addition of narration to your albums. You can record a memory thereby storing the sound of your voice or a loved ones voice forever. This feature is great for Grandparents telling stories. It would make a cool heritage album having your loved one's voice as the narration. If you have background music running within your album, the narration will supersede the background music. This is an amazing feature and one I plan on using very soon.
Another feature that I had fun working with (and my daughter thoroughly enjoyed watching) was the "Apply Effects" feature. You can change the look of your photos to black & white, sepia, cartoon, fish eye, and even sketch. They really make this process so easy! Justhighlight your choice on the drop-down box and click. How much easier could they make it? In that same area, you can add a mat to your photo, add shadow, play with opacity, crop your photos, mirror your image, flip your image, and so much more.
If you are on a time limit when creating an album, the designer mixes are so much fun! There are at least 30 that are included with the software and another 32 QuickMix available on the MemoryMixer website. The prices range from $5 to $7. That is quite affordable considering all the different backgrounds, embellishments, and fun things you get with each one! Also, just a tip, all of designer mixes can be edited to meet your needs and your personality. You can definitely add your own touch to each one.
The last step is finalizing your album. I have to tell you that this step gave me incredible peace of mind. It allows you to view your album as it will be seen when printed, or download it onto a CD or DVD. It will even run a spell check for you. The software then goes through and makes sure that there are not any errors that need to be fixed before it is ready to go. Once you have gone through those three safety checks, you are then free to either print, create a CD or order a DVD, or get the layouts professionally printed. To print these layouts at home, you will need a very high quality printer.
There is so much involved with MemoryMixer that it is hard to tell you everything that this program can do. I have had so much fun using this program! One suggestion for improvement: I do wish that we were able to import other digital kits beside those from Lasting Impressions into the program. It would be so nice to have all the digital items in one place. You can use other digital kit items in this program, but it is done in the "add photo" section.
I really enjoyed digital
scrapbooking, and yes, that is coming from someone who said they would
never make the switch. I still love scrapbooking with my hands and paper
but my horizons have been expanded thanks to the MemoryMixer software.
I really think that MemoryMixer by Lasting Impression makes digital
scrapbooking easy and fun. This software program is so user friendly.
Not once did I get so frustrated that I had to walk away from it. If
you are thinking about trying out digital scrapbooking or love digital
scrapbooking alredy, you'll want to check out MemoryMixer. I give Memory
Mixer my HIGHEST recommendation.
Digital scrapbooking is extremely popular and with the advancement of scrapbooking technology, I believe it will not go out of vogue any time soon. However, it can be a bit overwhelming to transition from paper and glue to digital because many of the programs out there are difficult to work with or hard to learn.
Enter Lasting Impressions' MemoryMixer software for digital scrapbooking.
I received the Memory Mixer scrapbooking software which consists of four individual CDs containing the program and elements. The software comes complete with hundreds of embellishments and papers. The packaging states that creating layouts is "Easy as 1, 2, 3…" I admit, I was a bit skeptical of that statement at first because I have dabbled in digital scrapbooking for a year or so and I tell you, sometimes it isn't so easy. But after I installed the software (which is compatible with a PC or Mac) onto my computer I soon found that it really was easy as 1, 2, 3!
In a matter of two hours, I had completed an eight page mini album and half of another mini album. I only stopped because I had to go make dinner for my family!
There are three ways
to use the MemoryMixer software. The first method is the "Instamix".
This method allows you to select your background and photographs and
MemoryMixer creates the layout design. You are then able to add your
journaling and any additional embellishments if desired. Here is an
example of a page from an album I created using the Instamix method.
"Going Out in Style"
Products used:
Lasting Impressions: MemoryMixer Software, embellishments (circles,
flowers, stitches, and flourishes), patterned paper, overlay
Digital Scrapbook Place: Staple embellishment
Font: BernhardFashion BT
The second method,
"Quickmix", lets you create an album using your photographs and
journaling along with professionally created pages. The following page
is from an album I created using the Quickmix method.
"Feeding the Ducks"
Products used:
Lasting Impressions: MemoryMixer software, ‘A Day at the Beach'
Quickmix design package
Font: Arial
The third method is
"From Scratch". Fairly self explanatory in that you start with a
blank slate and create your entire layout using the different papers
and embellishments. Here is a sample of a page I created from scratch.
"January Calendar
Page" Products used:
Lasting Impressions: MemoryMixer Software, embellishments, papers
Font: 2 Peas Squish, Fine Hand
With so many choices provided for papers, overlays, and embellishments, it is really easy to create page after page and still have a unique layout. And when you feel it is time to add more goodies to your options list, Lasting Impressions sells more digital packages on their website.
Another perk the Memory Mixer software offers is digitally created papers and embellishments from top companies like SEI and All My Memories. There are also several coordinating lines from some of the top digital designers.
And if all of the above doesn't make your ears perk up and your mouth water, when you use the MemoryMixer software, you are also able to add video and music clips in your album. So, if you are sharing your albums online, you really have a multi-medium album.
You may be asking,
"So what if I want to actually hold the pages in my hot little hands?"
Not a problem. At the beginning step of creating each individual album,
you are prompted to enter what type of album you want: landscape or
square. Each setting allows you to print your album in multiple sizes.
For example, if you choose to create square pages, you may print your
album in 12x12, 8x8, 6x6, etc. If you choose landscape, it is very easy
to print your page as 8.5x11, which is the standard size printer available.
It is also possible, with a little tweaking in your personal photo editing
software, to create different sizes for different needs. The following
example is of two layouts I created to fit in my z becky brown purse.
I think they look spectacular printed and the layouts were so easy to
create.
"z becky brown purse pages" Products used:
Left Page
Lasting Impressions: MemoryMixer digital scrapbooking software, overlay
Digital Scrapbook Place: ‘Birthday Rules' (overlay, paperclip, staple),
‘Believe In Yourself' (Rick rack, title), ‘Grandma's Bible'
(Tag Fibers)
Font: 39 Smooth
Right Page
Lasting Impressions: MemoryMixer digital scrapbooking software, overlay
Lynn Grievson: ‘Classic Baby Girl' (title, stamp)
Digital Scrapbook Place: ‘Family Memories' (bronze holder)
Font: CK Cursive
In all, I cannot say enough wonderful things about the MemoryMixer software from Lasting Impressions. I truly believe that this software will revolutionize the digital scrapbooking world in that it will open it up to so many people who have been afraid to start scrapbooking digitally. The MemoryMixer software is perfect for the beginning digital scrapbooker who really needs that little push to create pages. It is perfect for the intermediate digital scrapbooker who wants a little more creative control, but still enjoys a little help now and then. And it's perfect for the advanced digital scrapbooker who wants total control of their pages but wants a program that is easy to use straight from the box.
The MemoryMixer software retails for $79.99 and it is worth every penny. If you are even remotely interested in digital scrapbooking, you must use this software. If you have ever wanted to start digital scrapbooking but didn't have the fancy software programs out there that cost hundreds of dollars, you must use this program. And if you are like me, a digi-dabbler, but want to become more proficient in digital scrapbooking, you must use this program.
It takes a lot to
wow me, but Lasting Impressions has done more than wow me. They have
truly impressed me and made me get excited about digital scrapbooking.
MemoryMixer is definitely a "must have".
Digitally Bring Your Memories to Life - Easy!
I admit it - I'm not a digital scrapbooker (well, I wasn't before writing this review). I've always looked at digital pages created by other people in awe - but never knew how to get started. I even downloaded some of the "free digital elements" kits before - for future use. But I never learned how to create digital pages. There is a learning curve in the programs that I need to use, and I haven't been inspired to take the time to learn the basics. I was happy to hear about a MemoryMixer, a new digital scrapbooking software from Lasting Impressions. MemoryMixer is the first digital scrapbooking product to be introduced from the scrapbooking industry. MemoryMixer was created by Lasting Impressions, in conjunction with StoryRock, the world's largest provider of digital yearbook technology for schools. As soon as MemoryMixer arrived at my desk - I began my journey into the digital scrapbooking world.
My MemoryMixer box contained a sturdy plastic album that held 4 program CDs. I easily loaded the program onto my computer. MemoryMixer is available for Windows 2000 or XP or Macintosh OS x 10.3.5 or greater. The MSRP is $79.95. The MemoryMixer box reads "Easy as 1,2,3", and I agree. As soon as MemoryMixer starts, you have a choice to "mix" (create a new album), or open an existing album. Then you can choose how you want to create your pages: InstaMix (choose the photos and let the program make the pages), QuickMix (choose professionally designed pages and just add your own photos), or From Scratch (select each element or use your own). MemoryMixer offers themes such as family, friends, love, travel and baby. My first pages were using the QuickMix option. I created a whole album in a matter of minutes with the predesigned pages. What I liked about this, besides the easy of having the pages made, was the ability to move, change or delete the elements, along with resize or rearrange the photos. Even though the QuickMix pages are "premade" - you can still customize things. The QuickMix option is great for beginners to digital scrapbooking. In addition to creating beautiful pages in minutes, MemoryMixer will help you add video, music graphics and narration to your pages! You can even scan memorabilia such as your children's art work, report cards, or other keepsakes. You can copy your creations to CD to share, or print your pages out to include them in your albums.
My first QuickMix
pages can be found here:
Beach Album 1.
Beach Album 2.
Beach Album 3.
After making a few
pages and getting used the program, I wanted to make a page from scratch,
choosing my background paper and elements. I created "My Girls"
from scratch quite easily. MemoryMixer allows you to add text and journaling
to your pages.
Title: My Girls
Supplies:
Digital Software: MemoryMixers by Lasting Impressions
Digital Elements: Lasting Impressions
Font: Wendy Medium
Remember that I mentioned
having other digital elements on my computer, waiting for my journey
into digital scrapbooking? I couldn't wait to see if I could use them,
and they worked. I used a few elements along with the Lasting Impressions
elements and created a ballet themed page about my daughter.
Title: My Ballerina
Supplies
Software Program: MemoryMixer by Lasting Impressions
Software Elements: Background and photo mat by Lasting Impressions
Other Elements: Rhonna Farrar Spring Fling Digital Kit
Font: AucoinExtBol and Arial
Although there are a few photo editing functions, such as orientation, crop or filters such as sepia, this program is not a full featured image editor. If you want to edit your photos - you will need to do that in a separate program. I don't think of this as a negative because I usually do my photo editing as I upload my photos anyway. The page elements available in the program include pages and elements from SEI and All My Memories. You can easily purchase more page elements from the MemoryMixer website. MemoryMixer comes with a helpful User Guide in PDF format that is easy to read. I also used their customer service via their website and they were very helpful in answering my questions.
For my next creation,
I used elements from Lasting Impressions Designer, Lynn Grievson from
the "Classic Baby Girl" collection.
Title: Certified
Sweet
Supplies:
Digital Software: MemoryMixers by Lasting Impressions
Digital Elements: Lasting Impressions Designer - Lynn Grievson "Classic
Baby Girl" and other Lasting Impressions Elements
Font: PhyllisD
I used the Surf &
Sand Quick Mix to create pages for my beach album. Below is one of the
pages created with this. To see more pages from this album, visit the
MemoryMixer gallery (Link below).
Title: Beach Memories
Supplies:
Digital Software: MemoryMixers by Lasting Impressions
Digital Elements: Lasting Impressions Designer - Kelly Hann Mize "Surf
& Sand" Quick Mix
Font: Arial
What I'm not able to show you about MemoryMixer is the ability to add sound and music to your albums. I added music to my entire Beach Memories album - easily! The album can be copied to a CD or DVD given as a gift. I have not ventured into adding video or narration to the to the program due to my own technical handicaps.
In conclusion,
MemoryMixer has made my journey into digital scrapbooking so much fun.
I was able to create beautiful pages easily right away. The only downside
to this program is the addiction factor - I have been having so much
fun using this program that I have lost track of time. I'm happy to
recommend this program for creating beautiful digital pages. I especially
recommend it to those who, like me, have wanted to try digital but hesitated
because of the learning curve. MemoryMixer makes it easy! To view more
creations using MemoryMixer by Lasting Impressions, visit the ScrapFriends' Lasting Impressions Gallery.
MemoryMixer Scrapbooking Software from Lasting Impressions is definitely a switch for this company that started out as creating products for dry-embossing. Digital scrapbooking has become a very popular way of preserving memories. I have been fascinated by the wave of digital scrapbooking that has hit the markets in recent years, but had yet to delve into this new arena. With the release of MemoryMixer, my want to explore the digital side of scrapbooking with little effort has been met.
The MemoryMixer software includes four discs which contain everything one needs to begin the journey into digital scrapbooking. The software is designed for use of any skill level, which is particularly lucky for me since I had very little knowledge of digital scrapbooking before this review. Memory Mixer includes a variety of multimedia options, including images, video, sound clips, and music along with more traditional digital scrapbooking abilities.
When opening the program, there are three options or ways to create your pages, including Quick Mixes, Instamix, and From Scratch. The Quick Mix option allows the user to select a pre-designed album and insert their own photos for a very quick, professional looking album. The Instamix option allows the user to select the backgrounds, photos, and embellishments and the program builds the pages. The From Scratch option is for higher skill levels and allows the user to use their own digital creations along with elements of the program to create beautiful pages.
The MemoryMixer program is not intimidating at all. As soon as you begin using the program you are walked through several steps for setting up your first album. I was impressed with how easy it was to begin. Anyone with a basic working knowledge of computer skills will be able to create pages in minutes with this program. I selected the Instamix option and began working on my first two pages. Brads, ribbons, and flowers were all there at the click of my mouse. Finding my photos on my hard drive was probably the most difficult part of the process. I created my first two pages in probably less than thirty minutes.
Las Vegas Memories:
All Products used from MemoryMixer Software
I decided to use one of the Quick Mixes to create a page about one of my son's favorite summertime activities. After importing my photo, I was also able to add embellishments, title, and journaling.
Wet N' Wild:
All Products used from MemoryMixer Software
I have truly enjoyed
working with the MemoryMixer Scrapbook Software from Lasting Impressions.
I think that this company has gone a long way toward making digital
scrapbooking accessible for a variety of different levels of scrapbookers.
While I love what I have done so far with this program, and I find it
very addicting, I doubt if I'll ever go completely digital. I do recommend
this program for anyone who has been wanting to dabble in the world
of digital scrapbooking. Fun, convenient, easy, and worth the money
in my opinion!
I'm a paper girl. I love all the different patterns and colors. I love the way it feels, cuts, crumples and tears. So when I was asked to try out this new scrapbooking software, I was a bit nervous. I had made one digital page in my life and wasn't sure I was ready to give up my extravagant love of paper.
I put my disk into my computer and in about 30 minutes, a whole new world opened up to me. I installed the software all by myself. My husband is known as "tech support" in our family so I knew he could do it. But I wanted to be sure that it was "do-able" for someone less qualified and it is.
Opening the software gives several options for creating elements but I began with was the "Mix a new album." Clicking it brings up several options:
InstaMix which
creates an album quickly, each page resembling the other. All you do
is choose the background and photos and it Mixes it. I loved this option
because of the speed. I was pleasantly surprised that the software did
a good job matching up photos and placing them of the page. Then I added
embellishments to each page to spice up the design and make it "my
own." Incidentally, this was my very first page with the software.
Boxing Day Dinner
Font (Blackadder ITC)
From Lasting Impressions:
MemoryMixer Software, Lasting Impressions
Weathered Beet Red background paper
Beet Red brad
Scratch Black Overlay
Black Flourish
Joy Bubble
From Digital Scrapbook Place designs:
"Spumoni" vellum tag
"Grandma's Bible" lace
"Family Memories" white script
This layout is part
of an album that commemorates our 8th Anniversary which we spent in
Aspen.
Signs of Spring
Supplies:
Elements by Lasting Impressions:
MemoryMixer Software, Lasting Impressions
Background paper (Weathered White w/white stripes overlay)
"Heritage Collection" oval
Sketch Green frame
Celery Bloom flower
QuickMix which
creates a bunch of pages along a given theme. The software lets you
choose themes by manufacturers like Lasting Impressions and SEI or by
digital designers. A preview image helps imagine what it will look like.
This requires a bit more work as the photos are not automatically set
up but an interactive place holder shows where the photo will be inserted.
Simply double click on it and your browser will open for you to find
the photo you would like. Then you can crop, zoom or resize as you desire.
Sew Much Fun
All page elements created by Lasting Impressions:
MemoryMixer Software, Lasting Impressions
Background paper (Tangerine Green Dots)
"Family Ties" collection yellow square and white oval
Vanilla Stitching
Celery Dot corner
Yellow Weathered Blooms
Font (Papyrus)
From Scratch
which allows you to create, well, from scratch. I admit that this optin
intimidated me and I thought I would never really want to use this as
it would be so time-consuming. But…I checked it out for the review
and was pleasantly surprised. I found a number of "sketches" of
photo placement on pages (for up to 4 photos.). A preview image shows
how the photos will be laid out. Since I had created several layouts
before this one, I was quite comfortable laying out the elements I wanted.
Monkeys
Supplies:
All page elements created by Lasting Impressions:
MemoryMixer Software, Lasting Impressions
Background paper (Green Apple Dot)
White Colorblock (40% opaque)
Soccer Words by Digital Scrapbook Place (40% opaque)
Large dot Circles in Raspberry (found in the colorblock section)
Feel free to check out the ScrapFriends' Lasting Impressions folder for more images that all the review team members created.
- What I loved about this software:
- that I can quickly size an object by clicking and dragging on its place-markers
- that I can use my own catalog of fonts
- that I can burn an album to a disk and give it as a gift to a friend
- that I can quickly access a variety of album themes, embellishments, papers and more
- that I can use pre-designed templates and yet, create my very own pages
- that I can design digitally!!
- What I less than love about this software:
- that when I give someone a disk for someone, they have to use Quicktime to play the album. I have other image player software that I like to use and doesn't eat up as much computer memory.
- that when I give someone a disk with their album and they want to find out more about MemoryMixer software, they have to register to access the Frequently Asked Questions.
- that when viewing an album, the software asks me if I want to change my screen resolution. Having an LCD screen limits the options for viewing and offering that is not helpful to me.
There is some learning involved with the software, as there would be with any complex programming such as this. I feel I have a slightly better than average knowledge of image-editing software so I know plenty of tricks and tips that were applicable to the software. I do think, however, that even without those hints, a person with basic computer knowledge could use this. I did have a question regarding the software that I e-mailed to technical support and got an adequate response in a reasonable amount of time.
Conclusion: Let me say, that the things I love about MemoryMixer far outweigh the things that I found frustrating. Other scrapbookers may not find those issues frustrating at all. With MemoryMixer software, I love digital. I love all the different papers, embellishments, colors, patterns. I love the ease, the look, the options and the final product. What a blast. I love that there are several levels of assistance that the software offers and that within those options it give infinite possibilities for creation. I think this will improve my paper designing as I grow in my digital designing. I know the price seems a bit steep but if you are AT ALL interested in beginning digital page creation, I would absolutely say it is worth it. Save some pennies and go for it. Highly recommended.
For more information visit MemoryMixer
