Giveaway: New from Shutterfly – Photo Story for iPad (US, Ends 9/13)

Wow. Wow. Wow. Shutterfly Photo Story for iPad is a new way to make photo books, right from your iPad.  I was amazed at how easy it is to use and at the quality of the product you can create.  Ah-mazing.

I started making photo books when they first came out years ago.  I have so many friends, family, and acquaintances that have become photo book enthusiasts after seeing mine, I couldn’t even count.  There is something about the quality and format that makes them fun and easy to read.  When I take out my old scrapbooks, even my best friends groan, but photo books are always popular.  And scrapbooks took weeks to make – fun to do, but very time intensive.  Photo books are easy and can take anywhere from 1/2 hour to well, as long as you want to put into it.  But you can create a high quality book, that tells a story very quickly if you want.

I didn’t think photo books could get any better.  Until now.  Wow. Wow. Wow.  I am completely blown away by how easy it is to use the Photo Story for iPad.  Shutterfly has taken all the amazing navigation tools of the iPad and incorporated them into an app for creating photo books.  You know how easy it is to drag, enlarge, reduce and move around items on your iPad?  Now you can do that with your photos!  Wow.  It’s fun to be able to just drag a photo into the space in the book, then move it to center the focus of the picture, move closer, back up…. Wow.  Add text.  Change the layout.  Turn pages by swiping across the screen.  Scroll just by running your finger along the screen.  It is amazingly easy with all the iPad touch screen features!

Let me show you how I started a photo book about our last vacation to Walt Disney World, using Photo Story for iPad.  First, go to the app store and find Shutterfly Photo Story for iPad and download the app to your iPad.  It’s free.  Yup, free.  When you open the app, it will give you a brief introduction, the you go right into creating your project.

I won’t walk you through my entire process, but here’s an example of the type of navigation, choices, freedom, and creative fun you can have when making a photo book with  Shutterfly Photo Story for iPad.

Choose Photo Book Style

If you’ve made a photo book before, you know that you can choose a preformatted “style” for the book that includes layout choices, color schemes, graphic enhancements, etc.  With Photo Story for iPad, the style options scroll along the bottom and when you touch one, you can see samples of the layouts above.  I loved that you can see more than just two pages of the book when you are trying to decide which style will work for your book.  The styles are designed around function (Travel Snapshots, Artist’s Portfolio) and design palettes (Bright and Bold, Natural Neutrals, or Black and White).

After choosing your style, you go on to choose the size book. The prices are right there so if you’re like me and make so many that price matter, you don’t have to be moving from screen to screen to compare.  Photos can be brought in from several different places including Facebook, Instagram, Shutterfly’s Website, iPad Camera Roll or your computer.  I had uploaded my photos to Shutterfly, so I chose that option.  Then you can allow Shutterfly to put your pictures onto pages automatically or if you are a control freak like me, you can create each page separately, choosing your own layouts and pictures.

Now, are you sitting down?  There is another very innovative addition to creating photo books available on Photo Story for iPad.  Wow.  Sorry, had to say it again. In Photo Story for iPad, you have the option to add a sound bite.  Wow.  This is so cool!  My head is spinning with the options that this gives you.  Just a few weeks ago, my Dad passed away.  Fortunately, I had made some Record-a-Books with him reading bits of stories to my daughter.  Those are now even more precious.  Think of what you could do with this!  Yikes, the options for creating heirloom keepsakes is incredible.  But, also fun, fun, fun books.  Wow.

Here’s a video of just a quick thing I did with my daughter for our first page of our Disney trip.  She describes what she liked best about going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  I have text in the photo book for the printed version, but this cute story will be there as well for the iPad version.  This is an incredibly fun and versatile option that changes the world of photo books.  AND are you sitting down, the printed version will also have a QR code that you can read with your phone or other device and hear the recordings.  Wow.

Want to make a photo book while you’re waiting in the car line or watching ice skating practice?  But there’s no internet.  Guess what, you can do that!  You can make a book, or share a book anytime, anywhere.  The digital version of your book is free and you can share it on Facebook.  Email it to grandparents.  Wow.

Note:   this app requires iPad 2 and above or iPad mini with iOS6 installed.

Here’s a quick, quick video from Shutterfly about the Photo Story for iPad (and I love the house in the video)

One lucky KLY reader is going to win an 8×8 hardcover photobook (to be ordered through the app) from Shutterfly!

1. Click to www.shutterfly.com/photo-book-ipad-app/?cid=SFLYBLipadp and tell me your favorite feature of Photo Story for iPad.  Answer in a comment below.

Additional entries

2. Follow Kelly’s Lucky You on Twitter. Leave your Twitter username in a comment on this post.

3. Like Kelly’s Lucky You on Facebook. Leave your Facebook username in a comment on this post.

4. Follow Kelly’s Lucky You with BlogLovin’ and leave your BlogLovin’ user name in a comment on this post.

5. Follow Kelly’s Lucky You on Pinterest. Leave your Pinterest username in a comment on this post.

6. Subscribe to Kelly’s Lucky You by Email. Leave a comment below telling me you are a subscriber and the email address, if different than the one you use to leave the comment.

7. Blog about this giveaway on your own blog and leave the link to your post in the comments.

8. Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts – then, leave a comment here with the title of the non-giveaway post. Max of three entries for comments on three non-giveaway posts.

9. Up to one entry per day – tweet about this giveaway. Leave a link to your tweet in a comment on this post. Sample tweet:

I just entered to win an 8×8 hardcover photobook from Shutterfly’s new Photo Story for iPad!   http://bit.ly/167fG8n

Leave one comment for each entry. Random.org will be used to determine the winner based on the number of comments. Contest ends Sept 13th at midnight EST. Winner will be notified by email to the email address provided in the winning comment. See my Giveaway Rules page for further information. Sorry, US residents only for this giveaway.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I was paid for this post.  All opinions are my own.