First and foremost, you must make sure your settings on your digital camera are properly configured. Always remember that the larger the pixel setting for your images, the higher your resolution (clarity) of the picture. This is very important! Although this may leave you with less space on your camera’s memory card, you can always delete it after you’ve downloaded it to your computer. Another alternative for high-resolution images involves photo original hardcopies that you may want to scan into your computer. Always remember to set your scanner settings at 300dpi at 100% same-size, and then save as a jpeg. If you are scanning a very small picture such as a wallet size, you may want to increase the image size to 150%, which would make it half more than its original size.

You will probably already have a photo-imaging program installed on your computer such as iPhoto, Preview, Image Ready, or PhotoShop (the best option). Always feel free to explore these digital imaging programs. You will be amazed at how easy it is to operate a few simple tools within the program that can brighten and beautify your photos! Try lightening your darkened tone photos by simply selecting the contrast selection in the toolbar. If you are experiencing red eye, there is usually an easy quick fix-it option in your photo download program. Otherwise, you can get creative and do your own retouching by using various other tools in the menu bar; all you have to do is explore! Remember that if you make a mistake or if you want to undo an action, just revert to save or “undo” before you actually save the image.

When choosing your holiday photo cards, select a design that does not conflict with the main subject – your precious loved ones. Make sure the graphics enhance your family shot and do not conflict with it. Select colors within the photo card design that coordinate with the colors in your photo. You don’t have to be a graphic designer or an artist to get those stunning results when it comes to digital photography, and you certainly will not look like a dummy when your family and friends receive your amazing personally finessed digital holiday photo cards this season! Good luck!

There are lots of things to like about a snowflake background for your digital photo cards. For one thing, they are not holiday specific. I don’t have to give any thought about which holiday, if any, is celebrated by my intended recipients because who doesn’t like snowflakes?! If I’m tardy getting them mailed out, it’s not so embarrassing because at least it’s still winter (I’m not that much of a procrastinator!).

Design #F62DSC1, Pensive Bear Christmas Photo Cards, a favorite snowflake design from ChristmasCardsDirect.com.

Another plus is that snowflake designs enhance my photos; they don’t distract from the photo. Snowflake designs seem to almost always incorporate some shade of blue, and blue makes a very attractive setting for every shade of human skin and hair, not to mention fur, fins, and scales from your non-human family members.

Then there’s the peaceful nature of blues and crystals, something we all need more of as one year draws to a close and another begins. No matter which digital photo I choose for my holiday cards this year, I know it will look all the finer when it’s framed with a pattern of lacy snowflakes.

Sara is past 50 and I won’t go any further than that; of course if you ask her age she will tell you, but that’s her choice not mine. Anyway, Sara has worked in a doctor’s office as a receptionist for the past 30 years. Every year I would ask her where she is taking her vacation, and every year she said her and Bob may go to China, but instead they’d go to Ship Bottom, a small town on the Jersey shore. They certainly enjoy themselves, but their dream vacation had been to go to China and see the Great Wall. When they saw the pictures from space that showed the Great Wall of China, they started planning. It seemed something always came up: they had children, the children needed education, the furnace needed to be replaced, etc. And so the vacation was always delayed. When they sent out their photo Christmas cards, the note inside would always say “Maybe we’ll see China next year.” Well the kids were finally grown and last year they made the trek, and after 30 years, they were able to stand on the Great Wall of China. A dream realized is always something that should be shared.

My favorite photo Christmas cards are no longer going to be of cute children or adorable puppies, but of two aging friends who have finally lived their dream. Sara and Bob grinning from ear to ear on the Great Wall of China shows that holiday photo cards can celebrate the joy of living…something you can feel at any age. This year Sara and Bob are going on a safari and I can’t wait to see what their photo will be on their Christmas cards.

When snapping pix at that holiday work party
Take them early before people take flight,
Or before celebration causes behavior
That colleagues wouldn’t want caught on film that night.
Table shots of bleary-eyed folks clutching drinks
Won’t make the newsletter, or bring any delight.

At family reunions, weddings and such
Special groupings by generations are fun.
Large numbers will need that special touch;
Yell, “Duck, your head’s blocking Aunt Ida’s face!”
Kick off your stilettos or boots, find a high perch
Then snap away fast as you can while all are in place.

If it were up to my husband, our Christmas photo cards would feature a picture of his most prized possession - his snowmobile.

I have visions of a bull dog named Tallulah with fake reindeer ears adorning my future Christmas cards, but my fiancé is allergic and thinks bull dogs are ugly. Why am I marrying him again? Oh yes, that darn falling in love thing made me overlook this very unlikeable quality he possesses. Children are in our future but not in our present. We have decided, quite practically, to wait and start our family once we have a little nest egg and a couple years of married life under our belts before a mini-us enters into the picture.

I guess our future adorable Christmas photo cards are going to have to wait a few years. We will continue to send out jolly, happy messages including snowmen, snowflakes, trees with snow, cabins with snow-covered roofs, or snow covered streams (did I mention my fiancé is really into snow sports?), and I will just have to push those little pings of jealousy aside when opening up all those adorable photo cards. To my future husband, the snowmobiles are not our babies and we are not naming any future pet IQ or Turbo.

However, some of that changed this past spring when we incurred a series of bad storms. It wasn’t long before I revealed several leaks in my roof which had damaged some of these valuables. After having it evaluated by a professional, it was determined that I needed a new roof. This meant that my entire attic had to be cleared of the clutter. I knew this was going to be a bit of a project, so I asked my two brothers to help out with moving boxes from my attic to the basement.

At first things were going smoothly. But it wasn’t long before Pete and Phil started to get sidetracked by opening up boxes. After revealing a case that included some old and out-dated clothing, they soon encountered another box that was full of a variety of digital family photos. We started to laugh at the dated pictures of us. Everything from the thick glasses to the ridiculous hairstyles…it was quite a riot.

We continued searching this box to see if any of the digital family photos were damaged by the water. As Pete was sorting through the stacks of loose pictures, he discovered a sealed envelope labeled “WAC, 1950s.” We immediately thought of my grandfather, whose initials were W.A.C. We opened the envelope and found a handful of black and white pictures and a journal that was kept by my grandfather while he served in the military. We couldn’t believe it. We discovered a hidden family treasure amongst all the junk in my attic.

After talking it over, we thought it would be a great idea to hold on to the pictures and journal as a Mother’s Day gift. So we placed both items in a box and gift wrapped it. We promised each other not to say a word about this in order to keep it a surprise.

When Mother’s Day came, our mother was floored by the gift. She asked, “How on earth did you find this?” We all looked at each other and I said, “Just be glad you raised a junk saver.”

Snow photos near the beach? There’s a whole new perspective for your camera! Envision it: pristine, silent, and shimmering with naturally peaceful wishes. Rocky coastline? Think of your exciting photos of surf spraying upward on impact. You can almost smell the water and air!

Beach photos make for beautiful and memorable photo holiday cards.

You don’t have to live near an ocean coast to share these feelings. My memories of growing up near Lake Erie and the Niagara River give a surge of joy to my soul. You don’t even have to partner an “official” body of water with this joyous appreciation of nature. A photo of a spring-fed pond or a manmade swimming hole, surrounded by lush vegetation and canopied by blue skies, can evoke a sense of peace, freedom and whispering breezes.

Capture a critter within your holiday photo cards and enlarge your message to include animal, as well as mineral and vegetable. Catch a seagull in soaring flight over the water or a pelican atop a rock or a scurrying sand crab. Add a campfire on the beach and you have all the elements of nature: air, water, fire and earth. Get creative by showing empty sandals in the sandy foreground, surf and sky beyond.

In other words, you can send a mental and emotional vacation near the beach as a holiday gift to every recipient of your personalized photo holiday cards!

I found myself first playing this game a year or so ago. I was in my dentist’s office and looked over at the display of holiday cards that he had received. I was surprised to see corporate Christmas cards that I recognized from my company’s website. The game had begun! I began to subconsciously look for our cards whenever I was in someone’s office. My friend’s pediatric office had quite a few; my own doctor’s office had several more; but I found the most of them in the rectory of my church.

Unfortunately, not a single one of my co-workers wants to play this game with me. I think it would be fun to see who can come across the most corporate Christmas cards from our company. Maybe I should ask some of my pre-school aged Sunday school students to play with me instead.

I have an abundance of nieces, nephews, cousins, Godchildren, extended family members, and friends, and many years ago I started a photo album that holds a collection of personalized Christmas cards of them all from past Christmases. In fact, the first photo Christmas card was started by me when the nieces and nephews were about five or six years old, and I took them to have their first Christmas photo card made as holiday gifts for their grandparents and their own parents. This started a tradition in my family to have the photo Christmas card taken and sent to me to add to my collection of personalized Christmas cards of not just nieces and nephews, but the cousins’ children and children of family friends as well.

During the Christmas holidays I display the latest Christmas photo cards on my fireplace mantle, and I have the Christmas photo cards album to share with everyone as we laugh and reflect on the memories of Christmases past and present. Looking at the pictures from the past, when everyone wore the matching Christmas sweaters, to the present days elaborate winter wonderland scenes with the kids “bling-ed” out. The tradition of the Christmas photo cards has grown from a couple of photo albums to a five-foot Christmas photo card tree that’s decorated with twinkly white Christmas lights and past and present photo Christmas cards inter twined amongst the lights with a bright shining star tree topper. My family loves to mail me their personalized Christmas cards to add to the tree, which we call the “Memory Tree.” Who would of thought that the simple gift of Christmas photo cards would be the perfect gift to start everlasting family memories.

Of course, another reason I love these digital photo cards at Christmas is that it’s like the gift that keeps on giving. The photos are promptly put on my refrigerator at home, or on my desk and wall at work. Sometimes when it gets particularly hectic, it helps me when I look at the photos, especially the kids and pets.

Here's an idea - send vacation photo Christmas cards featuring a picture from your last trip.

Your pictures do not have to be of people. If you have a talent for photography, you can use shots of scenery or events that you saw while on vacation. The roaring ocean, a simple shell, a native dance, or a glorious sunset will make your one-of-a-kind vacation photo the card most treasured by its recipients.

Someone remarked that it would be a great idea to have one made for our company to send to clients, vendors, and employees. I have proposed just that to my superiors, and they are considering choosing a digital photo from our company picnic for this year’s Christmas cards.

So whether it’s for business or pleasure, hop on to the vacation digital photo train and put your skills to work.