2435 HappyNewYear! is a cool little custom calendar creator application. HappyNewYear! lets you combine on your own photo images with a standard CD jewel case to make very attractive little desk calendars, perhaps with photos of your kids or other loved ones, shots from your Caribbean vacation, or whatever suits your fancy. Calendars produced with HappyNewYear! will of course make great, personalized gifts.

• Create your own calendars by selecting a different photo for each month of the year. Just "drag and drop" your photos from iPhoto or the Finder—it's that simple!
• Customize the fonts and colors on your calendar. HappyNewYear! lets you set the fonts on your calendar to any font installed on your system. You can also choose the text color and background color on your calendar.
• Print your calendars with your own color printer. Cut the calendar pages out, put them in a standard CD jewel case, a calendar case or a 4x6 picture frame, and you're done!
• With 4x6 calendars, you can also save each calendar month as a JPEG file and print them out at a digital photo center.
• You don't have to wait until January of next year—start your calendar with this month and you can enjoy it right away. Make up–to–date calendar months with current photos for your friends and family.
• Calendars can be printed in any language supported by Mac OS X.

New in version 2.6.1:
• Fixed problems with changing the language of a calendar under Leopard

New in version 2.6:

• Leopard print preview in print dialog now supported.


• Months with an empty image area are not printed.


• Fixed Leopard iLife Media Browser drag and drop compatibility for easily browsing your iPhoto Library.


• New contextual menu for image areas to allow more convenient access to commands like 'Add Image...'.


• Fixed Leopard Widget compatibility.


• Fixed various Leopard Help Viewer compatibility issues.

The downloaded software operates by default in demo mode, restricted to last year's dates and with watermarks until you've entered the registration key, which must be done with your computer connected to the Internet. You also must register online using a credit card for payment. Once registered, officially the program must be used on that computer.

After the demo restrictions are lifted, you can set the month and year that your calendar starts with, and you're ready to create some calendars. The main user interface is a window with 12 picture fields. In order to import pictures from your photo collection, just select Add Image from the File Menu or click on the Add Image icon in the toolbar. A navigation dialog will appear, defaulting to the Pictures folder in your Home folder. Select the desired photo, and it gets inserted in the highlighted HappyNewYear! Field. If you want a full-frame rendering, the imported photo should be a 4:3 aspect ratio (eg: 1,600 x 1,200 pixels) in landscape orientation. If you change your mind about a photo selection, just highlight the field it's in and repeat the Add Image process.

The print area for a month is 4.75" x 4.75", which is the size of a standard CD jewel case, and the higher quality paper you use for printing (photo print paper is ideal), the more professional your calendars will look.







When you have them printed, cut the calendar pages out, using a paper cutter, razor and cutting mat, or scissors, put them in a standard CD jewel case, and you're done!




, not quite. Actually, you first have to take apart a CD jewel case. Find one with a clear, clean cover, and gently remove it from the body of the case, being very careful not to break the plastic tabs from the cover.




Then you reattach the jewel case cover backwards, ie: turn the cover around and put it back onto the bottom part of the case opposite to its former orientation, again taking care not to break the plastic tabs from the cover. Once the cover is reattached, flip it over to create your calendar stand.




Now you slide the calendar pages into the CD jewel case cover, and can store future and past months behind the current month.

HappyNewYear! is an inexpensive tool that faciliates making something everybody needs - calendars. I found that it works well, and I encountered no noticable bugginess. It's quick and slick. You really can't go wrong for ten bucks.

System Requirements
• Mac OS X 10.4 or higher

• Color Printer with at least 4.75" x 4.75" (12cm x 12cm) print area

System support:
PPC/Intel

HappyNewYear! is $10.00 demoware.

For more information, visit:

http://www.24x7digital.com/happynewyear/

For my full review of an older version (1.2) of Happy New Year!, visit here.
http://www.applelinks.com/p5/index.php/more/charles_moore_reviews_happynewyear_12_personalized_calendar_creation_progra/

Tags: Software Updates ï Graphics & Design ï Software News ï

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