Create Personalized Photo Birth Announcements

There is nothing more joyful or worth bragging about than the birth of a new baby, and the first thing the new proud parents and grandparents want at to do is spread the news. Of course, the most common way to do this is to go out and buy birth announcements or have them made for you expensively by some person or company who does this for a living.

But why not make your own photo birth announcements ? Just the added personalization of your own cards can mean so much or if you are too busy with your newborn a family member can do it for you just as I did when my youngest grandson was born 4 years ago.

What you need:

It's really quite easy,
All you need is a printer
A greeting card program
Card stock paper
Photos of the baby in a file uploaded in your computer

There are many card programs on the market and at various prices, you can find one for about $29.00 to $49.00 at any Best buy or Circuit City type of store, you may even find one like I did in a bargain bin for $9.99..I have three programs, but my favorite is made by American Greetings since it only uses one disk with all your options on just that one disk so you don't have to keep changing discs like the program I have by Hallmark and Printshop. When you first purchase the program you just download the application disk into your computer so when its time to make your card you are all set to go...Just put the Create A Card disc into the computer and have fun

The program should have an option of "add a photo" that is what you will use.

The next most important thing is to have your baby pictures in a separate file on your desktop of your computer so you can access them easily when prompted for the picture, just like adding a picture to your articles on A.C.

Getting started:

Put your disk into your computer and go to the Add a Photos option.... look through the existing cards for the templates that say Birth announcements or New baby. Your card program may use a different term but I'm sure you will find it, all the programs I have seen have had that option

Once you find a card you like, it should have a place to add that favorite adorable picture of the baby somewhere on the front of the card, you then follow the information or prompts that will take you to Find the Photo on your computer and look for that special file you made, usually it's in My Desktop, just click on that link and your files should come up, go to your baby file and just click on the photo you want and it will appear in the correct spot on the card. Some programs may have their own wording or way of getting to the file but none that I have used have been difficult to find.

You just have to make sure you have that Add-a-Photo option in the program and it should say so on the outside of the box when you buy it.

You then can use the text that already is on the card or change it to say whatever you want just by changing text where it appears on the program. The software you are using can have many variables so take some time and play around with it. You might want to add another picture of the baby on the inside of the card. You can make the picture whatever size you want just by using the tools in the program.

On the back of the card you can also add some "back page art" and write "created by proud mommy" or grandma, and even put another picture of the baby or something symbolizing a baby, like a rattle or toy, most programs have that feature of "back page art" in the Art or Clip Art options.

Once you have the card the way you like it, just load up your printer with your card stock paper and your software should ask how many cards do you want to print so just add the amount and click print. Oh, I mustn't forget, when you use your new card program for the first time you will have to set your printer for the program, it is all self explanatory and you will be prompted every step of the way. It's really quite easy to do.

Creating your own photo birth announcements in this way is so special and when those on the receiving end see your baby on your very own card that you made yourself they can not help but be impressed with the baby and with your ingenuity. It's really fun and quite satisfying to see your own creative finished product. And to see that adorable baby, a star of his or her own homemade birth announcement