Customer Reviews

Invent It! Photo Calendar Kit

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought three of these calendar kits in November of 2000 and gave them as Xmas presents when completed.

The kit contains heavyweight paper for the cover(s) and 15 pages with glossy paper on one side and matte on the other. The glossy side means your photos can be printed at the highest photo-quality setting of your printer, and the matte side (for the month's grid of days) permits easy writing. That is the major draw of the kit. If there is a glossy/matte printable paper out there, I don't know of it (a trip to Kinkos would take care of the binding). The pages are pre-cut with a hole to hang the thing from and holes for the plastic binder. Two clear plastic covers are included, as well as two sheets of sticker paper, to print stickers for placement on the finished calendar. I didn't use them.

I have considerable, but non-professional, computer experience, and I found the calendar kit to be a good experience. I composed a calendar of our two daughters, with 12 monthly photos and a cover photo. I used 3.3 Mega-pixel digital images from my new Sony S-70 digital camera at full resolution, and included them at 8"x10" size. High quality images are a must for good results. After constructing the January graphics, I simply altered it for the other months. In total, you need 12 month grids, 12 month photos, cover photo or graphic, and rear cover graphic (if desired).

A couple of caveats. First, large photos, particularly dark ones, chew up printer ink. Be prepared to feed your printer ink cartridges. Try to use photos without a lot of dark background, or consider smaller sizes. I decided to pass up on a beautiful photo of a Halloween pumpkin that had an extensive black background. Secondly, I had some difficulty getting the paper to feed into my HP 722 smoothly. I think the printer may not be used to feeding paper with the glossy side DOWN, as is required to print on the matte side. As a result, the printing was tricky, I lost a couple of pages (you get three extra), and it took a lot of time. The large photos, as usual, take a long time to print. I don't recommend doing more than a couple of kits in a short period. Let the relatives compete for your affections. Finally, the heavyweight covers are very nice, but one side is matte white and the other is DARK BLUE (Argh! They should change that, and make one white/white, for the front cover/January). I used one for December/back cover (the "copyright" on the blue side), but used a glossy/matte month page for the front cover/January, with a clear cover on top of it. One less screw-up possible, then.

If you need software to compose your calendar, they offer an "Invent It! Photo Calendar Plus" version that includes the software. I used my own Corel Print House program, so I can't comment upon the "Plus" version.

The results? My mother-in-law said it was "the best present she had ever received," and my Dad said that one of the pictures of our older daughter "brought a tear to his eye." Enough said.

I purchased my first calender kit a few months back.The first kit I bought was the Photo Calender Plus with the software. And of course I had to try it right away. It is very easy to use. And the prepunched pages are great it saved me a lot of time. I really couldn't believe how easy these calenders were to make. And the finished product is just fabulous. I have family and friends who saw my calender. And just had to have one too. I have purchased at least 35 Photo Calender Kits in just the last two months. I really want to thank Invent It this is one great kit. It is easy to use, you get enough pages so if you do make a mistake you don't end up short,they give ideas on how to lay out your calender and sticker pages too. I plan to keep using this kit for all my calenders...

For four years we've been producing family calendars for Christmas gifts. The first year we let Kinko's do it all for us. That was easy but you only get 1 photo per month with no graphics or other frills. The second year we found some matte/flat paper and printed things on the computer and let Kinko's bind it for us. That was the worst of both worlds and finding that paper again is impossible.

Last year I found these kits and bought one with the software. The software wasn't too helpful to me (being the control freak that I am) but the kit itself it wonderful! 15 pages for the calendar, clear plastic or blue paper covers, and a binding. It is literally the perfect set of supplies for this type of project. I used 5 kits last year and may use even more this time. After all, once you get the design down why not make a lot!

I use Calendar Creator and MS Publisher to make the calendar and photo displays. You could use their software if you want. Either way, the paper, covers, and binding in this package are the only way to make calendars with your printer.

I highly recommend this to anyone. I've tried the alternatives and this is the best!

I bought 6 of these last year and made them into Christmas gifts for my family. They were a BIG hit!! The kits are extremely easy to use and you get extra paper in case you goof. I am planning on buying even more this year for Christmas gifts. I used to buy photo calenders through the mail and this is a LOT easier, faster and CHEAPER than that. (Plus, the results are just as good if not better)!

I bought this specific product while browsing in my local office supply store quite awhile ago.(The kit with included software is available but costs more!) I finally pulled it out to make a calendar for my mother's birthday (Jan 8). First, I was pleased with the contents, they give you everything you need and more to do a 12 month, high quality calendar, in a variety of ways. There are sufficient instructions for those with a bit of experience with an inkjet printer. If you're new to this follow the suggestion and print up samples at a low resolution or b&w and on cheap paper. (My personal opinion: whenever there is a problem with the project - the fault usually lies with the printer and or user (me!).) I have a Lexmark Z51. I love my printer and this kit was a perfect fit. My printer has a "drying time" setting and I use it on photo type papers. I used the Hallmark Deluxe Card Studio to print all the monthly data because it allows you to add personalized "special days" as well as pick which "national" holidays you want displayed; it also shows miniature prior and future months on the page. I then loaded up all the matte sided pages and printed all 12 months in one sitting, at 600 dpi resolution. I was impressed. Then I went to MS Publisher to print the photos. (I had already composed them using MS PictureIT Publishing 2001. This is what takes the time!) I set up the page layout and just loaded each JPG file and sent it to the printer in the appropriate order. You need 13 sheets to do a 12 month calendar. They give you extras in case you make a mistake. I didn't, so I actually had enough to print a full page 12 month calendar for 2002 and 2003! (I used PrintShop Deluxe 11.0 to do this!) After assembling the calendar, I discovered the 2 sticker pages. I printed up little moon phases clip art, birthday cakes, etc., cut them out and added them to the appropriate blocks on the calendars. I used the solid blue sheets (included in the kit) as a cover and back cover. I then printed up a photo of my mom when she was a kid on the sticker paper and cut it out and stuck it on the cover! She was impressed with the results and I was so pleased with the product that I immediately bought two more.

Nothing is nicer than receiving a gift made especially for you. I love crafting but to my embarrassment, I am "craft disabled"!

I take snapshot photographs as a hobby and inundate my sisters and brothers in law and my chidren's grandparents and their great grandmother with pictures of my kids regularly.

Thus purchasing this calendar kit was ideal for me!

I'm adept at using the computer for word processing, using the internet and creating and maintaining spread sheets, but haven't done a lot yet with photographs and graphics. Thus, this was a completely new program for me to learn. The directions are clear (I've had problems understanding or have found some instructions so complex, I become intimidated and don't use them, this was not the case with this package.)and it's easy and fun to use.

I purchased a few of these calendar kits (THEY COST LESS THAN PURCHASING A PRE-PRINTED BOOKSTORE PICTURE CALENDAR, GREAT BUY!). Then I separated my favorite photos and organized them by month (photos of the kids playing in the snow for January, dressed in red [Valentine's Day] for February, on Santa's lap for December, etc.) Then I inserted photos of my children with the intended calendar receipient throughout the remainder of the calendar (people LOVE having pictures of themselves!).

This way, family and friends see photographs of my little ones and are reminded of us throughout the year. I ULTRA personalized all of my family's calendars, including printing everyone's birthdays, special family dates and anniversaries thereon (With telephone numbers!), which was REALLY appreciated by all.

Finally, for me, this was a really fun craft to do, I really enjoyed making the calendars. This kit is a perfect vehicle to be artistically creative for those of us who are "artistically impaired". The final, finished products look sleek and professionally made, which is always a plus when having made gifts for presentation to others (without embarrassing yourself!).

Everything is included: 15 sheets of heavyweight, 2 sided photo paper (one side is for the picture, the reverse for the calendar), Heavyweight paper and clear plastic covers, Print & stick project paper, Easy to use spiral binding, PLUS, you can create and add stickers for special days & events using the included print & stick project paper.

To actually make the photo calendar you just plan your calendar by selecting images for both glossy and matte coated sides of each sheet. Then check your printer manual for instructions on loading and feeding heavyweight photo paper. Then test your design by printing on a sheet of plain paper. If satisfied, set printer driver to the appropriate setting for either gloss or matte side. You then place one sheet of photo paper in the printer. They recommend printing the matte side first. Allow paper to dry completely before printing on the reverse side. If desired, create and add stickers for special days & events using the print & stick paper. Choose either heavyweight paper or clear plastic covers for your calendar. Snap on the sprial binder and you're ready to display or present!

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION for the perfect, home-made gift that the receipient will use and keep!

I have made family calendars as Xmas gifts for 6 years now. I have experimented with every kind of paper imaginable. I found this kit last year, and all 18 families that received the calendar agreed that this is the best ever! The best feature is you have glossy photos on one side and the matte finish on the other that allows you to write on the calendar. Absolutely the only way to print a beautiful, usable calendar.

The product description under features "*Create your own calendar" and one product review that refers to software included in a similar product led me to the assumption that this kit included software to make a calendar. IT DOESN'T! What you get is a box of paper with perforations (glossy on one side) and a little plastic "GBC" type binder doo-dad... Since I do not have any Calendar making software, the kit is worthless to me unless I go out and spend more money. If you have some software already, then great, but do not buy this product thinking it has everything you need to make a calendar out of your family photos.

I found these after I couldn't find the hp kit I usually used every year. This is the first time I actually used it and I am so amazed at how easy it was to assemble and print out. I have had so many problems with the other kits I purchased, the time it took with other kits was about 3-4 days total, but this one was completed in 2 days! I am definitely going to use this one again.

I made 4 calendars as Christmas gifts for relatives. I found the kit very easy to use, and felt it printed high quality looking pics. I did not like the binding which was too weak to hold a calendar with 15 heavy pages. I ended up taking my finished calendars to Kinko's. For less than $5 each, they added better binding and put protective plastic sheets between the pages. The end product looked very professional and fun.