Free ID Card Maker

Do you need to create an ID card for a class, guests or simply for yourself? With the help of BighugeLabs, a web portal that allows you to create effects on your photos, you can create an ID card, nametag or any badge in an instant. Here are the simple steps to create a customized ID card:

1. From the homepage, select “Badge Maker”
2. Once you’re on the Badge Maker page, upload a photo you’d like for your ID card. You can either upload a photo from your PC, or get it from your Facebook or Flickr account.
3. Choose which part of the photo you want visible in case it needs to be cropped – center, left or right
4. Choose the layout orientation of your ID, whether it’s landscape or portrait
5. Select the color you want for your ID
6. Fill out the information requested – name of your ID, your name and other text you want included. You also have the option to include a bar code.

When you’re done, press “Create.” The website will instantly generate your ID. Save the image if you’re satisfied with the ID design. If not, you can always go back and edit it.

BighugeLabs is a simple and very easy to create an ID card. The only thing I hope they would add to this very helpful application is a “preview” function while you are in the process of creating your ID card.

Related Link: Free name tag creator

Free custom watermark to protect your photos online

Are you concerned about your online images being used or downloaded without your permission? We hear stories about photos being used in promotional materials or websites without the consent of the individuals in the photo. Adding a watermark to your photos would make them a little more secure. WaterMark.ws is a free tool that allows you to instantly add customized watermark on your images and makes it easy for you to put your “own stamp” on them without the need to register, verify e-mail, or install anything.

WaterMark.ws is very simple to use and works in three easy steps: Upload; Add text or image; and Download. It saves you time by allowing you to upload multiple photos at a time and do batch processing. However, each photo file size should not go over 500 kb. Once you have uploaded your photos, proceed to adding a watermark. This is where the fun starts. You can choose to either upload an image, or type a text to use as your watermark. You can use your logo, company name or website instead of the usual copyright symbol. There are also options for font, size, color, angle, or to have your watermark tiled. You can resize or compress your images to fit your purpose. For example, you can resize your image to make it suitable for a blog post. Once you have decided on the styles, click “Process Photos” and the website will immediately begin processing your photos.  Depending on the number, this may be really fast; sometimes less than 20 seconds for one to two images!  Finally, download the watermarked photos onto your PC.

While Watermark.ws is a very useful tool, the developers may want to consider including a link feature to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, or to photo sharing sites like Flickr or Photobucket.  This would make it more convenient to post your watermarked photos quickly. 

Copyright infringement is so rampant on the web and with the “right click”, anyone can claim your images as their own. But with WaterMark.ws, you can protect your photos from unauthorized use.

Create free wall-size posters

It’s great being able to blow up your pictures on the computer, but once you print it out, it comes out on a small, single page…wonderful.  But with Block Posters, you can blow up the picture and print it out as a poster!  Huh? But how can you do that? Your printer only takes legal and letter-sized paper.  So how do I get the poster paper into the printer?

With Block Poster, it’s as easy as 1,2,3:

1. Upload your image from your computer
2. Slice your image and choose how many sheets wide you would like your poster to be once printed.  And then once you’re happy with your selection,
3. Download the .pdf file containing your newly created images, and print.  Each page will be a section of the picture.  Combine like a puzzle, and tape to the wall your new enlarged poster.

 Block Poster is great for students and kids looking for ways to decorate their rooms, maps for companies, photographs, and more.

Be A Star On A Magazine Cover

Now everybody can be a star!  With Magcover, you can be on the cover of your favorite magazine (or one similar to it).  We’ve had a lot of fun with this.  Magcover provides the magazine’s headline, so all you need is a picture of yourself.  Next, add your own headlines, or keep the ones provided.  It’s real easy and a lot of fun to create!  You’ll need to register for an account if you wish to save it, print it, or send it to friends, but it’s free.

Magcover does have other options, allowing you to order high definition magazine wraps to impress or fool your friends and colleagues with.  Printed on glossy photo paper, preformed to fit a perfect bound magazine (also included), and even shipped worldwide.  You may also order them on shirts, mugs, and bags.

Magcover is easy, professional-looking, and best of all, it’s free (unless you make an order for it to be printed onto something).

Free Online Picture Hosting

We've all heard that if you upload your pictures to the internet, they're there forever and anybody can get a hold of them. So with that in mind, community sites like facebook, myspace, or your personal blogs are really not the safest places to share your life's experiences. But what if you want to easily and quickly share your pictures via email, chat, social network, or a message board (forum)? Or maybe you'd like to share your pictures only once, and then forget about them, never having to worry about them surfacing in some company's ad? Or maybe you'd just like to have a backup copy of your pictures stored on the internet for safe keeping? What do you do? You could pay an annual or monthly fee to one of those hard drive backup sites, or you could check out a free online picture hosting site, like "fumpr.com".

Formally known as "FixUpMyPic", "Fumpr" is "the world's fastest and easiest (free online) image host". There's no need to register, and yes, it is 100% free!

Once you upload your pictures, you'll be provided with a fast loading image and some easy ways to share them on the internet. JPG, PNG, BMP, and GIF up to 3MB are allowed, though fumpr will eventually allow additional file types and larger sizes in the future.

The ONLY way someone will see your pictures is if you share the link with them. For instance, if you want the pictures for yourself only, just don't share the link. Or if you only want one person to see them, then give them (and only them) the provided link. And everything you post will be safely stored there forever.

In terms of picture content, anything is allowed unless deemed illegal and/or inappropriate by applicable law. On that note though, if someone reports an picture, then without reason to the original uploader, fumpr will permanently remove the picture. This is also good should somebody upload an embarrassing picture of you, say from your younger years, that you don't want anybody else to see. Simply click on the "Contact or Report" link at the bottom, email fumpr the link, and "(they)" will take care of it."

Another reason fumpr.com is the best free online picture host for you and your pictures.

Free Superhero Maker

Move over Superman! Now, everyone can be a superhero with this cool application from Kodak - Make Me Super, a website that makes anybody feel like a member of the Justice League. Make Me Super transforms you into a superhero instantly with a video and picture to boot. All for free!

The website is really fun to try. I got a kick out of making a video of my "super husband." First, choose your gender. Second, enter your superhero name or what you want to be called, (Super Mom, Super Girl, etc.). Third, upload a picture that you want to be placed on the superhero face template. You can choose a picture either from your Kodak Gallery account or from your desktop. Once the picture has been uploaded, adjust the size of the picture by scaling or rotating it to fit the face template. Then click on the video button and enjoy your superhero 10 seconds of fame. You can also share the superhero video with your "super friends" through e-mail. Also as a bonus, you can download your superhero picture onto your computer!

So go ahead and see if you look good in a spandex and a cape. :)

Free Funky Avatar Creator

Want an original and personalized avatar?

BeFunky lets you create and customized a personalized avatar for free through its Cartoonizer, Uvatar and Video Cartoonizer. Creating an avatar is made simple as it provides an animated step-by-step use of the site's features.

The Cartoonizer instantly transforms your pictures into a sketch or a digital painting. Simply upload a favorite picture from your desktop, a webcam or any website, then click "sketch" and watch the picture instantly become cartoonized. You can adjust the level of sketch, add color, or warp the picture. You can also add "goodies" like frames, jewelry, or text.

The Uvatar is my favorite feature of the avatar-creating website because of the variety of options you can do with it. Choose a picture where the whole face is visible. Using the site's tracing tool, click the areas of the face that you'll be using for the avatar. Choose a gender of your avatar and adjust the size of the face on the avatar body selected. The fun part comes in choosing the avatar's clothes, costumes and background to go with your style. When you're finished creating your avatar, you can share your avatar with friends, or post it on your favorite social network.

If it's not too late and you're still thinking of a unique (or belated) gift for your dad for Father's Day, log on to BeFunky and create an uber-unique avatar for him. The avatar picture on this entry is actually a picture that my husband and I made out of our (his) dad's picture. To us, he is truly a Super Hero!

Free Picture Editor

For easy and instant adding of oomph to your pictures, Picnik is one site you could count on. It is a free online picture editor that makes picture editing as easy as, well, just going on a picnic.

Picnik is user-friendly and does not require much technical expertise. You don't have to download any software to start using it. Once you've signed up for a free account, the website lets you edit your picture that are stored on photo-sharing websites like Flickr, Facebook, or Photobucket. You may also upload your pictures directly from your computer, a webcam, or from results of a Yahoo search.

The editing tools of Picnik are very direct and properly arranged. You will not get confused or overwhelmed by what tools to use. Although most of them are standard such as cropping, sharpening, auto-fixing and rotating, there are many effects to choose from which are easy and so much fun to use. You can posterize, pixelate, add tint or even gooify your pictures. Just click on the effect you want and adjust it according to how you much effect you like. And if you're not satisfied, you can always undo the effects you've made.

My favorite part on the digital editor website is the polariod frame effect. Again, using my husband's picture when he was a child (I totally adore his child pics!), here's a sample picture I edited on the website:

Like most free online picture editors, Picnik does not have the advanced features of Photoshop. But it surely is one useful website you will want to bookmark.

Free Brochure Maker

 Here's a useful tool for small businesses and organizations that have little or no budget in producing company print collaterals.

My Brochure Maker is a free web-based application that makes it available for everyone to create professional-looking brochures and flyers. It is simple and easy to use even if you don't have any knowledge on desktop publishing.

Click on the "Get Started" button to begin. A new window will appear where you'll be creating your brochure. Select the type of brochure you want to create, and then choose which theme you want. Do not worry if the theme you like is not in the selection. You can always replace the stock photos with your own and customize it according to the brochure theme you want. Each theme has already been laid out. All you need to do is provide the text for the spaces available. I strongly advise that you finalize your text before you start doing your brochure or flyer, because it is difficult to edit them on the website.

After you're done with the text and have reviewed everything, click "Next" to print your brochure. There will be instructions on how you can print it properly. In case you cannot yet finalize your brochure, you can save your work without having to create an account. Just give your e-mail address, and the website will provide a link for you to retrieve your project.

My Brochure Maker might not have any of the advance editing tools that other professional design software have, but it's got the basic tools needed which are simple and easy to follow. And best of all, it is free! Students and non-profit organizations might also find this application useful for their projects, campaigns, or events. It's a great tool for everyone who does not know how to use Adobe Photoshop, does not like MS Publisher, or have the budget to buy expensive desktop publishing software.

Here are some more resources to help you create a great and readable brochure:

     

Free: Appear on a Magazine Cover

Who says only stars can be magazine covers? With MagMyPic, everybody gets a chance to be on the cover of a (fake) magazine.

MagMyPic has 20 realistic fake magazine covers with the font styles of real and well-known magazine covers. Land on the cover of Vague, Sports Celebrated, or Natural Geography. Whatever title you choose, you grace its cover for free.

The site is very direct and easy to use. You don't have to register or download anything. Just upload a picture you want as a magazine cover. The site then generates a selection of all their fake magazine covers with your selected picture as the cover. Choose which magazine you like and the size, whether small or medium. The website then finalizes your selection and gives you a code to paste onto your sites like My Space, Facebook or Friendster. You can also just right click on the image to save it directly to your desktop.

I had a fun time with this website, especially in putting my dog's picture on their magazine covers. I never thought being on a magazine cover can be this addicting! :)

Free Digital Scrapbooking Kits

Even scrapbookers are now going digital, turning to the Internet for ideas, new designs and unique embellishments. Indeed, digital scrapbooking is the new trend!

I think digital scrapbooking is part of the "evolution" of photo books as creative people clamor for more control of their photos, designs and layout. One of the interesting websites I found on this ever-growing popular hobby is Shabby Princess which features free scrapbooking kits to download (as long as it's for personal and non-commercial use). Their designs vary from holiday-themed kits to seasonal and occasional themes to everyday fun activities. There are classical designs, nature-inspired, and funky themes (which I like best!) to choose from.

If you're new on digital scrapbooking, Shabby Princess has a tutorials section to help you get started. I've noticed though that most of the how-to's are on using Adobe Photoshop, which can be extremely useful for non-artists.

As we become more empowered by our digital cameras, I will not be surprised if digital scrapbooking becomes more popular than paper scrapbooking. Plus, it solves some of the problems that traditional scrapbookers face such as creating space for scrap tools like papers, die cutters and scissors. But most of all, you say goodbye to paper cuts! :)