Web 2.0 Tools for Desktop Publishing

1. PsPrint
    http://www.psprint.com/
    What You Can Create: Everything

PsPrint is a free online tool where you can create many types of publications like invitations, business cards, flyers, brochures, newsletters, banners, and pretty much every other type of publication that you can think of. You can design your own publications or you can use any of the several templates that are included on the site for free; however, you will need to pay for the product to be made and sent to you. The price of that will be determined by which product you choose and the quantity that you would like. I experimented with this tool by making an invitation. I opted to design my own, and it was very simple. I just uploaded an image for the background that I wanted, and I added the amount of text boxes that I needed. I was able to change the font (there are many choices), the font size, and the alignment that I wanted. I used a lace background, and I also wanted to add images onto the background. It was very easy for me to do this and to customize them to the sizes that I wanted. In my opinion, the tool is of very good quality. The templates that are offered look amazing, and it would probably be the choice I would opt for instead of designing my own because the design can be very time-consuming. There were no glitches that I noticed, but the image upload did take a few seconds (only seconds) longer than other sites that I have used for uploading images. I would definitely use this site anytime that I needed to create any of the vast amounts of publications that they have available. I would rate this tool a 9 out of 10 simply because the design part could offer more choices for the user, but I would absolutely recommend it to someone else to use.

2. Evite
    http://www.evite.com/
    What You Can Create: Invitations

Evite is also a free online tool where you can create invitations. This site was VERY easy to use. I could not find the option of designing your own invitation, but with the available templates that they have, I could not find a reason why you’d want to spend the time to design your own. The templates were amazing, and I actually made one for my graduation. All I had to do was click on the template that I liked, and the next page had me fill out a few boxes. I LOVED that the preview was at the top so that I could easily view it, and I only had to click on the camera to change the picture to one of me. I also loved that when you go to the next step, it lets you preview the invitation. The invitation is sent electronically and allows the receivers to RSVP in the simplest way possible: with one click. There is also an option to print the invitation for the ones who would like to send a hard-copy instead. The invitations are of great quality, and I also had no issues with this website. I would also use this tool any time that I need invitations made, and I would recommend it to other people. I rate it 9.5 out of 10 because I do wish that there was an option to design your own template.

3. Poster My Wall
    http://www.postermywall.com/
    What You Can Create: Posters/Flyers

Poster My Wall is an online tool that allows you to quickly make posters and flyers by designing your own or using one of their templates. This tool is free to use, and you can download basic quality prints of your publication free of charge; however, it costs $2.99 for the photo quality download, $7.99 for the poster quality download, and you have the option of purchasing high quality prints from them. This tool was also very user-friendly, and I do not think that most people would have any problems figuring out how to use it. The design features on this site were more appealing because the layout was better and there were more choices. I had no issues with this website, and I can see myself using it if I ever want to advertise something, have a dinner party, cookout, etc. This is also another site that I would recommend using, because I rate it a 9 out of 10. It is very simple to use, it is inexpensive to get the product, and I absolutely love the layout.

4. Flyer Lizard
    http://flyerlizard.com/
    What You Can Create: Flyers

Flyer Lizard is another free online tool where you can create flyers. You are really creating your own flyers from scratch. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of customization available. That being said, Poster My Wall is definitely my favorite between the two, and I’d rate this site a 7 out of 10. I would not recommend it to other people, and I wouldn’t use it myself. The site wasn’t glitchy, and I had no problems with it. It’s just that there were not many options and it was also very slow. It is probably the most simple site to use, but it also has restraints on how creative you can be.

5. Jukebox Print
    http://www.jukeboxprint.com/editor/flyers_creator.php
    What You Can Create: Postcards, Business Cards, Brochures, Letterheads, etc.

Jukebox Print is another free online tool that you can use to create many different publications as well. I used it to create a postcard, and it was also easy to use. I could do the background I wanted, add pictures, change the font to exactly what I liked, and there were many color choices. It was quickly published just by hitting the button and having a link to download to my computer as a PDF. I had no issues with this site whatsoever, and I would use it for any of the products it offers. I rank it 8.5 out of 10 because it could be better, and I would definitely recommend it to you all.

6. My Creative Shop
    http://www.mycreativeshop.com/postcard-templates.aspx
    What You Can Create: Postcards

My Creative Shop is an online tool that is not free, but it does offer a free trial. This site appears to be more targeted towards businesses. When looking at postcard templates, there are many that are like the ones you get in the mail from places like dentists, dealerships, hospitals, etc. This site has more of a computer software feel to it in that it has menus like Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc. There isn’t much customization available, just options to add text, images, and three basic shapes: rectangle, circle, and line. That being said, I did not care much for this site either. I would rate it a 6.5 out of 10 and I definitely would NOT recommend it. It is a free trial, but there are many other sites that are free and way better…trust me.

7. Biz Card Maker
    http://www.bizcardmaker.com/#/
    What You Can Create: Business Cards

Biz Card Maker that lets you create business cards for free and to download them. This site is very simple, but the choices are very limited. I couldn’t figure out how to change the background color, and all I could do was change my text and add my logo. I was not a fan of it, but being free, it is good for a lot of people. I would not recommend it because of how little quality it has in my opinion, and I also would not use it to create my business cards. I rate it 7 out of 10.

8. Business Card Land
    http://businesscardland.com/home/
    What You Can Create: Business Cards

Business Card Land is another online tool that allows you to create business cards. It is not free, but the site offers a very good deal on ordering the cards. For example, you can get 500 business cards for only $8.50. You can download the PDF yourself, but with the cost of the paper and ink you would be using, I would opt for ordering them from the site. There weren’t many choices when it came to templates. Therefore, I did not like this site either. I could probably design my own on Publisher that would turn out better, but who knows? The quality did not seem good at all, and I would not use it myself. Since I wouldn’t, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to you to use. I give it a rating of 6.5 out of 10.

9. Calendar Labs
    http://www.calendarlabs.com/photo-calendar.php
    What You Can Create: Calendars

Calendar Labs is an online tool that will allow you to make calendars out of your photos. This was the simplest tool I used while doing this project. I just picked the month I wanted, selected the photo I wanted from my pictures folder on my laptop, clicked “create photo calendar”…and boom…it was there. All I had to do was save it to my laptop, and I could print it easily. There weren’t options to change colors or fonts, so that saddened me. I am all about customization, so this disappointed me greatly. Because the customization is so important to me, I gave this tool a 6.5 out of 10 as well. Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend it.

10. Big Huge Labs
       https://bighugelabs.com/calendar.php
       What You Can Create: Calendars

Big Huge Labs is the final online tool that I found to create calendars. It was free and simple. Like the other, customization was not an option. The only customized choices I had were the picture, and if I wanted the calendar week to start on Mondays. This was such an easy tool, but I cannot stress customization enough. I looooooooove customization, so this tool would not be an option for me in the future. Again, obviously, I would not recommend it. The rating for it is also a 6.5 out of 10.

Who Am I?

“I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I’m calling
Lord, you catch me when I’m falling
And you told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours.”

This is the chorus to one of my favorite songs by Casting Crowns. When I am down or sad about something, I can listen to this song, and it will immediately make me feel better. It lets me know that I am like a flower that is quickly fading and that I will not be here forever. I could be here today, but gone tomorrow. So, I should make the best of today and live my life to the fullest. I am like a wave tossed in the ocean and a vapor in the wind because this world will always try its best to drag me down. Yet, even though I can be dragged down at times, my Lord will always be there to help me up, and sometimes He catches me before I fall. I am His.

This song, among many others, influences me every day. Every time that I forget who I am or what my purpose in this life is, I turn to these inspirational songs. Music is an outlet for emotions, and it can have a positive or negative effect on one’s behavior and his or her life. I challenge everyone to listen to a radio station, possibly K-LOVE, that is uplifting. I don’t listen to only this station, but it is the one I listen to when I am having a bad day.

Try not to let this world bring you down. If you want to have happiness in your heart, fill your life with positive things. Do not conform to this world just because it is what so many people expect of you. Be more than that. Be yourself and who God wants you to be. J

What songs inspire you?

http://www.metrolyrics.com/who-am-i-lyrics-casting-crowns.html
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDLsZIGvtQ-_PT2pk8Wg7Bw8uPQPECVFHrbB5VEYGF63sdHFna

Social Media's Effect on Relationships

            According to Richard D. Jones, Jr., the overall quality of relationships is being weakened due to social media. First, he discusses how “friend” is a word that is being thrown around without much meaning ever since the use of Facebook. He says that many social media users accept “friend” requests from people that they have met once or even never met. He believes that this could be a strategy that some use to increase the popularity of their profiles. Also, he relates social media profiles to dormant networks, a network in which users may not have contact with other users but find comfort in knowing that they are there. This, he says, is beneficial because it can help prevent the loss of friendships by keeping a certain level of interest in others’ current lives. Impression management comes up a few times in this article, and Jones believes that social media users use the websites as outlets to present themselves to others in a favorable way. How others perceive one another on social media is another topic he addresses. The way people view someone and what they think about that person can be developed by what is on his/her social media profile. Relationships, according to Jones, can also be maintained by staying updated on a friend or family member’s profile.

            In another article, Debra Fileta states three ways in which relationships can be impacted by the use of social media. The first way is that people can lose their warmth. Social media cannot make up for real life interaction with one another, and she encourages readers to not get so caught up in the digital world that they forget about the physical world. Also, social media can lead to people becoming more self-focused. She refers to the “spotlight stage” in which adolescents usually assume that they are the center of attention and that they usually grow out of this stage; however, she believes that social media is bringing the ideal of “all about me” back into our lives. She advises readers to use Philippians 2 as a lesson; to put others before themselves and to distance themselves from conceit and vanity. In her last example, Fileta says that relationships can lead to a loss of one’s inhibition. She says that people hiding behind computer screens feel that they have more control in what they can say and do not consider the consequences. My favorite part of her article is when she states, “May we be challenged to use it in a way that reflects the heart of Jesus rather than simply used to promote ourselves. May we, in all things, learn to proclaim: Less of me…and more of Him (John 3:30).”

            My own outlook on the effect of social media on relationships is that it can be used positively or negatively. When someone uses social media in a negative way, relationships can be destroyed, reputations can be ruined, and things are said that cannot be taken back. However, when someone uses social media in a positive way, relationships can be nurtured, reputations can be boosted, and things can be said that will inspire others to look up to you. I’m not saying that one should do this to be self-justified, but to use social media as a way to connect with friends and family and to be an inspiration to others that see your profile. In what way could it possibly uplift someone that is having a rough day by scrolling through their newsfeed only to come upon negativity from one of his/hers friends? Be the friend that puts a smile on his/her face, makes he/she laugh, or encourages that person to do something aspiring. Most importantly, spread the love of Christ around to ones who desperately need Him in today’s trying times.

            Is there a time when you had a positive influence over a friend on a social media site?

http://www.richardgjonesjr.com/blog/2013/5/12/how-does-social-media-affect-our-relationships-interpersonal-9.html

http://truelovedates.com/3-ways-social-media-can-impact-your-real-life-relationships/

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/5954506240/hC43F2DC8/

http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/funny-facebook-updates.jpg

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/37/22/98/372298984c6d792fabe8bdd2613910de.jpg

What's There to Know About Jessica?

Hey everyone! I just wanted to start out by saying that I am new to blogging, so please bear with me until I can get the hang of it. J I have always been interested in starting a blog, but I have never found the time since I am a full-time college student and have a part-time job. I am starting this blog as a project for my desktop publishing class, and the project requires that I start a blog and have at least three posts. The topics of my first three posts have already been given in my assignment: an introduction to me and my blog, social networking, and my choice. So, since this is my first post, let me introduce myself to you guys. J My name is Jessica, and I am from Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Growing up, I was never alone. I had a twin sister with whom I shared almost everything: clothes, toys, a bedroom, my thoughts, and most of my secrets. And although we argued and fought many times (sometimes physically), she was always my best friend and always had my back. Our parents did not stay together, and we have been raised by our Dad since we were four years old. However, my mom and my dad are happy and content with their lives right now, so I wouldn’t change the decision that they made all those years ago. I always tell myself that everything happens for a reason and is within God’s will. I also have two older sisters and an older brother on my mom’s side. Since their dad is from southern Arkansas, I never got to see them much when we were growing up. We all live so far away from one another today, yet we still try to see each other every now and then. My family is very important to me, and I thank God every day for them.

Like I mentioned before, I am a college student. I am a finance major, and I am graduating this May. Business administration has always held my interest when I was searching for a major, and finance is the field that caught my attention. I am good with numbers, and I have always wanted to help others with their finances. This has led me to either wanting to become a financial planner or loan officer.

Going to church, attending college, and hanging out with my family, friends, and my love, Samuel, are the things that I enjoy doing. God is the most important part of my life, and I strive every day to be the person that He wants me to be. I have failed Him at times, but I live for him, and I can say that He is the only one that will absolutely never turn His back on me as long as I have Christ in my heart. That being said, my blog is called, “Discover. Dream. Dare.” My best friend, Tally, took the time to help me with the name, and together, we created a vision for the blog. In the “about” section part of the blog will be the detailed description, but overall, the blog will include many things. I will keep my posts inspirational, funny, encouraging, and/or informative.

I really hope that everyone enjoys my blog and enjoyed getting to know me. J
https://www.facebook.com/jessicabray2805