ADD VIDEO to your Heritage Makers project!

I heard a comment, "I feel like I'm in The Jetsons!"

It's true!  You can actually add a QR Code (video) to your Heritage Makers project!  I'm pretty sure this year I'm going to be sending out the coolest Christmas card I've EVER sent!!!!

Want to learn how?  IT'S SO COOL!!!

UPDATE 2021:  Head over to How to Put Videos in Photo-Storybooks and Digital Scrap Pages to learn all about it and see what QR codes look like on your pages.

(P.S.  The QR Code above is just a "dummy" one with the Heritage Makers logo in the middle.  It won't scan anything.)

Also, here are the basic instructions for using a QR Code in a Heritage Makers project.

1. Record a short video greeting (less than 3 minutes is best).  Use a webcam, phone, video recorder, etc.  
2. Upload the video to your YouTube account.  You need to do this so your video has a URL.  QR Codes are generated by URLs, and when QR Codes are scanned, they will send the person scanning it to that specific website or URL.  With YouTube, if you choose a "private" setting, only 50 people can view the video.  If you choose "public," it's unlimited.
3. Once your video is in your YouTube account, copy its URL.
4. Using a free QR Generator website such as qrcode.kaywa.com or www.quikqr.com, paste the URL code into the QR Generator.  It will create your QR Code.
5. Once your QR Code is created, right-click on the QR Code.  Choose "save image as" and save it to your computer just like you'd save a picture.  Save it as a PNG file.    
6. Upload the QR Code to your Heritage Makers account, treating it just like a picture.  Use it in your Heritage Makers projects just like you would a photo.
7. TEST YOUR QR CODE BEFORE YOU PRINT IT IN YOUR PROJECT!  You can easily find a QR Code Scanning app for your smartphone.  You can scan it from your computer, which I personally think is amazing.
8. When using your new QR Code in your Heritage Makers project, don't make it smaller than about 3/4 inch - 1 inch.  The smaller it is the less readable it will be.  Use the "ruler" option in the "view" pull-down menu to measure 1 inch.
9. When using a QR Code in a Heritage Makers project, be sure to include right in the project some directions on how to use it.  Some people won't know.  

*priceless* - Why Photos are Worth So Much!

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook.  Neither she nor I know the people mentioned here, but it could be anyone among us, and it poignantly describes why photos are indeed priceless.  It also describes why *I* do what I do--why I share Heritage Makers.  

It's for all those people who take pictures and don't know what to do with them.  It's for all those people who would like to have time or an easier way to publish their pictures.  It's for all those people with a story to tell and a life to share.

A letter on my door step. portraits are more than paper.

Posted by jeaninethurston on January 2, 2012  Original post at http://fototails.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/a-letter-on-my-doorstep-portraits-are-more-than-paper/

There will be no portrait photos in this post.  This letter wasn’t mailed – it was at my doorstep when I got home a couple months ago.  I read it, I cried, and read it again – probably a hundred times by now.  It wasn’t easy to read – and honestly, as much as it validates what I do for a living – I wasn’t sure I was going to share it either – Until today, when a past client said that my print prices were too expensive.  If you choose to read through the letter, you will know why I’ve finally chosen to share it.

July 2nd, 2011

Jeanine - 

Today I am writing for a couple of reasons.  I have some quiet time at the moment and need to get a couple of things off my mind.  I will leave this for my husband to deliver to you when he is ready.

You photographed my wedding, you photographed my first pregnancy and my first baby.  I contacted you awhile back to photograph my 2nd child and family.  After getting prices and realizing I would want all of the pictures as we love your work – I decided against spending $500+ – which is what I normally spend for portraits and prints with you..  Please know it is not because I don’t value your amazing eye, or how much we love the experience.

That week that I decided to NOT do a session with you, this is how I spent some money.

On Sunday I called and cancelled our session.  Monday I went out and got my hair cut ($39+tip), and colored ($65), Thursday I had my nails done ($24), my family went out to dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant for no particular reason costing us $79 + tip.  This was just 4 days since canceling our session, already totaling over $200 for un necessary things.  My nails only lasted about 2 weeks, my hair is gone, and seven weeks passed when I got the phone call from our doctor.  It was not something I expected and the cancer has spread very quickly.  I will be leaving my husband, my 6 year old girl and my now 2 year old – not by choice.  It is very hard for me to talk about it which is why I need to write you.

I watch your Facebook page and your posts about the value of a photo and if I could give back all of those things that I purchased this few weeks after I cancelled my session with you, knowing what I know now, and have that session, well… I would do it in a heartbeat. 

Now my time is done and there are no more chances for me.  The next time someone cancels a session – my wish is that you forward this letter to them.  Time is fragile, it is gone before you know you had it.  If you charged $200 for one print it wouldn’t be enough for what it is actually worth.  I cringe to think that my priorities were a manicure over a memory to pass onto my babies and husband.

My love and thanks for what you have given us from past photos.  I am so sorry that I did not see it as more than paper until now.

Karen L.

Preserve your photos and memories in high-quality pages here.

2023 UPDATE:  Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish became YPhoto under Youngevity (which purchased Heritage Makers in 2013).  YPhoto uses only templates, so the creativity showcased here is no longer available there, and they also no longer have capability to print previously-created projects like these from the old system. 

Best-in-the-industry quality and photo privacy is required for anything recommended here by Photo & Story Treasures, and we highly recommend Forever for:

·        creative digital scrapbooking applicable in a variety of photo products using Artisan software

·        easy photo-memory books using free AutoPrint and Design & Print software programs

·        private, permanent, secure, and guaranteed photo and video cloud storage (triple-backed-up and bank encrypted)

·        white glove digitizing services for old memories like VHS tapes, slides, old scrapbooks (scanning), 8mm film, audio tapes, and much more

Learn more here to  find similar products at top-quality with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.