Calendar Creator 2005 Deluxe

Rating:
Summary: All I Wanted Was A Simple Calendar Kit....
Review: I decided I wanted to make calendars this year for Christmas presents, and was looking at the Invent It! calendar kits. A generous relative, however, gave me an early Christmas present of a binding system and this software.

The software downloaded easily on my Dell with XP; and the only times it has froze up is when I had the Digital Image 9 running in the background. But unlike the Digital Image when it freezes up, I can get out of this software without hitting the surge protector switch.

At first, I was overwhelmed by this software. I could not get it to downsize my own pictures right; but I also could not get the Digital Image to do so, using their calendar software. I also could not get it to print just the calendar page, when I decided I would use my Canon EasyPhoto print software for the photos. When you go to the Help section, however, you discover Encore provides a forum to discuss problems, and the moderator answers all questions. The moderator's advice actually didn't solve my problem, although it should have--the software simply didn't do what it should have. However, I soon discovered how to get it to do what I wanted. And now I have some lovely calendars on Canon 8.5"x11" Matte Photo Paper.

This software has a billion choices of backgrounds, photos, borders, and holiday events to choose from--like Christian holidays, Japanese holidays, Irish holidays, French Saint holidays...you name it, they have it! It also has lots of calendar type choices. I went from feeling totally overwhelmed and wanting to get rid of it, to really appreciating the diversity of the software.

Up until September 2005, there also is a $20 rebate. And if you really don't like the software, you can mail it to the manufacturer within 30 days to get a refund, or exchange it for other Broderbund software. I think that is very generous of them, which actually made me want to keep it, when I was thinking of returning it. I'll probably never understand all it can do, but it does what I want it to do. I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5, though, because I think creative software like this should be easier to use.

Rating:
Summary: Not a new update!
Review: I have been a Calendar Creator user for several years. Love the product. However, I am very disappointed with 2005 Deluxe. Every few years I update the software to the latest version. THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE! It is the same product they have been selling since 2002 with a new label. Don't let the "2005" label fool you. Personally, I feel cheated by the company because they are passing this off as a new update by relabeling a three year old product.