Software Review of:
Print Shop Essentials 
Version 10 

Depending on which project you select, the program may ask you to insert the CD, in order to read layout design information. For each project, Print Shop 10 asks you if you want to start from scratch, with a blank page, or personalize one of its QuickStart layouts that has already been professionally designed. In the Essentials version, some of the projects, like Presentations, have no QuickStart layouts, so you would have to start with a blank page. I think I’ll stick to PowerPoint for presentations. More advanced (and expensive) versions would probably offer additional layouts. But other projects had plenty of QuickStart layouts, which looked better than anything I could design. 

Let’s step through the design of a project, to illustrate how easy it is to use Print Shop 10. I’m going to select a project from a gallery of QuickStart business card layouts, with business orientations. I selected one called I’m Robert M. Smith. The QuickStart layout is a departure point I can use to start customizing the card to one I could use as a Windows SIG leader. First, since I’m not Robert M. Smith, I change my name. I simply click on the name field and type in my name. There are dotted lines around each field I can modify.  Next, I change the address to the Alamo PC mailbox, the phone and fax numbers to the Alamo PC office numbers, and the e-mail address to my own. Finally, I change the company name to Alamo PC Organization, Inc. 

Now for the graphics. The red circle logo is ok if you don’t have a real logo, but I prefer the real Alamo PC logo, so I delete the circle and import the color Alamo PC logo. Finally, I change the top line to a purple color to match the purple in the logo.

Now that I’ve designed the card, I need to print it. Loading a sheet of business card blanks (such as Avery labels #8371) into the inkjet printer, I click on the printer icon and get the Print screen. If I want more than 10 business cards, I enter multiples of 10 in the Number of Cards field. Or if I only want one card, I can enter that and tell Print Shop 10 which card on the page to print on. Shades of the Rockford Files! 

If you decide to start from scratch instead of using a QuickStart layout, you’ll see a blank page, and can use the icons on the left of the screen to fill it in. These icons provide direct access to major functions, like inserting headlines or text boxes, graphics, frames, and tables. A collection of graphics items like frames and photos is provided. You can add your own photos and clip art. 

I recently used Print Shop 10 to print some banners for birthday celebrations. While one could buy banner paper, it’s much cheaper to find some old pin-feed paper and rip off the pin sprockets on the edge. Then, if your printer supports it, insert the continuous sheet of paper in your printer (see your printer instructions for this feat) and set it to print banners. Print Shop 10 then pulls the paper through the printer as a single continuous sheet and prints a nice, colorful banner.

A mail-merge feature lets you insert names and addresses into projects, such as envelopes or certificates. This feature is actually a separate program called the Ultimate Mail-Merge Manager. It works with Print Shop 10’s own merge file format; and lets you import addresses from several common data base and mail-merge files. I don’t see Excel or many PIMs on the import list, which could limit its usefulness somewhat. 

Print Shop 10 lists price is $29.95, but is frequently on sale. Most stores with computer merchandise carry it. Print Shop 10  remains one of the easiest graphics programs to use, and the quality of its projects is first-rate. I actually like the previous version’s, Print Shop 6, screens a bit better, but Print Shop 10 is not hard to figure out. Several other programs offer similar features at similar prices, but Print Shop 10 is worth considering.