Christmas E-Cards Is A Primitive Card-Making App
Christmas e-сards ($0.99) by Vitzu is a seasonal app that allows users to create and send e-cards from their iPhone. Unlike many e-card apps, Christmas e-cards does not have any pre-made cards. All cards begin with a photo from your iPhone.
The app’s home screen contains the instructions. This diagram is important, so make sure you read it before continuing to create a card. Aside from this home screen diagram, there are no other instructions, nor a way to access them while editing a card.
To create a card, there must be a photo used for the background. Pictures can be taken from your iPhone's camera or from a saved photo album. Once a photo is selected, clip art images can be added. These clip art images are shown in the tool bar on the right side of the screen. The selection of images is rather limited, I would like to see more options added in future updates.
After adding an image, edit it using the top toolbar. Images must be selected before they can be edited. Adding a clip art image to the card does not automatically select it; users have to tap on it again so a gray box appears around the image. Once selected, the image can be re-sized and rotated using standard multitouch gestures. The top toolbar allows the image to be: flipped vertically or horizontally, duplicated, or deleted.
Theoretically, the highlighting feature for editing images is a good idea. But in practicality, it makes the editing process much more tedious than it needs to be.
Once users have finished adding the clip art, they tap the right arrow in the bottom toolbar to send the card. E-cards can be saved to the camera roll, or sent via email, MMS, Twitter, or Facebook. They can also be printed.
The biggest problem with Christmas e-cards is the inability to add original writing to your card. The only words that can be added are “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas.” The option to add your own text to cards is an essential feature that is missing from this app.
At first glance, Christmas e-cards looks very appealing, but after further usage it becomes apparent that several key features are not up to par. The cards created by this app are primitive, and relatively uninspiring. Although e-cards are fun and creative ways to send holiday cheer, I recommend looking for other apps to use.
