I have been fooling around with PhotoCard for just over a week, and have to say it's very easy to produce and send "e-cards" by simply clicking on any of your contacts email address stored in your iPhone. If you wish you can add stickers and even embed voicenotes.
However, I really think PhotoCard's "Raison d'être" is how easy it makes sending actual printed cards via postal mail. PhotoCard solves what has been for me a nagging problem - how do I share photos with distant relatives and friends that do not have an email address or are uncomfortable dealing with the internet. Provided you have your friend's address in their contact database, you simply click on that and PhotoCard knows that this card has to be mailed.
Although the resolution and quality of images taken with the iPhone are not going to reproduce very well when printed, you can save your higher resolution photos taken with a K-x, K7 etc. to the iPhone's "Photos" library. PhotoCard let's me decide whether I want to take a photo with my iPhone or select an image already saved in my library.
Here's a recent photo I took with the K-x that I used to mail a printed PhotoCard to a postal address. Note the simple user interface bar at the bottom of the frame.
I have already sent several printed cards to friends of the family. However, I wanted to see for myself how the printed cards looked, so I sent several different samples to my home address. Below are photos of the front and back on one of these cards that I just received in the mail. The cards are printed on a HP Indigo printer using a glossy, heavy stock and measure 8.25 x 5.5".
From reading Bill Atkinson's FAQ's, I understand the cards are sent through the US Postal Service by First Class oversize mail, and based on my initial tests, they arrive 2-3 business days after I place the order on my iPhone.
The first print-and-mail card that you send is free-of-charge. Subsequent cards cost 2 credits for printing and mailing to USA addresses, and 3 credits for printing and mailing to International addresses. A credit costs between seventy-five cents and one dollar, depending on how many you purchase at once. I found it very easy to buy these credits using either PayPal or my credit card.
Note: After sending myself the above card using a photo of my granddaughter, I realized I could have rotated the image to fill the entire card. You can click on either of the above thumbnails if you want to see a larger photo of the card.
Overall, my first impressions of PhotoCard are very good. The interface is clean and simple, which makes sense considering Bill's background. And for me, the ease with which I can send high-quality printed photocards to friends and family from anywhere, anytime more than justifies the nominal cost of less than $2 (same price as my cup of Starbucks coffee) to print and mail these high-quality, personalized cards.
In fact, I can't wait to go on vacation and send photocards to family members directly from my beach chair as I view the sunset on the Kona coast of Hawaii...that is if my lovely wife will allow me to have my iPhone with me (smile).
