I had the privilege of test driving the newest version of Fundy Designer and – wow – I’m totally blown away.
I’ve tried a few different album design methods and I’ve purchased two other album designers in the past that I was pretty happy with, so I wasn’t expecting Fundy to be a life-changing kind of thing.
But I’ve gotta say, there is no way I’m going back to my old album making software after this!
Here are my 5 favorite things about Fundy Designer version 7:
1. Grouping images + Auto Design = Perfection!
The ability to group certain images together as well as tag images as favorites means Fundy’s auto option isn’t just guessing, it’s creating the perfect album layout based on the info you’re providing. I tried it and on the very first autofill I was thrilled with the results! But no worries if you want to do minor tweaking; making changes to the auto design is so easy. But chances are, you won’t even need to!
2. Lightroom star ratings and keywords transfer over!
3. Drop Zones (automatic resizing) make last minute changes insanely easy!
These nifty little boxes that contain your images adjust automatically when you add or remove images from each layout. This means you and your clients can change your minds a hundred times without losing your sanity!
4. Quick Design Picker is my new BFF.
This is a simple but wonderful feature! Once you drag the images you want onto your spread, you will see an automatic layout. Instead of scrolling or arrowing through all the options for layouts, simply click the Quick Design Picker icon and you immediately see all your options visually. This doesn’t seem like a big deal but trust me – I’ve spent a good 5 minutes flipping through layout options and second guessing myself. That may not seem like a lot but it’s the difference between spending all night making an album and being able to do it during my daughter’s 30-minute nap. Which also means it’s the difference between getting my album ordered or not.
5. Direct ordering has changed my life – and that’s no exaggeration!
Okay, so is it just me or is even the thought of opening ROES cumbersome? It’s not particularly user-friendly or fast and it’s probably just a mental thing but I hate using it. But I have no choice right? Wrong! Fundy direct ordering means you design your album within the program and checkout through the lab of your choice, all in the same program! That’s correct – you do not, I repeat, YOU DO NOT have to open ROES. For me, this is such a weight off my shoulders. It’s as simple as clicking a couple buttons and checking out. This is a big deal, people!
Bottom line, Fundy takes something that is cumbersome and time-consuming and actually makes it fun, easy and FAST! At this rate I’m going to be caught up with personal albums in no time. When it comes to clients, I want them to have beautiful heirloom albums but I also know that by the time I cover the cost of the actual album and then consider the time it takes me to make one (longer than I care to admit), it’s not really worth it for me financially to promote them. But as easy as Fundy has made it, I am going to encourage every single client to treat themselves to a beautiful custom album.
I can’t say enough good things about Fundy. Really! I’m grateful for having had the chance to take it for a test drive and share my thoughts.
