For Moments of Joy, Use watchOS 11’s Photos Watch Face

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We’re taking a brief break from helping you become more productive to recommend a feature that could spark moments of joy for Apple Watch users. In watchOS 11, the new Photos watch face can display a photo from a shuffled set of images each time you raise your wrist (or tap the screen). Like the Lock Screen customization feature on the iPhone and iPad, the Photos face can dynamically select images of your favorite people, nature, and cities from your photo library. (You can also choose photos manually.) The time appears in an appropriate spot and size. Before the Photos face, we often relied on the complication-heavy Modular face, but we now find being surprised by lovely images from our photo library to be delightful. To add the Photos face to your Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone, tap Face Gallery, and tap the Photos face. Then, choose where the content will come from, select the time size, and add any desired complications. Once it’s on the Apple Watch, you can tweak style settings there too.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Social Media: Let’s take a step back from how technology can enhance productivity to appreciate watchOS 11’s new Photos watch face. The way it unearths photos from your photo library on every wrist raise is delightful.

Why You Should Consider Safety When Digitizing Memories

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Why You Should Consider Safety When Digitizing Memories

 

 

Digitizing memories have become increasingly popular, with many converting old family photos, home movies, and other precious memorabilia into digital formats. While this process can provide several benefits, such as making it easier to preserve and share memories, it is important to consider safety when digitizing memories.

Memories are precious, and the loss or damage of physical copies can be devastating. Digitizing memories can help protect against these risks, but it is important to ensure that your originals are kept safe during the process. Some companies will have you box up and ship out your photographs and heirlooms. Shipping originals can carry several risks, including; loss or damage, inaccurate handling, and delays. Older photos and memorabilia can be dry and brittle. Attempting to pack these into a box can cause damage to your originals. Packages travel through many locations and environments. The box can get wet or crushed, risking damage or loss of your precious memories.

 

You can avoid these risks by working with a local expert. We’re right here in your neighborhood, making it easy to drop off and pick up your memorabilia. This eliminates the hassle of packing and shipping your originals and worrying about loss or damage in transit. We will handle your precious memories with care and store them in a safe and secure environment during the scanning process.

Our lab is owned and operated by individuals who are passionate about photography and knowledgeable about scanning and archiving. We use professional equipment to ensure the highest quality scans from your originals. Our team has experience working with all types of photographs, negatives, slides, and documents. We know how to safely handle each type of material and achieve the best possible scan. Because you’re working directly with our team, we can handle any special requests, answer questions and offer guidance on your project. You can also avoid transit times and shipping delays, speeding up the overall turn-around time.

Once your memories are scanned, you’ll also want to ensure that the digital copies are kept safe. This may include making backup copies of files and storing them in a secure location, such as on an external hard drive or in cloud storage. Just ask for a second copy of your files on a USB or hard drive at the time of scanning to store separately or share with family or friends.

Get started digitizing your precious memories before they fade or become damaged. Our team is ready to help with personalized service, high-quality results, and peace of mind knowing that your originals are in good hands.

RESTORATION + FINE ART PRINTS

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What is fine art reproduction?
Paintings, prints, and one-of-a-kind artwork are professionally scanned and digitized. Meaning the art piece is converted to a digital file where it can be enhanced if necessary. We often work with artists, printmakers and photographers who want to sell copies of their work. We can also produce stunning replicas in nearly any size – on various specialty papers and substrates.
 

STEP 1: Remove artwork from any frames, albums or protective coverings.

STEP 2: We’ll scan your memorabilia and work digital magic by restoring color, fixing tears + cracks, and removing all imperfections.
STEP 3: Once the art file is ready, the image can be printed in any size and on any surface. Put your art on a coffee mug or on a set of notecards! Or enlarge the piece to print in a wide format size as wall décor!
Your original artwork will be returned to you unharmed and saved in a digital file format for safe, long-term storage.
TIP: We never recommend shipping away family archives, treasured photos, and irreplaceable artwork.
Whether it’s custom artwork or a one-of-a-kind creation, we can preserve it for a lifetime and beyond! Our archiving services aren’t just limited to protecting photos + videos; we can also digitize paintings, drawings, documents, prints, and so much more!

 

Holiday Order Schedule & Special Hours Christmas 2021

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Here are the answers to the holiday’s most pressing questions including: When do I have to place my order to get it by Christmas? 

To receive gift items, books, metal prints, canvas wraps etc. by Christmas with Standard Shipping, place your order by December 8th. Beginning December 9th and continuing through the 14th, choose expedited shipping to receive your order by Christmas.   The F-11 Photo elves are doing everything humanly possible to get your orders out and shipped on time.  Production is running very well and shipping times are as expected; remember that shippers have waived on time delivery guarantees back in October so we’re doing everything we can.  Package tracking is live on the website for all shipped orders–check your order confirmation for the tracking link. Can we ship your gift directly to the lucky recipient?  Yes, we’d love to. 

As many of you know, our office is located inside Regus which will be closed December 23, 24 and 31.  Because there will be no access to the office on those dates, the office will also be closed.  The final local production day for Christmas 2021 is December 21st with pickup on the 22nd no later than 5 pm.   Regular pickup is available at the reception desk on the second floor of the 5 West Mendenhall building weekdays from 8:30 – 5. 

Holiday 2021 Calendar:

December 8, 2021:  Last day to order with standard shipping for Christmas arrival.

December 14, 2021:  Last day to order with expedited shipping for Christmas arrival.

December 21, 2021:  Last day to order local prints and pickup before Christmas.

December 22, 2021:  Final pickup day before Christmas—Reception open 8:30 – 5.

December 23 – 24, 2021: Closed.  No production or pickup.

December 31, 2021:  Closed.  No production or pickup.

Celebrate a life with photos + memorabilia!

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Celebrate a life with photos + memorabilia! Reminisce and remember loved ones – we’re here to help.

Nostalgic memories make for a meaningful memorial celebration!

Planning a memorial service can be emotional and overwhelming, however, the silver lining can often be found in reminiscing over photographs, memorabilia, and even home movies.

For a truly personal and custom celebration of life event – consider creating a collection of keepsakes for family members or honoring the deceased in more unique ways. This can happen during a memorial service or afterward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAVORITE MEMORIAL PRODUCT: A PHOTO BOOK

Photo books are one of the most popular ways to memorialize a loved one. Gather a few of your favorite images or drop off a box full – we’d be happy to digitize the photos and help you create a stunning book.

Believe it or not, we often see customers creating their own “life story” photo books that will eventually be gifted to family and friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CREATE A “LIFE HISTORY” VIDEO MONTAGE

Old home tapes and movies can be combined into a moving video production. We’ll add music, text, and any other special touches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISPLAYS AND KEEPSAKES

Photographs are often displayed on poster boards and easels during a memorial. Instead, consider building a printed collage or enlarging a few extra special images.

Send special guests and close family a keepsake featuring a favorite photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHARE A PRINT OR TWO

Printed photos can be fun to flip through and even easy to send guests home with. After we digitize your vintage photographs, we can make prints in any size or quantity to share

Homepage Featured Products

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Bring back the 80’s + 90’s and protect those priceless home movies!

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TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

Because of environmental factors, VHS tapes are literally deteriorating and degrading as we speak. Not to mention the fact that VCRs are virtually non-existent for viewing them. If you wait too long to digitize home movies, there might be nothing there to capture or view.

YOUR KIDS WANT TO WATCH

Trust us – your kids and grandkids WILL want to watch these… if not today, someday.

FAMILY HISTORY

As the family historian, it’s your duty to preserve the family legacy (a.k.a. memorabilia). Once you have a home movie digitized, it becomes a file that is easily shared with other members of your family.

 

 

 

 

 

Keep your memorabilia local – here’s why:

Who wouldn’t be devastated if suddenly their priceless home movies were lost in the mail, misplaced or damaged by a shipping carrier?

Sentimental irreplaceable possessions like photos, videos and home movies should NEVER be shipped away to an unknown location or service provider. It’s just too risky! Things could get lost, damaged or never find their way back to you.

Instead, talk to a professional archiving expert (like us). You need someone who really gets it. Our shop is full of dedicated people who care about your life being documented. We stake our reputation on it. Best of all – money spent locally stays local. Let us handle your photo life so you can get back to real life!

MacBook Air Update Features Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro Gets a Trackpad

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In a widely expected update, Apple has introduced a new MacBook Air that replaces the much-maligned butterfly keyboard with the new Magic Keyboard. The MacBook Air also gains faster processors, enhanced graphics, and more storage options, all for $200 less than before.

Apple also threw back the curtains on an updated iPad Pro that will be compatible with a new iPad Pro-specific Magic Keyboard that includes a trackpad. The iPad Pro is available now, but the Magic Keyboard won’t ship until May.

MacBook Air Gains Magic Keyboard, Faster Performance, and Other Enhancements

In an effort to eliminate the hated butterfly keyboard from the Mac line, Apple has released an updated MacBook Air that features the scissor-key Magic Keyboard introduced last year in the 16-inch MacBook Pro. That keyboard has received highly positive reviews, and we’re happy to see it appear in the MacBook Air. (Look for a new model to replace the current 13-inch MacBook Pro soon as well.) The Magic Keyboard includes 12 function keys as well as a Touch ID sensor, but no Touch Bar.

Apple significantly improved the MacBook Air’s performance by providing a choice of 10th-generation Intel Core processors, including the model’s first quad-core processor option. The base level 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 is probably pretty slow, but upgrading to a 1.1 GHz quad-core i5 is only $100 and a 1.2 GHz quad-core i7 is just $250.

Graphics should be noticeably speedier as well, thanks to the switch to Intel Iris Plus Graphics. The MacBook Air can now drive a 6K display too, if you have a Pro Display XDR.

Apple also doubled the base level of storage to 256 GB, and you can increase that to 512 GB ($200), 1 TB ($400), or 2 TB ($800).

Minor enhancements include True Tone technology for more natural images on the 13-inch Retina display, “wide stereo sound” for the speakers, and support for Bluetooth 5.0.

As welcome as all these changes are, the best news is that Apple simultaneously dropped the MacBook Air’s price. The entry-level model now starts at $999, and it’s available to the education market for just $899.

iPad Pro

We were waiting for the Magic Keyboard to come to the MacBook Air, but we had no inkling that Apple was going to add a trackpad option to the iPad Pro. It will come in the form of the new Magic Keyboard, due in May, and will require iPadOS 13.4, slated for late March. Apple says it will be easy to use, with the pointer transforming to highlight user elements appropriately as the user moves their finger across the trackpad. What it won’t be is cheap, at $299 for the 11-inch model and $349 for the 12.9-inch model. (The second-generation Apple Pencil and an updated Smart Keyboard Folio remain available.)

The other unexpected change in the new iPad Pro is the addition of the new LiDAR Scanner. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is a way of measuring distance with reflected laser light. It’s commonly used in self-driving cars, but Apple is instead using it to beef up the iPad Pro’s augmented reality (AR) capabilities. It offers existing ARKit apps instant AR placement, improved motion capture, and people occlusion. Apple also uses it to improve the Measure app. We can’t help but think Apple is testing the technology for future AR goggles.

Less surprising improvements include a new processor—Apple’s custom A12Z Bionic chip—and a dual-camera system that combines a 12-megapixel wide camera and a 10-megapixel ultra-wide camera that zooms out two times to capture a much wider field of view. The iPad Pro also now boasts five microphones for capturing audio and four speakers that automatically adjust to any orientation.

Pricing for the iPad Pro itself hasn’t changed. The 11-inch model starts at $799, with the 12.9-inch model at $999. Both come with 128 GB of flash storage, up from 64 GB in the previous models, and you can buy more storage: 256 GB (add $100), 512 GB ($300), or 1 TB ($500). Cellular connectivity costs an extra $150.

Mac mini

Last and indeed least, Apple announced that the standard configurations of the Mac mini now have twice as much storage as before. That means the $799 configuration comes with 256 GB and the $1099 configuration comes with 512 GB. 1 TB and 2TB configurations remain available, and there are no other changes.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Here’s some good news! Apple has introduced a new MacBook Air with a better keyboard and faster processor for $200 less. And there’s a new iPad Pro with trackpad support. Seriously! Check out the news at:

 

Use macOS’s Guest Account to Protect Your Privacy from Temporary Users

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We’ve all had it happen. “Can I use your Mac for a minute to check my email?” The answer can be “Yes,” but to keep people from poking around on your Mac, have your visitor log in as Guest. To enable the Guest account, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups. If the lock at the bottom left is closed, click it and enter your admin credentials. Then click Guest User in the list, and select “Allow guests to log in to this computer.” To switch to the Guest account, go to the Apple menu and choose Log Out YourAccountName to access the login screen. Your guest can then click the Guest User icon, at which point they’ll have a clean account to work in. When they log out, the account—including any files they created or downloaded—will be deleted, thus protecting their privacy as well.

(Featured image by Apple)

Apple Issues Voluntary Recall for Certain 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro Units

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Heads up! If you’re using an older 15-inch MacBook Pro—the version with lots of ports that predates the current Thunderbolt 3 models—Apple has started a recall program to replace batteries that could explode and catch on fire. (We’re not kidding.) The affected MacBook Pro models were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017. To find out if your 15-inch MacBook Pro is affected, enter its serial number into Apple’s recall page. If it is included in the recall, shut it down and stop using it immediately! Contact Apple for a free battery replacement, and if you need any assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

(Image courtesy of Apple)