Make the most of your Mac this holiday season and create fantastic memories that will last a lifetime!

1. PRE EDITING YOUR
XMAS MEMORIES
Tips for creating fantastic holiday keepsakes with your Mac

2. Pre-Editing is Key
• Have you ever captured hours of video and hundreds of
photographs only to find that you are overwhelmed and don’t
know what to do with them once the Christmas is over and
you hardly have the time too look at the pictures, let alone
organize them?

3. Pre-Editing is Key
• The digital age has facilitated overshooting and
over filming resulting in overwhelming memories
that stay “un-managed”.
• Editing is most successful when you plan from the
beginning.
• Set out on a clear path knowing what you want the
end result to look like.

4. Less is More
• Capturing every detail of is not necessary
• Focus on the Essence:
• the people,
• the activities,
• The feeling
• the special things that happened

5. Chose a Medium
• Who will see these memories
• How will you share them?
Apple offers a variety of ways in which you can
share your memories, each with its own set of
advantages

6. Chose a Medium
Medium Advantages Disadvantages
- Upload quickly - Pictures posted as they are.
Facebook
- one or several pictures Cannot be made into a project
- pictures can be assembled to “tell a
story” or enhance a mood
- Several copies can be made as gifts - some work required
Photo Album
- Memories can sit at a coffee table - no music to embellish mood
for frequent revisiting by friends and
family
- pictures can be assembled to “tell a
story” while mood is enhanced by
- requires electronic devices to be
Slide Show music
enjoyed
- can be shared digitally with friends
and family
- creates long lasting fun memories
Movie that family and friends will want to - slightly more work required
share over and over again

7. Choose a Theme/Feeling
• Who is the target audience?
• This should affect “Feel” or Theme:
• Families with young children: childish
• Families with Older grandparents: retro, more old fashioned
• Adults mostly - elegant

8. Photo Book & Theme/Feeling
• Apple offers many themes that set the right tone to the project.
Kid friendly Traditional Modern Elegant

9. Movie Theme/Feeling
• Apple offers many themes that set the right tone to the project.
Kid friendly Traditional Modern Travel

10. Chose a Song/Feeling
• The song chosen must compliment the pictures/clips.
• Setting a Caribbean December holiday to the tune of “Im
dreaming of a white Christmas” just won’t add to the
mood.
• For Slideshows and Movies, choosing a song is the key to
setting the right feel
Kid friendly: Traditional: Modern: Elegant:
Elmos’ Feliz Navidad Jingle Bells Jingle Bell Rock White Christmas

11. Selective Shooting/Filming
• It is very easy to get trigger happy in the digital age.
• Yet no one, really, no one, wants to see all your
photos and clips
• Be selective!

12. Selective Shooting/Filming
• Here’s all you need: rules of thumb
• Photo books: no more than 50 pages (100-150 pictures)
• some pages can have up to 4 pictures
• some pages can have a double page layout
• Slide shows/movies: Keep to less than 5 minutes (45 - 75
pictures)
• 5 seconds a clip + 1.5 for transitions

13. Selective Shots Examples
• Decorating for Christmas Check List:
• Family in the act of decorating the Christmas tree *
• Lighting the Christmas Tree
• Christmas Tree Light Up
• Family In front of the Christmas tree
* If preparing a video, then many successive pictures of decorating the tree may be
taken and then placed in fast motion. Otherwise, 2 or 3 pictures should suffice for
a book or slide show.

14. Selective Shots Examples
• Cooking for Christmas Dinner:
• Special details about the meal
• turkey
• candy canes
• Family preparing dinner
• Family eating dinner
• Family In front of the Christmas tree
• Portraits of family around table, around tree, etc

15. Let us Do it For You
• Come in and attend one of our many imovie/iphoto
seminars
• Purchase personal trainer: One Full Years’ worth of lessons
Cost $199
With purchase of a Mac $99
• Let us do it for you
Cost $75/hour in labor (materials purchased separately)