Hallmark Card Studio 2

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: 2001 01
• Genre: Home
• Style: Crafts/Design
• Similar Games: American Greetings Print! Premium 2 (IBM PC Compatible), Microsoft Greetings 2001 (IBM PC Compatible), Hallmark Holiday Card Studio (IBM PC Compatible), The Print Shop Signature Greetings (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

Do you often find yourself in need of cards to send friends and family but never seem to remember to pick them up or have the time to go to the store? Hallmark Card Studio 2 can be the answer to the dilemma, offering a wide selection of cards in various sizes covering nearly every occasion, ranging from holidays to birthdays to everyday cards in both sincere and humorous styles. The software lets you design and print professional-quality Hallmark greeting cards at home.

Cards can be crafted in the style of several of Hallmark's popular lines, including Shoebox Greetings, Mahogany and Common Thread. A large selection of Hallmark greetings and sentiments, as well as over 10,000 different images, is provided along with an option to use personal photos and images. More than 20 exclusive fonts are available for use in creating distinctive flyers, newsletters and other personal publications in addition to cards. A built-in planner application offers help in remembering important dates and creating mailing lists.

Roots & Influences

Hallmark Card Studio 2 is Sierra On-Line's follow up title to the original Hallmark Card Studio.

Review: Overall

Hallmark Card Studio 2 covers any card occasion you could ever possibly want, assuming you have the patience to use it. While it is a beautifully designed program, anything beyond the basic is hard to master. Although it does offer nearly limitless possibilities, the challenge is in getting to them.

Most users will be content to simply print from the wide selection of cards available. All the cards are customizable in some way, allowing you to add personal touches. Hallmark Card Studio 2 is a first-rate resource in this respect and the professional designs offered are diverse enough to suit everyone's personal tastes. Unfortunately, many of the images or messages can't be changed, so you're stuck with changing elements like names or dates. While they may save a trip to the store, these cards aren't much of an advantage over pre-printed cards, especially once print quality is considered.

Usability begins to fail when you want to do more than take advantage of the pre-made cards. The process is too long and laborious to truly be satisfying. Since the program spans three CDs, the first frustration is the need to constantly switch between them. While the Art Book does have an incredible amount of clipart ranging from artistic, photographic and cartoon images, it is hard to sort through. Previews of about six images at a time are provided and waiting for the thumbnails to load is somewhat of an annoyance and with no search function, usage becomes tedious.

The selection of fonts and colors is laid out in similar fashion to the image previews and requires too much search time to find exactly what you need. Although the program seems to have been designed to be user-friendly, in actuality, it limits what you end up creating. The product also offers a limited selection of items like stationery, calendars and envelopes, which can add a nice touch to projects, but these, too, are hampered by the same restrictions.

Users who constantly need cards for various occasions and have the time and patience to utilize fully all the features of Hallmark Card Studio 2 will enjoy the convenience of printing projects at home. Others may play around with it a bit, print one or two cards but eventually realize it's quicker and easier to go to the local Hallmark store and buy a card.

Review: Enjoyment

It'll get the job done but is also too hard to use in many ways.

Review: Graphics

The design and graphic displays are probably the best feature, as most are pleasant and attractive.

Review: Sound

Sound effects are minimal but fairly charming.

Review: Replay Value

Those who master usage or need lots of cards will probably keep coming back but everyone else will end up in the store.

Review: Documentation

Documentation is very complete and helpful in terms of explaining the many features.

Production Credits