Review on Coolibah Digital Scrapbooking App for iPhone

I’m always on the lookout for fun apps to try on my iPhone. I came across Coolibah’s Digital Scrapbooking app while doing an Internet search and thought I’d try it. The app sounded promising but I soon found out the concept is a bit unwieldy for the small screen of the iPhone.

One kit was included with the free app. You can download more kits for .99 each from.. And that’s where I got lost. I have no idea where the kits can be found. I caught a mention somewhere on Coolibah’s blog that kits were available in their gallery, but there is no tab on the blog with “Gallery.” All I found was their logo in the right sidebar with the text, “Can you see Scrappy above? Then the gallery is up!” However, the image box was not a clickable link, nor was the text. If kits are available, I would hope the customer wouldn’t have to enter into a digital “treasure hunt” to find them. I gave up after ten minutes.

The application itself is fairly enjoyable. It’s best to go to their blog for their Quick Start Guide on how to use the app because they weren’t available through the app itself as a text document. The software allows you to view a full kit, which includes a variety of background papers, frames, and embellishments. Adding a photo from your iPhone photo gallery is straightforward. But I’d say be careful with your layering. I found that after I added my photo that I couldn’t add an embellishment and use the layer tool to place the embellishment under the photo. Again, I tried several times but to no avail.

Resizing objects (photos, embellishments, text) can be done by “pinching” the object. Moving is done but using one finger to move the object of your choosing. (Make sure the object is a solid yellow, which alerts you it can be moved or resized.) Rotating an object can be done by using three fingers as you rotate to the right or left.

There are a few font choices, but not many. (Especially for me, who has over 1,000 fonts in her library!) I noticed the return key did not work for the text field, so if you have a longer sentence, it’s best to break it up and then line up the text in shorter “chunks” underneath one another.

In all, it’s a cute program although working with resizing motions is a little tricky with such a small screen. I imagine the experience would be vastly improved with the iPad.

I can’t imagine using this app often (although you never know). It’s an alternative to playing a game or checking email while you’re waiting for an appointment. But for someone who journals extensively on her pages (raises hand), it may leave much to be desired. It is, after all, a small screen and you can place only so much text on it.

After you’re finished, you can save and upload to your Flickr account, if you wish, to share with others. Otherwise, it may be a great way to use some of those photos on your iPhone and share them with friends and relatives. I can see this as being a great help with visiting newborn babies or when you don’t have your usual camera with you.

It’s worthwhile to investigate, especially given the fact the app is free. Let me know what you think!