Just a reminder – my Facebook group is the best place to get the latest news. Lisa’s Workshop on Facebook.
See below for some important info regarding protecting your investment in CMs digital programs – Storybook Creator Plus and Memory Manager.
This week the CM employees could possibly see more layoffs. A WARN notice was given back in April and this Friday is the projected date these latest layoffs will begin - IF they happen at all.
With this uncertainty it’s a good idea to pay with a credit card when ordering from Creative Memories and if you need to order anything I'd do it towards the beginning of this week just to be safe until we know if layoffs will be made and how that will impact CM.
Personally, I'm making sure I have items to use with what I have in my stash. Replacement blades & strips for my 12" trimmer, pages & protectors for my Coversets, any papers/embellishments I need to finish works in progress, and cardstock. I haven't found another brand that I love as much as CM's and I'm sad to think it won't be offered in the future. If CM emerges from this bankruptcy it is almost certain that we they will not offer many decorative items and while I'm not sure if CM considers cardstock a basic album making supply like I hope they do - at the worst I'll have lots of cardstock to work with and that makes me happy.
I am hoping CM won't lay off any more employees but as it has been revealed in bankruptcy papers CM continues to lose money and we are sure to see big changes in the near future. I think the first changes we will see will be regarding Storybook Creator Plus (SBC+), Memory Manager (MM) and possibly the elimination of items from the Digital Center.
Whatever happens with Creative Memories – even in the worst case scenario (where CM would switch to Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidate assets with little or no warning) I think there will be support for SBC+ and MM. The company that developed these programs for CM has been unable to comment or answer questions regarding this but I am very confident that they will be taking over support for these great programs should CM not be able to do this.
How to protect your investment in SBC+ and/or MM
These are good habits for everyday use – and are especially important now given the uncertainty of CM’s future.
Make sure your programs are up to date.
You can check at the lower left side of the welcome/home screen for each program to see if you have the latest version installed.
It will tell you if you need to check for updates or if it is up to date.
After clicking on “Click to check for software updates” you will either get a message saying your software is up to date or you’ll need to download files from the CM website. Click on the link within the software to do this or go directly to the Help Zone and you can find information about upgrading SBC+ or MM.
Back up your files
Memory Manager – back up your Memory Vault(s) to an external hard drive (EHD) or some other location that isn’t on the same computer that you have MM installed on.
Digital SBC+ Content
SBC+ Content – purchased after 9-1-11
Log into your account on your CMC’s website or CM.com. Click on “My Account” - at the bottom of the page you’ll see “Purchase History” – click on “View my digital download information” and you will see your digital content purchased after 9-1-11, activation codes and links to download the content. Download any content you haven’t yet – or have lost, etc.
SBC+ Content – purchased before 9-1-11
Contact CM digital support to get a copy emailed to you of the digital content you purchased prior to September 1, 2011.
You can contact CM digital support regarding SBC+ using this online form. You can also call CM digital support at (866) 440-2420 or you can email them at digitalsupport@creativememories.com
Ask CM digital support for a list of the digital content you’ve purchased prior to 9-1-11 and let them know each email address you may have used when purchasing content. They will email you a list of all the content you purchased, the activation codes and links to download the content. Save this in a safe location. Note: This will be for downloadable content only. CM digital support can’t send you codes or links for CDs of content you purchased.
Throughout the years as computers crash or are upgraded digital content is lost. This email with your purchase history is a great resource to have – everything is listed in one neat & tidy spot. I was surprised to see how much content I didn’t have installed on my current computer.
Now that you have a list of all the downloads you’ve purchased from CM you can cross reference it with what is installed on your computer. Print off the list you received from digital support as well as those digital purchases listed online (copy & paste the kit names & activation codes into a document and print.)
Look through the lists of all your purchased content and cross reference this with the CM kits you have installed in SBC+
The default folder for kits purchased from CM is the “SBC Content ART Kits” folder. When you click on “Library” view and then the “SBC Content Art Kit” folder you should see all of your SBC+ kits unless you’ve modified this. Cross reference your kits against the list of those purchased and download any that you are missing and enter the activation codes for these kits.
Take a look at the list of activation codes. Under the “Activation Codes” tab if you click on “Unlocked Kit(s)” it will sort your content alphabetically. Any content installed but missing activation codes will be easy to spot – the code will be listed but not the name of the kit – and these will be listed at the top if you’ve sorted them alphabetically. Make a note of kits not showing up as activated and enter the activation codes for these.
Once this is done go through your discs you have purchased that contain SBC+ content. Remember that your original version of SBC+ (the full program, not the upgrade) came with content on 2 discs - Disc 1 has the program and Gazebo and Everyday kits. Disc 2 has the predesigned pages for each kit in 3 different sizes. I had to install the program (SBC+ 2.0) then go in to the folder where the program was installed and import the kits into SBC+ 4.o from there. I wasn’t able to use the program to try to access the kits from within SBC+. Install any content that is missing and again cross reference your installed content installed vs. that you purchased and activation codes.
Make a backup copy of all your digital kits and user content
You can find out where all your artwork and user content is stored on your computer by clicking on the “Library” option and then click on each folder, one at a time and make a note of the location of each folder on your computer – it’s displayed towards the top of the main part of the screen. Go to each folder and back up the contents to a disk or EHD for safe keeping.
Backing up Activation Codes
Open SBC+ and Click on “Manage Content” from the welcome page. Click on “Activation Codes” and save this by clicking on “Make a backup copy” at the bottom of the pop-up screen and save this to a safe location – to a disk and/or EHD.
You should now have all your digital items installed, up to date, activated & backed up!
No comments:
Post a Comment