The venerable The Print Shop for Mac Version 2 from Software MacKiev was the recipient of the Best of Show at Macworld 2005 Boston. It is so versatile and powerful that it hasn't needed an upgrade so far, and I'm happy to upgrade to this version. This one is a Universal Binary for both PowerPC and Intel Macs. I have been using The Print Shop Version 1 for a long time and it is superb for tasks that other apps cannot measure up to because of the way it integrates with Mac-specific apps.

One of my favorite uses is to easily print beautiful labels and customize them with graphics to individualize and memorialize an event. I can get the graphics from iPhoto or from the thousands of photos and fine art images included on a separate Art CD.

Software MacKiev added several powerful and easy-to-use layout tools such as Rulers, Guidelines, Grids and Snap functionality, using both menu items and a layout palette.

There are also new and powerful photo editing tools such as artistic effects, special edges and effects. This doesn't mean that Print Shop is as elegant as or better than iPhoto or Photoshop Elements 6 or Photoshop CS4, but, for the price, the easy-to-use tools and the variety of useful projects make it a good deal for Mac users.

The integration with iLife is commendable. You can reach your photos with ease, as well as your Address Book, iCal, iTunes, and iDVD with iDVD themes.

There are many project types and the plethora of templates for every imaginable occasion. They are organized into Celebrations, Stationery, News, and Projects. Celebrations are subdivided into Greeting Cards, Online Greetings, Gift Tags and Tickets, Banners, and Certificates. The Stationery templates are subdivided into Letterheads, Envelopes, Business Cards, Labels, and Post-It Notes. News has Signs, Postcards, Newsletters, Booklets, and Pamphlets. Projects has CDs and Cases, Calendars, Quick Prints, Photo Pages and Blank Page.

I'm thrilled to be using Version 2. I can't wait to get my hands on Version 3.