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S. Fjalar, a teacher in Iceland, had a great idea to apply at the classroom (known via Ogle Earth), find interesting or beautiful places in Google Earth, and then create artwork-like posters, using Motivator, nice and free online tool that serves that purpose perfectly.

His pupils have submitted their findings to this Flickr pool: Artwork Earth. Other people have submitted their own, as well, as Mr. Fjalar's invitation is an open one: Artwork Earth group is open for everyone who wants to join us, he says.

With a little twist, you can use this idea for your digital Christmas cards. Find an inspiring view, add a motivational message or any other greeting, and it's done:



It's easy. Our teacher from Iceland uses Google Earth, but the 2D satellite views you can find on Tagzania may be as good as those images. Let's see:

1. Find something interesting on Tagzania
2. Below the map, choose the Big map option, and a fullscreen view will appear. Switch to satellite view, as the big map may appear in hybrid mode.
3. Take a screenshot of that view.
4. Go to the Motivator, choose photo, title and message, and click on the Motivate button.

Direct screenshots taken from Tagzania will show red pinpoints and, if you have clicked on them, open info bubbles, as that example above from the Kalahari desert shows. If you feel that's an unnatural addition to the earthly view of your card, use a trick, go to a nice location in Tagzania, open the Big map, but drag the map (or zoom) a little bit so the red marker gets out of the image.



No markers or text disturb the planet in this example above. Here's another clear example. These were as easy as in the previous example: we just found two beautiful locations in the Amur river (Siberia) and in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, then opened the big map views, and once there, instead of a direct screenshot, we moved the map to a nearby location, zooming to a perfect altitude to get the nicest viewpoint.