Picaboo is a photo book software application that most people have heard of, but until you actually use it, you will never understand exactly why it is so popular. Picaboo is one of the top applications we reviewed. It is the TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award winner because it is easy to use and offers a variety of design and layout options.
Whether you have made countless photo projects or you are selecting photo book software to begin your first one, Picaboo has great features that you will find irreplaceable. To start with, you have the option of creating a customized book which allows you to place pictures on each page exactly how you want them, or you can choose to have Picaboo auto-fill the book and place the pictures for you. The application also has project templates that allow you to easily select a layout for each page, or you can customize the layouts to add an even more personal touch to the book.
A feature that we believe any photo book software can never go without is a built-in spell-checker. This is a feature that should never be overlooked because experience has taught us that no matter how many times something is proofread, something still may be overlooked. Picaboo's spell-checker makes mistakes easy to catch and easy to change. When you click “Order Book” in the bottom right-hand corner of the application, you will get the option to perform a final spell-check before continuing forward and placing your order.
We imported our pictures directly from Flickr to Picaboo. That was an awesome option to take advantage of. No matter where you import your pictures from, the process is simple. You find where your pictures are stored, select them, and Picaboo does the rest. There is a ‘Preview’ option at the top of the application that allows you to view your book at any time and see what it will look like when published. Once you have completed your book, Picaboo photo book software gives you the option of sharing it with friends via email or Facebook so that they can see your recent adventures and creation. Just click the “Share” button at the top of the application, enter the necessary info and Picaboo will share your photo book as requested.
When you're ready to have your project published, there are several options. Picaboo photo book software will create your book with a leather or linen cover. It can also be published with a hard or soft cover. There is only one page option right now, which will print your pictures in what the website calls a glossy finish. Although they are glossy, we felt the pages were in the middle of being glossy and matte; the printed book pages have the finish of a coffee-table book you would find at your local book store. The quality and the detail of the pictures and the paper were both excellent, and we were pleased with our final printed product and it made us eager to make another one.
It didn’t take long for us to feel confident using Picaboo photo book software. Picaboo requires that you create your book one step at a time, which makes things a whole lot easier. You begin the process of creating your photo book by selecting a theme. If you can’t find a theme that directly fits your desire, don’t stress too much because more background options are available once you begin building your pages. After selecting the theme of your book, you will be asked to upload your photos. After your photos are uploaded you can begin building each page by adding pictures and text as well as customizing the background and features on each page.
We began by selecting a picture and placing it on the cover and then moving to the title page. Since we had never created a book using Picaboo photo book software we didn’t know what features and tools were available; however, by pages two and three we were changing layouts, backgrounds, picture size, zooming in on images and tilting the orientation of pictures. We were amazed with not only the options, but the ease of using them as well.
Running across the top of the Picaboo webpage are three different link options: What is Picaboo, Products & Pricing and Support. When clicked on, the Support link will take you to Picaboo Support where you will find contact information for the company, video tutorials, access to the knowledgebase and help topics that address a number of inquiries.
We were impressed by each of the support resources that Picaboo provided for users of the photo book software. The video tutorial provides an excellent step-by-step guide to making a photo book which we found very helpful as we began our book.
We chatted with a customer support representative to learn more about the photo book software and we were thrilled with the knowledge our representative possessed. We were able to get answers to each of our questions very quickly and very thoroughly. The Picaboo customer support team is available to chat seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PST. We also used the Picaboo email support option which is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The response time wasn’t as prompt as it was with chat, but that was expected. We received a response within 24 hours of sending the email, so it is still a great option for users who happened to just miss the chat time. Customer service is available by phone Monday thru Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PST. The number is toll-free, and although we were fully satisfied by the chat feature, it is nice to know that there is an additional option to take advantage of.
Picaboo photo book software is very impressive. After using a number of different applications to create photo books, we were grateful for the ease and the options that we found while using Picaboo. Picaboo allows you to take select a page layout and alter it according to your needs and desire – moving pictures and text boxes while changing the sizes and orientation, and even overlapping if desired is as easy as dragging and dropping your photos. Picaboo doesn’t provide the array of features that we found in our top choices, but because of the options it does provide, the ease of use and the quality of the final product, we recommend this photo book software choice for any user who is ready to create a photo book.
