Picaboo specializes almost exclusively in photo books and this shows in the variety of options that they offer and the quality of their product and service. They are not a general photo service, so do not offer prints or gifts and other photo products (with the exception of cards).

Unlike most of the other photo book printing and publishing services, Picaboo does not ask you to make your photo book online. Instead, you download their free photo book creation software and install it on your computer. The great advantage of this that you do not need to upload your photographs to their site in order to create your book. the software download is quite small and is easy to install and to use. Unfortunately, it is only available on Windows.

Design Features

When it comes to design options available to you to make your photo book, Picaboo probably has the best selection. One reason for this that they allow users to share backgrounds on their website. You can drag backgrounds from the site directly into your book pages and last time I looked, they had over 16,000 available. The search and browse functions make it pretty easy to find backgrounds that fit into the theme of the book you are making.

Picaboo also comes out best for layout selection. There are pre-defined layouts for different numbers of photos from a single picture to a collage of twenty or more. Some layouts also have room for text; some just a line or two while others have room for several paragraphs. This variety means Picaboo lets you create lots different types of photo book; from formal memory photo books to fun, casual vaction books, story books, recipe books and just about any other personalized photo book project that you can think of.

Picaboo allows you to use your own photos or images as backgrounds and supports full bleed (pictures run right to the edge of the paper without a margin or border). The software has some basic image editing, including red-eye removal, black and white and sepia. I found the software pretty easy to use and their site has some good instructions available. The Picaboo site also has a great Ideas section with sample books and some great creative tips on how to make your photo book extra special.

Auto Create & StoryFlow to Save Time

For busy people, the StoryFlow feature lets you group photos into pages. The software will then make the photo book for you, based on the theme that you selected. The feature works pretty well and gives pretty good results. You can always tweak the details before you buy the book. I would like to see more themes made available for this feature though. There are some additional themes available for download on the Picaboo web site but the selection is still a little limited.

Size, Binding and Cover Options

Because Picaboo specializes in helping you to create photo books, they have quite a few more finishing options available than the other publishers. All 8.5×11 and 6×8 books are available and you can choose from fabric-covered die cut, leather die-cut and padded leather die-cut in hardcover or textured paper die-cut in softcover. You can also create a glossy custom hard-cover for your photo book using photos or backgrounds.

Specialty and High-End Photo Books

Picaboo also has some unique high-end specialty offerings. These photo books are offered in a larger size and are perfect bound with ‘lay-flat’ pages. This avoids the curve at the spine that you get when you lay open a traditionally glued, stapled or sewn book, which distorts the images near the center. All their high end books (Cape Cod, Victorian, Modern and Ranch styles) use 110 lb matte paper.

Their stunning top-of-the-range ‘Flush Mount’ book offers a genuine leather cover with stamped text with hinged flush mount and lay flat pages. The pages are printed on page board using silver halide printing (most photo book pages are printed on digital photo printer). You can even choose to gild the edges of your photo book’s pages from a choice of colors.   These books are quite expensive, but definitely worth considering for making a photo memory book for a very special occasion, such as a wedding.

Service and Support

Picaboo has a very good web site, full of tutorials and information to help you make a photo book and a comprehensive support knowledge base. They also have toll-free telephone support from 7am til 10 am, e-mail support and a ‘live chat’ support service so you will have no problems finding someone to help you if you have questions or problems.

Books take 3-5 days to complete for standard books and up to 12 days for their top of the range Flush Mount book. They have several shipping options, including overnight (from the date production is complete, not from the date you order).

Conclusion

Picaboo is a great option for your photo book publisher. They are especially good if you want to make a photo book for a very special occasion, because they offer many more high-end options for their books than other publishers. They are very competitive on prices for standard books. Classic books are comparable in price to Shutterfly and cheaper than OurHubbub. 9/10

Get a Free Photo Book from Picaboo – August Only!!!!

Yep, Picaboo’s free photo book offer is back! For all you lucky people who are thinking about making your first photo book, now is the perfect time. Picaboo is offering a free 20 page book in Classic, Classic Leather or Classic Custom binding. If you want more than 20 pages, you will only pay for the extra pages. Head over to their site to take advantage of this fabulous offer right now (use coupon code FREEBK at checkout).

The sooner you sign up and get the free software, the longer you will have to create your book before this offer expires on 8/31.  This offer applies to new customers only (which means I can’t use it…booo!).