anyone used picaboo?

[surfergirl602]

they have a free code right now. I'm wondering how good the quality is, as I've never used them. Has anyone ordered a photobook from them?

http://freebies4mom.blogspot.com/2010/03/picaboo-free-85x11-photo-book-899-sh.html

 

[busymama224]

I did a free book from Picaboo and loved it. I've used many sites, and I thought the quality was great (especially for free)

 

[surfergirl602]

I did a free book from Picaboo and loved it. I've used many sites, and I thought the quality was great (especially for free)

Did you have any problems from downloading their software? Just want to make sure everything is safe before I start it.

 

[thebeesknees]

The software downloaded fine for me when I used them. The books were very good quality, shipping was quick, I was pleased with them. I had a problem at one point with a book I was making, and their customer service was terrific. Enjoy!

 

[nunzia]

I've done Picaboo. Nice layouts and tons of neat ways to have backgrounds, etc. However..it is a download to your computer and even though I have a newish computer with tons of RAM I kept getting memory errors and it would really bog down. They also do not have a way to combine shipping...(or didn't last October..I did a chat with a representative and asked) so you end up paying the same rather high shipping on each book you do. Nice quality though.

 

[bonoriffic]

I think the two best options are Picaboo and My Publisher. There are some exceptions, Blurb has some unique advantages that might interest some. If you have a Mac, iPhoto puts out decent books but they have Apple branding on them which is more than the others, more expensive, and of lesser quality.

My Publisher has a Costco discount if you have that, free download from Costco site to enable discount and have very easily obtained coupons from buy 1 get 1 free to 40% off through the usual coupon sites. (Costco applies a 20% off discount, so if getting 2 books the buy 1 get 1 is usually better)

I've used Picaboo for cards. Their card options were better than My Publisher, but if you want full bleed books (the entire page is a photo with no text) then My Publisher seemed to be cheaper and the software nicer. If you like more of a scrap book style, Picaboo would give you more options in that direction.

My Publisher's software is easiest to use other than iPhoto.

 

[tzolkin]

I used Picaboo for our Disney book from our last trip (one for us, one for MIL).

The quality is good and I am pleased with the books. I especially liked that you can set your own backgrounds, so your options are unlimited. That's the main issue I have with most other photobooks-- I can never find a theme that goes with my pictures. Everything in our Picaboo book was photos. Ex: The background for one page was a photo I took of BTMRR from the train with a few photos of the kids on the ride layered over top. One page for Epcot had a picture of SSE as the background, etc.


The only issue I had with them is that you cannot have different items in the same order. I wanted to order a different book for DS and combine shipping with the two Disney books (there is a standard rate and then a rate for each additional item). It will allow you to order multiple copies of the same item, but you have to pay separate shipping for every different item. That was disappointing and I wound up deciding the book for DS was not worth the extra shipping.

 

[erin327]

I have used a few different companies as well, but I always come back to picaboo. I like their layout and background options the best. Their books are pretty expensive, but I think the quality is great. They also run buy one get one free specials a couple times per year. Both of the books must be exactly the same but it works well for buying a copy for grandparents or that kind of thing.

 

[angeleigh]

I just finished my free book with picaboo. I can't wait until it comes. I ordered it for my bff's birthday. I did it in like a storybook style of our "World For a Dollar" trip to Cancun.