Picaboo is a web-based image
self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...
and printing service based in
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of Eng ...
. Customers can upload their digital photos through Picaboo's in-browser application and create a variety of personalized photo products.
History
Picaboo was founded in 2002 in
Palo Alto
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was estab ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
by
Babson College
Babson College is a private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Established in 1919, its central focus is on entrepreneurship education. It was founded by Roger W. Babson as an all-male business institute, but became coeducational i ...
classmates, Howard Field and Kevin McCurdy. Series-A funding was secured from Kleiner Perkins and Softbank.
The first version of its photo editor was launched in 2005.
Originally available as a downloadable desktop application, Picaboo has since retired its desktop application for an exclusively browser-based flash application. In 2015 the company relocated its
headquarter
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...
s to
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
and is currently based in
Boise, ID.
Products
Picaboo’s software allows users to customize and order
photo book
A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book.
Early
Early photo books are characterized by their use o ...
s and a variety of other products like
canvas prints, posters, calendars,
greeting card
A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...
s, etc. Picaboo customers can personalize their products by adding photos and captions. The software allows the user to customize various features, including backgrounds and pre set templates and layouts. The finishing of the cover can also be customized using different materials like cardboard, padded leather or linen. Additionally the customer can choose to include die cuts or engrave the title with gold stamping.
In September 2012, the company launched "Picaboo Yearbooks", a web application for creating yearbooks and managing yearbook sales via an online storefront.
The yearbook division was acquired by Vidigami in July 2017.
In September 2019, RPI announced its acquisition of Picaboo for an undisclosed amount.
Reviews
In December 2012, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', despite mentioning that Picaboo's tool lacked tips or suggestions for new users, rated it the top photo book creator in terms of finished product quality in comparison to three other photo-book services.
According to a 2017 review by
Tom's Guide
''Tom's Hardware'' is an online publication owned by Future plc and focused on technology. It was founded in 1996 by Thomas Pabst. It provides articles, news, price comparisons, videos and reviews on computer hardware and high technology. The si ...
, the strong points of Picaboo are the easy-to-use interface and the extensive search engine for clip art, and on the negative side, a lower than expected quality of the printed pictures and fonts. ''
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
'' praised the quality of the printed photo-book. In a December 2018 review, ''
PC World
''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication.
It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...
'' found the quality of the book to be good, but criticized the lack of gift packaging options and inconsistency in photo reproduction when source pictures had lower resolution.
See also
*
Photo-book
A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book.
Early
Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...
*
Snapfish
Snapfish is a web-based photo sharing and photo printing service owned by Shutterfly based in San Francisco, California.
History
Snapfish was launched in 1999 by business partners Rajil Kapoor, Bala Parthasarathy, Suneet Wadhwa, and Shripati A ...
*
Shutterfly
Shutterfly, LLC. is an American photography, photography products, and image sharing company, headquartered in Redwood City, California. The company is mainly known for custom photo printing services, including books featuring user-provided ima ...
*
Mixbook
*
Blurb, Inc.
Blurb is an American self-publishing platform that allows users to create, self-publish, promote, share, and sell their own print and ebooks. It also offers digital software for Page layout, laying out books.
History
The company was founded in ...
*
Lulu (company)
Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles.
The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. Lu ...
References
External links
* {{Official website
Online publishing companies of the United States
Companies based in New Hampshire
Hanover, New Hampshire
Internet properties established in 2002
Publishing companies established in 2002
2002 establishments in New Hampshire
Self-publishing online stores
American brands