Picaboo Yearbooks {Schoolhouse Review Crew}

I don't know if I've mentioned lately that I love being on the Schoolhouse Review Crew, but I do! Then something comes along which really "blows me out of the water" and causes me to love this job, privilege, experience, even more!

Photography is one of my passions (in case you haven't guessed yet, just from perusing my blog). I also enjoy scrapbooking, even though I haven't been able to do much in the past several years. I have not yet "launched" in to digital scrapbooking.

When the opportunity came up to create a 20 page softcover yearbook through Picaboo Yearbooks, I was beyond excited! I remember how fun it was to have a yearbook each year in high school (and I still treasure them).

First I had to decide what kind of yearbook I'd create: One for either of my older two who've already graduated from our homeschool? Or one for the 2012-2013 school year, which was our first year homeschooling just the younger two? I went with the latter choice. Later, I may make one for each of the older two.

Then I had to search through my hundreds (thousands?) of photos from the school year, and choose the ones I wanted to use in our yearbook. I even collected them all in to one folder on my computer.

Next it was time to log in to Picaboo Yearbooks.

 (click on image to enlarge)

Then I chose the sections I wanted to divide the book in to, choosing topics like: Meet our students; Our studies; Our field trips; Hobby farm; Meet our alumni. I was able to choose how many pages per section I'd use. After that, I began uploading photos, in to each section.

I loaded the pictures in small badges, and had to be patient while they loaded. At least the computer didn't freeze up on me! But I've recently learned just how slow our internet speed is (in spite of the fact this is supposed to be DSL!).

Then the fun began! For each two-page spread, I could choose from oodles of backgrounds, or even use one of my own photos for the background if I wanted to. Then I chose from templates, for the layouts of my photos on the pages. I could choose where I wanted to place the journaling, and choose from all kinds of fonts.

It was fun to build my pages, tweak, rearrange, and then finally come up with pages that seemed pleasing to me. I could have had my children help out, but I chose to do it myself, more as a surprise for them in the end.

When I was satisfied with how my pages looked, I could then lock them, by sections. We could choose either matte or glossy finish; I chose matte. I like the feature of seeing all of the pages in this birdseye screen.

After I was finished with the whole process, then I placed my order, and sat back and waited impatiently for our yearbook to arrive in the mail. The turn-around time is only three weeks. I think ours came in less than three weeks.

Everyone was excited when the package arrived. I chose one of my photos for the cover background.

All of us are pleased with it. I think it turned out wonderfully. The binding is of good quality. The pages are sturdy, and the print is sharp. To be honest, I'm already planning on creating a yearbook for the 2013-2014 school year! I can't believe this will be my Botanist Boy's 8th grade year.

I like that I can create a store, so Grandma and Grandpa, or uncles and aunts, or friends if they want, could order a copy of our yearbook for themselves! We can even order a free ebook copy (ePub format).

You could create a book for your church, homeschool group, club, camp, or sport team, or special event like prom. I am sure you'll be very satisfied with this product! Be sure to check out the rest of the reviews, so you can see all the other beautiful layouts.

Cost: Prices start at $8.49 (for the twenty-page softcover). Additional pages are $0.22 per page. Shipping costs, ground: $8.99 for one book, and $0.99 for each additional copy.
Contact Information:
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Address:
Picaboo Yearbooks
255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 100
Redwood City, CA 94065
Phone: 855-537-0050
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