Picture Books: The Digital Age Photo Albums

Fourth Picture Book Coming Soon: ASEAN Vacations

In the digital age era, what do you actually do with the tons of electronic pictures from digicams, camera-phones and tablets anyway?

I grew up in the wake of the traditional photo albums.  Exactly what my daughter call The Olden Days. You get a roll of film printed at the nearby 1-hour printing shop (or in the earlier years, you come back for it after a few days) and hope that the pictures will turn out right. Then you paste them into the standard family size photo album decked with all the fancy decorations if you are up to it. Or slide them into the more convenient slip-on type of photo albums. I had a few pictures simply tucked into picture boxes when I ran out of space to store the heavy albums.

I discovered Picture Books during my first month at the Novena Square office. They were holding a 3-day showcase at the ground level of the Velocity Mall. I got curious and I ended up buying their promotional three picture books for the price of two. Upon purchase, you will receive a coupon that corresponds for one book. The coupon can be used for the next 12 months or so.

The package includes a CD-ROM which is very easy to use. It contains the software that will aid you in creating your own picture book. The program will also help you process sending the program file and orders electronically for as long as you are connected to internet. The final product will be couriered to you after a few working days.

I recall a small stall in a mall in Alabang offering the same service. The difference though is that they will have to format it for you. If you are an OC like me, you will have to provide a page by page, step by step specification on how you want the final product to look like.  And hope they actually get it right. Or be prepared to edit it to death.  I tried it (and had my patience tested) and never got round see the final product. Go figure.

With Picture Books, you can actually make them on your own sweet time. You can select what suits you best, based on their standard album sizes (rectangle or square) and format (landscape or portrait), hardbound or softbound. You can choose your designs, cover and picture effects, add graphics and captions, select only the pictures you would like. The works.

I was able to use all of my picture book coupons by now and waiting for the delivery of the fourth book.

And if I may brag (ehem), one of my picture book “Travelogue” has been selected by the Picture Book company to be included in their showcase. If you ever visit their showroom or catch them in one of the mall tours, you’ll find this album (and our faces) on display.  "Travelogue" was a picture book I created for the vacations we had in the different beaches and places in the Philippines. The breath taking view was a bliss to capture in picture! My next book spotlights the places we visted in South East Asia.

In the final format, the picture book makes a classy photo album because the printed medium is glossy and can double as a coffee table book. Be sure to use high definition pictures for the best results.

Can't wait for my next picture book!