Introducing PhonoPics, the essential app for enjoying an audio photobook

Audio photo books can add another dimension to any standard photo book product. Photo books are a great way to ensure your favourite images are preserved and shared for future enjoyment.

Typically your photo book has a theme, whether it is documenting key moments for a milestone birthday, a wedding, or the amazing experiences and vistas of that special overseas holiday. Alternatively, if there is no overarching theme, many people simply compile their favourite family moments over the last calendar year.

But although pictures can indeed tell a thousand words, invariably there is more to the story than the pictures convey. So, what if it were possible to fill in those extra details and provide important context to an image: the interesting travel anecdote, the vows you exchanged at your wedding, the excitement of a special family moment . . .

Say hello to PhonoPics, the app that literally lets a picture tell a story, or play a soundtrack that transports you to another moment in time.

PhonoPics allows you to scan an image and listen to the associated audio. Now, you can enjoy your photo books in a whole new way. While they still look and feel exactly as they always have, the augmentation of audio takes your book to a whole new level.

Why You Need It

Consider the Possibilities for Audio Enhanced Photo Books

Children's Stories

Many people create their own bespoke story book for the special young people in their life, illustrated with drawings or photos. How can PhonoPics add impact? . . . .

Read Your Own Story

Your special children’s book can be made even more special by attaching your own audio rendition of the story

Travel Books

Your holiday images will serve to remind you of all the incredible places and amazing experiences you encountered on your trip. How can PhonoPics add impact? . . . .

Add a Soundtrack

By adding the ambient sounds that accompanied the image, you will be transported back in time to re-live those awesome moments.

Milestone Birthday

What better way to celebrate a milestone than with a photo book that serves to document their life's journey. How can PhonoPics add impact? . . . .

Make it Personal

Quite commonly, a milestone birthday book will contain one or more dedications, or personal messages. These will carry so much more impact when delivered in the writer’s own voice.

Wedding

A wedding photo book is the perfect record of the big day, from the preparations right through to the reception. How can PhonoPics add impact? . . . . .

Keep Your Vows With Your Photos

There’s really no limit to what can be achieved by enhancing your wedding book with audio. Listen to your vows, hear key moments of the speeches, expand on your emotions and hopes for the future. What better keepsake!

Family History

What greater legacy to create for those that come after you than a book that captures the family's history. How can PhonoPics add impact? . . . .

Hear the Family's Tales

It’s one thing to document the facts relating to the family’s story, but another thing entirely to capture the tales, anecdotes and myths, delivered straight from the mouths of those family elders.

Year in Review

Family yearbooks, or 12 months in a child's life are all worthy topics for a photo book, and sure to become family treasures. How can PhonoPics add impact? . . . .

Snapshot the Thoughts

As well as capturing the moments in pictures, it makes perfect sense to capture the thoughts and emotions of those featured in the book. Years into the future, their voices will bring new life to old memories . . . .

Here’s How It Works

Set Up Your Images

Request a PhonoPics Setup Service whereby we process your supplied images and their corresponding audio files. PhonoPics works with any photo book image, regardless of your preferred brand of photo book provider. However, on the assumption that not all images will be augmented with audio, it is helpful to provide visual cues for the images that will have audio enhancement. This is best done at the time the photo book is designed, however, one can also mark or stamp the the images in existing photo books, as desired, for the same end result. (Alternatively, you might also try tiny stickers or sticky note tabs.) See our pricing table for current audio setup costs.

Scan Your Project's QR Code

Tap on the QR code tab to scan the QR code that belongs to your photo book (or other image based item). Typically, the code will be found on the inside of the front cover, or possibly on the last page, or potentially the back cover (inside or external).

File Download is Triggered

Once the project’s code is successfully read, the audio files and image recognition data are downloaded and stored locally on the device for future use by the PhonoPics app.

Scan Your Target Images

Next, select the crosshairs tab to start scanning target images. Look for visual clues that hint at an image having associated audio (unless all your book’s images are targets, in which case there may be no visual clues). For best results, ensure your pages are in a well lit environment and that the target image is fully in the camera’s view. (Conversely, you may need to lower your device if multiple target images are in view, so that the intended image is recognised and the desired audio content is played.)

Responsive Performance

Once your project’s files are initially downloaded, your device will have the recognition and audio data stored locally, providing responsive performance. Unlike other AR apps that are designed for marketing purposes, PhonoPics does not perform any tracking or reporting of app usage. [Internet connection is required only for managing any purchased PhonoPics scan tokens.]

Listen to the Audio

As soon as your target image is recognised, a speech bubble graphic is superimposed on the screen and the associated audio begins to play.

Interrupting the Audio

You can stop the audio playing at any time, by tapping the speech bubble graphic. You will also need to tap the graphic when the audio finishes playing and you wish to continue by scanning the next target image. This process is easily managed by holding your device in one hand and using your thumb to tap the speech bubble graphic as needed.

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Manage Your Settings

Delete Your PhonoPics Project Files

Should you have a need to update the local files (e.g. if requested by PhonoPics Support), you will first need to delete the existing files on your device. After tapping the appropriate button on the Settings screen, you will be able to re-scan the QR code belonging to the project for which files are to be updated.

Preserve your tokens

Signup/login to preserve your purchased scan tokens across devices or in the case of a device upgrade. Incognito mode allows you to use tokens only on the device on which you installed the app and purchased the tokens.

Bypass the Info Screen

This setting allows you to bypass the Info screen when the app is started, and allow the image recognition function to be started immediately.

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Inspiration

Take a look at a few sample pages below from our inspiration book (40Mb), which is filled with ideas and examples of how PhonoPics can be used for a variety of book types. To test it out and experience PhonoPics first hand, simply download the free PhonoPics app (available for iPhone, and Android). Most importantly, be sure to review the “Getting Started” tutorial in the app before using PhonoPics to scan the QR code opposite. Then you can try scanning the test images on the thumbnails below. (Click on the page thumbnails below to enlarge them.) Download our Inspiration and Ideas book in PDF form (40Mb), and in the same way, you can display the pages on your screen (or print the pages) and try out the PhonoPics app to experience a wider range of possibilities.

We can’t wait to see what audio enhanced projects you create!

Request Our Audio Setup Service

Take your photo book to the next level. Let us add extra enjoyment by associating your audio clips to your selected matching images.

Simply gather one or more image and audio pairs (a pair is one image and one corresponding audio file) and upload them to us for processing (following the instructions we will provide to you). The audio setup service is priced on a per “image-audio pair” basis. For pricing, please refer to the table below. To place an order for the the addition of audio to your set of curated images, simply reach out to us via the contact form below and we will email you instructions for supplying your images and audio. Then, once we have everything, we will email you an invoice that you can pay online. Finally, we will then proceed to configure your files for use with PhonoPics and let you know when it is all completed.

Price (AUD)	Audio Configuration Service Inclusions
$49	Setup, for up to 20 audio/image pairs
$10	each additional 5-pack of audio/image pairs

Pricing is based on image files supplied files in JPG format, and audio files supplied as MP3. However, a nominal surcharge may apply if format conversion is required (i.e. if files are not in JPG or MP3). We will advise if any such surcharges apply, prior to configuring your image-audio pair to work with the PhonoPics app. Once your configured files are downloaded by the PhonoPics app, they are stored locally on the device. However, included in your setup cost is 36 months of storage of your configured files on our server, as a temporary backup of your configured PhonoPics files. During this period, the PhonoPics app can download them again, if ever they are needed.

Create an audio photo book with
PhonoPics
Let your pictures tell the WHOLE story.

View the images in your audio photo book and hear their linked audio!

Create an audio photo book with
PhonoPics
Let your pictures tell the WHOLE story.

View the images in your audio photo book and hear their linked audio!

Introducing PhonoPics, the essential app for enjoying an audio photobook

Why You Need It

Consider the Possibilities for Audio Enhanced Photo Books