My own personal ‘purikura’
プリクラ (purikura) is the name given to the photo-booths and pictures well known and loved in Japan. Why are they so popular? Purikura machines allow you to take a variety of pictures with different backdrops and lighting, afterwards you are given the chance to decorate the final photos.
As they gain popularity worldwide (they’re in a city near you!) mobile app stores have seen an increase in the amount of ‘purikura apps’.
Here is a small review of my current favourite purikura app; DecoPic
Click ‘read more’ for the full post.
I’m not a fan of a lot of the purikura apps on the app store as I find they’re all pretty similar, but DecoPic intrigued me as the stamps, frames etc are very close to the ones used in the machines in Japan.
Once you have chosen to take a picture or use one from your album (awww look at my cute puppy), you can move and scale it to your needs. Then you have the option of adding lots of pretty, sparkly things.
Options include:
Art filters – much like instagram etc.
Not something you would find on a regular purikura machine. Obviously an addition that is aimed at the current ‘filter’ trend hitting the app stores.
Frames – a varied and not bad selection.
Stamps – 15 pages worth, all of which are just like the stamps you find on the machines in Japan.
Message – add messages such as ‘Today’s coordinate’ & ‘I love you’.
Pen – various colours/styles of pen to write by freehand.
Text – various styles and a selection of colours to write by text.
When adding a message, stamp, text etc. there is the option of: resizing, rotating, moving and undoing the item.
Finally, when you click ‘save’ the photo is automatically stored in your photo album and you have the option of sharing it with the community, or Facebook/Twitter etc.
I like the categories they have used for the stamps, messages and borders (feminine, blogger, vintage and more) – giving you the chance to pick your item depending on your mood/the feeling of the photo. There is also an ‘event’ category, which changes throughout the year.
With over 300 design options, if you want an app to decorate your photos with that is easy-to-use, authentic to the machines and FREE, then this is the one for you!
Want your own personal purikura photobooth on your iPhone/Android?
If anyone knows if it is on any other app stores please let me know.
