CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. -- Through the last year's economic turmoil, the print industry has seen new hurdles and challenges. Innovation is imperative to sustaining a business through these challenges. Thick plastic customizable cards are customarily only offered in large orders for large businesses and corporations. Picturoo now offers high-quality, long-lasting plastic photo cards as an alternative to paper photo cards in orders as small as one card.

Picturoo's website offers customers an easy-to-use interface to design their own plastic cards in their choice of over one hundred styles and colors. The cards are available in birthday, romantic, and holiday designs, as well as designs made especially for babies, children, women, men, and businesses. The cards are the same size and thickness and quality of a credit card and incredibly durable and water-resistant. At under $5.00 for most designs, customers find the investment in such a long-lasting product very economical.

The sheer innovation that lies in Picturoo's ability to find a new use for a once corporate product is a sign that businesses can find new ways to survive economic challenges. "The quality of these cards, which we affectionately call Picturoos, speaks for itself. Why put conventional photos in a wallet or send a paper photo when you have the option of our Picturoos which will last for years. We've developed so many uses for these cards. They are incredibly versatile," said Picturoo.com's President, Eric Yao. According to the Picturoo website, some of the many uses for Picturoo plastic photo cards include:
    •    replacement for conventional photo cards and paper photo gifts
    •    fundraiser gifts
    •    youth sports team trading cards
    •    small-business ID cards or customer VIP cards
    •    custom thank-you cards
    •    photo birth announcements, photo baby shower invitations, or custom baby shower favors
    •    photo wedding invitations, custom wedding favors, or wedding thank-you cards
    •    whimsical ID cards
    
Businesses can also utilize Picturoo's unique service to provide personalized loyalty cards, customized gift cards and VIP cards to customers. Picturoo has a website plug-in that allows business customers to integrate the card design software seamlessly into their website without redirecting traffic away. With a personal photo and message on the card, it is less likely that customers would discard them; they would rather keep it close and/or socialize them, facilitating a high degree of retainment and exposure.