- 1). Decide on the subject of the book. Will your personalized book be a collection of poems or essays? Will you personalize the book by having it be about a particular person? Will you include photos, drawings or paintings?
- 2). Decide what paper you will use for your book. If you have an ink jet printer, you have the option of using a wide range of paper styles for your own personalized book. You can find printer paper that looks like parchment or has ancient looking maps as the background. Or, if you intend on doing the book entirely by hand, you can make your own paper.
- 3). Plot the format for the book. If you wish for your book to be a combination of poems and pictures or photographs, figure out how you want them to appear on each page. For those who worked on school yearbooks or enjoy making scrapbooks, this will be a familiar step for you.
- 4). Design the book in the program of your choice. Place the pictures on the pages in the manner you've chosen in step three. Save and label your file.
- 5). Fold the paper in half if you are making your own personalized book by hand. If you wish, you can write the words by hand with a calligraphy pen. Paint or draw the illustrations for your book, carefully keeping the paper in order. Wait for the ink and paint to dry before proceeding.
- 6). Print the pages. Be sure to choose the pamphlet option when printing so your pages stay in order. Fold the pages in half.
- 7). Remove the cardboard from a legal pad or some other pad to use as the cover of your book. Fold the cardboard in half.
- 8). Pick out the cloth for the cover. You can use cloth that has some significance, like part of a favorite sheet or dress. You can also find cloth remnants at fabric stores and use something with a lovely pattern.
- 9). Lay the cardboard on the back side of the cloth and use a yardstick and a marker or tailor's chalk to create a pattern. Remember to leave only about 3/4 of an inch at the top and bottom of the cover since the fabric will have to slip beneath the bound pages. You can have a much larger allowance for the sides. Cut along the lines you drew with scissors.
- 10
Plot where you will bind the pages to the cardboard by opening the pages and using a pencil to draw 1-inch lines at 1-inch intervals along the fold. Remember to start an inch from the top and from the bottom. - 11
Place the pages inside the cardboard and line them up when you make your own personalized book. Sew along the 1-inch lines, remembering to begin from the cardboard side of the book. - 12
Place the book on the cloth and line it up properly. Slip the cloth carefully beneath the pages at the top and bottom of the book. Fold the edges of the cloth over just as you would wrap a present, and use the stick glue to adhere it in place. Slip some sheets of plastic wrap between the cloth-covered cardboard and the pages. Set some large books on top of the book and let it dry over night. Remove the plastic, and enjoy your own personalized book.
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