How to Create Your Own Picture Books
A picture is worth a thousand words, which makes picture books a great way to store precious photographs or memories when words just wouldn't be enough. You can also create books for babies or children, or gifts for family and friends, using a range of images from ones you have taken to license-free online images. Making a picture book requires some concentration and creativity, but is a very rewarding process.
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Instructions
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Choose a theme. You could make a picture book of a collection of photographs, such as a wedding or your children, or make children's books, such as an ABC book. You could also make a picture book for a gift, with a theme of art, city scenes, hobbies, pets or holidays.
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Write out the story to accompany the pictures and artwork. This might be captions for pictures, such as wedding photos, or a children's story. Typically, picture books do not have more than a sentence or two on each page, so try not to write too much.
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Choose which photographs, pictures and artwork you wish to use. You might want to encourage your child to draw pictures to use in their book, or to draw pictures yourself, or to use photographs. Sort through which pictures and artwork you would like to include in the book, and then put these into order.
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Open a publishing program. There are many of these available, such as Microsoft Publisher or Serif Page Plus, or you can use Microsoft Word. Alternatively, you can use a professional company by searching for a photo or printing company near you and taking your plans to them.
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Create your picture book by opening your publishing software and arranging your book. Add your pictures by clicking "Insert" and choosing the picture option. Add page breaks using the "Insert" menu again, and clicking "Page Break."
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Save your picture book as a PDF.
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Print your picture book. Ensure you have enough ink to produce high-quality images.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are sending your book to a publisher to be printed, consider supplying your PDF document. This is often the preferred way to receive books, and ensures your picture book looks exactly as you want it to.
Print onto glossy paper for a more professional result.
To include artwork into your book, scan it in and save to your computer. You can then add it using the "Insert Image" function.
References
- Photo Credit photos image by reynald lassire from Fotolia.com
