Making a profile book- help!

ManchNP123

Hi- I'm a lurker who is peeking out to ask the experts!  

 

We're working with a local attorney for a domestic infant adoption.  My husband and I are having a really hard time putting together out profile book- logistically.  The attorney wants only 6 pages total.  The books they've shown us from previous clients were bound in his office, and some as pdf files via email.  I guess the book needs to be available in both forms.  We can't figure out what program to use to put this together!  We spent a TON of time using Shutterfly, only to find out they have a 20 page minimum, as do most of the websites.   Some of the profiles he sent us look like they used PowerPoint, but I don't know how you'd bind that.  Amazingly, the attorney can't actually give us a recommendation for how to put this together, and even suggested a graphic designer.  Really?!?  We're computer- literate people, and I have to believe it doesn't need to be this complicated!  Help!  How did you put together your profile book?

House of Lovelock

We used photoshop and did a digital scrap "book" - then printed out the pages for the physical.  Everyone loves our books, they really turned out beautiful - but it was a lot of work (worth it, of course) and I don't think a graphic designer is a bad idea at all!  If I didn't do it with my job I'm pretty sure we would have hired someone to do ours.  You can bind at Kinko's/Fedex center or any of the Office supply shops usual have binding also. It's pretty cheap.

orange1414

Our long profile is 20+ pages, so we were able to do that in Mixbook. I did our four page short profile in Microsoft Publisher. It's not the most user-friendly program, but it does come standard with the Microsoft Office suite (so you might already have it on your computer), and there are some templates for newsletters that you could repurpose for your profile.

I understand your frustration! Good luck!

Dr.Loretta

I used scrapblog, which is now owned by mixbook. you should be able to assemble each page, then they'll send you a high-res file for each page that you can print anywhere. We used FedEx/Kinkos.

We were going to use PPT if the other option didn't work out. You should be able to convert PPT to pdf using Adobe.

Deep breaths. It will work out. Ours was only 2 pages, so it was an adventure.

kacelle

I would probably use Microsoft Publisher and write it to a PDF.  

lafayettegirl

I started out using Microsoft Publisher and then switched to CraftArtist. I bought CraftArtist at Best Buy for $40 or less...can't remember. It was aweseome - easy to use, lots of choices for backgrounds, embellishments, etc. Our book is much longer, but CraftArtist lets you make books of any size and shape.

Good luck!

kacelle

I haven't put together a profile book before, but I use Publisher to do flyers and such for work.  If you'd like some help, PM me!  I'd be more than happy to work on it with you--no need to hire a graphic designer. 

pryority1

I totally feel your pain. That was the worst for my husband and I as well. It took forever. We ended up using Vio Vio. They gave you a ton a creative freedom without all of the preset design pages and restrictions. They were not overly expensive either. Good Luck!

ManchNP123

Thanks so much for the suggestions!  We figured out how to use Powerpoint and print/bind at Kinkos.....hopefully this comes out ok!