Profile 'Books'

hey_its_jenn · January 2014

I am about to start making our profile books/pages, which is only allowed to be 5 pages, front and back. I was looking online for help with formatting. Any suggestions for websites? I was thinking MyPublisher. Looks like they've got some digital scrap booking pages that would be nice.

Also, if anyone would want to share their profile books, I would be forever grateful! Thank you!!

[Deleted User] · January 2014

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ses60306 · January 2014

Hi! I have never posted before on this board but lurk often

We just had our profile go live in December...Our format was required to be exactly the same as yours...5 pages front and back. I went on our agency's website and looked through tons of profiles to get ideas. An awesome friend offered to design a layout for our book and then we just had to add the text and captions. Be aware of scrapbook making sites...my agency did not allow us to make a bound book. It had to be 5 individual pages front and back. I would provide a link but I don't know how

To get some ideas you could search the waiting families on the AFTH.org site! Hope that helps:) It is so exciting when your profile book is finished and approved! Good luck!

aligross · January 2014

Our's was really a lot longer than that (required to be 20+ pages F&B). I would say for layout, sit down and figure out WHAT you want to put in the book first and foremost. Get an idea down on paper.

Does it need to be a digital book?

Will it be a bound book?

Are there page size requirements/restrictions?

Does your agency/attorney provide you with any information on what needs to be IN the book?

Ugh, I could NEVER imagine being only 5 pages long! As for websites for design, I haven't got a clue as we designed our's in Photoshop and then printed it album style. Check etsy and see if you find any ideas there that you might like?

Good Luck!!!!

hey_its_jenn · January 2014

@ses60306 - I pm'd you!

davidandheather · January 2014

I just did Shutterfly. Ours was able to be as long as we wanted but I can see how we could have cut it to five pages. Here is ours.

https://howwemetourbaby.com/2012/09/25/our-adoption-book/

Dr.Loretta · January 2014

We used what is now Mixbook I think. If that hadn't worked out, I was just going to set it up in PowerPoint. I took the final digital product to Kinkos for printing.

Ours was only 2 pages. We had a brief note to the expectant parents, and a sort of table with highlights for both of us (ages, jobs, hobbies) on the front. On the second page we had a lot of family pictures with captions for each.

I think I still have our list of do's and don'ts if you're interested. Also if you're working with an agency, ask if they have examples to look at. We actually had a class where our SW showed us what we called the good, the bad, and ugly. It was very helpful.

hey_its_jenn · January 2014

@Dr.Loretta - If you could find the list of do's and don'ts, that would be awesome! I will take whatever advice I can! Thanks!

Dr.Loretta · January 2014

PMing you now!

MagickalNarwhal · January 2014

marshmallowevening said:

Here is ours. Ours was much longer, but maybe it can be helpful. Make sure to ask how much text they want. I had to shorten our text a lot compared to what I wanted to say. The agency said when an expectant parent is looking through so many, they need concise text (makes sense but was frustrating at the time).

@marshmallowevening we used the same template on mixbook for ours!

@hey_its_jenn if you want I can send you a link to ours for you to look over. We LOVED mixbook - it had the templates like My Publisher but a lot more flexibility (take pics out entirely, change size etc).

emca · January 2014

We used mixbook as well. You might have to have a minimum amount of pages on those websites. Be sure to check that first.

hey_its_jenn · January 2014

@MagickalNarwhal if you could please PM me a link, I would really appreciate it! Thank you so, so much!

lauren2_00@yahoo.com · January 2014

Hi there! New to this board, but noticed that we're using the same agency. We used Microsoft Publisher and then took the profile to a local printer. Pretty easy and a cheaper option. If you use a photo book website, you'll have to cut the binding out and make copies.

MagickalNarwhal · January 2014

Ours ended up being cheaper and better quality than if we had gone to a printer for the amount of copies we needed to make (5). We did have to cut the pages out but we got a groupon for Mixbook and used that. I think we spent $120 on the books altogether. Our book was fairly long - 18 pages front and back I think? 2-sided color copies were expensive everywhere we looked!

[Deleted User] · January 2014

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MagickalNarwhal · January 2014

marshmallowevening said:

MagickalNarwhal said:

@marshmallowevening we used the same template on mixbook for ours!

Oh, cool! I think it is so warm and cheerful.

Our kids' birth parents have joked several times that our production values really sealed the deal

Profile 'Books'

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