A Simple Guide to Making an Autograph Book

[MusicMouse]

This is my first time printing pictures, so here goes... The front covers:


The inside of the cover and the first page:


The back covers:

[disneytunes]

Great books!! Thanks for posting.

Did you use a glue stick for putting the pics on or did you print out the pics directly on the cardstock?

How many pages are these books? Did you get the clear cover over top the first page?

I can't wait to go pick my pics up after I drop DS off at school and start working on them this morning!!

[MusicMouse]

Originally Posted by disneytunes

Great books!! Thanks for posting.

Did you use a glue stick for putting the pics on or did you print out the pics directly on the cardstock?

How many pages are these books? Did you get the clear cover over top the first page?

I can't wait to go pick my pics up after I drop DS off at school and start working on them this morning!!

I printed my images directly onto cardstock with my laser printer.

If you are having pictures printed you can either glue them onto 5x7 pieces of cardstock (leave extra space at the top for binding), or slide them into a 100 sleeve 5x7 photo album and decorate the cover.

My books ended up being 122 pages each, but that included 12 pages of generic designs, and 18 pages of character meals. I laminated the covers myself with clear contact paper, but if you have them bound they can put a clear sheet over the front cover instead if you ask them to.

Good luck with your books! Isn't this a fun project? My DS2 and DS5 are really excited about collecting autographs now!

[Camping Griswalds]

When you printed them at home on your home computer...how much ink did it use? Is there anyway to have it printed and bound at a kinkos? Just wondering about copyright stuff there.

[MusicMouse]

Kinkos will bind it, but will NOT print it. Disney's IP (Intellectual Property) lawyers are very strict, and no business wants to violate copyright laws or infringe on Disney's trademarks. I used a color laser printer, but if you are worried about ink, you might want to look at these designs. http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r...ograph%20Book/
They use a lot less color and still look really cool!

[disneytunes]

I ordered my pics from walmart.com and had no problem. I did only a few the other day just to see if the sharpie would smear or not on them AND to see if there would be any problem for them to print them since it's disney. But I had no problems. So last night I uploaded and ordered 140 more pics.

Will the office store bind any size or does it have to be specific like 4x6, 5x7..etc?

Just put DS down for a nap and am getting ready to cut paper and glue on the pics. I wonder if I can get away with using a gluestick or should I use scrapbooking adhesive?

[MusicMouse]

How funny - I just put my DS down for nap, too. Photographs are usually not a problem for copyright issues. I'm glad that they came out well! The store should bind any size. They punch the little holes in the top and hand wire the binding in and then cut it to the right size when they get all the way through to the end. I think you would need something a little stronger than a glue stick so that you don't have to worry about them coming apart. Let me know how they turn out!

[disneytunes]

Musicmouse, how many pages are in those books each? I am trying to cut my pages down right now and since I have about 65 pages, I'm wondering if I need to leave more than a 1 inch margin? Remember too, I am taping the autograph pics onto the cardstock so that will make it thicker.

Thanks!

[MusicMouse]

Originally Posted by disneytunes

Musicmouse, how many pages are in those books each? I am trying to cut my pages down right now and since I have about 65 pages, I'm wondering if I need to leave more than a 1 inch margin? Remember too, I am taping the autograph pics onto the cardstock so that will make it thicker.

Thanks!

I had 122 cards in each of my books, plus the chipboard covers. The maximum thickness they can bind is 1.75" including the covers, so you should be OK. No, really you only need about 3/4" at the top for binding. Good luck!

[disneytunes]

Thanks for the response. What did you do with the ones you didn't get autographs for? Did you just leave them in the book?

I can't believe I'm overthinking this so much...my dd will be so happy w/ whatever I end up with and ds is 2 1/2...I can bet he won't even care. lol!

When it comes to stuff like this though...I am such a perfectionist. Or at least I try to be,

[MusicMouse]

I haven't gone on my trip yet. I think I will wait and see how many autographs I actually get before I make any decisions. I hear you about being a perfectionist. This will be my boys' first trip to WDW, and I want it to be extra magical. I'm sure your kids will love your books no matter how they turn out. Just be sure to include those generic pages for the unexpected characters, and you'll be covered!

[disneytunes]

Oh duh me...I should have seen your signature!

I just ran out of adhesive so I will have to finish up DS's book tomorrow.

Good night!

[bmd1206]

Our kids (4 and 3 yrs old) only know so many disney characters so I am thinking of making a plain book. What is the average number of pages that you would suggest putting in the book? I am worried that when it comes to signing the book they won't know which character it is. We do not have any reservations for meals with characters, but hoping we'll get something by the time we go.

ALso, what is better? pictures or card stock?

p.s. thank you for the guide to making the book - it was driving me crazy on trying to figure it out.

[MusicMouse]

Originally Posted by bmd1206

Our kids (4 and 3 yrs old) only know so many disney characters so I am thinking of making a plain book. What is the average number of pages that you would suggest putting in the book? I am worried that when it comes to signing the book they won't know which character it is. We do not have any reservations for meals with characters, but hoping we'll get something by the time we go.

ALso, what is better? pictures or card stock?

p.s. thank you for the guide to making the book - it was driving me crazy on trying to figure it out.

If you are going to WDW for a week, plan on seeing approximately 60 characters. I've been keeping track of people's post trip reports, and that seems to be the average. If you are thinking about making a plain book, I would suggest picking out maybe three or four generic autograph page designs and then you don't have to worry about getting characters to sign specific pages (something like this http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r...t=Generic3.jpg ). Natalie has several nice ones in her autograph book files ( http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2225095 ).
I would use cardstock, I think it has a nicer look and feel to it- more like an actual book, but that's really a matter of personal preference. Good luck, and feel free to ask questions as they crop up!

[bibbidibobbidiboo07]

Hi, hope you can help - you replies to a post I made re printing pages. I've managed to set pages up and get two imaages per page but can't work out how to invert the second image - anyone got any tips - thanks.