Turn your journal into a printed book

Why most digital journals are hard to print

You can export almost any digital journal as a PDF. Turning that PDF into a good printed book is where it gets difficult:

• the pages are shaped for a screen, not for a book, so they do not match any trim size a printer offers
• there is no bleed, so backgrounds end in a thin white edge after cutting
• writing runs right to the edge and into the middle, where the cut and the binding swallow it
• then you need a printer who will make one copy, and a cover laid out at the right size, spine included

Mementa Notebook avoids all four by starting where the printer finishes: every notebook is a real book shape from its first page.

1. Start in a book shape

When you start a journal, pick its shape. Portrait suits a written journal, Square a photo heavy one, A series a planner, and Wide gives art and recipes room. Each comes in two real trim sizes, and every page is drawn on a 300 DPI canvas with bleed already behind it. See page shapes.

2. Bringing a journal from somewhere else

If your journal lives in another app, export it as a PDF from there. Add the PDF to your Mementa shelf, open it, and tap the pencil. Mementa asks for a book shape, preselecting the closest, and the journal becomes a Mementa notebook. Each page is fitted inside the new shape without cropping, so a page made in a different shape sits inside it with some margin. Check every spread in Book Mode before you order.

3. Keep the important things safe

Turn on the print guides and look at your pages:

• keep words and faces inside the safe area
• run backgrounds past the trim into the bleed
• leave room in the gutter, where facing pages meet the binding

4. Read it as a book

Open Book Mode and turn the pages. You see it the way a reader will, two pages at a time, in the real shape. Look for a photo creeping into the gutter, a blank page in the wrong place, a spread that does not balance. Reorder or delete pages from the page rail, and set the page count in one pass. A printed softcover needs at least 32 pages and a hardcover 24. Mementa adds blank pages at the end of the print file if yours is shorter.

5. Design the cover

The cover designer opens the whole wrap, back, spine and front, sized from your binding and your page count. Drop in your own photo or art, or use a flat color, and set the title in one of five typefaces. Checks reads every face for resolution and bleed before you pay.

6. Choose the paper and the ink

A handwritten journal does not need photo book paper. Standard black and white ink on 60# cream or white uncoated paper suits pen and pencil and costs less. If your journal is full of photos and color, choose premium color on 80# coated paper. Mementa tells you when a better pairing exists, with the real price difference. See paper, ink and binding.

7. Order one copy

Choose softcover or hardcover, matte or glossy, the size, and how many copies. Enter your address, see the exact total, and pay by card or PayPal inside the app. In the US, softcover starts from $20 and hardcover from $34, with shipping included. Books are printed and shipped by Lulu to 215 countries, and you get a tracking email when yours ships. See printed books.

What to make a book of

• a year of daily journaling
• a travel journal, finished on the flight home
• a pregnancy or a baby's first year
• a gratitude journal, a prayer journal, a dream journal
• a sketchbook you are proud of
• a planner, once the year is over
• letters and photographs for someone you love

Questions