Motif Blog

Create your own custom story book

Written by Pete | Mar 19, 2022 11:18:40 AM

Visit your favorite local bookstore and the possibilities of what you will find are endless. You may find a story about a little imaginary bear and his adventures. There’s also the option of reading about a female scientist who lived with apes in Africa. There are countless books that tell the story of any number of American presidents.      

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But what about your story? Have you ever considered yourself a storybook maker? You probably have tons of stories to tell. Stories about amazing vacations you’ve taken, or stories about your time in school. How about the story of your family? Have you added any members to your family recently or not so recently? Whatever stories you have to tell, it’s easy to create a story book with the Motif photo book app. Every picture tells a story and most of us literally have thousands of them. Picture a way to easily place your best photos into a photo book layout and then pair the perfect words to complete the story. Sound interesting? Let’s take a closer look into making personalized story books.

How can I make my own personalized story books with photos?

You might be wondering if you have enough ink cartridges, the right kind of paper, glue, scissors, and other serious book-making tools. To create your own story book, all you need are photos, stories, a Mac, or iPhone, or iPad, and the Motif photo book app

If you’d like to make your own story book with photos, here’s a few simple steps to make it happen: 

  1. Take a moment and think about what story you’d like to tell. Ask yourself if there are enough photos to support your story. You don’t necessarily have to write volumes but there should be some copy to at least explain what the photos have to do with your story. Say for example, you want to make a custom story book that tells the story of when your entire family went camping.

  1. A lot of the photos from that camping trip already live on your phone, but you might want to ask for others from the rest of your family to be thorough. You don’t want a story book full of selfies. 

  1. Once you have all the photos you want, be sure they’re in your Apple Photos and maybe name the folder “Camping Photos.” Should you use the Motif photo app to create your custom story book, the ease in making it will surprise you. Motif works natively within your Photos and takes care of any technical loading of your photos into personalized story books. You’ll also find your photos placed in chronological order with full editing capabilities if you want to move things around. 

  1. Then, use a handy text tool to write exactly what you want about your photos and the story they tell. Get the details down on paper while they’re still fresh in your memory. It’s your chance to tell your story as seen through your eyes. Feel free to get other campers' perspectives as well. 

  1. If you think your story has been told, take a moment to proof everything for spelling errors or inaccuracies. You want to make sure the name of the mountain you hiked around is the same one noted in your book. 

  1. Press or tap “Checkout” in the upper right corner to complete your purchase. Your digital file is automatically sent to our production facility where a team of printing experts create your personalized story books.  

  1. Relax. You’ll receive an email detailing the timeline of your story book’s delivery to your door. 

Tips for making a children’s book

If you have a child, the one item you have no shortage of are photos. So personalized story books with a child’s name on the cover and spine are easier to make than you might think. Imagine a child picking their very own custom story book from the bookshelf. 

Remember that vacation to a theme park the kids absolutely loved? If you skipped the gift shop on your way out, you still have the opportunity to make a children’s book from the trip. Plus, it will be a fun activity to share with your child when you make your own children’s book with them. 

Maybe their first year of school was something they really enjoyed. Making a children’s book about it would really be special. Ask your kids what stories they’d like to tell. They might  surprise you with their answers. 

Where can I make my own story book?

The important thing to understand if you want to make your own story book is it’s not just for a select few. Anyone with a Mac, iPhone, or iPad can be a storybook maker and can do it just about anywhere. You don’t need a special printer, glues, scissors or design skills to do it. The free photo book app Motif makes it all possible. Instead of empty printer cartridges and assembling it yourself, have skilled press operators print and assemble it for you. 

Your story book begins with Motif. The app works seamlessly with your Apple Photos so there’s no photo uploading necessary. There’s a variety of sizes and finishes to choose from. On your Mac, open Photos and select the images you’d like to create your photo project with. In the File menu select Create then Photo Book then Motif. On your iPhone/iPad, open the Motif app and then simply select the photo book product. Your favorite photos could be on their way to becoming a printed story book before you know it. 

Bring your best photos to life with Motif.

Experience how easy creating personalized photo projects is with Motif. Our photo project app seamlessly works with Apple Photos in macOS and iOS. We do all the complicated stuff leaving the fun creative freedom to you.