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Print at home

How to print your Digital Edition

Your book is a print-ready PDF. Here's how to turn it into a book you can hold, at a print shop or on your own printer.

Last updated September 25, 2026

What's in your PDF

  • Square pages, 8.5 x 8.5 inches. That's the size of the finished book, the same as our hardcover.
  • 300 dpi, so photos and faces print sharp.
  • 0.125 inch of bleed on every edge. The edges have a little extra picture, so there are no white lines after trimming. With the bleed, each PDF page is 8.75 x 8.75 inches, and it trims down to 8.5 x 8.5.

Best option: a local print shop

A print shop gives you the nicest result with the least fuss. Try a copy and print center or a photo counter near you, like Staples, FedEx Office or Walgreens Photo. Bring the PDF on your phone or a USB stick, or email it to the shop, and ask for one of these:

  • "A square photo book." Photo counters often make these, and they feel the most like a store-bought book. If their closest size is a little smaller, ask them to scale the pages to fit.
  • "A saddle-stitched booklet, 8.5 x 8.5, 100 lb gloss text." Saddle-stitched means the pages are folded and stapled along the spine, like a magazine.

Tell them the PDF has 0.125 inch bleed and should be trimmed to 8.5 x 8.5 inches. Options and prices differ from shop to shop, so ask for a quote before they print.

Printing at home

  1. Pick your paper. Heavy matte photo paper looks best. 32 lb paper works well too. Print the cover on card stock so it's sturdier.
  2. Print single-sided. One page per sheet.
  3. Check your paper size. With the bleed, each page is 8.75 inches wide, wider than US Letter paper. If your printer takes 11 x 17 (tabloid) paper, use that and choose "Actual size" in your print settings. On Letter paper, choose "Fit to page": the pages print a little under 8 inches square, and they're still square.
  4. Trim off the bleed on every edge. At actual size that leaves 8.5 x 8.5 inches. A paper trimmer gives the straightest edges, and scissors work too. If your printer can't reach the edge of the sheet, that's fine: the bleed is the part you trim off.
  5. Put it together. Staple along the left edge, or hold the pages with a binder clip.

Print as many copies as you like

Your Digital Edition is yours to print for your family: one for home, one for Grandma's house, a spare for the car. Pages get loved hard by little hands, so print a fresh one whenever you need it.

Need a hand?

Lost your PDF or your download link? See Delivery & returns, or email us at hello@minimebooks.com with your order number.