Making a book
How do I make a book?
Open a new book and follow the Guide: Look & shape, Concept, Cast, Backdrops, Pages, Print. Once the book has its style, you can move between the steps at any time.
Do I have to write the story myself?
No. Type your idea in a sentence or two and press ✨ Draft my story: the writer proposes a title, a small cast, a few backdrops and six to twelve pages, one sentence each. You can edit or remove anything before you apply it, or skip the draft and write each page yourself.
Can I paste in a story I have already written?
Not as a whole yet. The Concept step takes a short idea and drafts pages from it; otherwise add pages by hand and type each page’s words.
What is a page?
One picture with its words. A book also has a front cover, an optional title page and a back cover, which do not count as story pages. A page can be a spread: one wide picture across two facing pages.
How many pages can a book have?
It depends on where the words go. With words beside the picture, a square book holds 11 story pages; with words on the picture, up to 22. Pages past the limit stay in your book but will not print, and the app tells you so.
Where do the words go on a page?
You choose in Book settings: on the picture, or beside it. Beside the picture means one page per pair of facing pages; on the picture means two.
Can I edit the words on a page later?
Yes. The words on each page are edited right on the Pages view, and every edit saves on its own.
Where are my book’s settings?
In the Book settings tab: title, byline, dedication, style, where the words go, and status.
Characters
What kinds of characters can I make?
Four: Person, Pet, Plush toy and Fictional. You pick the type first, and the form fits it.
How does a photo become a character?
Add one or more photos and a rough idea in words, then press Generate: the painter makes a few candidates in your book’s art style, you pick the one that looks most like them, name it, and save. Photos are shrunk in your browser before anything is sent.
How many photos should I add?
Up to five are used. A few angles, in daylight, are plenty.
Do I need a photo at all?
No. A character can be made from a description alone, or from an existing character used as a reference.
Can I make a relative of an existing character?
Yes, for a person. Under Takes after, choose the family member they take after, and give their age.
What is an outfit?
One painted version of a character — what the painter uses when it puts that character on a page. Outfits are painted per art style, so a character can have several.
Can I rename a character or change the description later?
Yes. On the Characters page, the name and description are edited in place.
If I change a character, do my painted pages update?
No. A painted picture is finished, and changing the character does not repaint any page. Paint the page again, or use Select a part on the region that needs it.
How do I delete a character?
On the Characters page, choose Delete. The app counts what would go — every outfit and every painted picture of them, across all your books — and asks you to type the character’s name, because it cannot be undone.
Pictures and painting
What art styles can I choose?
Four: Soft Watercolor, Block Print, Botanical Sketchbook and Sunlit Gouache. A new book has no style until you pick one, and nothing can be painted before you do.
Why doesn’t the picture look exactly like the photo?
Because the painter never copies a photo onto a page. Your photos are used once, to paint the character’s outfit in the book’s style; from then on every page is painted from that outfit. A character is a painted likeness, not a photo edit.
How do I paint a page?
On the Stage, press ✨ Paint. The ×N control beside it says how many versions one press makes; every version is kept, and when more than one comes back you choose. The ✨ mark on any control means it spends a paint.
What if the page isn’t ready to paint?
The ✨ Paint button is never grayed out. Pressing it tells you what is missing.
Can I keep several paintings of one page and switch between them?
Yes. Every paint is kept. Show all opens the page’s whole paint history, where you can heart favorites, put any earlier painting back on the page, or delete the ones you don’t want.
What does Select a part do?
Switch the Stage’s tool from ✥ Move to ▣ Select a part and drag a box on the picture. Everything inside the box is repainted the way you describe; nothing outside it changes.
What does ↻ Reposition do?
It moves or re-poses the characters who aren’t painted in yet, in one paint, and the background can’t change. Once everyone on a page is painted in, the button goes away — use Select a part instead.
What does Continue from a page do?
For a page with no picture, it starts from an earlier page’s painting plus a sentence saying what changes. It always costs one paint.
What does ↺ Start over do?
It puts a page back to before its characters were painted in, and costs nothing. You choose what to keep: the backdrop and the cast, the backdrop only, or nothing. Earlier paintings stay in the page’s history.
Can I undo?
Yes, two ways. Undo and redo in the book header go back through what you did this sitting, and never destroy a painting. Earlier drafts, opened from the save status in the header, are whole-book snapshots the app keeps beside the book — and restoring one saves where you are first.
Where do backdrops come from?
A backdrop is painted from a description of a place, in the book’s style, and can be reused across pages. The story draft writes one per scene.
Can I change a book’s style or shape later?
No. A book’s style is chosen once, on the Guide’s first step, and stays with it; a different style is a new book. New books are square.
Is there a limit on how much I can paint?
Yes. A workspace can start 100 paints a day, resetting at midnight UTC, with at most four in flight at once, and can hold up to 50 books.
What if the painter refuses a picture?
Occasionally the painter declines a request. The app says so plainly; rewording the instruction is the fix, and nothing on the page changes.
The printed book
What exactly is the printed book?
An 8.5-inch square hardcover, 24 pages, full color, on 80# coated white paper with a gloss finish.
Why 24 pages when my book has 11 spreads?
The book is laid out as 11 pairs of facing pages. A bound book opens on a right-hand page and closes on a left-hand one, so keeping every pair facing takes one page in front and one behind: 1 + 22 + 1 = 24, which is also the printer’s minimum.
What does “ready to order” require?
Three things: the book is square, not wide; every story page has a picture; and no page is past what the book holds. The Print tab lists any problems above the order button.
Can I print a wide book?
Not yet. The hardcover is square and a wide book’s pictures are 4:3; printing them cropped would be a different book from the one you approved, so the app refuses rather than crop.
What is on the front cover?
Your chosen cover picture with the title, the byline and, if you wrote one, the dedication. Pick the cover page on the Print tab; if you pick none, it is the first page with a picture.
What is on the spine?
A solid panel in the color you choose — Deep blue, Ink, Cream, Clay, Forest or Plum. On a 24-page hardcover the spine is a quarter inch wide, too narrow for a title.
What is on the back cover?
The back-cover page’s picture if you made one, otherwise its backdrop, otherwise a plain cream panel — with your back-cover blurb, if you wrote one.
Can I see the book before I order?
Yes. The Preview tab shows the book as a hardcover that opens and turns, page by page. The Print tab also offers the digital edition as a PDF.
The price, and what it includes
What does a book cost?
$39 for the Storybook: an 8.5-inch square hardcover, 24 pages, paid once, with postage to a US address included. The price is the same for everyone.
What is included in the price?
Up to 6 of your people — kids, grown-ups, pets, toys — a dedication page and its own edition number, your approval of every page before it prints, a person checking the book before it goes to the printer, and the digital edition.
Is sales tax included?
No sales tax is added today. When it is, it will be added on top of the price, never taken out of it, so the price on our page stays the price you see.
Does shipping cost extra?
No: postage is included in the price. We ship to addresses in the United States, by standard mail from the printer.
Can I order more than one copy?
Yes, up to 20 copies in one order. The first is $39, and each copy after it in the same order is $25, postage included.
Membership
What is a membership?
Pictures every month to make your books with. Storyteller is $129.99 a year or $12.99 a month, with 30 pictures a month. Family is $249.99 a year or $24.99 a month, with 60 pictures a month. Library is $499.99 a year or $49.99 a month, with 120 pictures a month.
How does the free trial work?
Your first membership starts with 7 days free. We ask for your card and charge nothing until the trial ends, and you get 3 pictures at once: enough for a character and your first page. Three days before the trial ends we remind you by email. When the trial ends, your plan begins: your card is charged and your first month of pictures arrives. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing; what you painted stays yours to read and share.
How many pictures does a book take?
A book has 11 painted pages. With its characters and places, most books use about 26 pictures. You see the exact count before your book is painted.
Do I need a membership to order a book?
No. Anyone can order a printed copy of a book, at the same price. A membership is what brings the pictures a book is painted with, and your first one starts with a free trial.
What happens to pictures I don’t use?
A month’s pictures that you don’t use carry over for 6 months from the day that month began, then run out. The pictures that would run out soonest are always the ones used first, and pictures from a top-up never run out.
What if I run out of pictures before the month is over?
A member can add 25 pictures for $9.99, paid once. They never run out and are used last. On a monthly plan you can also move up to a bigger one: it starts the day you pay, your old plan ends without a refund, and the pictures you have stay.
If I pay for a year, do I get all the pictures at once?
No. A yearly membership still brings its pictures month by month, on the day of the month you joined, so they carry over the same way a monthly member’s do.
What if a membership payment doesn’t go through?
Your card is tried again, and the new month’s pictures arrive once the payment goes through. To use a different card, choose Manage membership in the menu under your picture.
How do I cancel my membership?
Online, any time: choose Manage membership in the menu under your picture, and cancel there. It won’t renew again, you keep it until the end of the period you have paid for, and that period isn’t refunded. Pictures you already have stay until they run out.
Paying
How do I pay?
By card, on a payment page hosted by our payment processor. Your card number goes to them, not to us: we never see it and never store it.
What do you keep about my order?
Your email, the name and address the book ships to, and a phone number for the carrier — the printer will not accept a shipment without one. That record is not reachable from the public internet.
Why do you ask for a phone number?
The printer requires a phone number on every shipment and rejects one without it, so the payment page collects it with the address.
What currency am I charged in?
US dollars.
When is my card charged?
When you complete the payment page, for the full amount. That happens before a person has looked at your book, which is why an order can still be canceled and refunded until it goes to print.
Will I get a receipt?
Your order page shows what you bought, what you paid and where it ships, and it is only visible when you are signed in.
What if I close the payment page without paying?
Nothing is charged. You come back to your book with a note saying so, and an unfinished payment page expires on its own within a day.
The order page says “Confirming your payment.” Is something wrong?
No. For a few seconds after you pay we are waiting for the payment processor to confirm it. If it still says so after a minute, reload the page; waiting never charges your card twice.
After you order
What happens after I pay?
Four things, in order: your book is ordered; a person checks it; it is printed and bound; it is on its way to you. Your order page shows which step it is on.
What do “Being checked,” “Approved,” “At the printer” and “On its way” mean?
Being checked: you have paid and a person is looking at the book before it prints. Approved: they have said yes and it goes to the printer next. At the printer: it is being printed and bound. On its way: the printer has shipped it.
Why does a person check my book before it prints?
Because it is part of what you bought. Every order waits for one of us to look at the exact files the printer will receive, and nothing prints without that.
How long does it take?
We email you the moment it goes to press and the moment it ships. We do not promise a delivery date yet.
Can I change my book after I have ordered?
Finish your edits before you order. Your book stays editable after you pay, and what prints is the book as it is when a person approves it — they are told it changed since you paid, and look again. Once it says At the printer, nothing can be changed.
Can I cancel my order?
Yes, any time before we send it to the printer, for a full refund: write to us with your order number. Every order waits for a person to check it first, so there is always a window. Once it is at the printer it cannot be recalled.
Will you email me when it ships?
Yes. You get a short email when we have your order, when it goes to press, when it ships (with the tracking link), and when the carrier says it was delivered. Your order page shows the same steps.
Will I get a tracking number?
Once the printer has shipped your book, the carrier’s tracking link is in the shipping email and on your order page.
When something goes wrong
What if my book arrives damaged?
We print and ship a new one at no cost, or refund you in full if you would rather. Tell us within 30 days of delivery with a photo of the problem, and keep the book — there is nothing to send back.
What if there is a mistake in the printing?
A printing or binding fault, or a book that differs from the pages you approved, is fixed the same way: a new copy at no cost, or a refund, within 30 days of delivery.
What if it never arrives?
If the tracking shows no movement 30 days after we shipped it, we treat it as lost and print and ship another or refund you, whichever you prefer.
Can I return it if I change my mind?
Not once it has been printed — every book is made just for you, with each page approved on screen, so we aren’t able to take one back for a change of mind. You can cancel for a full refund any time before we send it to the printer.
I gave the wrong shipping address. Can it be changed?
The address on the payment page is what the printer ships to. Before the book is approved, write to us and we can correct it; once it is at the printer we cannot.
How do refunds work?
A refund goes back to the card you paid with, through the payment processor, and usually takes 5–10 days to appear. The moment it is issued your order is marked refunded, and it will not be printed if it has not already gone to press. The full policy is on the Returns and refunds page.
What if I dispute the charge with my bank?
Write to us first — a refund is faster. If a dispute is opened, nothing about the order can be approved or sent to the printer while it stands. A book already at the printer cannot be recalled either way.
Was I charged twice?
Each press of Order a printed copy starts one order and one payment page. A page you did not finish expires unpaid and is never charged. Every order keeps a full history, so write to us with your order number and we can tell you exactly what was and was not charged.
Your family’s photos
Where do my photos go?
They are shrunk in your browser and sent to the picture-painting service to make the character’s candidates (and to the writing helper, if you press Help me write). What we keep is the painted character you chose — not the photo. Photos you send from the phone app are different: they are kept in your workspace, so a character can be painted from them again, until your account is deleted.
How do I get an account?
Choose a plan on the pricing page, then create your account with Apple, Google or your email.
Where is my book stored?
In your own workspace on our server, separate from every other account’s. Every file is also copied to cloud storage the moment it is written, and the server is backed up on a schedule.
Who can see my book?
You, signed in to your account — and anyone you give one of the book’s links to (one to read it, one to read it and leave comments), for as long as you leave it on. Two exceptions you should know about: one of us looks at the print files before your book prints, and the printer receives those files through a private link that expires after six hours. Books are never listed anywhere public, and nothing is shared until you press Share.
Can I share a book with my partner or a grandparent?
Yes. Press Share at the top of the book and copy a link: with “Anyone with the link can read”, they read the book on a page of its own, with no sign-in; with “Anyone with the link can comment”, they can also point at a page and leave you a comment. A link can’t be guessed or found, only given, and Turn off stops it for everyone at once. Editing together is different — Share has an Add email field under People with access, but today it only works for people who share your workspace.
Are my family’s photos used to train anything?
Not by us. Locket Press does not train anything on your photos, and they go only where making your book needs them: the picture-painting service, and the writing helper if you press Help me write.
What happens when I delete a book?
On the shelf, open the book’s ⋯ menu and choose Delete. Its pages, pictures and earlier drafts are removed from your workspace immediately; copies of its files stay in our cloud storage and backups. Your characters are kept separately, so deleting a book does not delete them. You can Archive a book instead, which moves it off the main shelf without deleting anything.
Can I delete my account and everything with it?
Yes: choose Delete account in the menu under your picture. Your books, characters and photos go with it, and their copies in our cloud storage — unless you share a workspace with your family, whose books and characters stay with them. Copies stay in our backups, and we keep the record of any order you placed. A membership ends when your account is deleted, and the rest of the period you paid for isn’t refunded. You can delete your account once any book you ordered has shipped.
About us
Who makes Locket Press?
Keya LLC, a small company. A person, not a program, looks at every book before it prints.