What is a memorial book?
A memorial book is a printed book made after someone dies that gathers their photographs, life story, and the memories of the people who knew them into one keepsake for the family. Most memorial books run 40 to 120 pages, and books built from contributed letters and stories often reach 200 to 300 pages. They are usually ordered in small batches, so that each child, grandchild, or sibling receives the same book.
The phrase covers three different printed things, and they are made differently:
| Type | What it is | Typical length | How we print it | Typical copies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keepsake memorial book (also called a tribute book, remembrance book, or celebration of life book) | Photographs, biography, timeline, tributes, and letters, designed as a book | 40 to 300 pages | Hardcover, or perfect bound paperback | Family runs of 1 to 50 |
| Memorial service booklet (funeral program) | Order of service, obituary, readings, and a few photographs, handed to guests | 8 to 24 pages | Saddle stitch, 5.5" x 8.5" or 8.5" x 11" | 50 to 300 |
| Memorial guest book (funeral sign in book) | Photo pages followed by lined pages guests write in at the service | 40 to 120 pages | Spiral so it lies flat, or hardcover | 1 to 3 |
This page covers all three. The keepsake book is what most people mean, and it is what the configurator above is set up for. Service booklets have their own section below and a full page under saddle stitch book printing; guest books have a short section as well.
Who prints memorial books with us
Families. Adult children compiling a parent's life into a book for siblings and grandchildren. A spouse turning a year of photographs and letters into something that stays on the shelf. A family printing the celebration of life slideshow as pages instead of a video file.
Funeral homes and celebrants. Directors and celebrants who offer families a keepsake book after the service, printed from the same photographs and tributes gathered for the ceremony, and reordered from the stored file when relatives ask for more copies.
Churches, schools, teams, and workplaces. A congregation honoring a longtime pastor, a school remembering a teacher or coach, a company marking a founder or colleague, printed in enough copies for the people who knew them.
Pet owners. Pet memorial books follow exactly the same process. A 6" x 9" or 8.5" x 11" photo book with a short story of their life is the usual format.
If your memorial book needs something outside the standard configurator, the custom quote form is the place to describe it.
One file, one copy for everyone who loved them
A memorial book order is rarely one book. It is one design printed for every person who should have it. That is where a book printer with quantity pricing fits better than a consumer photo book site, where each additional copy costs nearly as much as the first.
Identical copies are priced as one batch. Print twelve copies of the same file and quantity pricing applies across all twelve. A parent's memorial book for four children and eight grandchildren is a single twelve copy run, not twelve separate purchases.
No minimum order, in hardcover or paperback. A single hardcover copy is as easy to order as a family run, so one book for the surviving spouse and one copy for each child both price through the same configurator. A single perfect bound paperback is also the sensible way to proof a long book before a larger hardcover run.
Copies ship together to one US address. If family members are spread across the country, the simplest approach is to ship the batch to one person who hands them out. If you need the run split across addresses, describe it on the custom quote form and we will confirm what is possible.
Memorial book printing for funeral homes and celebrants
A keepsake book is a natural extension of the work you already do for a family: the photographs, obituary, tributes, and readings collected for the service become the pages of the book. What that looks like in practice:
Per family batches. Each family's book is its own small run, typically 1 to 20 hardcover copies, shipped to the family or to you.
Reorders from stored files. Files stay reprintable, so when a relative asks for another copy months later, you reorder the same book without rebuilding anything.
Consistent specs. Lock one trim, paper, and cover finish for every book you offer, so each family receives the same quality.
One honest note on timing. We are an online book printer and we do not offer rush or same-day printing. Keepsake memorial books are almost always ordered after the service, once the family has had time to gather photographs and stories, and that is where we fit. Service booklets needed within days of a death are better printed locally.
What to include in a memorial book
There is no fixed formula, but the memorial books families keep coming back to share the same building blocks. Use this as a working outline:
- Cover: a favorite photograph, their name, and the years of their life. A matte laminated cover suits most memorial books.
- Dedication or opening letter: a page from whoever made the book, saying who it is for and why.
- Obituary and biography: the published obituary, then a longer life story if someone is able to write it.
- Life timeline: birth, childhood, education, marriage, children, work, retirement, with one or two photographs per era.
- Photographs by chapter: early years, family, work and service, travel, later years. A full page photograph on the right hand page prints beautifully.
- Tributes and letters: the eulogy, readings from the service, and letters or stories contributed by family, friends, and colleagues.
- In their words: favorite sayings, recipes, prayers, and things they taught you. Poems or song lyrics need the rights holder's permission unless they are your own or in the public domain.
- Condolence messages: a selection of cards, texts, and social media messages received, transcribed and set as pages.
- Blank memory pages: a few lined pages at the back for family members to add their own memories by hand.
Length: a photograph led book usually lands between 40 and 120 pages. A book built mainly from contributed stories and letters can run 200 to 300 pages, and prints economically as a black and white paperback on cream paper.
Binding and cover options
Hardcover (recommended for keepsake books)
A printed, laminated casewrap cover over rigid boards, with a printed spine. This is the binding for a book that will sit on a shelf and be opened for decades. Hardcover memorial books are available from a single copy and run from 24 to 800 pages.
Perfect bound paperback
A flexible printed cover with a flat, printed spine, available from a single copy, from 64 to 800 pages. The right choice for a single proof copy, for budget copies for extended family, and for long text led tribute books.
Saddle stitch booklet
Folded and stapled through the spine, 8 to 80 pages in multiples of four. This is the construction of a memorial service booklet or funeral program, not a keepsake book. See saddle stitch book printing.
Spiral bound
Wire-O coil binding that opens completely flat. Not a keepsake book construction, but the practical choice for a memorial guest book that people write in while standing at a table.
You choose the cover lamination, glossy or matte. Matte is the usual choice for memorial books: it avoids glare on photographs, looks quieter, and does not hold fingerprints the way gloss can. We select the cover stock itself, so every cover ships on board and paper we have tested.
Paper and color for memorial books
We print interiors on three papers, and the color tier determines the paper:
Premium Color on 100# Glossy (recommended for photograph led books)
Our highest ink coverage on our heaviest gloss stock. Choose it when the book is mostly photographs, especially scanned prints that need faithful skin tones and fine detail.
Standard Color on 80# Coated
A white coated sheet with standard color. The sensible choice for a mixed book of text and photographs, and for additional copies where budget matters.
Standard B&W on 70# Uncoated cream
A traditional book paper for text. If your memorial book is mainly stories, letters, and the eulogy with a handful of photographs, this prints as a proper reading book at the lowest cost per copy, even at 200 to 300 pages. Premium B&W on 100# Glossy is the option for a black and white book built around old photographs.
Color tier and paper are not independent choices. Premium Color always runs on 100# Glossy, and Standard Color always runs on 80# Coated. Our paper weight guide has the full breakdown.
Memorial book sizes
Four trims cover nearly every memorial book:
| Size | Dimensions | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Letter portrait | 8.5" x 11" | The most common memorial book size. Room for full page photographs and long tributes, and it matches the page size most families already design in. |
| Landscape | 11" x 8.5" | An album style memorial book built around two page photo spreads. |
| US Trade | 6" x 9" | A text led tribute or life story book that reads like a published book. Economical at 200 to 300 pages. |
| Digest | 5.5" x 8.5" | Memorial service booklets, and a compact keepsake that fits in one hand. |
These are four of the eleven trim sizes on our standard list; the full set is on the hardcover size guide. A true square trim is not on our standard list. If your book is designed square, send it through the custom quote form and we will confirm your options before you order.
How to print a memorial book
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1
Gather and design
Collect photographs and stories, then lay out the book in whatever you already use: Canva, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Google Docs, or InDesign. Decide the trim size first, since it drives every page.
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2
Scan old photographs properly
Scan prints at 300 DPI at the size they will appear on the page, or larger. A phone photo of a print rarely holds up. Our image resolution guide shows how to check a file.
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3
Export a print ready PDF
Single pages, not spreads, with 0.125" bleed on all sides if any photograph runs to the edge. Our bleed guide covers this in Canva, Word, and InDesign.
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4
Choose your specs, upload, approve
Pick trim, binding, paper and color tier, lamination, and quantity for an instant price on standard specs. We flag file problems before printing. Approved books are printed, bound, quality checked, and shipped to your US address with tracking. For foil, linen, or leather look covers, start at the custom quote form instead.
Memorial service booklets and funeral programs
If what you need is the booklet handed to guests at the service, that is a saddle stitch booklet: 8 to 80 pages in multiples of four, folded and stapled through the spine, at 5.5" x 8.5" (the folded letter format most program templates use) or 8.5" x 11". A typical service booklet is 8 to 24 pages: a cover photograph and dates, the order of service, the obituary, readings and hymns, pallbearers and acknowledgements, and a closing photograph.
Because we do not offer rush or same-day printing, we are the right fit for a service booklet when the celebration of life is scheduled weeks ahead, or when you want a fuller booklet reprinted for people who could not attend. For a service this week, a local print shop is the better choice. Configure booklets on the saddle stitch page, or tell us your page count and quantity on the custom quote form.
Memorial guest books
A memorial guest book (also called a funeral sign in book) is the book guests write in at the service: a memory, a message to the family, a signature. Off the shelf guest books are generic. A printed one can open with photographs and a short biography, then continue into lined pages with a prompt at the top of each, such as "A memory of them" or "What I will always remember". Design it like a journal, a few photo pages followed by repeated lined pages, and export it as one PDF.
Spiral binding is the practical choice because the book lies flat on a table while people write. A single copy is available spiral bound, perfect bound, or hardcover. The journal printing page covers lined and prompted interiors in more detail.
Memorial book printing cost
Memorial book pricing is driven by five things: page count, trim size, color tier (which sets the paper), binding, and quantity. Quantity matters more for memorial books than for most projects, because the order is usually a batch of identical copies and quantity pricing applies across the whole batch.
Three levers move the price most:
Color tier. A book of stories and letters printed in black and white on cream paper typically costs 40 to 60 percent less than the same page count in color.
Page count. Every page is printed in every copy, so a 300 page book costs meaningfully more than a 120 page book at the same spec. Curate photographs rather than including everything.
Copies. Ten identical copies cost far less per book than a single copy.
Worked examples, priced through the same engine as the configurator:
| Configuration | Per copy | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcover, 8.5" x 11", 80 pages, Premium Color on 100# Glossy, matte cover, 10 copies | $26.47 | $264.70 |
| Perfect bound, 6" x 9", 240 pages, Standard B&W on 70# Uncoated, matte cover, 25 copies | $9.03 | $225.75 |
The configurator on this page gives an instant price for any standard spec, so the simplest way to cost your book is to enter your real page count and quantity. Premium finishes such as foil stamping or a linen or leather look cover are excluded from instant pricing and quoted per project. For a broader look at what drives book pricing, see our guide to self publishing costs.
Premium finishes for memorial books
For a memorial book that should feel like an heirloom, we offer premium cover treatments as special order projects: foil stamping (a name and the years of their life on the cover or spine), linen covers, and faux leather covers. These are produced to order rather than through the instant configurator, and minimums and pricing depend on the project, so describe what you have in mind on the custom quote form and we will confirm options, quantities, and price for your book.
Funeral homes building a keepsake offering: this is the tier to ask about for a foil stamped signature edition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get a memorial book printed?
YourBookPress prints memorial books online from a PDF you design, as a hardcover or a perfect bound paperback, from a single copy, and ships to US addresses. Consumer photo book sites suit a single templated album. A book printer suits a designed book with photographs and long text, printed in identical copies for the whole family.
How can I create a memorial book?
Gather photographs, the obituary, the eulogy, and stories or letters from people who knew them. Lay the book out at your final trim size in Canva, Word, InDesign, or any tool that exports a PDF, following the outline on this page: cover, dedication, biography, timeline, photo chapters, tributes, and a few blank memory pages. Export a single page PDF at 300 DPI with bleed, upload it, choose your specs and quantity, and approve the proof.
How to print a funeral booklet?
A funeral booklet is a saddle stitch booklet: 8 to 80 pages in multiples of four, folded and stapled through the spine, usually 5.5" x 8.5" or 8.5" x 11". Design it as single pages in reading order, export a PDF with 0.125" bleed, and configure it on our saddle stitch page with your quantity. We do not offer rush or same-day printing, so this works when the service is scheduled weeks ahead or for booklets printed after the service; for a service this week, use a local print shop.
How much does it cost to print a 300 page memorial book?
Page count is multiplied by every copy, so a 300 page book costs meaningfully more than a 120 page book at the same spec. The biggest lever is color: 300 pages of stories and letters in black and white on 70# cream paper is the economical route, while 300 pages in premium color on 100# glossy is a substantial book at a substantial price. Enter 300 pages in the configurator with your binding and quantity for the exact figure.
How much does memorial book printing cost?
Cost depends on page count, trim size, color tier (which sets the paper), binding, and quantity, so there is no single number. A short photo led hardcover in a family run of ten prices very differently from a single 300 page paperback. The configurator on this page prices any standard spec instantly with your real page count and quantity. Foil, linen, and leather look covers are quoted per project.
Can I print just one memorial book?
Yes. There is no minimum order. A single copy is available as a hardcover, a perfect bound paperback, or spiral bound for a guest book. Many families print one copy of a long book as a proof before ordering the full family run.
Can I order the same memorial book for every member of the family?
Yes, and that is the most common memorial order. Upload one file, choose the quantity, and quantity pricing applies across all identical copies. A batch of ten or twelve copies for children and grandchildren is a single order shipped to one US address.
What is the difference between a memorial book, a funeral program, and a memorial guest book?
A memorial book is a keepsake of photographs, biography, and tributes, printed as a hardcover or paperback and ordered in copies for the family. A funeral program, or memorial service booklet, is the 8 to 24 page saddle stitched booklet handed to guests with the order of service. A memorial guest book is the book guests write in at the service, best printed spiral bound so it lies flat. We print all three.
What size should a memorial book be?
8.5" x 11" portrait is the most common memorial book size, with room for full page photographs and long tributes. 11" x 8.5" landscape suits an album style photo book, 6" x 9" suits a text led tribute or life story book, and 5.5" x 8.5" is the size of a memorial service booklet.
How many pages should a memorial book have?
A photograph led memorial book usually runs 40 to 120 pages. A book built from contributed stories and letters often reaches 200 to 300 pages. Binding sets the limits: saddle stitch booklets are 8 to 80 pages in multiples of four, perfect bound paperbacks 64 to 800 pages, and hardcovers 24 to 800 pages.
What should I include in a memorial book?
A cover with their photograph, name, and years; a dedication; the obituary and a longer biography; a life timeline; photographs grouped by era; the eulogy and readings from the service; letters and stories from family and friends; favorite sayings, recipes, or prayers; a selection of condolence messages; and a few blank lined pages for the family to add memories by hand.
Can I include the obituary, eulogy, and letters from family in the book?
Yes. Text heavy memorial books print well. If text is most of the book, black and white on 70# uncoated cream paper makes it read like a published book at the lowest cost per copy. Mixed books of text and photographs print in standard color on 80# coated, and photograph led books in premium color on 100# glossy.
Will old photographs print well?
They will if they are scanned properly. Scan prints at 300 DPI at the size they will appear on the page; a phone photo of a print usually will not hold up. Faded or damaged prints still print, but the book reproduces what is in the file, so retouch first if it matters. Premium B&W on 100# glossy is the option for a black and white book built around old photographs. Our image resolution guide shows how to check a file.
Can I design a memorial book in Canva or Word?
Yes. Set the page size to your trim size, add 0.125" bleed if photographs run to the edge, and export a single page PDF. Our guides on bleed and on formatting a book in Word walk through both tools. If a consumer photo book site lets you export a PDF of your design, we can print that too.
Do you print memorial books for celebrations of life?
Yes. A celebration of life book is the same keepsake book, often with a warmer tone: photographs, stories, and a record of the gathering itself. If the celebration is scheduled weeks ahead, a saddle stitch booklet for guests can be printed as well.
Can you put my loved one's name and dates on the cover in foil?
Yes, as a special order project. Foil stamping, linen covers, and faux leather covers are produced to order with project specific minimums and pricing. Send your specs through the custom quote form and we will confirm what is possible for your book.
Do you offer rush or same-day memorial book printing?
No. We are an online book printer shipping to US addresses, and we do not offer rush or same-day printing. Keepsake memorial books are usually ordered after the service, which is where we fit. If you need service booklets within days, a local print shop is the better choice.
Do you print pet memorial books?
Yes. A pet memorial book uses exactly the same process and specs, most often as a 6" x 9" or 8.5" x 11" hardcover or paperback with photographs and a short story of their life.
Does a memorial book need an ISBN?
No. An ISBN is only needed to sell a book through retailers. A memorial book printed for family and friends does not need one, and we do not require one to print. Our ISBN guide explains when one is needed.
