I have a confession. Ethan is almost three years old and I just finally got around to putting his first year baby book together...oops! I was super diligent about documenting his first year every week {you can see them here}, but the task of converting those blog posts to a book were daunting.
I tried to copy and paste the text and photos to Shutterfly but the photos were too low res and it was honestly super tedious. I thought I would never get to making a book--but the looming thought of my blog crashing and losing all of these details was what finally pushed me to find a service that could convert my blog posts to a book.
A simple Google search {and no, this post is not sponsored in any way} lead me to a website called SharedBook which has a feature called Blog2Print. It allows you to convert Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, and Typepad to a book format.
Here are some tips:
I can only speak for Blogger, but labeling the posts that you want to convert to a book is key to narrowing down your posts. I was able to select the posts that were tagged with "Ethan" and then eliminate any miscellaneous posts from there.
Be sure to go through the book in the preview section to ensure all pictures are formatted correctly. I found a couple that were off and luckily there is a function to swap out photos.
You can't change the text in the website, but you can update text on your blog before you upload to the website, if you like.
The layout is definitely not the "prettiest"...it's very basic. However, the thing I cared most about were the text and photos and that's exactly what I got. Plus, it sure saved me HOURS of converting 52 + blog posts into a book.
I'm thinking that for Ethan's second year and Wyatt's first year, I'll go back to the Shutterfly route and ideally...I can do it as I go with Wyatt so that once he hits one, I can simply print and go. However, for Ethan's first year, this was definitely a lifesaver.
Have you made baby books for your children? Let me know in the comments below what route you went.
xo natasha
A beautiful keepsake hun. Sounds like it was an absolute nightmare when you were trying to copy and paste right from your blog. Glad you found a solution. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I printed out all my updates from my daughters first year & taped them into her baby book. I haven't done anything with my pregnancy updates & I'd like to have those documented for her too. This is a great service! Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteI guess Im doing it old school and pretty much scrapbooking things into a book, but dont feel bad, my daughter's 4 and her book isnt done either! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect! Thanks for letting us know! I tried the shutterfly route and was literally almost in tears one night so frustrated at the process and how long it would take. I'll take this over "pretty" any day!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me realize that I forgot to do Presley's 6 month update and tomorrow she is 7 months! ah shizzle!
ReplyDeleteI used blog2print and I loved it. I agree the layout isn't the best BUT I did it for a keepsake also so it gave me what I needed!
ReplyDeleteI make a blog book for each year of my blog posts through Blog2Print. It's awesome! They give good deals through email too. Never thought about using the site for the blog posts about our son but I just might do that!!
ReplyDeleteWillow will be three soon too and I haven't printed a thing out for her. So awful. Thanks for doing my dirty work, I am going to totally copy you and check out blog2print
ReplyDeleteI used this service for my pregnancy posts too! I'm having the same dilemma my son is about to turn one and I want to make a book, but shutterfly takes so long! I wish they converted blogs to books. Good job for getting it done!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you shared this! I actually took the time convert A's to shutterfly and LOST IT halfway through. Then I just made a book of her wkly pics instead. I want to make a book for K, but I'd still love to have A's weekly updates in print. Definitely looking into this!
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing with the same company for a pregnancy book and then also a first year book for my daughter. Love it!
ReplyDeleteLove this little book of memories - wish I had been more diligent with my documentation x
ReplyDeletethis is awesome! I might have to invest in this. :)
ReplyDeleteCUTE! i need to do something like this for violet. xo jillian - cornflake dreams
ReplyDeleteOh, good to know! There are so many posts that I've been meaning to back-up in a book, but just haven't gotten around to doing. I know Blurb has a blog to book option too. Will have to check them both out and compare!
ReplyDeleteI love this!! I have started using ChatBooks as my photo albums...I love little things like this that make our digital world come to life. I will definitely be checking out Blog2Print! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete