Answers to the most common questions.

Most US orders arrive in 6–16 days from when you place them. Printing typically takes 3–5 business days; shipping takes another 2–9 depending on your address and the speed you picked at checkout. You'll get a tracking link by email the moment the printer hands it off to the carrier.

No. We only offer shipping to US addresses at this time. We are working on offering international shipping in the future!

Use the order link from your confirmation email, or open the book's page and click "Track shipment". Tracking populates the moment the carrier scans the parcel — usually within a few hours of dispatch.

First, check the tracking link — most delays resolve themselves within a day or two. If tracking shows it stalled or the estimated delivery window has passed by more than 3 business days, tap "Where's my book?" on the order page or write us through this form. We'll investigate and either replace or refund — no hoops.

8.5"×8.5" trim, full-color premium printing, glossy cover. The softcover is perfect-bound; the hardcover is casewrap with a 0.25"+ spine depending on page count. Interior paper is photo-grade. It feels like a real bookstore book, because it is one — just with your kid on every page.

You picked the cover type at checkout. The softcover is $45 and hardcover is $55. Hardcover requires at least 24 pages of content because of the way the spine is constructed — if your book is shorter than that, hardcover won't show as an option.

Screens emit light; paper reflects it, so the same image renders a little softer in print. Our printer uses a calibrated CMYK profile that's matched to our PDF output, so you should see your preview reproduced faithfully — but expect a more muted feel than a glowing screen.

Yes, that's the whole point. We illustrate from the family photo you upload and lock the result in before any page renders, so the same character carries across every spread instead of drifting between pages.

Three things matter most: a clear face looking straight at the camera with eyes visible, only one person in the frame, and sharp focus (no motion blur). A few more that help: head-and-shoulders framing so the face fills a good chunk of the photo; soft daylight rather than harsh shadows or strong color casts; the hair styled the way you want it shown; and a recent photo — kids' faces change fast, so a months-old picture of a four-year-old won't render quite right. Things to avoid: selfies held too close (the lens distorts noses and faces wider), sunglasses or hats or face paint that hide features, group shots where we can't tell who you mean, screenshots of photos, and heavy filters or color grading. If your first render looks off, regenerating with a different photo usually fixes it.

Lighting and angle matter a lot — a clear, front-facing daylight photo gives the best result. If the first generation looks off, regenerating the cover or atlas page usually fixes it. We'll have a finer-grained likeness editor in a future release.

Yes — there's a dedication field on the checkout page. It prints on the inside front of every copy. Leave it blank and we'll skip the dedication page entirely.

Yes, within 24 hours of placing the order AND before the printer starts production. Open the order page and tap "Cancel order". We refund the full amount to the card you paid with; refunds typically land in 5–10 business days. After the printer takes the job to press, we can't pull it back — but if there's a quality issue with what arrives, we'll make it right under the satisfaction policy below.

Send us a photo via this form (or "Where's my book?" on the order page) within 14 days of delivery. If it's a printer-side defect or our generation issue, we reprint at no cost. We don't take returns of physical books — once you have it, it's yours to keep regardless.

On the order page. A pending refund shows as "Refund pending — $X on its way"; once Stripe confirms the bank settlement, it flips to "Refunded $X to your card".

You can start a book without signing in — try the preview anonymously. To save your work, place an order, or come back later for a reorder, you'll need to sign up (just email + password).

Use "Forgot password" on the sign-in page. The reset email lands within a minute or two; check spam if it doesn't show. Still stuck? Email us — we can resend the reset link from our side.

Open Account from the header and use the Delete my account button at the bottom. You'll get a 24-hour grace window to cancel; after that we wipe your photos, books, and characters. Order records stay on file for tax purposes, but every photo on those orders gets replaced with an "asset deleted" placeholder so we can't see your child anymore either.

Yes — enter the recipient's address at checkout. There's also a "This is a gift" checkbox that hides pricing on the packing slip and lets you add a short gift message.

If you have a photo (a parent works fine), you can absolutely run the flow now. Many of our orders are for new-baby gifts — pick a template, use whoever's likeness fits the story, and we'll handle the rest.