The book builder turns your memorial's memories and photos into a keepsake you can shape — without ever facing a blank page. It assembles a complete, beautiful book the moment there's enough content; your job is to adjust what's already good, not build from scratch.

Opening the builder

Sign in, open your memorial, and go to the book preview — then choose Edit the book. You'll see the book laid out as pages on the left, with a Build the book panel of tools on the right.

Arranging what's there

Each memory page has quiet controls:

  • Move up / move down — reorder memories. A photo and its story always move together as one.
  • Set aside — take a memory out of the book (a duplicate, or something that doesn't suit print). It's never deleted — it stays on the memorial page and in your archive, and one tap brings it back.
  • Fix the decade — set roughly when a memory is from, so it lands in the right section.

Memories are grouped into gentle decade sections automatically ("The 1970s"), so the book reads like a life unfolding.

Adding to the book

From the right-hand panel:

  • Add a page — a custom page in your own words: an obituary, a reading from the service, their favorite recipe, a poem.
  • Add photos — upload photos from their life (with captions) straight into the book, beyond what contributors sent. A great fix if the book is a little thin.
  • Add "Those who gathered" — a printed guest-book page listing everyone who RSVP'd to the gathering.
  • Add photo collage — a closing grid of the book's photos.

You can also choose the cover photo from any picture in the memorial, promote a favorite memory to a full page, and write a dedication for the opening.

Watching the length and price

A live indicator at the bottom shows the current page count and price — the printed book is priced by length, starting at the base price and rising in tiers as it grows. As you add or set aside pages, the number updates so there are no surprises at checkout. Sparse books are filled with designed pages — full-page photos, pull-quotes, and lined "for memories still to come" pages — rather than blank paper.

You can't ruin it

Everything is non-destructive. Nothing you set aside is deleted, and Reset to suggested returns the book to its original arrangement any time. Poke around fearlessly.

Finalizing the book

When it feels right, choose Finalize & tell the family. Two things happen:

  1. Anyone who asked to be notified gets a gentle "the book is ready" email with the page and memory count.
  2. If you've allowed it, family and friends can now order their own copies.

Late arrivals

If a new memory comes in after you've finalized, it won't quietly reshuffle the book you've made peace with. Instead it waits in a "Newly added — place these?" tray at the top of the builder, so you decide where (or whether) it goes.

When you're happy with the book, head to ordering the keepsake book.