DIY Adoption Profile Workbook

Who is this DIY workbook for?

This guide is for anyone who wants to try their hand at designing their own profile. While not required, it will be helpful if you have some design experience. The guide will walk you through how to select photos, use appropriate, positive adoption language, and how to layout the pages in your profile to help you confidently present to an expectant parent. If you want to give it a try, there is NO RISK! 100% of what you pay for this guide can be credited towards the purchase of one of our custom profile book packages if you change your mind.

What type of profile will this workbook help me create?

This workbook is geared toward teaching you how to create our most common profile book: A 20-page, perfect bound, magazine-style profile book (required by most agencies we work with.) However, the information and teaching in our workbook can easily be used to help you create an adoption profile of any shape or size.

Do I need to have a design program to create my profile?

You do not need to have a design program prior to downloading this workbook. We recommend (and will walk you through in the guide) the design program called Blurb BookWright. Blurb BookWright is FREE and extremely user-friendly! Additionally, Blurb has beautiful printing options we have used for years to create Profile Books for Little Ampersand Co. If you decide to use a different design program and printing company, please make sure they allow you to export a PDF copy of your book, as most do not. This is extremely important because in the digital world we live in, printed books are not always the easiest way to connect with expectant parents. A high-resolution PDF is a must have for every agency we have worked with.

How much do the final profile books cost to print?

Blurb sells professionally bound, 20-page, magazine-style profile books for $5.99 plus tax and shipping with no book order minimum.

What if my agency has different printing requirements?

We still recommend using Blurb BookWright and exploring their other printing options to see what will work for your agency. Even if you end up not printing through Blurb, you will still be able to download the high resolution PDF of your profile design to have printed wherever you’d like.

I think I can collect photos and write text, but how do I make my profile pretty?

We recommend a clean design with a focus on your photos/text and not on busy clipart :) But, simple lines and shapes can definitely add a fun element to your book. We will walk you through the different ways to add your “style” to your profile. Our workbook provides links to our favorite design element sites and plenty of layout examples!

Do you offer refunds?

We understand that while working through this guide, you may decide that the do-it-yourself route is not for you. We have spent almost 3 years designing profile books for adoptive families just like you. Your profile book is very important, and if you don’t feel confident in what you are presenting, that will come across. At any time in the process, we would be happy to take the content you have collected and help put the book together for you. We will credit 100% of what you paid for this guide towards the price of our full custom profile package if you decided designing your own book isn’t for you.