How we turn tribute books into real, physical books people can hold.
March 9, 2026
We researched how the major print-on-demand companies handle book covers, sizing, and ordering. Here is what matters for Say It Now.
Lulu has a fully open, free API. We send them the PDF, a shipping address, and they print and ship the book directly to your customer. No manual steps. We control the entire experience.
Blurb makes beautiful large-format photo books (up to 13x11"). But their API requires an enterprise sales partnership. For now, customers who want Blurb quality can download their PDF and order from Blurb.com directly.
Lulu handles all the printing and shipping automatically. Blurb makes gorgeous large books but requires a corporate partnership we do not have yet. As volume grows, we can revisit that conversation.
We evaluated every major print-on-demand vendor. Only two are serious contenders for tribute books.
None of these work for one-off custom tribute books generated on demand.
Every size below is available through Lulu. Customers choose when they finalize their tribute book.
These are the sizes we feature in the app. They cover the most popular formats for photo-and-text tribute books.
| Name | Dimensions | Type | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic (US Trade) | 6 x 9" | Standard | Most popular. Great balance of text and photos. |
| Square | 8.5 x 8.5" | Photo | Modern photo book feel. Instagram-style layouts. |
| Portrait (Blurb-style) | 8 x 10" | Photo | Classic photo book. Generous space for tributes. |
| Full Page | 8.5 x 11" | Standard | Largest Lulu standard. Big photos, detailed tributes. |
| Landscape | 10 x 8" | Photo | Wide-format. Great for landscape photos and group shots. |
| Small Square | 7 x 7" | Photo | Compact and intimate. Gift-friendly size. |
The full catalog. Any of these can be offered if customers request a specific format.
| Name | Dimensions | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.25 x 6.875" | Standard | Small keepsake, fits in a purse or pocket | |
| Novella | 5 x 8" | Standard | Compact paperback |
| A5 | 5.83 x 8.27" | Standard | International standard |
| Digest | 5.5 x 8.5" | Standard | Standard paperback size |
| US Trade (Classic) | 6 x 9" | Standard | Most common book size in the US |
| Royal | 6.14 x 9.21" | Standard | UK standard size |
| Comic Book | 6.625 x 10.25" | Standard | Comic book format |
| Executive | 7 x 10" | Standard | Larger format for detailed content |
| Crown Quarto | 7.44 x 9.68" | Standard | UK large format |
| Small Square | 7.5 x 7.5" | Photo | Compact photo book |
| Square | 8.5 x 8.5" | Photo | Popular photo book format |
| Full Page (US Letter) | 8.5 x 11" | Standard | Largest standard portrait |
| A4 | 8.27 x 11.69" | Standard | International A4 |
| Small Landscape | 9 x 7" | Photo | Wide-format, compact |
| US Letter Landscape | 11 x 8.5" | Photo | Largest landscape option |
| A4 Landscape | 11.69 x 8.27" | Photo | International A4 landscape |
Here are the featured sizes to scale, showing how they compare. Spine is on the left, just like a real book.
Classic
6 x 9"
Small Square
7 x 7"
Portrait
8 x 10"
Square
8.5 x 8.5"
Full Page
8.5 x 11"
Landscape
10 x 8"
From finalized tribute to a book on their doorstep.
Reviews all submissions, approves the content, and picks a book size from the options above.
Our system builds the PDF with proper bleed (0.125"), margins, and spine width calculated from page count. Cover is generated automatically.
The PDF and shipping address go to Lulu's API. They print the book and ship it directly. The customer never sees Lulu branding. Production takes 3-5 business days.
Standard shipping: 7-10 business days total. Expedited (2-day) and Express (next-day) options available.
The cover is the part most printers make complicated. Lulu's API handles this for us.
Lulu calculates spine width from page count automatically. Their formula: (pages / 444) + 0.06". A 50-page book has about a 0.17" spine. A 200-page book has about a 0.51" spine.
0.125" bleed on all edges (images extend past the trim line). 0.25" safety margin for text. Hardcover casewrap gets 0.75" extra for the wrap-around.
One single PDF page: back cover + spine + front cover, laid out left to right. Lulu's API tells us the exact dimensions for any size and page count. We generate this automatically.
If customers want coffee table size books, here is how that works today and where it could go.
Email bert@askthehuman.com or call anytime.