Creating Your Book

Before you begin

Have these ready before you start:

• 2 to 6 clear photos of the people the book is about
• 15 to 20 minutes of uninterrupted time
• A few memories in mind, depending on your book type

No account needed to get started. You can save your progress and come back, though one focused session almost always produces a better book.

Step 1: Choose your book type

Start by selecting the type of story you want to tell:

• Our Love Story: a fully illustrated narrative of your relationship, from how you met to where you're headed
• Why I Love You: every reason you love them, beautifully laid out
• Why I Love You, Mom: all the reasons you love her, from the big ones to the small everyday things. Perfect for Mother's Day, and just as good for a birthday or no occasion at all
• Why I Love You, Dad: the stories, the lessons, the moments that made him your dad. Made for Father's Day, but it works any day of the year
• The Friendship Book: 10 chapters celebrating your best friend and everything you've shared
• Little Tales: your child as the hero of their own family adventure

Not sure which fits? Think about whether you want to tell a story (Our Love Story, The Friendship Book, Little Tales) or say why you love someone (the Why I Love You books).

Step 2: Upload your photos

Your photos are the foundation of your illustrations. They're used to build avatars that look like you and your person throughout the book.

Requirements:

• Format: JPG or PNG
• Size: max 10MB per photo
• Quantity: 2 to 6 photos

What makes a good photo:

• Face clearly visible and naturally lit. Natural light works best
• No heavy filters, and no black-and-white photos
• Recent photos give the most accurate illustrations
• Natural expressions rather than posed or heavily edited shots

Important: each time you regenerate your avatar it uses a credit. Take a moment to choose your best photos now. It pays off later.

Step 3: Choose your art style and write your dedication

Your art style. Select the illustration style that fits the mood of your book:

• 3D animated: dimensional, modern and polished. A refined, contemporary look
• 2D cartoon: playful, bold and colourful. Great for fun, lighthearted stories and personalities
• Watercolour: soft, romantic and painterly. Suits sentimental gifts and a timeless feel
• Manga: graphic, expressive and striking. For anime fans, or a more unique aesthetic

Not sure? 3D animated is by far the most popular choice, used in about half of all books.

Your dedication. Your dedication appears at the very beginning of the book, a personal message before the story starts. Keep it short and genuine. A few lines is plenty.

Examples to inspire you:

• "To my forever adventure partner. Every chapter with you is my favourite."
• "For [name], the one who makes every day feel like a love story."
• "This is our story. I can't wait to write the next chapter together."

Step 4: Answer the story questions

You'll answer 10 questions that shape everything: the chapters, the narrative, the details that make your book feel like yours.

How to answer well. Be specific. The more detail you give, the more personal the book feels.

• Instead of "we met at a party", try "we met at Jake's birthday when you spilled your drink on my shoes"
• Instead of "we went on a trip", try "that rainy weekend in Lisbon where we got lost for three hours and didn't care"
• Instead of "I love your kindness", try "the way you always remember what people order at restaurants"

Include places, names, small details, and how things felt, not just what happened. Don't worry about perfect grammar. Write the way you'd actually tell the story.

Nothing is locked in here. After checkout you can go back and edit any of your 10 answers before your book is generated, so write freely now and refine later if you want to.

Saving your progress. Your answers are not saved automatically. Click Save Progress at the bottom before closing your browser.

Once you've finished the 10 questions, you'll be able to create an account and save your book, before moving on to purchase. Your story stays there, ready whenever you come back to it.

Step 5: Preview and choose your format

Before you place your order, you'll see a preview of your book cover.

A few things to know at this stage:

• The cover preview is an early draft. Final illustrations are generated after checkout at full quality
• You won't see the interior pages yet, as full generation requires significant processing
• No edits can be made at this step

This is also where you choose your format: digital PDF, softcover, or hardcover. Current pricing is on our pricing page. Delivery times and costs vary by country. You'll find the current estimates for yours on our shipping page.

Step 6: Refine your avatar, answers & dedication message after checkout

After checkout, you have one final chance to get things right before your book is generated.

You can:

• Upload new photos or adjust your avatar
• Edit any of your 10 story answers
• Update your dedication

This is the most important step. Your avatar is used to create every illustration in the book. Once you launch your story, it cannot be changed.

Take your time here. When everything looks right, click Launch My Story and your full book generates in about 15 minutes.

Step 7: Edit your book

Once your story is ready, you enter the editing phase. This is your space to shape it into exactly what you want.

Chapter text and titles. Edit freely, as many times as you like, at no extra cost.

Illustrations. Click the ✦ icon on any image to open the editing panel. The panel is organised by category, so choose the category that matches what you want to change, then describe the change there.

Credits. Your order includes 30 credits. Each illustration change uses 1 credit, so you have 30 changes to work with.

Work through the book until it feels right. There's no rush.

Step 8: Approve and send to print

When you're satisfied with every page, validate your book to approve it for printing.

A few things to know before you do:

• Once validated, your book is automatically sent to the printer
• If you spot a mistake after validating, email support@lovetales.ai immediately and we'll do our best to catch it before production begins
• Refunds are not available once printing starts. Full details are in our refund policy

After approval:

• Track your order from your dashboard under Track Shipping
• Shipping updates are sent to your email

Questions along the way? Reach us at support@lovetales.ai