A graduation giftbook about them

The story of how they got here, painted from your photos, from the first day at school to the cap and gown. From the people who cheered them on.

From $49 delivery includedOpens soon

See it free Email me when it opens

Ordering opens soon. Make it now and see your characters, the cover and two pages free: no card needed, just an email to save it.

For high school, college, a master’s or a PhD
Printed in the USA, delivery included

A grandmother giving her granddaughter, in her graduation gown, a picture book about her

Ordering opens soon

Make the book now and see it free. Leave your email and we write once, on the day ordering opens for The Graduate.

How it works

Tell us about them

Their name, one to three photos and what they studied. Add up to four of the people who cheered them on.
See it free

We paint the graduate, the cover and two pages while you wait. Not quite them? Say what to change.
Order, check, give

Pay when you love it. We draw the rest and email you the finished book: change any page, or say yes.

You pay nothing until you have seen them. See your characters, the cover and two pages free before you pay. Then you check every page: if we haven’t heard from you within 12 hours of our email, we print it as shown so it arrives on time.

What’s inside the 32 pages

The coverTheir name in the title, and the year if you like.
A title pageThe title of your book, on a page of its own.
Your dedicationYour own words, printed on their own page.
Meet the crewA portrait of everyone in the book, pets included, with their names.
The story13 scenes, each a page of text facing a full-page picture: the first day, the hard work and late nights, the people who helped, a setback and getting back up, the proudest moment, graduation day, caps in the air and what comes next.
A closing letterA letter to the graduate, to end the book.
A keepsake pageA printed frame to stick in a photograph of your own.
The last pageWho the book was made for, by whom and when.

Hardback, 32 pages on thick silk paper, with a printed, matte-laminated cover in the color of the occasion. You check every page before we print.

Three pages from a graduation book

Every book follows one graduate through their own years, in the words you give us. These sample pages are painted in the Watercolour style.

Watercolour of a little girl with a big red backpack holding her mother’s hand at a school gate — Where it started: the first day at school.

Watercolour of a young woman studying late at night at a desk piled with books — The hard nights, and how they got through them.

Watercolour of a graduate throwing a cap in the air in front of a university as her family cheers — Graduation day, with the people who got them there.

Hands turning the pages of a watercolour graduation picture book beside a mortarboard and flowers

Every year that led here

The first day at school, the exam that went badly, the one that went well, the nights before the deadline. One book, all of it.

A graduation book open beside the cap and the flowers.

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From the people who cheered them on

Parents and grandparents give this one as a graduation gift, to a daughter, a son or a grandchild. You were there for the first day and every exam season since, and you know the moments no one else does: the nickname, the tea at two in the morning, the phone call when the results came in.

Tell us those moments in a few lines and the book tells them back, with you in the pictures too. Grandparents often make it with the parents and send a copy to both houses.

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A father and his graduate son looking through the graduation book at the kitchen table — The evening after the ceremony.

A graduate in his gown laughing with his family over his picture book on the lawn after the ceremony

Before the day, or after it

Give it on the day, or wait for the photos from the day and make the book afterwards, with the gown, the stage and the family in the crowd: it makes a lovely late present.

For high school graduates, college graduates, a master’s or a doctorate. Tell us the subject and what comes next and it goes into the story.

On the lawn after the ceremony, the book goes round the family.

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Twelve ways to draw it

Our picks for graduations: Watercolour, Oil painting and Lifelike. Light and grown-up, or grand: every style works for every book.

See every style side by side

Classic square: 20 × 20 cm · 8 × 8 in · easy for little hands; $49
Wide landscape: 28 × 21 cm · 11 × 8.3 in · big scenes across both pages; $55
Large square: 28 × 28 cm · 11 × 11 in · the coffee-table keepsake; $62
Every extra copy: any size, from the mini book at $17; sent to another address for $5 more; from $17

Ordering opens soon

You can make the book today and see your characters, the cover and two pages free. Ordering for The Graduate isn’t open yet: leave your email and we’ll write the day it opens.

See it before you pay. Your characters, the cover and two pages are free, and we redraw what isn’t right (three redraws per person before you order).
You check every page. We email you the finished book: change any page, or say yes. If we haven’t heard from you within 12 hours, we print it as shown so it arrives on time.
Cancel before we print. Not happy with the finished pages? Cancel before we print and get a full refund.
Free reprint. If it arrives damaged or with a mistake we made, we print it again, free.
Printed close to home. In the USA, with no customs fees, mailed with tracked delivery.

Questions, answered

When can I order?

Ordering for The Graduate opens soon. You can make the book now and see your characters, the cover and two pages free; leave your email and we will write the day it opens.

Is it for high school, college or both?

Both, and more: high school graduates, college graduates, a master’s, a PhD, or a professional qualification.

Can I make it after the ceremony?

Yes, and many people do: use photos from the day so the gown and the family are in the book.

Who can be in it?

The graduate and up to four of their people, such as parents, grandparents, a partner or a best friend, plus up to two pets.

Do I need photos?

No. One to three photos of each person give the best likeness, including childhood photos for the early pages; or build them in the character maker.

What if they don’t look right?

You see them, the cover and two pages free before you order. Tell us what to change and we redraw it. You check every page before we print, with 12 hours to ask for changes.

Can grandparents get a copy too?

Yes. Extra copies cost from $26, and we mail them to another address for $5.

What happens to the photos?

They are used only to draw your book and never to train AI. We delete them 30 days after your book is delivered, and drafts that are never ordered after 60 days.

What if it arrives damaged?

Send us a photo and we reprint it free.

Where do you deliver?

To addresses in the United Kingdom and the United States, printed in the country it goes to. We can’t deliver anywhere else yet.

Can I cancel?

Yes, until we print. If you are not happy with the finished pages, cancel before we print and we refund you in full. Once it is printed, a book made for your family can’t be returned, but anything damaged or wrong on our side is reprinted free.

More in the full questions page, or write to [email protected].