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How to Make a Book Plate

Books Plates have been used since the fifteenth century. When personal libraries were the thing to have, people would have artist design special bookplates for them. These bookplates are labels that are on the inside cover of the owners books for identification purposes. Today, collecting these bookplates have become very popular. Among the collections, you might find bookplates of Queen Victoria, George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Sigmund Freud, Walt Disney, Harpo Marx, or Jack London.

Many different techniques and mediums were used in the early creation of these bookplates. Some were woodcut, engraved, silkscreen, etchings, or pen and ink on finest papers. These were done in small scale, with pictures or herald. Some had the Family name or the "Library of" and date printed on them.

Today, you can buy bookplates from local bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Nobles. These are pre-design labels that you can add your name and date. However keeping with tradition, you can design your own bookplates with the use of modern technology - the computer.

Things You'll Need

Computer
MS Word 2007
Avery labels 6464 or 6462
Basic understanding of MS Word

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a new document in Word 2007. This allows you to use a blank document or a template. Choose the template called Labels. Choose the Other Labels option. This will bring up several different label designs. There is one special for bookplates or book labels. It is designed for Avery labels 6464 or 6462. Choose that bookplate label. There are several other designs for bookplates in the series as well.
- 2
  Click on first text block (From the Classroom of) to change the text. Add "From the Library of" in that text block. Add your name to the name block. Add the date in the "School Name" text block. This could be the date the book was purchased.
- 3
  Change the picture by right clicking on the books. Choose the cut option. This will delete the picture. Choose insert to add a clip art or picture of your choice. Click on picture to edit, arrange, or move, as you desire.
- 4
  Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all labels are complete. Insert the correct Avery label product in your printer. Print one page of labels to test the design. Correct if need be.
- 5
  Print the desire number of pages. Each page will contain six labels. Save the document template in your document files, naming it something you can identify the file. Such file names as "Bookplate design" or "Bookplate template label".
- 6
  Remove each label and place on the inside cover of your book. Enjoy your bookplate and your growing library.

Collecting Memorabilia