Getting Started

Everything you need to create your first storybook

Welcome to Scribbin! We're excited to help you create beautiful, personalised storybooks for the children in your life. This guide will walk you through the basics of getting started.

Creating Your Account

To begin creating storybooks, you'll need a free Scribbin account. Simply click Sign Up and enter your details. You'll receive a confirmation email to verify your account.

Your Dashboard

Once logged in, your dashboard is your home base. Here you'll see:

• Your storybooks — both works in progress and published books
• Quick actions — start a new story or continue editing
• Story tokens balance — your credits for creating content

Creating Your First Story

Ready to create? Click the "Start Creating" button to begin the story wizard. You'll be guided through a series of simple steps to craft your unique storybook.

What You'll Need

• A story idea or theme (don't worry, we'll help you develop it!)
• The name of your main character(s)
• Optionally, a photo of your character for reference
• Story tokens to generate illustrations (new accounts include a welcome bonus)

Next Steps

Ready to dive deeper? Check out How It Works for a complete walkthrough of the creation process.

How It Works

From idea to illustrated storybook in minutes

Creating a personalised storybook with Scribbin is a magical journey. Here's how the process works from start to finish.

The Creation Process

1. Enter Your Book Title This is the title that will appear on your book's cover. Make it special!
2. Add the Author Name Who should be credited as the author? This could be you, your child, or both of you together.
3. Select Age Range Choose the target age (0-3, 4-6, 7-9, or 10+). This helps our AI tailor vocabulary and themes appropriately.
4. Add a Dedication (Optional) Write a personal message that will appear in the book — perfect for birthdays or special occasions.
5. Choose Book Length Select how many spreads (two-page layouts) you want: from a quick 4-spread story to an epic 20-spread adventure.
6. Create Characters Name your characters, describe their personality, and optionally upload photos for visual consistency.
7. Write Your Story Outline Describe the adventure, lesson, or journey you want the story to follow. The more detail you provide, the better!
8. AI Generation Our AI creates your complete story with text and beautiful watercolour-style illustrations.
9. Review & Publish Use the flatplan editor to review, refine, and publish your finished book.

AI-Powered Magic

Behind the scenes, Scribbin uses advanced AI technology to:

• Generate engaging, age-appropriate story text
• Create beautiful watercolour-style illustrations
• Maintain visual consistency for your characters across all pages
• Design professional book covers and title treatments

After Publishing

Once published, your storybook is available to:

• Read online using our interactive page-flip reader
• Listen with narration using text-to-speech voices
• Share with family and friends via a unique link
• Order as a printed book delivered to your door

Pricing

Simple, transparent token-based pricing

Scribbin uses a prepaid token system rather than subscriptions. You purchase "story tokens" upfront, which are spent when generating AI-powered content. This gives you flexibility — pay only for what you use.

Token Packages

Choose the package that best fits your needs:

Larger packages offer better value per token, making the Pro Pack ideal for teachers, prolific creators, or anyone planning to make multiple storybooks.

What Costs Tokens?

The only cost is page illustrations, at 5 tokens per illustration. This means:

• A 4-spread book (8 illustrated pages) = 40 tokens
• An 8-spread book (16 illustrated pages) = 80 tokens
• Regenerating an image you want to change = 5 tokens

Included free: Story text, character images, cover artwork, and title treatments.

Convenience Features

Auto Top-Up

Never run out of tokens mid-creation! Set a threshold (e.g., "when my balance drops to 10 tokens") and we'll automatically purchase more using your saved payment method.

Voucher Codes

Have a promotional code? Redeem it in your account settings to receive free tokens. Voucher codes are single-use and may have expiration dates.

Printed Books

Physical printed copies are priced separately from tokens. See Ordering a Printed Book for details on print pricing and shipping.

Understanding Credits

How story tokens work

Story tokens are the currency you use to generate AI-powered content in Scribbin. Think of them as "creative energy" that powers your storybook creation.

How Tokens Work

• Purchase tokens via secure Stripe checkout
• Tokens are deducted when generating page illustrations
• Check your balance anytime in your account settings
• Tokens never expire — use them whenever you're ready

Token Costs

Purchasing Tokens

To buy more tokens:

1. Go to Account Settings
2. Click the Billing & Credits tab
3. Click Buy More Tokens
4. Select your package and complete checkout

Transaction History

Every token transaction is logged. In your Billing & Credits settings, you can see:

• Purchases (tokens added)
• Usage (tokens spent, with details of what was generated)
• Refunds (if applicable)
• Promotional bonuses

Setting Up Auto Top-Up

To ensure you never run out of tokens:

1. Go to Billing & Credits in your settings
2. Enable Auto Top-Up
3. Set your threshold (e.g., purchase when balance reaches 10)
4. Choose which package to auto-purchase
5. Save a payment method during your next purchase

Using the Flatplan Editor

Review and perfect your storybook

The flatplan editor gives you a visual overview of your entire storybook. Here you can review, edit, and perfect every page before publishing.

What You'll See

The editor displays your book as a series of "spreads" — two-page layouts just like in a real book. You'll see:

• Front and back covers as single pages
• Story spreads showing left and right pages together
• Thumbnail images for quick visual reference
• Page text below each illustration

Editing Text

Click on any page text to edit it directly. Make corrections, adjust phrasing, or personalise the story further. Your changes are saved automatically.

Regenerating Images

Not happy with an illustration? You can request changes:

1. Click the Edit button on the page
2. Describe what you'd like changed (e.g., "Make the sky more purple")
3. Or use quick suggestions like "More vibrant" or "More magical"
4. Submit to regenerate (costs 5 tokens)

Reordering Pages

Drag and drop pages to rearrange them. This is useful if you want to change the story flow or move scenes around.

The "Complete My Book" Button

When you're ready to finalise, click Complete My Book. This automatically:

• Generates any missing page illustrations
• Creates your title treatment (styled title graphic)
• Generates front and back covers
• Prepares everything for publishing

Publishing

Once everything is complete, click Publish. Your book will receive a unique URL and become available in the interactive reader.

Character Uploads

Create consistent characters with reference photos

One of Scribbin's most powerful features is the ability to upload character photos. This helps our AI create illustrations that look consistent throughout your story.

Why Upload Photos?

When you upload a photo of your character (whether that's your child, their favourite teddy bear, or a pet), our AI uses it as a reference to:

• Maintain consistent appearance across all illustrations
• Capture specific features like hair colour, clothing, or markings
• Create a more personalised, recognisable character

Photo Guidelines

For best results:

• Clear, well-lit photos work best
• Face the camera — front-facing shots are ideal
• Simple backgrounds help the AI focus on the subject
• Supported formats: JPG, PNG, or WebP
• Maximum size: 5MB per image

Character Library

Characters you create are saved to your library. This means you can:

• Reuse the same character in multiple storybooks
• Build a universe of recurring characters
• Save time on future stories

Character Details

Beyond photos, you can add rich details to help the AI understand your character:

• Name & Age: How old is the character?
• Personality: Are they brave, shy, curious, silly?
• Likes & Dislikes: What do they love? What scares them?
• Appearance: Hair colour, eye colour, favourite outfit

Privacy Note

Your uploaded photos are used only for generating illustrations in your storybooks. They are stored securely and are never shared publicly or used for any other purpose.

Reading & Narration

Bring your stories to life

Once your storybook is published, it's available in our interactive reader with a beautiful page-flip experience and optional narration.

The Interactive Reader

Our reader recreates the feeling of a real book:

• Realistic page turns with smooth animations
• Full-screen mode for immersive reading
• Works on any device — desktop, tablet, or phone
• Reading progress is saved automatically

Text-to-Speech Narration

Let the story read itself! Our narration feature uses high-quality AI voices to read each page aloud.

Enabling Narration

1. Open your published book in the reader
2. Click the Narration button
3. Select a voice from the available options
4. Press play to start listening

Auto-Advance

Enable auto-advance to have pages turn automatically when the narration for that page finishes. Perfect for bedtime stories!

Sharing Your Book

Each published book has a unique URL you can share with family and friends. They can read the book without needing a Scribbin account.

Child Lock

For younger readers, you can enable a child lock PIN. This prevents accidental navigation away from the book and keeps children immersed in the reading experience.

Set up your child lock PIN in Account Settings under the Security tab.

Ordering a Printed Book

Get a beautiful physical copy delivered to your door

There's something magical about holding a real book in your hands. Scribbin lets you order professionally printed copies of your storybooks.

Available Formats

How to Order

1. Open your published book in the reader
2. Click the Order Print button
3. Select your format (softcover or hardcover)
4. Choose quantity (1-100 copies)
5. Select or add a delivery address
6. Review shipping options and costs
7. Complete checkout via Stripe

Shipping

We offer multiple shipping options:

• Budget: Most economical, longer delivery time
• Standard: Balanced cost and speed
• Express: Faster delivery
• Overnight: Fastest option (where available)

Tracking Your Order

Once your order ships, you'll receive:

• A tracking number via email
• Updates in your Account Settings under Orders
• Direct links to track your package

International Shipping

We ship to most countries worldwide. Availability and pricing may vary by location. During checkout, you'll see which products and shipping methods are available for your address.

Managing Addresses

Save frequently-used addresses in your Account Settings for faster checkout. You can add, edit, and remove addresses at any time.

Child Safety

Our commitment to protecting children

At Scribbin, child safety is our top priority. We've built safety measures into every aspect of our platform.

Content Guidelines

All AI-generated content is designed to be:

• Age-appropriate based on your selected age range
• Positive and educational in tone
• Free from violence, scary content, or inappropriate themes
• Family-friendly for all readers

Child Lock PIN

The child lock feature helps keep young readers focused:

• Prevents navigation away from the book
• Requires a 4-digit PIN to exit
• Configurable in your Account Settings
• Rate-limited to prevent guessing

Photo Privacy

When you upload character photos:

• Images are stored securely and encrypted
• Used only for AI illustration generation
• Never shared publicly or with third parties
• Can be deleted at any time from your account

Account Security

We protect your family's data with:

• Secure password hashing
• HTTPS encryption on all connections
• Session management with automatic timeouts
• CSRF protection on all forms

Reporting Concerns

If you encounter any content that concerns you or seems inappropriate, please contact us immediately at [email protected]. We take all reports seriously and will investigate promptly.

For more details, please see our full Child Safety Policy.

Account Settings

Managing your Scribbin account

Your Account Settings page is where you manage everything about your Scribbin experience.

Profile

Update your personal information:

• Name: Your first and last name
• Display name: How you appear on book credits
• Email: Your login and notification email
• Profile picture: Upload an avatar (JPG, PNG, GIF up to 2MB)

Security

Keep your account safe:

• Change password: Update your login password
• Child lock PIN: Set a 4-digit PIN for the reader lock feature

Preferences

Customise your experience:

• Timezone: Affects how dates and times are displayed
• Language: Interface language (English currently)

Notifications

Control what emails you receive:

• Story completion notifications
• Generation failure alerts
• Weekly digest summaries
• Marketing and feature updates

Addresses

Manage shipping addresses for print orders:

• Add new addresses
• Set a default address
• Edit or remove existing addresses

Orders

View your print order history:

• Order status and tracking
• Shipping details
• Order receipts

Billing & Credits

Manage your token balance and payments:

• View current balance
• Purchase more tokens
• View transaction history
• Configure auto top-up

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to common questions

Getting Started

Credits & Billing

Editing & Publishing

Printed Books

Technical