Picture books and board books may both rely heavily on illustration, but from a design and production standpoint, they are very different books. A traditional children’s picture book is printed on paper and usually produced as a hardcover or softcover book. A children’s board book is manufactured with thick paperboard pages and requires specialized equipment and processes for printing, binding, and finishing.
Paperboard vs. Cardboard
People often say “cardboard,” but in book production the more accurate term is paperboard. Board books are made from paperboard constructions, not corrugated box material.
White board, sometimes called white art board, is made from pressed white paper fibers with a white printable surface. Gray board is made from pressed gray paper fibers with a white printable surface. The main visible difference is at the cut edges of the pages, where the interior fibers remain visible.
White board is generally more expensive than gray board, but I prefer it for illustrated board books because it gives the finished book a cleaner, more polished appearance.
Board books are generally created for babies and toddlers, while picture books typically serve a somewhat older audience. Once the appropriate format has been established, however, the biggest differences are often how the book is designed and produced. Understanding a few board book basics—including page construction, board thickness, binding, trim size, and finishing—can help you make better production decisions from the start.
Picture Books and Board Books at a Glance
| Picture Book | Board Book | |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | Printed paper | Thick paperboard |
| Binding | Hardcover or softcover | Specialized board-book construction |
| Typical size | Wide range of trim sizes | Often smaller and more compact |
| Page count | Commonly 24–40 pages | Often planned in two-page spreads + cover |
| Corners | Usually square | Frequently rounded |
| Cover | Separate hardcover case or softcover | Often constructed as part of the board-book block |
| Production | Standard commercial book manufacturing | Requires specialized board-book manufacturing |
| Special features | Available | Particularly well suited to die-cuts, flaps, tabs, touch-and-feel, and shaped formats |
These are general guidelines rather than fixed rules. Both picture books and board books can be highly customized.
Board Book Basics: How Board Books Are Designed and Made
The most obvious difference is the page material. Picture books generally use coated (gloss, matte, or satin/semi-gloss) or uncoated paper selected according to the desired look, feel, thickness, durability, how much printing shows through, and budget. Board books are commonly made from heavy coated-one-side (C1S) paperboard. In most cases, the artwork is printed on the coated surface, and two sheets are bonded together to form each thick, rigid page.
Your choice of paper stock and board construction can affect:
- thickness
- weight
- rigidity
- durability
- print reproduction
- finished feel
- manufacturing and shipping cost
Some manufacturers use an alternative construction in which thinner printed sheets are mounted to a separate board core. For illustrated board books, I generally prefer printing directly on heavy coated paperboard stock and bonding the sheets together. I find this construction provides an excellent combination of color reproduction, image detail, durability, thickness, and overall feel.
Board-book manufacturing can also involve more manual assembly than conventional picture-book production. Depending on the construction and printer, individual spreads or board leaves may in part be assembled by hand or through a combination of specialized machinery and manual processes.
Board Thickness Affects the Entire Book
A seemingly small change in board thickness can have a significant effect on the finished book. Thicker board can give a book a more substantial, premium feel. At the same time, it increases the thickness and weight of the book block.
That means board thickness should be considered together with:
- trim size
- number of spreads
- binding
- finished weight
- carton packing
- freight costs
A small-format board book with relatively few spreads can accommodate a heavier board quite comfortably. Increase the trim size, number of spreads, or board thickness, and the physical book changes quickly.
Page Counts Work Differently
Picture books are generally discussed in terms of pages, usually 24 or 32 pages. On the other hand, board books are often planned in spreads, with each spread consisting of a left-hand page and a right-hand page facing each other.
Because each board-book leaf is substantially thicker than a conventional paper page, adding even a few spreads can noticeably increase the spine width and overall bulk of the finished book. This can affect both appearance and cost. It can also affect the design. If artwork was originally created for a longer picture book and later adapted to a board book, reducing the number of spreads may require changes to page breaks, illustrations, and layout.
Trim Size Matters
Picture books offer tremendous flexibility in format. They can be square, portrait, landscape, oversized, or compact. Board books also come in many sizes and shapes, but they are often smaller because the thick board makes larger formats heavier and more cumbersome for babies and toddlers to hold.
Trim size affects more than appearance. It can influence:
- the amount of paper or board required—the larger the book, the greater the material cost
- how efficiently the book can be printed and trimmed
- the proportions available for illustrations
I’ve found that a relatively small adjustment to trim size can sometimes make a book more efficient to manufacture without drastically changing its overall look.
Designing for the Gutter and Binding
Illustrations in children’s books frequently extend across two-page spreads, which makes the center of the book especially important. In a conventional picture book, the amount of image lost or obscured near the spine / gutter depends partly on the binding method. Board books behave differently because of their thick pages and specialized construction.
One thing I always look for is whether important faces, text, or small details are positioned too close to the center fold. Artwork that crosses the gutter needs to be planned with the finished construction in mind. A spread that looks perfect as a flat digital file may not look the same once the book has been manufactured.
Rounded Corners and Finishing
Board books commonly have rounded corners, both for appearance and because they are intended to be handled by young children. After printing and assembly, the finished book is die-cut to create rounded corners or a custom shape.
Protective finishes are also common and can help improve durability and protect the printed surface from frequent handling. For board books, I generally prefer a UV protective coating rather than plastic lamination. Because babies and toddlers often put books in their mouths, laminated edges can sometimes begin to lift or peel with repeated moisture and wear. A UV coating protects the printed surface without adding a separate plastic film layer.
Finishes can also change the look and feel of the book, so decisions about gloss, matte, satin, or other treatments should complement the artwork and intended use. Picture books offer their own range of finishes, particularly on covers, including laminations, varnishes, foil stamping, embossing, spot finishes, and other decorative effects.
Board Books Require Specialized Manufacturing
Not every commercial book printer produces board books. In fact, most board book production is done overseas rather than in North America. Board books require specialized equipment and processes due to their thick pages. In my experience, choosing a printer with specific board-book expertise is particularly important for achieving the best balance of quality and cost.
Special Features Add Production Complexity
Board books lend themselves particularly well to interactive and specialty features such as:
- die-cut shapes
- windows
- flaps
- tabs
- touch-and-feel materials
- shaped pages
- novelty components
These can make a book distinctive, but they also add manufacturing complexity, turnaround time, and cost. The artwork and cutting guides need to be carefully coordinated so that important design elements are not cut off or misplaced during production.
Can a Picture Book Simply Be Turned Into a Board Book?
Sometimes—but not always. An existing picture book can certainly be adapted into a board-book edition, but changing the page material alone is rarely the whole story.
The original picture book may have:
- too many pages for the desired board-book format
- a trim size that is impractical in heavy board
- artwork that doesn’t adapt easily to a smaller size
- important details positioned too close to the gutter
- page breaks that need to be reconsidered
- a finished thickness or weight that becomes impractical when produced as a board book
In some cases, conversion requires only modest adjustments. In others, the board-book edition needs to be substantially redesigned. It is therefore best to treat a board-book edition as a separate production format rather than simply as the original picture book printed on thicker material.
Picture Book or Board Book: Plan the Format Before Final Production
The format of a children’s book affects far more than how it feels in the reader’s hands. It influences the way the book is designed, how illustrations work across spreads, the materials that can be used, the binding, manufacturing process, finished weight, shipping, and ultimately the production budget.
Making these decisions early gives the designer, illustrator, and printer specifications they can work toward from the beginning. And that usually produces a better book—with fewer surprises when it reaches production.
Planning a Picture Book or Board Book?
Callawind provides professional children’s book design, production management, and printing services for authors, publishers, businesses, and organizations in the U.S., Canada, and internationally.
Whether you’re developing specifications for a new book, adapting an existing picture book into a board-book edition, or working with print-ready files and just need printing, Callawind can help determine the most appropriate production approach for your project.