Back and forth, like a fan: one crease folds forwards, the next backwards. Every crease is marked; which way each goes simply alternates from the first.

What if the strip is longer than the paper?

It prints in strips. Each strip but the last ends in a tab that glues behind the first page of the next one, and the crease on the tab is just one more fold of the zigzag.

How big are the covers?

Three millimetres bigger than a page all round. Glue the first page onto the front cover and the last onto the back; use thicker card for the covers.

How many sheets is it?

At the size it opens with — eight 70 × 100 mm pages with covers — it prints on three A4 or US Letter sheets.

Accordion Book Template — Free Printable Concertina Book, Any Size

The accordion book template, flat and folded

Accordion book template — free printable dieline with cut and fold lines, any size — The printable dieline at its standard size. Type your own size above for yours.

Accordion book folded up from the template — the finished piece — The box it folds into.

What this template is for

A concertina book: a strip of pages folded back and forth, with two covers. Any page size and number of pages; long strips print in sections that join with a tab. Photo albums, journals, wedding guest books and pop-out timelines.

Also called concertina book · accordion photo album · fold out book · accordion fold book — all the same shape, and this is it.

Mini photo albums and scrapbooks
Journals and travel books
Wedding guest books and keepsakes
Timelines and fold-out school projects

How to use this template

All four downloads are the same accordion book at the same size — only the format changes.

PDF printing at home: Print at 100 per cent, or hand it to a print shop as "actual size, no scaling".
PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate: Upload, lock it in place and design your accordion book on top. Free plan and phone included. Full Canva walkthrough →
SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity: Vector, with cuts, folds and labels on separate layers. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters: Two layers, CUT and FOLD — and the one free Silhouette Studio Basic will open.

Getting it printed properly →

Printing it

Type your size above, then download the PDF.
Print at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
Too big for the paper? Pick your paper size and leave Fit the pieces to the page ticked: each piece gets its own place on a sheet and the PDF comes out with every page in it, nothing cut in half and nothing to tape.

How to put it together

These pictures are the accordion book itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.

Cut the solid lines
Every solid line is a cut. Do the inside shapes first, while the sheet is still whole and easy to hold.
Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds. Score each one first — an empty ballpoint against a ruler — or the card cracks along the outside of the bend.
Fold, glue and hold
Cut out the strips and crease every dashed line. Fold the pages back and forth like a fan, mountain then valley. If there is more than one strip, glue each tab behind the first page of the next strip, keeping the zigzag going. Glue the first page onto the FRONT COVER and the last page onto the BACK COVER.

Glue: a glue stick for paper, white PVA on card — hold each seam thirty seconds, and let the box dry standing up.

Questions about the accordion book

How does it fold?: Back and forth, like a fan: one crease folds forwards, the next backwards. Every crease is marked; which way each goes simply alternates from the first.
What if the strip is longer than the paper?: It prints in strips. Each strip but the last ends in a tab that glues behind the first page of the next one, and the crease on the tab is just one more fold of the zigzag.
How big are the covers?: Three millimetres bigger than a page all round. Glue the first page onto the front cover and the last onto the back; use thicker card for the covers.
How many sheets is it?: At the size it opens with — eight 70 × 100 mm pages with covers — it prints on three A4 or US Letter sheets.

Print your own design on it

Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the accordion book. It is trimmed to the cut outline, embedded properly in the PDF, and never leaves your computer — most free template sites hand you the outline and stop there. How printing your own design works.

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