The page opens with a finished songbook already on screen: eight singalong classics picked, “The Miller Family” on the cover, contents page numbered. Look through it with the arrows, then make it yours.
How do I make a caroling songbook?
- Type your group’s name (a family, “Tuesday Senior Singers”, a class).
- Tick the carols you want and set your running order with the arrows.
- Choose Folded booklet or Big print, pick your paper, and download the PDF.
The preview always shows a real page of the book (the cover, the contents or a carol), not a mock-up.
How does the folded booklet math work?
A folded booklet prints its pages out of order on purpose: two pages to a landscape sheet, front and back, so that folding the stack once puts every page in the right place. Work out that order by hand and you quickly see why blogs tell you to “use the booklet setting when printing” and hope. This tool computes it:
- your pages are padded to a multiple of four with blanks;
- the first sheet carries the last page next to the cover (a blank back cover beside the front cover), the next sheet turns the stack inside out, and so on;
- the stats line always reads, for example, “12 booklet pages · prints on 6 sheets of US Letter (2-up)”.
Print at 100 percent (“actual size”, not “fit to page”), stack the sheets, fold once, staple along the fold. On US Letter the finished book is 5.5 × 8.5 inches; on A4 it is A5. Big print skips the folding: one full-size page per sheet, larger type, for reading across a room.
What is in the carol library?
Twenty-four verified classics, and the source line prints under every title, dated:
| Carol | Source (printed in your book) |
|---|---|
| Silent Night | Josef Mohr, 1818; English: John F. Young, 1863 |
| Jingle Bells | James Lord Pierpont, 1857 |
| Deck the Halls | Welsh air; English words Thomas Oliphant, 1862 |
| Joy to the World | Isaac Watts, 1719; tune Lowell Mason, 1839 |
| We Wish You a Merry Christmas | English traditional, printed from the 1830s |
| The Twelve Days of Christmas | English traditional, first printed c. 1780 |
…plus Away in a Manger, The First Noel, We Three Kings, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, O Holy Night, What Child Is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, The Holly and the Ivy, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, O Little Town of Bethlehem, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, Once in Royal David’s City, In the Bleak Midwinter, Angels We Have Heard on High, Up on the Housetop and Here We Come A-Wassailing.
That is fewer songs than the big fixed songbook PDFs, on purpose: this library only carries lyrics published before 1930, so nothing you hand out is legally gray, and every song is one a mixed group already knows by heart.
Printing tips
Plain paper is fine; 120 g/m² (32 lb) feels like a “real” book. The booklet’s fold line is the middle of the sheet, so a long-arm stapler (or a normal stapler opened out and pressed flat) reaches it. For a whole caroling party, print one booklet per two or three singers and share: four voices on one book is how caroling actually sounds best.
More Christmas printables
Pair the book with a letter from Santa for the littlest singers on your route, or fill the Christmas wish list before the carols start. The Christmas page lays out everything else the season needs, from the countdown paper chain to reindeer food for Christmas Eve.
Questions
Is the caroling songbook really free?
Yes. Pick your songs, look at the preview and download the PDF; no account, no email address, no watermark. The pages are drawn in your browser and the PDF is put together on your device.
Which carols are in the library?
24 classics that are public domain, each printed with its dated source: Silent Night (1818), Jingle Bells (1857), Deck the Halls (1862), Joy to the World (1719), Away in a Manger (1885), The First Noel (1833), We Wish You a Merry Christmas and more. The library is deliberately smaller than the fixed 39-song PDFs on blogs: every song here is verified public domain with a dated source line, so nothing in your book is legally gray.
Why can't I print Rudolph or Frosty?
Those songs are still under copyright: Rudolph dates from 1939, Frosty from 1950, White Christmas from 1942. A songbook you hand out at school, church or a senior home deserves clean sources, so this tool only carries lyrics published before 1930. The old carols are also the ones everyone in a mixed group already knows.
How does the folded booklet work?
The tool does the booklet math that printers usually leave to you. Your pages are placed two to a sheet, in the exact order saddle-stitching needs. Print the PDF at 100 percent on plain paper, stack the sheets, fold the stack once and staple along the fold; the pages land in reading order, cover first. A 12-page booklet prints on 6 sheets; the tool always tells you the count.
Can I make big-print pages for seniors?
Yes, choose 'Big print (1-up)' as the print style. Each page then prints full-size with noticeably larger words, one page per sheet, which stays readable across a room. Senior homes and church pews are the usual reason to pick it.
Is anything I type uploaded?
No. The songbook is drawn and the PDF is assembled entirely in your browser. Nothing you type and nothing about your song list leaves your device.