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The Catalog Sheet: One Page Per Book

PDF generation in six paper sizes — what's included, how to customize it, and when to hand one to a prospective buyer.

3 min

PDF generation for professional documentation — what's included, which sizes are available, and when a printed page is still the best technology.

What It Is

The Catalog Sheet is a one-page PDF generated from a book's metadata in Shelvd. It's a professional-grade document that summarizes everything you've recorded about a book: title, contributors, edition, physical description, condition, provenance, valuation, identifiers, and notes.

One book, one page, everything a buyer, insurer, or appraiser needs.

When to Use It

  • Book fairs — Print sheets for your stock. Hand them to interested buyers. They look more professional than scribbled notes on index cards.
  • Client communication — Email a PDF to a prospective buyer or consignor. It shows you take your business seriously.
  • Insurance — Your insurer wants documentation? Give them a stack of catalog sheets. Each one is a timestamped record of what you own and what it's worth.
  • Appraisals — When a valuer assesses your collection, catalog sheets give them a head start.
  • Your own records — A printed backup of your digital data. Paper doesn't need a password, doesn't crash, and survives power outages.

What's Included

The catalog sheet pulls from all available fields:

Header

  • Title, subtitle, author(s)
  • Edition, impression, publisher, place, year

Physical Description

  • Format, pagination, dimensions
  • Cover type, binding, paper type
  • Edge treatment, endpapers, protective enclosure

Condition

  • Condition grade (book and dust jacket separately)
  • Detailed condition notes

Provenance

  • Ownership chain with dates, evidence, and associations
  • Valuation history

Identifiers

  • ISBN-13, ISBN-10, OCLC, LCCN, DDC, LCC
  • Catalog ID (your own reference number)

Notes

  • Summary, bibliography references, internal notes
  • Trade catalog entry and ISBD catalog entry (both included when available)

Fields that are empty are omitted — the sheet only shows what you've recorded.

Paper Sizes

Shelvd generates catalog sheets in six sizes:

Size Dimensions Best for
A4 210 × 297 mm European standard
A5 148 × 210 mm Half-page, compact
A6 105 × 148 mm Postcard size
US Letter 216 × 279 mm American standard
US Legal 216 × 356 mm American legal
US Half Letter 140 × 216 mm Statement size

Choose the size that matches your printer and purpose. A4 and US Letter are the most common. A5 is useful for tucking into a book at a fair.

How to Generate

  1. Navigate to the book detail page
  2. Click the PDF button (document icon) in the header
  3. Select your paper size from the dropdown
  4. The PDF opens in a new tab — print or save

The PDF is generated on the fly from your current data. If you update the book's metadata and generate again, the new PDF reflects the changes.

Availability

The PDF Catalog Sheet is a Collector Pro feature. It's available to users on the Collector Pro and Dealer tiers.

Design

The catalog sheet follows Shelvd's design language: clean typography, structured layout, no decoration. It's designed to be read, not admired. The focus is on the data.

Header includes the book title and your name (from your profile). Footer includes the generation date. This way, every sheet is a timestamped, attributed document.

See also: Cataloging for Dealers · The ISBD Entry · Settings Guide

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