Check here for answers to your questions about PLAYBILLder. Just click on your question to reveal the answer below.
This site is for creating Playbill programs to accompany school or amateur live performances with 8 or fewer performances as well as private events like weddings where no admission is charged. Any usage in conjunction with for-profit ventures, including - but not limited to - advertising, professional live performances, fundraisers, benefits, business brochures and events - must first be approved by Playbill. Productions based in New York City may be subject to additional restrictions; please use the link below to apply for approval to use this site. Content created on this site in service of New York City, non-school or non-amateur ventures without prior approval are subject to immediate deletion by Playbill Online.
To apply to use this site if you are not producing a school or amateur live performance with 8 or fewer performances, or your production is based in New York City, or if you are unsure if you can use this site for your production, please describe your organization and production using this form and Playbill Online will review your application promptly.
http://playbill.wufoo.com/forms/playbillder-pro-trademark-license-application/
Setting up and sharing your Playbill using PLAYBILLDER is free of charge. But in order to print your Playbill, there will be $75.00 trademark licensing fee (new price as of February 6, 2024) to generate a PDF.
The Producer of a production is the person who is in charge of administrative decisions for the show. Usually this is the person who arranged for the rights to perform the show.
Since you are creating a Playbill representing your organization's production, a mentor is needed to sign off on your creation. The mentor can choose his or her level involvement as the Playbill is being set up, from minimal to page-by-page oversight.
If the Playbill you are creating will be the designated program for your production, select Official Playbill. Choosing this option will require a representative from the producing organization (a drama teacher or official at a school, for example) to give approval to you building the Playbill; that person may also choose to sign off on every section of the Playbill before it is made available to the public. A Personal Playbill can be built without the user requiring any oversight or permissions from another individual.
When you are entering the production details for your Playbill, you will be required to confirm that you have obtained the necessary waivers for any photos or personal information posted to the document.
All you need to start creating your Playbill is the basic information about your show. As long as you know the name, date and location of the production you have everything you need to get started.
Unfortunately, at this time, you can only post YouTube videos.
No - only the Cover section is mandatory. You can use all, some, or none of the other sections (Billing page, Cast, Who's Who, etc.)
You can just skip the Back Page section and use the End Notes section to compose your back page.
No. You will build your Playbill section by section, starting with the Cover section. After you have finished editing a section, saved your work and are in Preview mode, you have the option of making the section public. Because it can take a lot of time creating a Playbill cover-to-cover, we thought our users would prefer to make public each section as they are completed. We provide sharing tools so you can let friends, family and fellow cast members know each time a new section is completed and made public.
We recommend all images be in 300dpi, though this is not required.
SAVE THE DATE:
Width: 580 pixels
Height: 740 pixels
COVER:
Width: 2120 pixels
Height: 2811 pixels
HEADSHOT:
536 x 536 pixels
FULL SIZE PHOTO/AD:
Width: 2120 pixels
Height: 3176 pixels
1/2 SIZE PHOTO/AD:
Width: 2120 pixels
Height: 1548 pixels
1/4 SIZE PHOTO/AD:
Width: 1020 pixels
Height: 1548 pixels
1/3 BUSINESS CARD SIZE PHOTO/AD:
Width: 1856 pixels
Height: 1032 pixels
BACK PAGE:
Width: 2120 pixels
Height: 3520 pixels
Archiving a Playbill removes it from searches on our site and if it's displayed as a link on the home page, removes it from display there.
If you have multiple actors playing the same role, you can enter the full name of the one actor in the First Name field with a “/” at the end and the full name of the other actor in the Last Name field. For instance, you can put “John Smith/” In the First Name Field and “Jack Murphy” in the Last Name field. It will appear on your “Cast” page as: Scarecrow............... John Smith / Jack Murphy. Please note that doing so will prevent the “Who’s Who” section from displaying the cast names individually so we recommend you delete the individual “Who’s Who” entries and use the Add Optional Filler Content tool to enter Who’s Who entries.
Playbill does not allow you to use the Playbill logo if you’re not using the PLAYBILLDER site to create your program.
You can save time entering and formatting the writer credits on the billing page and the song lists of your musicals by using our Playbill Express Production data.
You can only turn off sections, not individual pages. To turn off a section, deselect the "Yes. Make this page public" checkbox. Another way to turn off a section is by editing the section and saving it (once you start editing a section, we require you to make the section public again.)
In some sections that are text-based (Billing, Acknowledgements, End Notes), you can just enter any text content your audience might find of interest, like upcoming productions, special notices, etc. For other sections (Songs, Who's Who, Photos, Video and Ads), we offer a tool to add additional text. Click "+ Add Optional Filler Content" which opens a text editor for you to add additional notes. See the combination of content (photos, video, songs, etc.) with the filler text by switching to Preview mode.
Please make sure any image that you add is in JPEG, GIF, or PNG format and is under 10 MB. You cannot upload PDF, TXT, or word documents to the Cover, Who’s Who, Crew’s Who’s Who, Photos, Ads, or Back page sections.
In the “Who’s Who” section when add your bio, check the “Extend Bio” box. That will increase the character count limit to 975. However, keep in mind that you won’t be able to fit as many bios on one page. The maximum number of bios you can fit on a page is 5. If you exceed the 375 character count, less than 5 bios will fit on the page.
Be sure to keep your "Total Printable Pages" count to a multiple of 4 (4, 8, 12, etc). If that number is NOT in a multiple of 4, your Playbill will end up with blank pages. There is also a possibility that your "Back Page" won't print if you're ordering printed Playbills through our Print Service.
The easiest way to get your Total Printable Pages to a 4 multiple, is by adding (or removing) pictures to either the "ADS" or "PHOTOS" sections. You can also change the headers to any section you're not using (except "video") and make it an "Autographs" page. Remember to click the "Make This Public" button to include the section(s) you want appearing in your Playbill.
Yes - if you would like the entire Ads section at the front or back, click the "Re-order Sections" button and drag the Ads tab to the front or back. If you would like just a single image, use the Acknowledgements, End Notes or Optional Content sections, which have image-placement tools, and drag the appropriate section tab to the front or back.
You can convert the PDFs to JPEG format by going here pdf2jpg.net/ We are working on allowing PDFs to be loaded into our system. Please check our homepage for updates.
To see a proof of your PDF, first make all of the sections you want to print "Public". Then click the "Print Custom Playbills" button below the “Edit” or “Preview” button. On the "Playbill Print Service" page, click the "Print Custom Playbills" button again. On the Playbill "Print orders" page, choose an arbitrary number of copies and click one of the bubbles to select a shipping speed. Then click the "Proceed to Preview" button at the bottom. On the next page, click the blue "Preview your Proof" link. You'll be able to see what the PDF we will print looks like. You won't be charged, and your order will not be automatically placed for doing this.
Please be sure to check your proof before you place your final order. If you see a mistake on the PDF, you can always go back and fix it. We will end up printing whatever is on your PDF proof when you place your order.
There are a few steps to adding an image to the "Acknowledgements" section (also works for BILLING, END NOTES, and FILLER). First open another tab on your browser.
When you go to the "Acknowledgements" section, make sure the cursor is where you want the image to appear. You'll see an icon in the upper left hand corner that looks like a little mountian. Once the "Insert/edt image" window pops up, click the "Upload" button. Once you choose which picture you want to upload, click "OK". Once your picture is added, be sure to click the "Save" button (In the "FILLER" section, click the "Save Section Filler" button that the bottom lefthand side of the page).
Any section that you don't want to use, be sure that it's NOT made "Public". Any section that is NOT made Public will NOT be included in the PDF, even if you've already started working on it.
You can check on the delivery estimates by making at least 2 sections "Public" and clicking the "Print Custom Playbills" button until you get to the "Playbill Print Orders" page. Scroll to the bottom to check the delivery estimates (Standard, Expedited, Rush). Be sure to make every section you want to print "Public" when you're ready to order.
Any section that you want to print, you have to click on the "Make this Public" button first. It'll be on the right hand side of the page. First go to your "Cover" section, and click on the "Make this Public" button. Then, do that for any section of your VIP that you want to print. The cover page is the only page that is required to be public if you want to print. For any section that you DON'T want to print, be sure that it's NOT "Public". Any section that is NOT made Public WONT be included in your PDF, even if you've already started working on it.
When you're ready to print, the "Enable PDF button" will appear toward the top right corner of the screen. When you click the “Enable PDF” button, a screen will pop up that will allow you to pay the $75.00 Trademark licensing fee.
Once you generate a PDF, you can print it on your home computer or take it to a professional printing service like FedEX Office or Staples. If you find a mistake on your PDF, you can still go back and edit your Playbill. You'll be able to generate a brand new PDF that will include your edits. You can generate as many PDF's as you want.
The standard Playbill size is approximately an 8.5" x 11" paper folded laterally into 4 pages, so if you plan on making a printout of your Playbill, aim to create document that is a multiple of 4 (eg. 8, 12, 16 or 20 pages).
You will need to generate a PDF of your online Playbill. Playbill charges a $75.00 trademark licensing fee (new price as of April 8, 2019). You can then send the PDF to a commercial printer or a popular service bureau such as Kinkos or Staples.
When you’re ready to print, click the Make This Public button on your “Cover” Page first. The Enable PDF button will appear toward the top right corner of the screen located below the yellow “Need Help?” button. When you click the “Enable PDF” button, a screen will pop up that will allow you to pay the trademark licensing fee.
There is no charge for going back and editing your Playbill. You may edit it as often as you’d like and generate a PDF after each revision.
If you are positive your credit card went through the first time and you are still being asked to pay again, please contact us at [email protected]. Please include a copy of your receipt and the email address that you used to sign up for your account.
The Playbill Print Service offers competitively priced printing of Playbill programs and posters.
Here are our printing prices:
Please try and refrain from copying and pasting information from websites or Microsoft word. The difference in formatting and font styles will confused the system and can cause various (frustrating) formatting issues. If you must copy and paste, try first pasting your information into a basic word processing program such as "Text Edit" (for Mac) or "Wordpad" (for windows). Try changing the font to correspond to the fonts that are already in the PLAYBILLDER system. You're a lot less likely to have formatting issues through this workaround.
Please be sure that you're not exceeding the content limit on any of your sections. The sections to watch closely are "Billing, Acknowledgements, End Notes, and Filler". Blank spaces will be read as text by the system. If the text goes over the limit, the PDF will generate an extra page to accommodate the extra text.
If you're using images, be sure that they don't exceed or push your text past the boundary. Try keeping the information limited to 1 page. Click the "+Add a page" button (below the “Edit” or “Preview” button) on the right hand side of the screen to add an extra page to the “Acknowledgments” and “End Notes” sections.
You can also try shrinking your font size to get the text under the boundary limit.
Sometimes PDF's have trouble loading into the system. Try converting them to JPEG, PNG, or GIF format.
Please be sure the "Yes. Make this Public" check box is checked. If that box isn't checked, that section is not "Public" even if the green bar is highlighted. It's located in the upper left hand side towards the top of your Playbill.
When using the "Filler" section, keep in mind how much empty space you have to work with. The filler section was designed to fill remaining blank space at on the last page of a section. The limit will vary depending on how much text you have on the last page of the section you’re working on. 1 page is the maximum amount of text you can use for the filler section before it starts running past the bottom of the page.
When uploading bios photos, be sure to click the "Crop" button before you click the "Done" button.
To remove and re-upload a photo to the WHO’S WHO sections:
Go to the section, and click “Edit”.
Then, click the “pencil” icon on the left-hand side of their bio entry.
Click the “garbage can” icon on the corner of their picture
Click where it says “click here to add headshot”
When you re-upload the photo, click “Crop” before you click “Done”.
The image should now show without looking stretched.
If you're using Chrome, try using a different browser. Most customers are able to successfully download it using Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc.
If you need us to send it to you, please click the yellow “contact us” button on the bottom right hand corner of the page and “tech support” from the dropdown menu.
Please be sure to let us know the email address you used to create your account and the name of your show.
The help desk hours are from 10am to 6pm Eastern time Monday through Friday (excluding holidays).
Please make sure there are no special characters in the file name. For example, if the file name is "Annie Cover image (450 x 475)". Change it to "Annie Cover image 450 475". I deleted the brackets and the X i.e. "( , X, )"
If you see any of the following special characters, try deleting them from your file name, saving the image, and re-uploading it into the template.
Special Characters
~ ! x @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + X
If the pictures are still NOT staying in your PDF, please send them to:
with the name of the show you're working on, the email address you used to create the account, where you want the image to go, and whether it's a full, half, third or quarter page AD.
Unfortunately, due to print setup requirements 125 copies is the minimum order. If you wish to order fewer copies, you will still pay the same price.
Yes. When you are directed to the “Playbill Print Service” page, click on the “>3000 Playbills or Special Order” link. A screen will pop up that says “Special Order Details.” Fill out the information and click “Submit.”
Including printing and processing times:
Standard delivery (Ground): 8-10 days
Expedited processing: 7 days
Rush Processing: 6 days
All deliveries are made in afternoons.
To be safe, we recommend that you place your order at least 7 days in advance. These shipping times also apply for posters. (NOTE: Some shipping options may not be available for all states. There may be delays during holidays)
All orders are processed on weekdays, excluding holidays. If you order on a weekend, your order will be processed the following Monday. Any order placed after 3:30pm will be processed the following day.
The price is based on 1) How many pages are in your Playbill 2) The quantity of Playbills 3) Whether it’s in color or black & white (free cover color) 4) How fast you want it shipped. If you have already paid the $70.00 licensing fee, a credit of $70.00 will applied to your print order.
Not currently. Please keep checking the PLAYBILLDER homepage for updates.
Currently, the website doesn’t have the infrastructure to rearrange the PDF pages that we will print. We’re working on fixing that. Keep checking the PLAYBILLDER website for updates.
No. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Make sure your Playbill page count is in a multiple of 4 (4, 8, 12, 16, etc.) If your final Playbill page count is an odd number (ie. 17 pages) or not in a multiple of 4, you’ll have blank pages inserted at the back of your Playbill beginning with the back inside cover. You can use either the “Ads” or “Photos” sections to add images until your page count gets to a multiple of 4 to avoid blank pages.
Once you’ve placed your order, you have 30 minutes to cancel before it’s processed. Send an email to [email protected] with your Name, Title of your show, order number, and email address you used to create your Playbill.
To get the most accurate estimate of what it will cost for you to print your Playbill, your best bet is to go ahead and start your order. (*You are not required to enter your credit card information until you're ready to order)
First, make every section you want to print "Public" by clicking the "Make This Public" button. Then, click the yellow "Print Custom Playbills" button on the right hand side of the page below the "Edit" button. When you reach the "Playbill Print Service" page, click the "Print Custom Playbills" button again.
On the "Playbill Print Order" page: (This page also lists the delivery date estimates)
1. Select either "All color" or "Black & White (with free color Cover and Back page)",
2. Choose the quantity you want to order in the drop box (375 - 3000)
3. Select the shipping speed you want (Standard, Expedited, Rush) and click "Proceed to Preview" which will take you to the next page.
On the "Approve Playbill for Printing Page" click the checkbox that says "I approve this proof" and click "Continue" which will take you to the next page.
(*Please be sure to Preview your proof when you're ready to place your final order)
On the "Playbill Print Order: Cart Summary" page, enter your Shipping address if it's different from the billing address. Then click "Continue to Payment".
"The Order Details" will show the final price (including the printing price, shipping, and Tax).