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Sheets of paper whiz through a zigzag of conveyor belts as the Espresso Book Machine prints and stacks pages; a robotic arm grabs them, applies glue to the spine, and presses it down on the custom-printed cover. Through windows in the side of the machine, I watch the book move into another chamber where it is trimmed, and a finished paperback facsimile of E.H. Plumptre's Divina Commedia and Canzoniere Volume V slides out of a chute with a satisfying thud. Looking a lot like the high-school library book that sparked my longtime interest in Dante, the paperback copy took all of five minutes to make. Price: $15.

Espresso Book Machine Features: A perfectly bound copy of your novel in minutes

Price: Set-up fees, $19 to $349; $7 per book and three cents per page

Website:ondemandbooks.com for locations

On Demand Books, maker of the Espresso machine, originally envisioned it as a modern-day press to produce out-of-stock books on the spot for independent bookstores. The system has been rolled out to 49 U.S. locations, including McNally Jackson in New York City, where my book was printed, Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., and Powell's Books in Portland, Ore.

Espresso has access to eight million out-of-copyright titles, courtesy of Google Books, as well as books from publishers large and small. But most often it's used to print customers' own work. And through an agreement announced with Kodak (ticker: EK) last week, it will soon be able to print high-quality color images as well as text.

At McNally Jackson, the set-up cost for a custom book ranges from a bare-bones $19 to $349, which includes consulting and design help. Printing and binding is $7 per book and three cents a page—$10 for a 100-page book.

With the holiday season coming up, maybe it's time to freshen up that family history or dust off that novel for your loved ones.

E-mail: crystal.kim@barrons.com