The project is the culmination of a tie-up between PediaPress, Wikipedia and Lightning Source dating back to 2007.

Lightning Source will be responsible for all the print, with production at both its UK site in Milton Keynes and its US facility in Pennsylvania.

It is currently limited to German language content, with French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese set to launch this week. The English language launch is planned for 1 March, said PediaPress managing director Heiko Hees.

The service is available thanks to an authoring tool that plugs directly into the Wikipedia sites so users can pick and choose for their on-demand titles.

The 20x14cm books are perfect bound with colour covers and black-and-white text pages. They will retail at around €7.99 for 100pp up to €26 for 700pp.