Creating a Family History Book

My cousin Barry asked how to create a family history book. This was my reply:

I used [my free genealogy software] to create a modified register report with photos and notes.
I selected "print to file" and to add an index.
Then I manually added additional pages and deleted the birth date and birth place for living people.
I also added material and deleted material from the notes.
This of course threw the paging off, so I needed to edit the index.
It was time-consuming but not as big of job as you might think.
(You may find that a modified register report will accomplish your purposes without editing, and in that case, you can produce a book in a matter of minutes!)

I plan to only print 4 copies: one for my mother, and each of her 2 surviving sisters, and one copy for me.
When I had it in the final form, I "printed" it to a [free] PDF writer to create a PDF version. This is a much smaller file size, and looks identical on all computers.
I added it to the public folder of my Dropbox account, and sent out an email to about 30 Ing relatives and invited them to download the file and let others know. They can print it if they wish.

The technology has changed. Back in 1985 I edited an Ing family history book and printed boxes of books. This time around, people can print their own copies if they want one. Or they can take the file to Staples, where it may cost $35 to have it printed. [203 pages, including text, photos, and maps]


Bill
blog: http://billbuchanan.blogspot.com