In this post we’ll outline practical tips for creating the perfect family history book. Designing a book from scratch may seem intimidating but, rest assured, the process is easy to follow. Read the five sections below for handy tips on how to create a beautiful book that showcases your ancestry.
Make use of a flatbed scanner
A flatbed scanner is a useful tool to faithfully reproduce historic documents for inclusion in your family history book. Thanks to home office technology you don’t need top of the range, professional equipment to scan documents effectively. Scanners combined with printers and photocopiers are ideal. You can use them to scan letters and other historic documents.
Be creative in choosing what to include. Everything from children’s artworks to deceased relatives’ wills may be relevant for inclusion in your family history. Some scanners have an optical character reader setting. This means you can scan documents and easily prepare blocks of text for inclusion in your book. Using this setting saves you having to type out the wording.
Scanners are also useful for reproducing old photos of ancestors. Ensure that the documents and photos are laid a flat as possible on the scanner. Save the output to a folder dedicated. That way you’ll know where to look for the scanned items when you are creating your family history book. Need more information? Our blog post on scanning with also outlines how to use apps including Photomyne, Google PhotoScan and CamScanner.
How to layout a family tree
Decide on how best to create your family tree. Do you want the tree to show text only or do you have photos and other images? If you’re artistic you may want to draw the family tree by hand. Don’t worry if your artistic skills are not up to the task.
Several online tools are available. Upload names, data and images then download the formatted family tree for inclusion in your book. Uploading your family tree as a JPEG file will allow you to fit it onto a page and re-size it so that it displays optimally.
Family history book layout inspiration
Take a look at our photo books and choose the layout perfect for your family history project. You can select from portrait, landscape or square books. They are available in small, medium, large and extra-large sizes. Our photo books are printed on premium quality paper. We make them with the greatest care. They come with a guarantee of satisfaction.
Our state-of-the-art editor suite makes creating your own family history book easy. Deciding on the layout can be fast and fun too. Personalise the design of your book using our vast library of layouts. You can choose from our many backgrounds, handmade illustrations and clipart to customise the look of pages.
Best templates for a family photo book
The ideal layout for your family history book is down to you. It all depends on what you want to show. Our large, horizontal format photo book measures 28 by 21 centimetres and is a best seller. Its large pages should give you plenty of space to showcase your family history. If you need something bigger, choose the extra-large version. That gives you pages measuring 39 by 29 centimetres.
You can choose from soft and hard covers. If you want to create a photo book with a hard cover you can choose from an uploaded photo, leather or linen. Made to last, these books are ideal for showcasing family histories. Start from scratch and put together a book yourself. You have full creative freedom in laying out the pages. Alternatively, we have 116 pre-designed photo books for you to choose from. You can tweak the layout and number of pages. Our smart assistant helps make the creative process easy. It uses smart technology to place photos into the book, which you’re then able to customise.
Creating a family history book
Did you know that it’s possible to create a photo book in one hour? Being well organised is advantageous when you come to pull together photos for inclusion in your book. Need help? Take a look at our blog post with tips on how to better organise your photos. You can also find creative ideas on our blog that might inspire you in laying out your family history.
It makes sense to spend a few minutes planning how you’d like your book to look. That includes thinking about the ideal size for your photo book, its format and how many pages you want. Pull all the images you want to use in your book into a file. That may mean downloading photos from your phone and discarding those that aren’t good enough. Our blog post on how to organise your photos like pro provides ideas about how to group and name photos.
Add photos to your book. Our downloadable photo editor will help prevent you accidentally duplicating images. You can also choose to add photos manually, maximising your control. Designing your book means choosing a cover image or leaving it blank. Don’t worry if you’re not sure. You can change your mind even after you’ve completed the design phase. Select from layouts for pages. Add our easy-to-use frames, backgrounds and other options to create a unique look for the book about your family. Review the layout online, to make sure you’re happy with it and place your order. The process of creating a photo book really is straightforward.
Ready to start creating your own photo book? Head to the bonusprint website and begin making your own family history book.