Last month, I ordered one family history photo book so I could preview it before ordering multiple copies for relatives on my husband's side of the family. The main subjects are Floyda Mabel Steiner (1878-1946) and Brice Larimer McClure (1878-1970).
I've spent much of 2023 creating such professional photo books so I can memorialize ancestors for the sake of descendants who want to read the "story" rather than just looking at a family tree or a couple of photos. The books include a tree and many old photos, but also quotes from the ancestors and memories from descendants.
Preview copy for my edits and recipients' comments
The preview allowed me to see what the cover and pages look like, in print, as a final check. Sure enough, I noticed little things to improve AND little things to add.
In addition, I showed recipients the preview book and they took time to look at each page, offering comments about what they like and don't like (feedback I appreciated). My audience has repeatedly told me that "black and white is boring" so every page has some color, such as a color title at top and a colorful border around each photo, and some pages have a small saying. Also, I colorized two old photos and noted that they were colorized to avoid misleading future generations.
Pencil edits on preview copy
At top, the title page. In real life, it's NOT this yellow looking. I made a pencil note to move the left-hand photo further left to balance out the page. Also, I made a tiny pencil note under the page number, so I could quickly spot which pages had changes.
Reorder with changes
Now I've reordered multiple copies with these and other edits, ready to give as holiday gifts to relatives who are actually excited about learning more. This is not my final family history photo book--I have one more to go, about my husband's paternal grandparents, Wood and Slatter. I'm currently gathering old photos for that project, which I'll begin in January.
As much as I would like to do full family books, I think my family would enjoy photo books more. Are you doing just 20-page books, or do you wait for a "free page" sale. Still, my vacation books usually cost with the discounts and free pages about $70 each. My family is too large.
ReplyDeleteUsually I can condense everything into 20-pg books, and I wait for sales as well. Sometimes there are 22 or 24 pgs, so I'll wait for "free page" sales!
DeleteI'm curious; I didn't see any comment as to the format. Are these print books or digital? What company did you order from? This is a great idea, of course. I may suffer the same fate as Lisa S. Gorrell, above, in that my family is large and goes way back, on my father's side, to 1638 here in the U.S. I like your comments on inserting images and making sure each page has a little color. It reminds me of scrapbooking, and many of the same principles probably apply to both scrapbooking and formatting a family history book.
ReplyDeleteTY for commenting. Yes, much like scrapbooking but for my family, only a few extra doo-dads and more narratives and old photos. I wrote earlier about these 8 x 11 photo books: https://climbingmyfamilytree.blogspot.com/2023/11/previewing-family-history-project.html Basically I wait for a sale and order from Shutterfly, first the preview book and then the other books!
DeleteTerrific idea to order one copy to edit! What place do you use to make & order books?
ReplyDeleteI usually use Shutterfly or Snapfish, but friends also like MixBook for good quality and flexible formatting.
DeleteA perfect example as to why its important to take the time to do "one more" look and edit before you print multiple copies. You just tend to see things you didn't catch before. Love that you create these. Its on my list of things to do for next Christmas presents :)
ReplyDeleteLove that you are creating all of these wonderful books for family! What company are you using? I forgot. Does the company let you download a PDF file of the entire book, like some others do? If so, you can also use that to preview everything. I usually only order a proof copy for the images, as they look different on screen as compared to in print. :)
ReplyDeleteEven with pdf, I wouldn't be able to see the exact colors, so I just go ahead and order one copy after reviewing it on the screen umpty-ump times. I like Shutterfly and Snapfish, haven't yet tried Mixbook but heard good things about it. Thanks for commenting.
Delete