One Way to Produce Family History Photo Booklets

by Henry Burt Stevens

An earlier column in the Port Charlotte Herald told of my creating family history photo booklets in response to my 94 year old mother going under hospice care.  This column will tell and show how I did those photo booklets and explain how the process can be adapted for others to use with a variety of computers of different ages and programs.

We’ll start by visiting my web site, but if you are not online it is not a problem as far as using the method, and you can visit the web site when at the library or anywhere there is a computer online.

Visit http://www.postalstationery.com/FamCon.htm and you will come to my simple web page that explains briefly my objective and gives links to three completed booklets that are online as .pdf files.  If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.O on your computer go to http://www.adobe.com and download the free Reader program.  Then you can open any .pdf files, which are becoming the standard.  Even the IRS is using them extensively.

This method for making booklets uses a text editor to generate the words and scans of the photos as .jpg files.  I found it easy to insert the picture first and then make the words to go with the picture.

The first step is to collect the photos you want to use to support your story.  I suggest you break your effort into segments related to family periods and time periods.  Part of the decision will be based on how many photos you have to work with.  In my case I had photos that would support three different booklets.  One was about my parents and their life together.  I could also make a booklet about the three children; myself, my brother Murray and my sister Barbara, up to the time I graduated from Orleans, VT high school in 1951.  Further, I had many old photos of my mother’s brother, Francis Atwood Clark, so he and his family became the third booklet.

By now you have a group of photos and an idea of what the time period and flow of words will be.  Scan all the photos into a folder as .jpg files.  Keep these actual photos in time sequence order.  You will use this pile to build your booklet.  Next open your text editor and insert the first photo and write about it.  Continue in this manner until the pile of photos is used up.  There is no problem about going back and adding more photos as you receive them from other relatives.  Your booklet will grow.  You will add words as more stories come to mind, or relatives tell you stories that are new to you.

Adobe has a subscription service where you can convert files to .pdf files very easily online.  In fact, they offer a free trial of five conversions.  That’s what I used to make the .pdf files you viewed on my web site.  You may know someone who can convert files for you.

If you have a place to put a web page to store your files you can do just what I have done.  If you need a simple web page feel free to copy mine.  When looking at my web site go to VIEW, select SOURCE FILES and save the web page as text.  Then go to the text file and change my information to your information  and put it up on your server.  This is called the “quickie” web page.

The booklets you have made on your computer can be printed out and bound with typical cover and binding materials available as office supplies.  These work very well, are cheap and easy to mail.

Making CDs has become very popular, easy and inexpensive.  Information on CDs will last for many, many years.  So I intend to make CDs with my material and pass them around to as many family members as I can, especially children and newborns. 

Carol Garner has asked for people who have discovered or have implemented new or different ways to record their roots to send the information to her at Port Charlotte Herald.

I’ve found a lot of pleasure making these booklets.  I made them for my mother to have now in her room to show visitors to generate conversation and memories; but the rest of the family will be able to use and enjoy the booklets for years to come.

I hope you will also consider doing something like this.  Family history not written down goes to the grave yard.

Henry Burt Stevens

6400 Taylor Rd Lot 108

Punta Gorda FL 33950

941 575 2470

Published in Writing Currents March 2003 The monthly Magazine of the Peace River Center for Writers, Punta Gorda, FL