Desktop Publishing Your Family History Book

Using Maps, Letters, and Other Documents in a Family History Book

Handwritten letters, deeds, marriage licenses, land grants, and historical maps make great additions to family history books.

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• Consistency - As much as possible, fit these additional documents into the same format (margins, etc.) as the rest of your book. Even when these documents vary from your usual layout, maintain a consistent style for captions and notations.
• Migration - Enhance a narrative about how an entire branch of the family moved from one state to another by including a map tracing their migration.
• Boundaries - Create maps that show both current boundaries for counties, states, or other areas and the boundaries that existed at the time your family lived there. Use different styles of lines and a legend to show historic and current boundaries and routes of migration.
• Translation - When including photocopies of actual historic family documents, also include a typed translation.
• Recent Documents - In addition to historic documents, consider preserving more recent material for future generations. These might include drawings or handwritten stories by some of the youngest generations in your book and newspaper clippings or notations about current activities of living family members.
• Blank Pages - Add a few blank or lined pages for future family members to make additional notes as the family grows.
• Signatures - Sprinkle scanned signatures (taken from wills, letters, etc.) throughout your book. Place them near the text for that person.

• Design, Layout, Printing for a Family History Book
• Software for Your Family History Book
• Narratives for Your Family History Book
• Charts in Your Family History Book
• Editing Photos in Your Family History Book
• Photo Layouts In Your Family History Book
• Using Maps, Letters, and Other Documents in a Family History Book
• Creating a Table of Contents and Index for Your Family History Book
• Print and Bind Your Family History Book
• Your Family History Book: Start to Finish