View source for Family Tree Maker - Books

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Have you ever wanted to see your family history in print? Perhaps send a relative a book showing your family history and sharing photographs and memories or show the world the fruits of your research via a book on the internet? <br>

Well now you can do just that by using the book option within FTM. <br>

Creating a book does take time but it is a useful way to encourage relatives to share family history, personal memories from an elderly relative can add life to people who would otherwise just appear as names and dates in a tree. A well crafted book is well worth the effort and makes an excellent talking point with relatives and can jog memories of family stories and the characters found in every family.<br>



== What is an FTM book? ==

The book is just that, a book (either in PDF format or printed) complete with title page, index, numbered pages etc just as you would expect to find on any shelf in a bookshop. Images and trees can be included along with any reports you wish to add.<br>

Text font and style can be changed to create the look you want, images can resized and positioned to give different layouts and presentation techniques as well as adding a professional look to the finished article.



== Sharing your book with others ==

Books can be used to share your family history in several ways. A printed book can be presented to people who do not have access to a pc for example and they make a nice personal gift that will last for years.<br>

A book can be published on an FTM website, usually in PDF format they can then be seen by anyone who visits your site, a well written book can be used to explain in more depth the story of family members, occupations, military service, and local history for a particular area.<br>

As well as appearing on the internet the pdf format book can also be sent as an e-mail attachment, this means that it is possible to share a book almost instantly with someone anywhere in the world.<br>

== Creating a book ==

To create a book simply select the book menu, the illustration shows the options available from the book menu;<br>

The options allow a new book to be created, view or edit an existing book, delete a book or to add (publish) a book to an FTM website.<br>



[[Image:Book menu.jpg|450px|The Book Menu]]












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== Some ideas for your books==

The most difficult part of creating a book is deciding what to include and how to present everything.<br>


'''Content and subjects'''

It is worth considering making a general family history book, by adding chapters to cover different surnames, occupations, areas/districts and favourite ancestors a book will have wider appeal than one devoted to just one or two people.<br>

Even a humble agricultural labourer can make an interesting subject if there are photographs, old maps or extracts of a census image included with the text, a story about the working life of an ag lab can make interesting reading.<br>

An unusual surname can be researched and the origins of the name explained, perhaps the name is associated with a specific area?<br>

Military ancestors can make interesting subjects, stories relating to the regiment, military career and medals awarded make military ancestors worthy of a page or two.<br>

The local area can also be used as a basis for a chapter, photographs (both old and new) can show where ancestors lived and worked and how an area may have changed over time.<br>




























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