How Digital Photobooks Work

Just imagine, soon you could have a personally created, professional-looking book to display on your coffee table. You won't have to become a professional photographer or editor. Nor will you require an agent or a publisher. All you'll need are the following: photographs (hard-copy images you can scan or digital photos imported from your camera), a computer and access to a photobook Web site or software.

Creating a photobook isn't difficult, but it does help to be organized. If you're going to use any old pictures, lay out the ones you want to use and scan them. If you're going to use images that you already have on your computer, separate them into their own folder.

Once you're ready to get started, find a photobook Web site or software that suits you. Many of the more popular companies demonstrate their services on their sites, showing you not only examples of photobooks created through their programs, but also screenshots of the various steps and options you'll have.

When choosing a publishing program, you'll want to look for options. Consider the following when you're shopping around:

Finally, you'll want to weigh costs. If you're adept at graphic design and you already have photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, installed on your computer, you can create your photobook on your own. However, you'll still have to pay someone to print and bind it. This service will be your primary expense, since many of them offer the design software for free. So, regardless of your skill level, going with a specialty company -- like Picaboo, Shutterfly, Kodak, Snapfish or MyPublisher -- will probably be your best option.

A digital family tree photobook is more than just a photo album -- it's a history book, too. It tells the story of your family -- from several generations of your ancestors all the way to some of your recently born descendents.

There are several directions you can go with this kind of photobook, also referred to as a heritage album. Some genealogy search sites, like Ancestry.com, have a function where you can print out your family tree and add photographs throughout. There are other companies you can hire to not only create a digital family tree photobook for you, but to research your ancestry as well. They will publish their findings, along with photos and records of your ancestors, in a customized book.

If you already have much of your family's information in your possession, an easy option would be to create your book using a digital photobook Web site or software. Many sites, like Picaboo.com, offer a heritage album option. When it comes to designing your photobook's appearance, you can consider using antique-looking fonts and black, brown or faded backgrounds. You might also want to incorporate tree, map, flag and home images.

How you organize your family tree photobook is up to you. Perhaps you'll want to arrange it so that every branch of the family is grouped together in its own section. Maybe you'll want to devote an entire page to each ancestor, including not only photos of them but information such as their dates of birth, marriage and death and who their spouse, parents and children were. You can include scanned newspaper clippings in the layouts, as well as written family anecdotes or personal memories of a specific ancestor.

Family tree photobooks make excellent gifts, so don't forget to share yours either online, by e-mail or as a printed copy.