TIP #365 - SO YOU WANT TO PUBLISH A FAMILY BOOK, PART 2. This week, we'll be looking at the following: II Photos and Illustrations A. Where to put them B. How to get them reproduced inexpensively C. Description I think one of the most interesting aspects of publishing a family book is to see what all the ancestors look or looked like! Don't you wish there were cameras in full use before the Civil War? So few family portraits exist (at least in my family!) and it's always a guessing game as to how that first husband and wife in your family tree looked. I'll teach you a fun thing to try. Now, this won't guarantee you'll know how they looked but it's fun and adds a little interest. My youngest daughter taught me this. She's smarter on the computer than her Mom here (both my daughters are though I've been in computers since 1969). I had a photograph of one of their ancestors, a John Darns Gorin from a Masonic Lodge photo. He was old and worn in the picture, but you could see glimpses of a younger, vibrant young man under the surface. She scanned in the photo into one of those paint programs where you can "touch up" the picture. She colored his hair black (we knew that much - family trait!), and removed wrinkles. She erased the stress of time and within a few minutes we had a young man, ready to take on the world. In another instance, we had a picture of Franklin Gorin who was the first white child born in Barren County, KY. He was an old man then also. We had a picture of two of his brothers. But we wanted to see what the father looked like, born 1763. Thankfully, Franklin wrote a book and described his father sort of - we knew he wore a queue, had the typical black hair. Franklin and his brothers looked a lot alike - tall, strong boned. So we took all three pictures and somehow she sort of merged them into one. She added a queue, took off the wrinkles ... and it's as close as we can get to the real McCoy. Fun anyway! A. I have used two different formats in adding pictures. Unless you have unlimited finances, you'll normally print your book in black and white. Sometimes I intersperse photos amongst the data on that individual; sometimes I'll put a photo gallery in the back of the book (you can also do this with maps and illustrations). The latter format allows you to add pictures at the very last moment. It is also possible with some of the available software genealogy programs to put the picture right with the family chart. B. Reproduction. I have a very good copy machine which does exceptionally well on copying photographs. But if you don't, or you have a photo that really just won't copy right, see if you have a Copy Depot in the neighborhood - they come under various names. They have high grade machines which can do an excellent job at an extremely reasonable price. Sometimes you can put together a collage of photos on one page to save even more money. Unless you can afford color photos/prints, have them reproduce it in black and white. The pictures will come out better if you don't mix color prints and black and whites on the same page. A photographer also taught me this. If you want to add current pictures of the family and you like to have color photos; shoot the film in color and ask the developer to develop them in black and white. Black and white film used to be quite inexpensive, but isn't any more. But any camera shop can develop a color roll as black and white. You might want to have them develop one set in color for you and one in black and white for your book. What if you have an old photograph you're going to use, but it's in bad shape, too small or something frustrating? One of the greatest boons to humanity is found in many large stores, including many KMarts and WalMarts where you can make your own copy for about $7.95. If you want it professionally restored, there are companies and individuals that will do this for you. But if you just want a larger picture, or want to crop out the boy making faces behind your relative (only shows up when cameras come out!) ... this is a wonderful tool for the genealogist. A freebie note. If you're at a library copying a photograph (or news item) from an older newspaper that is yellowed, it will make your copy come out looking pretty bad. Get yourself a lightweight sheet of light yellow plastic - similar to what the kids use in school. Lay it over the newspaper. While you might think that this will make the yellowing in the paper worse, it won't, it'll whiten it. C. Description. In other words, who, what, where, why and when! WE might know it's Bill Butterball's place in Gravel Switch, KY ... 10 years from now, maybe not. Try to give a little write up including subject's name, location, approximate date if you know and any little blurb about the picture. Was it someone's birthday? Did Bill just get a promotion? Is he frowning because his daughter just eloped with the town bum? Make the picture come to life! Another note. To keep the family members happy. If someone donated a picture to you, but wants it back, do two things. Run, don't walk, to get a copy made and get the original right back to them, and give them credit! People, including relatives, love to see their name in print, and if they were sweet enough to dig through that trunk in the attic for you - thank them profusely in the book. They might even buy a copy! If you use a published photograph from an out of print book, it is still nice to give the name, publisher and publishing date of the book. Current newspaper pictures are nice too; I always call the newspaper and ask permission to use the picture and add "By permission of such and such newspaper, date, section, page and column number." Adding photographs and other illustrations really can bring a family book to life. It shows real people doing real things! If you have a lot of artistic ability, you can come up with a beautiful photo section. Sometimes it's fun just to buy one of this books with fancy alphabets and borders and dress up the photo. Put an old-fashioned floral design around Grandma Pigsty to make her look like the belle of the ball. Or an outdoor border of trees, hunting, old cars around Uncle Herman Hinkledump's picture. Experiment a bit and you can create a masterpiece with a little thought and ingenuity! Some of my favorite illustrations are nothing more than "fillers." If one page is short of material but you don't want to start someone else's family; use a filler. You can find illustrations from anywhere, many free graphics on hundreds of web sites. Did your cousin Jacobus Jinglebell fight for the Confederacy? Add a graphic of a rebel flag? Did Cousin Jemima Jumpstart love to grow flowers? Find some flower prints to put in the filler spots or somewhere that you want to add a little flair. Graphics of old schools, churches, cemeteries; all can add interest to a plain white page. Next week we'll advance on Printing the Masterpiece. (c) Copyright 8 November 2001, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin, 205 Clements, Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ SCKY resource links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html < >< God Bless America ><>