Family Tree Scrapbook-Making Tips

A family tree can be a very exciting and emotional illustration of your family's ancestry. Although a conventional family chart features a tree-shaped design, you may actually customize your tree, and form it into any unique shape you wish. Creating a family tree scrapbook is also one nice way for sharing your family history. A family tree scrapbook can be a digital one, where you can print and give it as a gift to your relatives and family members. Here are the steps for creating your own digital family tree scrapbook.

Starter Tools for Your Digital Scrapbook

In creating your own digital family tree scrapbook, you'll need a few vital pieces of equipment. This will include a scanner, for scanning and uploading your old, or recent family photos and other documents. Scanning your old photos, birth certificates, letters, marriage certificates, military draft cards,notes and other important documents will not only provide you extra copies, but will also save your precious items from being wrecked by wind, water and other elements. You'll also need a working computer that's connected to the Internet,just in case yo want to post the digital scrapbook on your Web page, or on a message board or blog post.

Steps For Creating Your Digital Family Tree Scrapbook

- Once you've scanned and digitized all important photos and documents, select a theme for your family tree scrapbook. You could choose any theme, from your grandparent's wedding,to your grandfather's wartime service, to the ancestral home, or a piece of jewelry that's been handed down from generations.

- Use any digital-imaging software program, to design the layout of your digital family tree page. You may use Corel PaintShop, Adobe Photoshop and others. Choose the colors, fonts and textures that match your scrapbook's overall theme. And always remember to refer to your software's user manual for correct program instructions.

- After designing the layout of your digital family tree scrapbook, add other creative elements into it. You may wish to add music, videos or animation. Also add text to each of your photos and memorabilia, to explain each of these. Documenting each photo or memorabilia can be as simple as telling a story of who or what the image is, or how memorable, and valuable, the piece of memorabilia is.

- Print you digital family tree scrapbook, using a high-quality colored printer and photo-quality paper. But if you want to use the traditional scrapbooking paper, you may request the services of a professional photo-printing company.

One of the advantages of creating digital versions of your family tree scrapbook is that you'll have the ability to restore and re-touch any photograph or document that's been worn out by time. Whether you want to remove water stains from an old photo, or wish to replace faded letters from a handwritten letter, there are tools and resources that can help you restore your digital memorabilia to its nearly-original state.

Creating a digital family tree scrapbook can be a wonderful and creative hobby. If you're using a family tree scrapbook software, you'll be able to choose from hundreds of free templates. These templates also usually work without the use of specialized scrapbook-making software. Another advantage of creating digital family scrapbooks is that these can be easily shared with friends and family over the Internet. You may wish to upload the scrapbook on a Web page, or you can print copies and burn them into a CD.