I've got to get beyond this physical book creation and on to ALL THE OTHER GOOD STUFF that you need to see.
I am, however, methodical and must take one thing at a time from the top.
To clarify - I don't promote making actual books vs. preserving all your history digitally, BUT having only one or the other isn't good either. I make books for a couple reasons: 1) Hard copy (none of you have ever had problems with you computers?) Even though I transfer all my pictures to the computer, manipulate them until they're lovely, and then save them to an EXTERNAL hard drive to protect them from dumb things that happen to computers, & 2) I still have items OTHER THAN pictures, such as, programs, papers, certificates, awards, etc., etc. and need to "deal with" them as well as photos. So, as you can imagine, over time, I have acquired many large 3-ring binders of history (space consuming) and am now in the process of scanning each page and saving each book with all it's contents digitally also on the external hard drive. Not only do I have each picture digitally preserved, I have all our history books scanned and preserved as whole, entire books digitally.
You may think I'm nuts to preserve these irreplaceable records in two formats, but maybe you don't live in a place where weather (tornados, floods, etc.)have or can destroy anything...humm, where would that be?
I will go into more detail as to exactly what I do as posting continues, but for now, I will detail out the way I make history books, materials included.
You will need the following:
- 3-ring binders (I use 3" wide)
- Sheet protectors (cheap at Sam's or WalMart - and acid free)
- Index weight paper (colored, white, black - whatever)
- Glue Stick
- Gel ink pens (colored if desired)
- Scissors or a straight edge metal ruler
I also like to collect beautiful pictures off the web, in magazines, wherever to use as decoration as well
That's about it - I don't buy much else - keeps the cost realistic.
If you like to use the adhesive cutouts for themes etc. don't let me talk you out of it. Use whatever you like. I just want to impress that you DON'T have to use all the fluff to preserve your pictures and papers.
I have in the past covered my binders with contact paper (the stuff you line drawers with), but even that was too much ado for nothing really - I just make sure I label the binders with clear dates on the spines.
On the inside I put everything in chronological order. That means exactly when they happened in time. Saves me trying to create themes or groupings. I personally like to see things in the order they occurred.
Are we all breathing easier? It's better that something is done rather than nothing because it's just too overwhelming.
I have posted a few pictures of pages from my books, just to show you what you can do.
With my photos, I now create collage pages using Google Picasa (a free picture manipulating and organizing program) since all my pictures are now digital. I like to print the picture pages on pretty good quality photo paper and on a better printing option, so they look good.
Comment with any questions you may need clarification with.
Happy book making - you'll find it whizzes along pretty fast.
(Picture pages my way - the first 2 are "old school" using actual photographs attached to paper, the next 3 are digital pages. I either write on the pages, or make a text box to type in the info - for history's sake, having a person's actual handwriting can be pretty valuable in years to come - try to include as much information as possible, at least on the first page of a set of pictures.)
I am, however, methodical and must take one thing at a time from the top.
To clarify - I don't promote making actual books vs. preserving all your history digitally, BUT having only one or the other isn't good either. I make books for a couple reasons: 1) Hard copy (none of you have ever had problems with you computers?) Even though I transfer all my pictures to the computer, manipulate them until they're lovely, and then save them to an EXTERNAL hard drive to protect them from dumb things that happen to computers, & 2) I still have items OTHER THAN pictures, such as, programs, papers, certificates, awards, etc., etc. and need to "deal with" them as well as photos. So, as you can imagine, over time, I have acquired many large 3-ring binders of history (space consuming) and am now in the process of scanning each page and saving each book with all it's contents digitally also on the external hard drive. Not only do I have each picture digitally preserved, I have all our history books scanned and preserved as whole, entire books digitally.
You may think I'm nuts to preserve these irreplaceable records in two formats, but maybe you don't live in a place where weather (tornados, floods, etc.)have or can destroy anything...humm, where would that be?
I will go into more detail as to exactly what I do as posting continues, but for now, I will detail out the way I make history books, materials included.
You will need the following:
- 3-ring binders (I use 3" wide)
- Sheet protectors (cheap at Sam's or WalMart - and acid free)
- Index weight paper (colored, white, black - whatever)
- Glue Stick
- Gel ink pens (colored if desired)
- Scissors or a straight edge metal ruler
I also like to collect beautiful pictures off the web, in magazines, wherever to use as decoration as well
That's about it - I don't buy much else - keeps the cost realistic.
If you like to use the adhesive cutouts for themes etc. don't let me talk you out of it. Use whatever you like. I just want to impress that you DON'T have to use all the fluff to preserve your pictures and papers.
I have in the past covered my binders with contact paper (the stuff you line drawers with), but even that was too much ado for nothing really - I just make sure I label the binders with clear dates on the spines.
On the inside I put everything in chronological order. That means exactly when they happened in time. Saves me trying to create themes or groupings. I personally like to see things in the order they occurred.
Are we all breathing easier? It's better that something is done rather than nothing because it's just too overwhelming.
I have posted a few pictures of pages from my books, just to show you what you can do.
With my photos, I now create collage pages using Google Picasa (a free picture manipulating and organizing program) since all my pictures are now digital. I like to print the picture pages on pretty good quality photo paper and on a better printing option, so they look good.
Comment with any questions you may need clarification with.
Happy book making - you'll find it whizzes along pretty fast.
(Picture pages my way - the first 2 are "old school" using actual photographs attached to paper, the next 3 are digital pages. I either write on the pages, or make a text box to type in the info - for history's sake, having a person's actual handwriting can be pretty valuable in years to come - try to include as much information as possible, at least on the first page of a set of pictures.)
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