Family History

Custom Family History Books

Preserve your family's legacy with our personalized family history books. Our dedicated customer consultant is here to guide you through every step of the process, ensuring that your book is a true reflection of your family's unique story.

Julie Kaio

801 422-2741

julie_kaio@byu.edu

We are here to help! Contact our friendly Family History consultants.

Getting Started

Planning Your Book

No matter where you are in the process of researching and writing your family history, now is a good time to start planning ahead for your printed book.

» How many copies of your book?
» When do you want your book completed?
» What size of book to do want to print?
» How many pages will your book have?
» What kind of book do you want
—a hardcover, coilbound or paperback?
» What do you want the cover to look like?
» Do you want to use color photos, black & white photos or a combination of both?

+ Content Tip: Consider illustrating your family’s story with maps, record images, historical photos of ancestral communities and pictures of gravestones, heirlooms and family homes.

+ Individualize Tip: Remember this is your book, design it how you like it. Your book design should reflect your family or individual.

Family History Workshop

Sign Up

A free bi-monthly Family History Workshop is offered by our consultants to help assist in the process of printing your Family History books. Workshop is for all levels from beginning to experienced family historians. Come join our free, one-hour workshop.

Family History consultants
The consultants will answer any of your questions regarding preparing files, formatting, layout, scanning photographs, and will happily assist you in the printing process.

JULIE KAIO
801 422-0432
julie_kaio@byu.edu

Submit Family History Book

Submit File

Files need to be submitted in PDF format. Once your file is ready to submit upload the file here.

If you want your book by Christmas, the submission deadline is October 1st.

Final approvals need to be made by October 15th.

Changes to your project will delay the original scheduled delivery date.

+ Software Tip: Use Software You Know: MS Word, Apple Pages or Adobe InDesign are all acceptable programs.

+ File Saving Tip: Large files in Word can become unstable. Save your files in groups of 30–50 pages at a time. We can combine your groups into a book later. Name your files with a 3 digit numerical code beginning with 001. (Example: “001–Section One Title”, “002-Section Two Title”.)

Document Setup

Format

Size: Determine the final size of your book.

Margins: Set your margins for 1” on all sides of the paper to give us plenty of room to bind and trim.

Pagination: We will add page numbers at the end when we assemble your book.

Fonts: Use one or two classic fonts. You can also use font characteristics (like bold, regular and italic) from the same font family for headers, body text, and captions.

We recommend using a 12 point font in the body text, with either single line spacing or 1.5 spacing.

+ Color vs Black & White Tip: Make a list of the pages you want printed in color, we’ll print the rest of your book in black & white to save you money.

Photos

Scan your photos the size you plan to use in your book. We recommend that you save your scanned photos as JPEG or PNG images, at 300 dpi (dots per inch). If your photo resolution is too low, the photo will look pixelated in print.

+ Scanning Tips: BYU Family History Library has free self-serve scanners. Bring a USB with you so you can save your new digital files.

For black and white photos select “gray scale” from your scanner’s tools when scanning. When scanning a whole page of text save as a PDF file.

Cover Design

Mock up your cover with the wording of the title, text, and if you want a photo. Remember to include what you would like on the spine.

When you’re ready to make your book cover, come talk to our Family History Consultants and they’ll guide you through the process.

+ Photo Covers: A great way to have your book stand out and personalize is by using a partial photo wrap or full photo wrap.

Gallery

Binding

Hard Cover Binding will provide your document with a beautiful classic finish. Pictures can be printed on the front and back covers. You can also choose a full wrap-around cover. Gold and silver foil stamping is available for front covers and spine. Hard Cover bindings are available in the following colors:

Perfect Binding is what most people would call the binding on a paper-back book. Your document is wrapped in a single sheet of cardstock to which you may add images, text, or any design you submit. Perfect binding works best on books that are no thicker than an inch or roughly 500 pages or less.

Coil Binding is an inexpensive yet very durable way to bind your Family History document. Coil bound documents come with a clear or colored vinyl cover.

Proofing

First Proof: We’ll print your first hard proof on the paper you select for your book.

Additional Proofs: Additional proofs will cost $.10/page, plus a prepress file preparation fee of $25.00/hour.

CDs & DVDs

Your Family History can also be transferred to a DVD or CD. You can add sound recordings, video, or other multimedia onto the disc. These CDs and DVDs can be included in a pouch in the back of your printed document.

Ready to Print

PDF Files

All of your files should be exported as PDFs (arranged as single pages and not facing pages). Bring your finished files in on a flash drive or CD when you meet with our consultant. You can also upload your files to our server (ask our consultant about this option).When we receive your files we assume the files are finished product, ready to be printed.

+ File Saving Tip: Large files in Word can become unstable. Save your files in groups of 30–50 pages at a time. We can combine your groups into a book later. Name your files with a 3 digit numerical code beginning with 001. (Example: “001–Section One Title”, “002-Section Two Title”)

Assembling Your Book

When we receive your final PDF files, we’ll prepare them for prepress. This process includes combining PDF files, inserting blank pages as needed, and pagination. Once the files are prepared, we’ll send you an electronic proof of your book. We’ll ask you to create a Table of Contents to match the pages in your book, export it as a PDF, and send it to us. We’ll print a hard proof of your book for final approval.

Changes
Changes to your book are your responsibility. Every time new PDF files are submitted, they have to be prepared again for prepress, and you will be billed accordingly (see Pricing and Policy).

Pricing & Policy

Estimate
Our consultants are happy to talk to you about your book. Once they know the scope of your project, they will prepare an estimate. The estimate will include the cost of the first hard proof of your book as well as initial prepress file preparation.

Deposit
A 50% deposit is required at the time the final proof is approved. The balance is due at delivery.

Delivery
After the final proof is approved, expect 3-5 weeks for completion and delivery. Large orders will require a longer time to complete.

If you want your book by Christmas, the submission deadline is October 1st. Final approvals need to be made by October 15th.

Changes to your project will delay the original scheduled delivery date.