For instructions on how to create a new book, see How
to Create a Book or Booklet.
How you prefer to work is of course up to you. But here are some suggestions to get you started. First add a Title Page, a Table of Contents, and an Index. To do this, select each item in turn in the list on the left side ("Available Items") and click the button, to add them to the list on the right ("Current Book Items"). Most books will need these three items.
Now choose the reports you wish to include and add those. By default, each report will become a chapter in its own right. Readers often like narrative reports, so you might consider adding either the Individual Narrative report, Ancestors by Generation Narrative, or Descendants by Generation Narrative - but it's up to you. You can add as many copies as you like of any report to a book. If the report you want is in the list, click to see a complete list of all reports. When you add a report, you can select more than one person as the person that the report will be about. Each person you select will be given their own chapter using that report. Notice that when you add the reports, Family Historian automatically keeps the Index at the end. You can re-order book items at any time, however, by using the arrow buttons on the toolbar below the list.
Adding visual elements such as charts of diagrams will make your book more appealing. You can add any diagram type, including custom diagrams. You can also add a copy of any saved chart. If you want to achieve a particular look for a chart, it is a good idea to create it separately first as a chart (i.e. saved using the command on the Diagram menu, when viewing the diagram). That way you can make your chart as complex and interesting as you like, and perhaps add multiple trees, or pictures or shapes. To learn more about how to work with charts and diagrams in books, see the Select Chart Pages Dialog.
If you wish to add a preface, acknowledgements, a copyright statement, or other similar details, see How to Add a Preface, Acknowledgements, etc.
Fonts and other layout settings for your book can be changed by clicking on the button to open the Book Settings Dialog.
Books can have any page size you like, portrait or landscape. To
adjust these settings, click the
button when viewing the book in the Book Window. Page margins are
adjusted in the Book Settings Dialog.
Tip: Editing a book can be much slower if the book is currently being displayed in the Book Window. If the Book Window is open and performance is slow, close it.