A family member wants to write something that will be part bio and part family history, and asked if I had a suggestion for a good app to use. I’m not familiar with apps specifically for something like this, so the best I could suggest was Pages. Nothing close to professional level features needed.
not intended to ever be printed, just export to PDF
place photos here and there on various pages throughout
need to be able to go back into it and add more to a page (or add full pages) without messing up the existing layout or page flow
Perhaps Pages would be good enough, but I’m guessing there’s probably something better for this specific use. Doesn’t have to be free, but also can’t cost a lot. Suggestions?
I sympathize with the quest!
Pages or Word might do it depending on how fancy the author wants to get. They have the possiblity to link columns of text, text wrapping settings, formatting Styles and so on.
Years ago I made a long photo essay book for my military unit in Quark Xpress I think but that was over the top even back then for that project. Might not be available or OS compatible anymore.
I thought Apple had an App for making books but haven’t found it yet, they do have a page with some app suggestions though:
The author will likely need to get familiar, no matter which App they eventually choose, with various tools and vocabulary for book layout, for which they’ll have to spend some time in the Help files.
It’s not an App suggestion specifically, but I would encourage you to encourage the author to start writing even though the layout App may not have been chosen. Even just a .txt file in TextEdit will do, or in outline form if the author thinks that way.
Some Apps may include the additional option of adding short video or audio clips if the author so desires.
The features list is good, please encourage the author to provide you more ‘wish list’ feature items to narrow your search.
I’d look at splitting the project into several phases.
writing and gathering images
Designing the final piece.
Pages for the first. The writer can edit, insert and remove images as needed and not worry about precise layout.
I’d use Affinity Publisher for the second, set up a set of master pages, flow the final Pages document into it, and then proceed with task of laying out and designing the book.
PDF was how I circulated an annotated family photo album but there’s also short run printing which has become very cheap.
Brian W. says, “Nothing close to professional level features needed.” I don’t see what Affinity Publisher adds except unnecessary complication. Pages, by itself, I think is perfect for a task like this. Unless you’re looking for features specifically related to bio and family history—in which case you would need to spell out what the writer needs beyond word processing and page layout.
At one time Apple had an app called iBooks Author. It was for creating eBooks, especially to be uploaded to Apple Books (formerly called iBooks); I don’t know if it could make PDFs. iBooks Author was discontinued several years ago, and its features were folded into Pages. So even if Brian’s relative does want to make an ebook, Pages is still the app to look at.
Nisus Writer Pro is easy to use, very good with graphics, formatting, cross-referencing, working with long documents, etc. Extended Find/Replace and Macros add surprising power. $65, $55 academic,15 day free trial.
Scrivener is worth a look. It is designed for longer, structured works, like books. It lets you keep notes and supporting materials organized, as well as making it easy to store and organize snippets of text, paragraphs, or entire chapters.
At first glance, it’s a little more complicated than a basic word processor, but it’s pretty close to the way middle schoolers used to be taught to write longer pieces by outlining and collecting research/ideas on note cards, organizing the cards, and then building the finished product.
I’ll add that Scrivener, along with a few other tools that might be useful for the original poster’s situatioj, are available at discounted rates to TidBITS members. Examples include Acorn, DevonThink, EagleFiler, Nisus, Swift Publisher, and a few specialized image processing tools.
I would suggest whatever app they have already and are familiar with. If they have Pages on their machine, then they should use that. If they’re familiar with Word, that’ll work fine as well. They want to get right to the writing, not get hung up with complicated new apps to learn. Good is better than perfect.
And Pages would actually be a solid choice here – it’s got good word processing features without too much bloat and it’s got some basic page layout features. It pretty much stays out of your way when you write, which is a key feature.
Thanks to everyone that replied for all the ideas and suggestions, much appreciated.
I think I was way too quick with my advice and to assume Pages wouldn’t be a good choice for this. Based on some the replies we took a closer look at some of its features and realized Pages could do everything needed, at least as currently planned.
Plus it has the added benefit of not having to start from scratch learning a different program that may only be used once. And besides Apple’s own documentation, there’s also a number of helpful tutorials available, both written and in videos.
I’d endorse Pages for this purpose. I work with both Scrivener and Affinity Publisher, and I’d say:
Scrivener is more of a “write your stuff and then decide how you’re going to assemble it” app. The second part really requires you know what you’re doing and what you want, which doesn’t sound like your friend.
Publisher works well as a middle app—create your content in other apps, assemble them in Publisher, and then output files that can be used in the most exacting print environments. It is a page layout program, not (at heart) a content creation program.
Pages has everything your friend would need, and will export easily to PDF using the Mac or iOS print utilities. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Whatever app you use for writing and organizing, you should think in terms of presenting it both as epub (readable on a phone and iPad/tablet) and pdf. A pdf is a good choice if someone wants to print it, awful if he/she wants to read it on a phone.
Francisco
The author needs an app that will get out of the way, let them write and not spend time and mental energy learning all the bells and whistles on a high-power app. I know this temptation well – you see some feature, go down a rabbit hole exploring it, only to realize you don’t really need it.
I agree with everyone who recommends Pages. I would never use it for my writing needs, but I think it will be more than adequate for this project. (I write scholarly research articles with lots of figures, references, cross-references, etc. I use Mellel. I also own Nisus, wonderful app. I also own Scrivener. I think it’s overkill, and steep learning curve.) I agree with one of the commenters who recommended the author use whatever they are already familiar with.
It’s simple but can do sophisticated things if you ask. You can export to PDF.
It’s really the best for someone who is not preparing fancy things and just wants to get the words down and add a few pictures.
Scrivener is fantastic (I’ve used it for 18 years) but it’s really developed into a professional writing tool that is daunting for an average user.
Affinity Publisher or its arch-nemesis InDesign are top-level publishing tools that are simply so far beyond the needs of someone who just wants to tell a story that they shouldn’t even be considered.
Going way up to the OP, it sounds like it’s just @BrianW’s friend, that we can infer the friend is on either Mac or iOS because he would recommend Pages but now has second thoughts, and that this is not a collaboration among the family group members.
Pages exports to a number of other formats (way more generous in taking Windows users into account than what usually happens in the other direction, but I digress…).
And addressing one of the contingencies mentioned upthread, you can convert any Pages document to a “Page Layout.” You always could, actually; it was one of the signature features when it was released.
So I don’t think other family members having a Mac will be a factor here.
Be careful in converting to Page Layout, the flow of text in a word processing document is quite different from text within the various containers, linked or otherwise, which consist a page layout document. Pages can discard text already entered. Ideally set up the document as one or the other at the start of the process.
Yes, good advice. I was tempted to say that Pages combines the functionality of Word and a page layout app like InDesign or Affinity Publisher. That’s true, but it’s combined more like the two functions live alongside one another than blending seamlessly, for the reasons you mention.
Even within the word processing mode, Pages can do some surprisingly good things. For example, as I’ve noted in other threads, I used Pages and Numbers for the bulk of administering my late mother’s estate. When I was preparing final reports for the court, I found it easy to do the underlying details in Numbers, roll them up into a summary table for each of the seven report sections, and then paste them as live tables into Pages. It made updates easier and more accurate, and the end result did not look like an ugly spreadsheet.
You might like to think about an alternative approach. Depending on how many generations you intend to cover, using a word processor will become arduous for large families. If you were to use a genealogy program - which is essentially a database management system - growing and maintaining the underlying structure and supporting documentation (photos, certificates, newspaper cuttings, …) will become much easier.
Many such programs also offer to generate text describing the content, ie the story of the family. The result tends to be a bit boiler plate but I would imagine that it would serve as an excellent basis for subsequent editing and polishing. Even without using the story-writing functions, the advantages of having the base information well organised will prove to be valuable.
I am bringing a completely different type of program into play here. The MacFamilyTree software normally creates family trees. However, it also offers the recording of vital data (birth, marriage, death, etc.) for each individual person. Numerous notes can also be created for each person. Media can be uploaded for all details. The program then offers, among other things, an automated text report for each person. The text is very schematic, but can provide a basis for formulating it in a more readable and polished way afterwards.
In my opinion, this is a suitable tool for writing a family history that is more documentary than literary in character.
I am writing a number of biography/family history books using the Reunion for Mac genealogy program (leisterpro.com). It has several ways of producing in book format the information you enter. I use the Biography Note for biographies, and can create custom notes for other items of interest. Reunion combines these into a standard genealogical book format. It is super easy and the books and charts are fantastic!
