I am offering to you a genealogy service that enables you to produce a Family Genealogy CD that you can make and distribute to all of your family members and their relatives.  Why not preserve your hard work for your current and future family members.  Your CD can contain several features that your family members will treasure for years to come.  These features includes:

• Auto-runable CD that launches the default web browser to your custom Navigator page when the CD is inserted on a MicroSoft Windows PC. (Sorry, MacIntosh platforms not supported)
• You can customize your Navigator page (initial page that gets loaded) to meet your needs.
• Nothing required to be installed.  100% compatible with Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Firefox browsers.
• CD will contain your scanned photos in two formats:
• Individual folders with clickable thumbnail images   ... and...
• Entire collection in a slideshow format, sit back and enjoy your popcorn while you view the show.
• Each page will contain both the photo image (right 80% of screen) and the associated text that you provide in the left 20% of the screen. All on the same page!
• Each photo will automatically resized to optimumally fill the entire screen of the user's PC regardless of original photo size.
• Your Family CD can contain audio clips.  Just think of being able to capture the voices of family members for future generations to enjoy.  Get some of those stories from your grandparents onto the CD while they are still alive. Some of their stories can be amazing and fun.
• Genealogy information in a format that is easy to navigate around with your web browser.  This information is presented in a Family Page format that a lot of genealogists prefer.  If you have source information present in your GEDCOM file, it will also be included.
• Geneology Reports and Outline Descendant Reports as generated by Family Tree Maker that I produce for you.  You specify the various starting family members to generate these reports.

You can view a small DEMOSTRATION of what your Family CD can look like by clicking  HERE.What you will see is what your family member will see when then insert the Family CD into their CD drive.  Keep in mind that this is a stripped-down example of an actual McFerrin Family CD that I produced and distributed in October of 2001.  The stripping was necessary to reduce the total size to something reasonable for the internet.  For demostration purposes, birth and marriage dates for living persons have been marked with "Private". Your Family CD will have whatever dates you supply. Don't forget to come back to here for the rest of the details.

Have I got your interest?  This service is a cooperative effort.  I have not found a similar service else where.  You will need to provide me (on a CD Recordable CD) the scanned photographs, a GEDCOM file of your family tree, and optional audio clips in a MP3 forma (WAV format is acceptable if it will fit on your CD).  In return, I will produce a complete Family CD with all of the features listed above.  You will be responsible for duplication and distribution of the CDs.  You will own this CD to do anything you so desire.  This CD makes an ideal gift for your family as it shows you care to preserve information about their family and make it available.

There are certain requirements that you (as the creator of the project) must meet in order for this venture to be sucessful.  They include:

• Pentium 166MHz or faster PC (minimum speed for burning a CD)
• Windows 95 or later (including NT, Win 2000 & Win XP)
• CD Writer capable of writing recordable CDs.
• Digital Scanner.  300 DPI minimum resulution.
• Digital Photo Editor software for scanner capable of generating .JPG or PNG images. (The one that came with your scanner should work)
• A Windows compatible sound card to connect an external sound source (e.g. cassette recorder) that contains your audio recordings to be converted to MP3 format.  If you provide a WAV format, I will convert it to MP3 for you.
• NexENCODE MP3 encoder capable of encoding at 56Kbits, 22KHz sample rate and in mono.  (I can provide you with this software if you want to include audio clips on your CD)
• Any Family Genealogy programs capable of exporting your genealogy information in a GEDCOM file format.  Such program as Family Tree Maker works fine but there are others.  The one that you are using will most like work if it can produce a GEDCOM output file.
• The willingness for you to do a lot of extra work.  Scanning protographs and entering text can be time-consuming!

For your Family CD project to really become effective, you should contact your family relatives and ask them to loan you their family or heirloom pictures for you to scan.  This way everyone will get the benefit of enjoying other pictures that otherwise would be left in a shoebox to become damaged, faded or thrown away.  You will become responsible for the quality of your scans.  This includes cropping, adjusting brightness & contrast, and sharpening if needed.

What does this service cost????  This service is offered at a flat fee of $99.95.  There is no up front deposit.  When the project is nearly complete (just before CD creation), you will have the option of previewing the CD data via the internet.  Upon approval, the buyer submits payment, the CD is created, and shipped to buyer's address.

To request this service, please click  HERE for a blank contract to be printed, filled out by you, signed, and dated.  Mail the signed contract to the address indicated on the contract.  If I agree to take on your project, I will acknowledge your request and give you a firm quotation on the total cost via email.  You will then be given a chance to approve my starting or cancelling this project.  The contract becomes effective when I receive your CD containing the required data.

Why a contract?????  The contract protects both you and me.  It defines the value added services I will be giving you.  It states that I will do nothing with your Genealogy data except to produce the CD with it, and states that you have rightfull ownership of the Genealogy data and photographs.  It also list some guidelines you must follow, such as file naming conventions.  This is to ensure that the existing set of tools I have developed in the past several years will continue to work flawlessly in producing your Family CD.

This is a part-time venture.  I do have another full-time job.  I would expect that your project will be completed usually in less than 30 days after contract acceptance.  I may have to delay contract acceptance depending upon prior accepted work loads.  Remember there is no financial risk to you.  You don't pay a cent until you have the opportunity to view the results of your genealogy project via my website.  Until the payment is received, we both put up some risk in effort only

Please consult the contract for further requirements and restrictions.  If you still have questions about this service, you may contact me via  Email .

Note:  If you are not the person in your family that would normally take on such a task, please forward this information to anyone that might be interested.  I've recently produced a McFerrin Family CD and distributed 50 copies to every adult relative in my family.  Needless to say, it was very well received.  I know it is a lot of work but your family members and relatives will cherish your CD project for many years to come.  If you are just not  ready for a project of this magnitude at this time, I understand.  Genealogy is a lot of work and to add scanned photographs is a larger chore.  If you think you may want this service in the future, then please bookmark this URL.  I'll be here when you are ready to begin.
                                                                                                Paul McFerrin