Something I like to do with my annual family yearbook is incorporate a few big current events by adding the front page of a newspaper on big news days. It’s such a simple thing, but years from now it becomes a powerful time capsule. To make this super easy, I use a free app called Front Pages (also found at the freedom forum website).
If you’ve never heard of it, here’s a peek at how it works and why I love it.
what is the front pages app?
The Front Pages app shows the day’s front pages from newspapers around the world. It’s updated daily and only displays that day’s papers, so you can scroll through everything from the New York Times to smaller local papers in the U.S. and beyond.
On big news days like elections, historic moments, or major events, I open the app and save the front page I want to save for my yearbook.
Oh and the app is free! It’s available on iPhone and Android.
my favorite features
Saving Favorites
Inside the app, you can mark certain newspapers as favorites (then they show up in the Star section). Mine include:
- The New York Times
- The Wall Street Journal
- USA Today
- The Washington Post
On big news days, I go to the Star section to see which headline + photo I prefer for that day’s news.
The iPhone Widget
I’m a big fan of the iPhone widget. It takes up more space on my Home Screen and shows me that day’s featured front page. It helps me remember to check the app more regularly.
Sometimes it’s the widget that reminds me, “Hey, today might be a good one to save.”
looking for older front pages?
The only downside to the Front Pages app is that it shows today only. There’s no archive. BUT! If you want to find a front page from earlier in the year (or earlier in history), the New York Times has a fantastic searchable archive.
Enter the date you need and then you’ll see a front page you can save as a high-res PDF. I prefer a photo, versus a PDF document, so that I can more easily include it in my yearbook so I just take a screenshot.
I’ve used this many times when I realize (months later…) that I forgot to capture a certain moment.
If you’ve never tried adding newspaper covers to your yearbook before, I highly recommend giving it a try… it’s an easy way to add meaning, history, and storytelling to your photo book.
Want to get started making Family Yearbooks for your own family? Check out my Family Yearbooks Course. I’ll walk you through exactly how to make one from start to finish. Plus there are templates included that’ll save you even more time!
