Hi Katie - this is really bothering you, isn't it?
The list you've been given is pretty comprehensive and there are loads of practical ideas there. But I think that the simplest way is to use Word or Open Office Writer (the latter can be freely downloaded). Both will allow you to mix portrait and landscape pages, and both will output to a pdf file (although you may have to install a pdf printer for Word). Couple that with a reasonable graphics editor to get your photos and scans into shape, and Bob's your uncle.
The advantage of pdf is that you produce a document of virtually any size and shape (which is not easily changed by anyone but yourself) - so you can mix text with photographs and scans of certificates to your heart's content. The one big thing I would say, though, is to use graphics saved in tif format rather than jpg (you lose less detail).
Having got your pdf file, you can either print it or you can save it to CD. Making a CD is preferable (and anyone else can still print it out themselves) because then you can also include on the CD full-size images of things like those certificates (they're sometimes hard to read once you've got them down to a size to fit on the page).
You end up with a document on your PC which you can always edit to add or change details, a hard-copy printout of your pdf file, which you can simply hand to any interested party, and a CD with extended details which can easily and cheaply be posted anywhere in the world. Come to that, the pdf file may be small enough to email to anyone in the world.
So - word processor (Word or OO Writer).
... graphics editor (depends what you want to do, but GIMP is free and powerful - there are also an awful lot of photo editors which are free).
... scanner and printer.
... a writable CD or three
... and a few hours playing with various layouts.
Voila - one family history machine.
It isn't difficult - and you'll probably enjoy it immensely.
Mike
