Books
3 min read
Family History Book Layout and Typography: Making Genealogy Readable
Typefaces, page sizes, margins, running heads, captions and index design for a family history book that is pleasant to read and easy to navigate.
Family tree charts & family history books
Turn your GEDCOM file into a family tree you can print
Upload the .ged file from your genealogy program and get a clean, compact chart with every relative in the right place, plus a draft of a family history book with charts, sources and an index. Ready for the wall and the bookshelf.
Works with exports from Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, Family Tree Maker, Gramps, RootsMagic and Legacy.
Built by a genealogist who wanted a chart worth printing
Most tree printers give you overlapping boxes, duplicated people and lines that cross for no reason. We started from the layout problem and solved it properly.
Charts that never overlap
A layout engine built for genealogy: boxes never collide, couples stay together, children stand under their parents in birth order, and crossings are avoided wherever the data allows.
Every person drawn once
Second marriages, half-siblings, adoptions and cousin marriages are drawn the way a genealogist expects, with the person in the middle and each family under its own line.
A book from your file
Chapters per generation, a chart at the head of each chapter, facts written as sentences, sources as footnotes and an index of names, all generated from your GEDCOM.
Print-ready output
PDF in standard paper sizes, SVG for posters of any size, PNG for screens. Fonts and line widths chosen for paper, not just for pixels.
Names in every language
UTF-8 all the way: Polish, German, French, Czech and Scandinavian names print exactly as you recorded them.
Your data stays yours
Upload, generate, download, delete. Files are yours, living people can be hidden with one setting, and nothing is shared.
One file, every chart type
Switch between chart types with one click and compare them before you print.
Family history books
From a list of names to a book your family will read
A chart shows the shape of a family. A book tells its story. PrintFamilyTree generates the parts of a family history book that are tedious to write by hand, so that you can spend your time on the stories only you know.
- One chapter per generation, with a chart of the families it covers
- An entry for every family: births, marriages, occupations, deaths, written as readable sentences
- Your source citations as footnotes, your notes as narrative paragraphs
- Numbering in the Ahnentafel, Register or d'Aboville system
- Automatic index of names, with married women under both surnames
- Print-ready PDF in A4, US Letter or trade paperback sizes
How it works
Three steps, no retyping, no drawing by hand.
1
Export a GEDCOM file
From Ancestry, MyHeritage, Family Tree Maker, Gramps, RootsMagic or any other program. It takes a minute and you keep a backup of your research.
2
Upload and choose a person
Pick the person at the centre of the chart, the chart type and how many generations to draw. The preview updates in seconds.
3
Download and print
Get a print-ready PDF, an SVG for a poster of any size, or a PNG for the family group chat. Or generate a book draft and start writing.
Launching soon
Be the first to know when PrintFamilyTree opens
We are finishing the book generator and the online editor. Leave your e-mail address and you will get one message when the service is ready, with the launch offer for early subscribers.
PrintFamilyTree is an online service that turns a GEDCOM file exported from your genealogy program into printable family tree charts and a draft of a family history book. You upload the file, choose a person and a chart type, and download PDF, SVG or PNG files ready for printing.
GEDCOM (.ged) is the standard file format for exchanging family tree data. Every major program and website can export one: Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch-connected programs, Family Tree Maker, Gramps, RootsMagic and Legacy. See our guide on exporting a GEDCOM file.
Hourglass charts (ancestors above and descendants below one person), pedigree charts, descendant charts and all-relatives charts that include the siblings of every ancestor with their descendants. You control how many generations up and down are drawn, whether spouses are shown, and how deep the collateral lines go.
No. The layout engine treats overlapping as a hard constraint: boxes never overlap, spouses always stand next to each other, children hang under their parents in birth order, and the chart is kept as compact as the connecting lines allow. Where the data forces two lines to cross, the crossing is drawn as a small hop so that the lines stay readable.
A person is drawn once, standing between their partners: the earlier marriage on the left, the later one on the right, with the children of each marriage under their own marriage line. Only a third or later partner is drawn with a small dashed reference box.
From the blog
Guides on GEDCOM files, chart types, research methods and family history books.
Charts
3 min read
From GEDCOM File to Printed Family Tree Chart in Five Minutes
A walkthrough of turning a .ged file into a clean, printable family tree chart: uploading, choosing the central person and chart type, checking the layout and exporting.
GEDCOM
2 min read
Free vs Paid Genealogy Tools: What Do You Really Need?
An honest guide to genealogy software and websites: what is free, what is worth paying for, and how to combine a desktop program, an online service and a printing tool.