General Chat

I exported my tree but am unable to open it. How do I view it ? I want to print it out but it is too large to do it in GR.

Kathleen, you need a tree programme on your home computer to be able to read the gedcom. It is possible to open it in something like Notepad, but you may not recognise the data.

Companies like genealogical printers or myhistory have facilities to open & print out a gedcom, but at your expense. http://www.genealogyprinters.com
http://www.my-history.co.uk/acatalog/Genes-Reunited-Family-Tree-Printing.html

Unless you want a professional display version, it might be cheaper to buy a tree programme for c£30.

Thanks. I have got an Ancestry programme I bought ages ago, I will have to find the disk and put it on my laptop.

That should do it. If you have any problems loading, come back to the thread. Many GR members use FTM (previously the Ancestry programme ) and should be able to offer advise.

Go to eBay and get a copy if FTMaker it will cost under £15.
You can easily import yr gedfile into this
FTM will allow you to build yr tree far better than GR tree.
Printing trees in a tree format is impossible on a local printer There are other formats which do work and there are free softwares to do the job.

I thought FTM had been taken over and discontinued the older versions ,but let you upgrade for a small subscription,or 2014 could be a free upgrade.
I have the 2006 version and would have to pay,,but would like it for iPad which they don't do and have it at the moment for either Windows or Mac.
I can't get my old 2006 version on my Windows computer now.

If you need to run old xp progs under win 10 just set up a VM. You will need a real win10 installation media usb or dvd.

My version was 2012. I managed to print the tree but no dates have been printed. Back to the drawing board!!!

Just started to sellotape the tree only to find it is a long row, not a "tree". Very disappointed..

You might get along better with GRAMPS free download no restrictions.

I've used FTM now for over ten years and have several versions.

However printing out a tree is not just a case of pressing a button and hoping for the best. First of all you need to select the best format to suit what it is you are aiming for.

In FTM 2014 there are ten different charts to choose from:-

Pedigree
Descendant
Relationship
Hourglass
Vertical #
Pedigree
Horizontal Hourglass
Bow Tie
Family Tree
Extended Family
Fan

Once you have decided on on which suits your purpose best, you need to decide what data information you want to show. There are defaults but they may not be the best for your purpose so you need to experiment.

Then you need to decide on appearance, so you may need to change the formatting to get the correct font, size, box shapes , shading, etc etc etc.

I would also guard against trying to print too many generations before you have got the hang of it.

If you have a lot of names that sometimes a genealogy report is, perhaps, a better option. A number of variation but two basic types, Pedigree and Descendant.

If you want something that looks professional, say to take to a family reunion and put on the wall for all to see, then your best bet is to pay for a commercially produced version.