Family Tree Chart

  • Thread starter Thread starter kdags
  • Start date Start date
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kdags

Can anyone help me find a good way to create a family tree from an access
database? I think I could create the database with fields for MotherID and
FatherID, I'm just lost as to how to translate that into a graphical family
tree.

Is there a specific chart I could plug the information into? and if so, how?
 
Thanks. That looks great for setting up the table, but how do you set up the
actual tree?

It says it will take a lot of work to do a lineage chart, but doesn't give
any help on actually setting one up. That's the part I'm really lost on.

Any ideas?
 
I was looking for an All-in-One chart, to view the entire family on one sheet
(see all generations). I would then send it off and print out a poster-sized
family tree.

Is this even possible?
 
I have no visual of the All-in-One chart but using my family size as an
example... no way it will fit on one sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper. I can print
it out and then transfer by hand (or labels) to something bigger. I guess
it would all depend on the size of your family and how far back you want to
go!

--
Gina Whipp

"I feel I have been denied critical, need to know, information!" - Tremors
II

http://www.regina-whipp.com/index_files/TipList.htm
 
I agree. There is no way it would fit on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. However,
if I can just get the chart built, I can send the file to professional
printer to make a poster sized print.

An All-in-One chart means exactly that. Every family member on one sheet.
It will show not only parents and grandparents, but uncles, aunts, cousins,
etc. I know this will not fit on an 8.5x11, but it might fit on a 24x36
poster.
 
kdags said:
I agree. There is no way it would fit on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. However,
if I can just get the chart built, I can send the file to professional
printer to make a poster sized print.

An All-in-One chart means exactly that. Every family member on one sheet.
It will show not only parents and grandparents, but uncles, aunts, cousins,
etc. I know this will not fit on an 8.5x11, but it might fit on a 24x36
poster.
Click to expand...

Perhaps:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.databases.ms-access/browse_frm/thread/62f56b4d96ab9a82

will provide you with the tools you need. It would allow you unmatched
flexibility to place text and lines of various thickness, style and
color wherever you'd like. Like Access Reports, Acrobat Reader can
automatically break out a large document into individual pages that fit
together.

From the PDF Reference, version 1.7, pp. 1128, 1129, the maximum page
width or page height before starting to sacrifice any of its
considerable resolution in versions 1.6 or later is 200 inches. With
the same amount of resolution, the same file can be printed on a page
that is 15,000,000 inches by 15,000,000 inches (i.e., about 236.7
miles). Note that 200 inches is the maximum size that an Access report
can get using its same twip resolution immediately. I.e., that would be
equivalent to sacrificing resolution immediately.

I've had good success with printing PDF calendars on graphics plotters
using 36" rolls of paper. Sometimes I had to make a few slight
adjustments to get things to print properly, but later versions of
Acrobat Reader became better at printing the calendars "as is." I
modified the PDF commands to put in actual sizes for rendering to the
large plotters, but a simple linear transformation to enlarge the entire
document at the end should work just as effectively. You could even
have Access create everything such that it fits on an 8 1/2" by 11"
sheet of paper, but use zoom when looking at the document. It's
possible that somewhere like Kinko's or Office Max can enlarge a PDF for
printing easily. Ask first.

I've made some changes to the PDFLayoutViewer.mdb program, but have not
put them up yet. Notably, I added an option to print the layouts in
landscape mode and successfully tested another option to put both a logo
and a scanned signature (after a little cleaning up) onto an invoice
document. The results look quite professional.

The PDF files are made directly from Access and are usually quite small
in size. If graphics are placed in the PDF file, I recommend that they
be compressed and that only the resolution you require be used, although
using extra resolution so that recipients can zoom in on the picture
without it becoming grainy should not be discounted. After including a
compressed image the size of the PDF file goes up by about an eighth of
the size of the original image on average.

I believe that Access is capable of creating a report that matches your
requirements, but I also believe that you are at a point where you
should consider going beyond the capabilities of an Access report. A
PDF file is also a more convenient way to share your family history with
others.

James A. Fortune
(e-mail address removed)
 
Kdags - not sure if you are still looking for an all-in-one chart but I had similar frustration in 2006-8 and basically started creating my own chart templates using MS office programs taught myself a bunch of MS excel and have my own program Genedocs to tailor to what I and many frustrated others want. The essentials are available cheaply to download at Lulu.com search Genedocs or Google Genedocs, but the site is minimal since I'm moving.

I strongly recommend creating your all in one in MS excel sheet by sheet whoch allows the flexibility of adding sibling lists, photos portraits of ancestors and other relatives, actual source docs or source info, and customized hover over or printable comments (for privacy) and you could have your whole tree in one or two spreadsheets depending on how large it is.

Some companies charge for large wall charts to save you the hassle, but it depends on what you are after!

Eric Jelle/ Genedocs Founder
 
Kdags - not sure if you are still looking for an all-in-one chart but I had similar frustration in 2006-8 and basically started creating my own chart templates using MS office programs taught myself a bunch of MS excel and have my own program Genedocs to tailor to what I and many frustrated otherswant.  The essentials are available cheaply to download at Lulu.com search Genedocs or Google Genedocs, but the site is minimal since I'm moving.  

I strongly recommend creating your all in one in MS excel sheet by sheet whoch allows the flexibility of adding sibling lists, photos portraits of ancestors and other relatives, actual source docs or source info, and customized hover over or printable comments (for privacy) and you could have yourwhole tree in one or two spreadsheets depending on how large it is.  

Some companies charge for large wall charts to save you the hassle, but it depends on what you are after!

Eric Jelle/ Genedocs Founder
Click to expand...

I did a lot of personal genealogical research and here's what I did
before Access even existed. In addition to having a big fan-out wall
chart that lists at least 12 generations, I kept a notebook that
included pages like (actually a bit wider):

-----
|
|------
| |
----- |
|
|-----
|
----- |
| |
|------
|
-----

where each of the four forebearers can link to another two generation
sheet. Although it's possible in PDF, thanks to vector graphics and
Acrobat's zoom capabilities, to create and view an entire genealogical
chart on one page, I found the two generation format above quite
handy. That page has ample room to place the most pertinent ancestral
data. That's important because once you get back to about 1850 or so,
the birth date, place of birth and maybe place of death are often
enough information to nail down an ancestor's identity. Whenever
available, I also bought certified copies of birth and death
certificates for each ancestor. I was able to buy plastic sheet
holders that allowed those documents to be placed in the same
notebook.

I hope that helps.

James A. Fortune
(e-mail address removed)
 
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