Family Historian User Group

I'm a new user of FH and could use some advice on how to break down a fairly large diagram so that it can be printed (in pieces obviously) in a standard sized booklet (e.g. 8x11"). There are about 150-200 names on my full diagram, so as a wall chart it would be 2x5 feet or more. Has anyone found a way to extract portions of a large diagram and then have continuation indicators pointing to the page where the next section (e.g. ancestors) would be found? Are there plug-ins or separate programs that do this? The FHv6 book doesn't seem to deal with the issue. I know this is a beginner question, but thanks for any advice!

Welcome to the FHUG.

As a newcomer I advise you study how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers.

The FHv6 book chapter 11. Scaling & Printing Diagrams covers all the options involving Page Boundaries, etc.

By default, the Page Boundaries shown will be based on your default Printer page size, which will typically be A4 i.e. 8"x11".
However, there are no off-page connectors ~ see Wish List Ref 289 Printing Diagram Page Boundary Marks that you can vote for.

What exactly is your objective?
Do you actually want lots of printed pages in a book, or one wall chart, and for what purpose?

You can usually export a single page PDF of the whole Diagram, and get that printed by a local print company.
See how_to:creating_a_single_page_pdf_of_a_diagram|> Single Page PDF of a Diagram.

You can create charts for small family units by selecting the diagram root or couple appropriately and limiting the number of generations up or down (using Diagram > Options > General tab). To indicate links to other pages you can use Diagram > Insert into Diagram > Arrow and also a small Text Box, as in the example below. I have used this occasionally to show links between pages.

Thanks for the responses from two Megastars!

The objective is to have a single, updatable booklet to hand out to family members, rather than a booklet plus a separate wall chart which will inevitably get separated or lost. If I reduce the size (maybe 50%), and use two facing pages for each installment, it may not take too many jumps. I may make a wall chart too. I will try Lorna's suggestion.

Rather than a printed booklet, have you considered alternative ways of distributing your family tree?
There are various electronic options such as using CD, cloud storage, or online family trees (all virtually free).
Some of those would allow your family tree to be viewed on most devices such as PC or tablets.

Thanks, but you don't know my family. CDs are something you invest in at the bank, clouds are nice fluffy things in the sky, online is something barely to be tolerated. And tablets? Are those what Moses brought down from the mountain? I'll figure this out for them.

The Complete Genealogy Reporter (a separate program that works on your GEDCOM) will do exactly what you want. Yes, it costs money for a license ($35), but it is a one-time payment for a lifetime license and the diagram generation feature is worth the money on its own. It can create multiple family diagrams that fit on A4 paper, and the reporting features are quite extensive too. You can find it here http://www.tcgr.bufton.org and there is a demo version that you can try before purchasing. I must add that I have no connection with it other than a very satisfied user.

Yes, that is mentioned in fhugdownloads:contents:utility_the_complete_genealogy_reporter|> Utility ~ The Complete Genealogy Reporter (TCGR) and it appears to import FH Gedcom well, but if not then you may need to use the Export Gedcom File Plugin.

Perhaps IanTS could say how well it handles FH V6.2 Gedcom new features, especially Unicode format, and Witness Facts, and Place Records.

Mike

As a quick check yesterday I tried a vanilla FH 6.2.5 gedcom into TCGR and it threw a wobbly, didn't like it at all. I didn't have time to check anything else and will try and do that over the weekend, so a gedcom export will be required to use TCGR.

Try using the Family Historian Sample Project so we are working from a similar baseline.
The most likely snag is Unicode format that many products baulk at on line 1, despite being a GEDCOM standard.
So try Tools > Preferences > File Load/Save > Save in UTF-8 file format that avoids needing to use Export > GEDCOM File.
It adds a little runtime overhead when Loading and Saving the GEDCOM, but the file is about half the size.

TCGR should cope with Witness Facts because it handles other products that have used the same format for many years.
TCGR should simply ignore the non-standard FH Place Records.

Whatever we discover works can be documented in fhugdownloads:contents:utility_the_complete_genealogy_reporter|> Utility ~ The Complete Genealogy Reporter (TCGR).

I had a bit of time this morning and this is what I have found.

I reset the Sample Project
I changed it to UTF-8 as the instructions above
Opened TCGR and told it to load the sample project gedcom
TCGR crashed
Reopened pointed it at the gedcom again and got a warning that it was unable to process and to report it
Cancelled the report to TCGR option
It then automatically loaded the gedcom correctly and generated the report (with the default TCGR settings)
I saved the report and it is 42meg in size so is on my Google Drive if anyone wants to take a look https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_iwK ... GZoeE9WVzQ
I closed TCGR
I reopened TCGR and it loaded and processed the gedcom a second time correctly without warnings.

Colin, did you ensure you had Saved the FH GEDCOM after ticking Save in UTF-8 file format and before loading into TCGR?
Did you close FH?
If left running, maybe FH did an Auto-Save after a few minutes, which updated the GEDCOM and let TCGR load it OK.
TCGR does not appear to report any GEDCOM errors, unrecognised/omitted data, etc.
Does TCGR now load the GEDCOM reliably every time?

The TCGR Report is quite comprehensive, but does NOT seem to include any Witness Facts nor Timeline Facts.
The Notes are lumped together, disjoint from the associated Facts.
Maybe there are TCGR options to alter all that?

The trees are in family groups, with numbers indicating links between families, but provide no Facts except Name & Lifedates.
Maybe there are TCGR commands to produce other larger tree diagrams?

On reviewing the TCGR web site, its Compliance tab says it "will import GEDCOM files created in the following standard formats: ASCII, ANSEL and Unicode, and in the following non-standard (but widely supported) formats: ANSI and UTF-8."
So I don't understand why it would object to FH Unicode GEDCOM!

I have briefly experimented with the free 30-day trial version of TCGR and had no problems loading the FH Unicode GEDCOM from FH Sample Project.

Some Preferences I found need adjusting for FH, and will add advice about them to [kb]|[/kb] in due course.

However, although there are a few minor features that FH would benefit from, I am underwhelmed with its capabilities.
The bullet style narratives with primary media are good, and the diagram to diagram linking is good.
Otherwise, it offers much fewer formatting options and capabilities than FH.
I could not find any options for Witness Facts.
Cannot customise the report narrative sentences at all.
Cannot include any event details in diagrams at all.
OR am I missing something?

I certainly would not spend $35 (£27) for it.
That is in the same price bracket as FH, which does a lot more.

Sorry folks, not been on here for a few days ... been doing a massive clean up of Places

I have not had any issues with TCGR, it has not thrown a wobbly in all the times that I have used it so far (touches wooden desk). Been using it extensively lately with my own 2400 person GEDCOM and a newly created one for a relative. I tend to use it for the way it can easily and quickly generate the linked charts in a report.

Ian

Mike, agreed the £27 sounds a lot but it is a one time only purchase (I bought mine years ago) and it is still well supported with free lifetime updates and bug fixes. To me the linked diagram functionality has more than paid for itself over the last number of years. I just got fed up with trying to get FH to do the same in reports, as others have mentioned above I have relatives who like real paper to read. I also like the bullet point narratives it can do, but I will admit I am no expert in using it to its full potential.

As is always with these things FH reporting has many good's and some not so goods and TCGR has a set of different good's and not so goods, as you have mentioned above ... now if FH could merge the two then I would be a happy person