Family Historian User Group

Having used Family Historian for some years now I am firmly of the opinion that it is the best software for the job.... except for one little iddy biddy thing which is bugging me big time considering how clever the FH (Calico Pie) program authors are etc.

DIAGRAMS. For the most part everything is okay, but one thing that I want to do (like many others) is print the tree into a book format.

Before I used FH I used Family Tree Maker but found it somewhat limiting in just about every aspect – however one thing they did really well was allow you to print your family tree CHART in the form of a book – complete with page numbers, links/direction to the next page (or relevant page number). The software would print your 'Descendant chart' over however number of pages (I think it would print up to 99 generations!!) directing you to the next family member (or branch of the tree) via a little direction box 'Go to page xx'.

Why can't Family Historian do something similar? Before you say that FH supports large chart printing, I know - however in comparison to Family Tree Maker, FH is not brilliant. Certainly you can print the odd page here and there, but that is it! Next to useless if you want to share a book style with other family members who do not have a computer.

Printing the family tree in the form of a book with a narrative AND charts would surely be every family historian's ultimate aim so as to share the tree with more family members. Am I the only one who feels that Family Historian fails badly in this area?

I have tried on numerous occasions to print my tree over several pages (poster style) and to be completely blunt, it is next to useless if you have to go beyond a dozen pages. None of the lines actually line up correctly and the Selotape issue becomes – well, it becomes sticky!

In comparison Family Tree Maker does a terrific job of printing your tree in book format, and the 'bonus software' that came with the early versions of FTM called Charting Companion (from Progeny Genealogy) also did a great job with some really lovely colourful charts.

Surely Calico Pie extremely talented programmers / software developers etc., have the ability to do something similar with Family Historian and make it truly the most versatile AND superior family tree software package on the market.
Come on guys (and gals) do us all a favour and do something useful in the diagram/charting department. Call it a challenge! Go on, I dare you.....  
-Julie
[wink]

ID:4578

This is all ready on the wish list. If you want something NOW take a look at 'The Complete Genealogy Reporter' and works directly with Family Historian Databases.

http://www.fhug.org.uk/wishlist/wldispl ... wlwlref=35

Printing the family tree in the form of a book with a narrative AND charts would surely be every family historian's ultimate aim

Are you sure?  I, for one, do not aim for that.  I much prefer publishing on the Internet where people can contact me and we can share useful information with each other.

For producing things for people without a computer, Jane's suggestion of The Complete Genealogy Reporter is agreed with; I feel it's much better than FTM's book once you get through the learning curve.

Do you still have FTM on your computer?  If so, why not import the GEDCOM and print the FTM book?

The Complete Genealogy Reporter does a pretty good job, but in my case it fails to find all the media links, failing to find a subdirectory in the main media file. I could I suppose change the structure of my media data, If I was anxious to produce a complete book.

It's worth giving the author a shout as in my experience is pretty good at both fixing bugs and adding features.

Thanks for the suggestion; I contacted the author and he replied within the day as follows.

>

I exported a GEDCOM file, being careful to select the choice to Use Full File Path for External File Links and the result was a perfect transfer.  [smile]