* Moving Individual Boxes

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

Hi, I'm very new to FH (v.7), having used TMG for years, and I'm really struggling with it. I have created a diagram, which looks fine and I now know how to add extra information in the boxes. However it is the placement of the boxes that I can't seem to alter. I'm trying to re-arrange some of them so that the edge of the pages when printing, won't slice through said boxes.

I've looked at the Help Files and know about clicking on the Move icon and then on the box that I want to shift. I get the white thingies around the box and drag from the corner to where I want the right hand side of the box to be. However, after I've dragged the left corner along to the right, the whole box just snaps back to where it was in the first place. Does this mean that individual boxes cannot be moved, and if so, why not? Surely nobody wants their boxes sliced in half when printing. The Help Files are not that helpful as following the instructions from them, doesn't seem to achieve the promised result.

Thanks!

[LornaCraig]

Hello, welcome to FHUG.

Have you discovered the buttons for displaying page boundaries and avoiding page boundaries? The Avoid button will automatically shift boxes so that they don't straddle a page boundary.

avoid page boundaries.JPG (11.22 KiB) Viewed 530 times

It is certainly possible to move individual boxes if you need to, but if you are trying to move horizontally (in a top-down diagram) you have to move one box relative to another, so start by setting one as the Fixed Point, then move another away from it. (Don't drag the white dots at the corners - just click in the box itself and drag it.)

It's worth studying the various techniques available, as explained in the Help page for the Movement Control Box. FH diagrams are extremely flexible but it can take a bit of practice.

You may also find it useful to adjust the scaling of the diagram, either by changing the scaling % in the General tab of the Diagram Options or by dragging the slider in the Movement Control Box.

Ask again if you need further help.

[tatewise]

Also, rather than printing directly to paper, many users 'print' to a single large PDF 'page' and if necessary print the PDF file.
That is achieved by using Diagram > Save Diagram As > PDF File and accepting the default single page options.
See the FHUG Knowledge Base > Single PDF Page of a Diagram.
That also explains some of the Diagram Scale and Page Boundaries options.

[Gowermick]

There is an existing bug, where the diagram toolbar ‘hides’ some of its buttons off to the right, when width of window is narrow. If this happens, just widen then restore the window a tiny fraction, this triggers the toolbar to adjust itself, and if necessary, expand into a second row. CP were made aware a while ago, but bug hasn’t yet been fixed

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

There is an existing bug, where the diagram toolbar ‘hides’ some of its buttons off to the right, when width of window is narrow. If this happens, just widen then restore the window a tiny fraction, this triggers the toolbar to adjust itself, and if necessary, expand into a second row. CP were made aware a while ago, but bug hasn’t yet been fixed

Thanks, yes I did discover that and wondered why it was like that, so thanks for the tip!

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

Also, rather than printing directly to paper, many users 'print' to a single large PDF 'page' and if necessary print the PDF file.
That is achieved by using Diagram > Save Diagram As > PDF File and accepting the default single page options.
See the FHUG Knowledge Base > Single PDF Page of a Diagram.
That also explains some of the Diagram Scale and Page Boundaries options.

Ah, thanks for that. I will look at that once I've managed to understand how to create a passable looking chart. At the moment I'm totally lost!

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

Hello, welcome to FHUG.

Have you discovered the buttons for displaying page boundaries and avoiding page boundaries? The Avoid button will automatically shift boxes so that they don't straddle a page boundary.

avoid page boundaries.JPG

It is certainly possible to move individual boxes if you need to, but if you are trying to move horizontally (in a top-down diagram) you have to move one box relative to another, so start by setting one as the Fixed Point, then move another away from it. (Don't drag the white dots at the corners - just click in the box itself and drag it.)

It's worth studying the various techniques available, as explained in the Help page for the Movement Control Box. FH diagrams are extremely flexible but it can take a bit of practice.

You may also find it useful to adjust the scaling of the diagram, either by changing the scaling % in the General tab of the Diagram Options or by dragging the slider in the Movement Control Box.

Ask again if you need further help.

Hi Lorna, thanks for that. I'm afraid I don't find any of the Help pages to be particularly helpful. I have used the Avoid button and whilst it avoids boxes, the bars (I presume they are the lines that join boxes up) are still running along the joins of the paper. The generations aren't lined up either. I'm attaching copy of what I have so far. I want to move the group of people on the right, further right, ie onto a 5th and 6th page, but whatever I try, just doesn't work. I tried making a fixed point, which worked OK, but it wouldn't let me move the others away from it

To cap it all, it won't let me save my diagram unless I save it as a Ged file!!! I was hoping to save it and have another look in the morning, but as I can't save it, I'll lose all my work on it. I used to use Reunion, many, many years ago for charts and it was so easy as you could just drag and drop a single box, or group of boxes to wherever you liked, in seconds. My data went into TMG and I just made a Ged to transfer it to Reunion for the charts. I think FH is far more complex than TMG!

Attempt at a chart I can't save!

Capture.JPG (53.67 KiB) Viewed 435 times

[tatewise]

Use the Diagram > Save Diagram command to save it as what FH calls a Saved Chart.
Then retrieve it via the Charts > Save Charts... menu option and select the Chart Name you saved.
That preserves the layout and style of the Diagram that you have adjusted.

Use the Movement Control Box with Fixed Point enabled.
Select and Set any box in the lefthand branch, then drag any box in the righthand branch to move the branches apart.

Click the cursor on any corner of the dotted page boundary lines where they cross, then you can drag the page boundary lines around to avoid the diagram box joining lines.

[LornaCraig]

Edit: Mike's reply came in while I was writing this but I'll post this anyway, as I've marked some suggested moves.

To cap it all, it won't let me save my diagram unless I save it as a Ged file!!!

You can’t save a diagram as a Ged file. To save a diagram in its current form use Diagram > Save Diagram. (This is the same as Diagram > Save diagram As > Family Historian Chart.) Give it a memorable name. You can then access your saved charts from Charts > Saved Charts.

save diagram.JPG (23.18 KiB) Viewed 418 times

the bars (I presume they are the lines that join boxes up) are still running along the joins of the paper.

I suggest you reduce the scale of the diagram very slightly, so that the bars fit just above the page boundaries. Use the slider in the Movement control Box. You may need to move the whole tree very slightly relative to the pages. This can also be done using the movement control box Tree move (or by dragging a corner of the page boundaries, as Mike has described).

I want to move the group of people on the right, further right, ie onto a 5th and 6th page, but whatever I try, just doesn't work. I tried making a fixed point, which worked OK, but it wouldn't let me move the others away from it

Personally I wouldn’t expand onto any more pages. I would leave the group on the right where they are and move the two ‘stray’ boxes from the left hand group back to the left hand pages, by using a Box and Bar move to slide their connecting bar (marked in green below) to the left.

However, if you do want to expand onto more pages on the right you can do this using a Fixed Point move. Use the box which I’ve marked in red as the fixed point. Then drag the box marked in blue away from it to the right.

This all only takes a few seconds when you know how to do it, so do persevere. Unfortunately it’s harder to describe in words than to do it by demonstrating! 

chart.JPG (85.95 KiB) Viewed 418 times

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

You can’t save a diagram as a Ged file. To save a diagram in its current form use Diagram > Save Diagram. (This is the same as Diagram > Save diagram As > Family Historian Chart.)

Hi, I tried to do that but it would still only let me save as a Ged. A message kept appearing telling me that my tree wasn't and FH Project. I have no idea why, as it was all created in FH. Anyway, it wouldn't let me save it as a chart or diagram so have had to re-do it and this time, it seems to work as it should.

I suggest you reduce the scale of the diagram very slightly, so that the bars fit just above the page boundaries. Use the slider in the Movement control Box. You may need to move the whole tree very slightly relative to the pages. This can also be done using the movement control box Tree move (or by dragging a corner of the page boundaries, as Mike has described).

Ok, well I reduced the scale of the new tree to 90% and the bars are now on the actual pages, rather than on the joins, which is great. I clicked on AVOID to get this, and just the home person at the bottom was on a page of its own. I then used the Movement Control Box (I think half of my problem is not understanding the jargon) to move the whole tree up a bit, using 'move everything', which also worked. I'm not sure of the difference between 'move everything' and 'move tree' as there is only a tree on there.

Also how do I know how large the writing is going to be when printed? This particular chart is for my 88 year old mother, whose eyesight isn't too bad for her age, but i don't want her to struggle reading it. My own printer doesn't seem to work, and it'll mean going to the library to print it, so I can't just test it out.

I want to move the group of people on the right, further right, ie onto a 5th and 6th page, but whatever I try, just doesn't work. I tried making a fixed point, which worked OK, but it wouldn't let me move the others away from it

Personally I wouldn’t expand onto any more pages. I would leave the group on the right where they are and move the two ‘stray’ boxes from the left hand group back to the left hand pages, by using a Box and Bar move to slide their connecting bar (marked in green below) to the left.

I can't try that at the moment as the new tree is on six pages. It would be nice to get it down to four, but it'll make the right hand part of the tree stand on long stalks again. I want to keep the generations in line, and I'm sure it could be fitted onto four pages if the boxes could be closer together, but as you can't move individual boxes horizontally (this is an Ancestor, bottom up chart) I don't think it'd possible.

However, if you do want to expand onto more pages on the right you can do this using a Fixed Point move. Use the box which I’ve marked in red as the fixed point. Then drag the box marked in blue away from it to the right.

I'll create a dummy tree and try that again. I gave it a go, but it wouldn't move the branch I was trying to move, even though I did have a fixed point.

This all only takes a few seconds when you know how to do it, so do persevere. Unfortunately it’s harder to describe in words than to do it by demonstrating!

 

Well I'm always up for a challenge!

Thanks



chart.JPG

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

I don't know why my previous hasn't shown the quotes as quotes. I did click on the speech marks!

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

Use the Diagram > Save Diagram command to save it as what FH calls a Saved Chart.
Then retrieve it via the Charts > Save Charts... menu option and select the Chart Name you saved.
That preserves the layout and style of the Diagram that you have adjusted.

Use the Movement Control Box with Fixed Point enabled.
Select and Set any box in the lefthand branch, then drag any box in the righthand branch to move the branches apart.

Click the cursor on any corner of the dotted page boundary lines where they cross, then you can drag the page boundary lines around to avoid the diagram box joining lines.

Hi Mike
It just would not let me save it unless it was a Ged. It came up with messages saying it wasn't an FH project. No idea what to make of that. I've had to make another tree, which does seem to save properly. I will try dragging the dotted lines on a dummy tree and see if i can get round the problem of dragging boxes around using a fixed point. I can create a fixed point, but the boxes I want to drag, just won't drag! Nothing seems to do what it's supposed to do

Thanks

[tatewise]

Rosemary, I think I have corrected the Quotes marks.

I believe the problem with saving the chart is because you have not created a Project.
You are just opening a free-standing GEDCOM file and should have got a warning when you opened that in FH, but perhaps you unticked 'Show this again next time'.
The main FH window on the very top border will say - Standalone GEDCOM File (LIMITED FUNCTIONALITY) -
Being unable to save Charts is part of the Limited Functionality.

You need to use the File > Project Window... then the New Project... button and Import a GEDCOM file to select the GEDCOM file you have been using and let it be the Default Project.
Then when you open FH it will open that Project by default and say - Family Historian Project - at the top of the window.
See FHUG Knowledge Base Understanding Projects which lists the functionality only available within Projects.

[LornaCraig]

Also how do I know how large the writing is going to be when printed? This particular chart is for my 88 year old mother, whose eyesight isn't too bad for her age, but i don't want her to struggle reading it….

...... the new tree is on six pages. It would be nice to get it down to four, but it'll make the right hand part of the tree stand on long stalks again.

With the whole chart spread across six pages (i.e. 3 wide) then, as you have realised, you can keep the generations aligned, which means the chart will not be so tall. That means you probably won’t have to reduce the scale to make the bars in the middle avoid the page boundaries. (Just move the tree relative to the page boundaries.) So 100% scale should work. This should be fine for your mother to read if she can manage normal print in books or newspapers.

As Mike has explained, you need to create a Project from your Gedcom file, to be able to use all the features of FH properly. There is advice on importing to FH from other programs here: Importing to Family Historian If you need help with any aspect of the import start a new topic in the Importing forum.

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

Thanks Lorna for your help and patience!

[TheGarlickyKnitter]

Rosemary, I think I have corrected the Quotes marks.

Hi Mike, thanks for that.

I believe the problem with saving the chart is because you have not created a Project.
You are just opening a free-standing GEDCOM file and should have got a warning when you opened that in FH, but perhaps you unticked 'Show this again next time'.
The main FH window on the very top border will say - Standalone GEDCOM File (LIMITED FUNCTIONALITY) -
Being unable to save Charts is part of the Limited Functionality.

I seem to remember that, but gave me either the option to Open it or Merge/Combine it. As there was nothing for me to merge it with, I just opened it.

You need to use the File > Project Window... then the New Project... button and Import a GEDCOM file to select the GEDCOM file you have been using and let it be the Default Project.
Then when you open FH it will open that Project by default and say - Family Historian Project - at the top of the window.

Ah, OK. I beginning to think that there are so many ways of doing things, that I'm getting confused. It would never have occurred to me to go into FILE - PROJECT WINDOW etc just to import a Ged. I just went from FILE - IMPORT/EXPORT etc, which seemed the most logical method

See FHUG Knowledge Base Understanding Projects which lists the functionality only available within Projects.

Thanks for that. I'll have a read.