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My
Ancestor Chart
Unique Six Generation Wall Chart Creator |
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My Ancestor
Chart User Guide
Introduction
My Ancestor Chart is a
database program that has the ability to quickly and easily create
six generation pedigree wall charts suitable to:
frame and
display in your home, add to your family history archives
give as gifts to your family.
My Ancestor Chart is unique
in that there is enough space to include all birth/christening,
marriage and death dates and locations for every ancestor in your
tree (birth details only for siblings) as well as up to 37 color or
black and white portraits. All this in one compact chart.
The capability of the chart is as follows:
• 62
ancestors and the source individual can be displayed in each
chart. • up to six siblings of the source individual
The
chart has been designed to be printed onto quality paper and
displayed in a standard 18” x 12” frame. However, with the included
pdf conversion utility, you can shrink or expand charts to any
standard paper size such as A2, A3, A4, A5 and quarto, ledger etc.
Software
Installation.
Software included on the CD or
downloadable at www.genfindit.com
My Ancestor Chart
(FileMaker runtime program) PDF995 PDF File Creator Adobe
Reader
My Ancestor Chart is the program in which you create
your Ancestor Charts. Further details can be found at
http://www.genfindit.com
PDF995 PDF File Creator is the fast
way to create documents in the popular PDF file format. Its
easy-to-use interface allows you to create PDF files by simply
selecting the "print" command from any application, creating
documents which can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer such
as Adobe Reader. Further installation details can be found at:
http://www.pdf995.com
Adobe Reader is a free application for
viewing and printing Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files on
your computer. Further installation details can be found at
http://www.adobe.com/products//readstep2.html
To install My
Ancestor Chart to your Program files directory simply insert the CD
in your CD-ROM drive. The auto-run feature will show a presentation
screen. Here you can download the the installation programs. Follow
the instructions.
A desktop icon will be placed on your
desktop and you may launch the My Ancestor Chart program
immediately.
The program may take up to 30 seconds to run.
You should then see an an introduction screen.
Installing PDF995 onto your computer
We
recommend you load the free PDF file utility immediately and set up
the Print Set Up options before creating a wall chart. Simply press
the “Install PDF995 PDF File Creator” button on the Installation CD.
It will automatically install the program. Very easy. It may take up
to a minute to load the program without advising you of progress.
You may see a splash screen at the end. Just close it to go back to
My Ancestor Chart program.
Alternatively download it from :
http://www.genfindit.com/pdf995.exe
Print
Set Up - Important!
Do not set up
your normal Printer at this stage! You need to set up the printer as
PDF995 so that the program can save your chart as a PDF
file
Select File in the Menu toolbar then Print
Setup Ensure the following parameters are selected:
Print
: Current Record Printer Name: PDF995 Double check that
PDF995 is the printer name set or you will come unstuck. Select
Properties…. Size: A3 Orientation: Landscape
Press
OK
My Ancestor Chart
Basics
My Ancestor Chart is is essentially a database,
where you can create and store one or many wall charts. . When you
start the application it may take up to 15-30 seconds to see the
initial introduction screen. you can then press a button to go to
the Chart or Generations view. A blank template appears… in
FileMaker it is called a “record” but we call it a chart. You are
now ready to begin entering your wall chart data.
Tip: To
make a new blank chart (or “record) press the New Chart
Button.
All data entered onto the chart is automatically
saved. There is no need to manually save the chart file.
A
completed sample of a Ancestor Chart is included in the program.
Press the arrow button back or forward to toggle back and forth to
the sample chart or to charts you have created.
You can
decrease or enlarge any layout view by zooming to other sizes. The
default Chart View is set at 75%. At this level you can see the
entire chart. in 1028 x768 pixel screen mode. If your screen mode is
set at 800 x 600 you may need to zoom to reduced levels. Other zoom
levels are 50% 100% 150% 200% 300% and 400% . Zoom levels that do
not have a button can be adjusted in the bottom left hand corner of
the screen where you see the graph icons.
Entering My Ancestor Chart details
You
can enter your ancestors name, birth, marriage, death dates and
places directly into the chart in Chart View. Use the zoom button to
magnify the chart and scroll over to Person #1.
However the
Generations View has a six Generation layout that starts at the 1st
Generation and scrolls progressively down the screen to the 6th
Generation and Siblings. Using the Generations View can make it more
comfortable to add your ancestor details. To use this feature press
the Generation View button.
Begin entering your prime
ancestor’s name and birth, marriage and death dates and places.
Replace “Start Here! Person #1” and enter the person’s full given
name, using the format convention as "title case" for the Christian
names and "uppercase" for the surname. For example: John William
SMITH. Always replace the "parent title" with the "parent" actual
name.
The next three lines are for the birth, marriage and
death dates and places. The characters * = and + mean:
*
Birth or Christening = Marriage + Death or Burial
For
dates the international convention is:
dd mmm yyyy = where dd
is day, mmm is month and yyyy is year. Therefore September 29, 1930
should be formatted preferably as 29 Sep 1930.
For places
there are approx. 32 character spaces available. You can use your
own preferences to enter place details. To conserve space we
recommend you use the Chapman Code abbreviation for State / Province
and Country.
For example: Mesa, AZ, USA or Sydney, NSW, AUS
or London, LON, ENG
A full list of Chapman codes can be
searched at:
http://www.users.on.net/proformat/cccodes.html
Many genealogy publications also feature Chapman code
conversion charts.
Now continue by entering details of the
father and mother of Person #1 in the places indicated where it says
#2 Father and #3 Mother and follow that with the grandparents, great
grandparents etc. as indicated. The paternal side of the family
completes the left hand side of the chart and the maternal side
completes the right hand side. Marriage details are not shown in the
female spouse fields.
There is space to add up to six
siblings of Person #1 You will see the six picture place holders and
detail fields adjacent to and below Person #1 There are connecting
lines drawn between each sibling. If any line is not require simply
click on that connecting line and press delete on the keyboard or
select Edit then Clear on the Menu Bar.
Easy
peasy!
When you have completed filling in as much detail as
you can about your ancestors please ensure the family name in
inserted in the field that already shows the words “{Your Name}
Family Tree”.
Adding portrait images of
your ancestors.
When adding portraits of your
ancestors......
Recommended image size: 100 pixels across 128
high. You can vary this but see notes below.
Minimum image
size: 50 pixels across 64 pixels high.
The approximate
portrait ratio of the picture placeholder is: 4 wide : 5
high
Image sizes higher than the recommend size or other
format ratios will automatically reduce to fit into the image
placeholder. Inserting excessively large pictures in the image
placeholder may crash the program and / or make the resulting chart
file size unnecessarily large causing the printer to print the chart
rather slowly.
Color images and black & white pictures
can be used. The following common picture formats are
acceptable:
BMP DRW EPS GIF JPEG JPG PIC PCT PCX PSD PNG TIF
TGA .
You can add a portrait of an ancestor to a image
placeholder by inserting it, using drag and drop, or by pasting the
graphic from the Clipboard.
Inserting an
image from a file.
1 In Browse mode, click the image
placeholder where you want the image to appear. 2 Press the
Insert Picture Button 3 In the dialog box, locate and select the
image file.
Deleting a picture from the chart. 1 In Browse
mode, click the image placeholder. 2 Press the Delete button on
your keyboard (not Delete Chart button!).
Gallery
Some default images appearing in
Gallery can be used in case you don't have a portrait of an ancestor
. To copy an image just insert the cursor onto an image and press
Ctrl: C. Go back to the Chart and insert the cursor to the location
where you want to insert the picture and press Ctrl: V The picture
will appear.
Seven Generation Wall Chart
Alternative Layout
It is possible to configure My
Ancestor Chart as a Seven Generation Wall Chart. In this situation
only your paternal or maternal ancestors are shown as well as Source
Person #1 and spouse and four children of that couple. To do this
simply enter the Source Person as No 1 and the spouse beside that
Person #1. Remove connecting line not required on the same row. Then
use the four detail and image placeholders below that couple for the
four children. Remove connecting lines not required between
children.
Preview the Wall
Chart
You can preview the chart at any time by
pressing the Preview Chart button. To see the preview displayed
correctly you must ensure that you have set up the Print Set Up
parameters as described in Print Setup above.
Saving the Wall Chart as a PDF File
We
highly recommend that you check your work before printing the chart.
One friend printed six quality copies of his chart only to discover
he had spelt the name of his sister Donna as Doona!
It is
possible that the wall chart may show details in some ancestor
fields truncated. This will happen if you entered too many
characters in a field particularly in Generations View. You may need
to abbreviate the contents of some fields to accommodate
this
The wall chart size is approx. 27.5cm x 27.25cm and
within is designed to be printed on (420 x 297mm) A3 paper
(approximately U.S. ledger size) in landscape orientation.
Note that the buttons you see on the around the edges of the
chart in Chart View will not be printed when you print an actual
chart.
Few genealogists will have a large format printer to
print in A3, ledger or similar. However by using the printer plug-in
called PDF 995 which came with the software provided, you can print
to almost any paper size large or small. If you own a copy you can
also print to the FULL version of Adobe .
When you are ready
to print a particular Wall Chart press the “Print to PDF” button.
The program will open the print dialog box.
IMPORTANT Ensure the Print Set Up parameters are as
described in Print Setup above.
Press OK
Press
OK
The screen may blank out temporarily while it does this.
Then a dialog box will be presented to “save as” the pdf file. Type
in a file name such as “your family name” for the file and a
location (such as your Desktop) to save it to. A “sponsor” screen
may also appear which you should close before
proceeding.
Printing the Chart in
Adobe Reader
A copy of the Adobe Reader installation
program has been included on CD versions. Alternatively you can
download Adobe Reader at
http://www.adobe.com/products//readstep2.html
The file
created can now be printed on your home printer to any size of your
printer's capability such as A4, A3, quarto or any other size.
To do this you need to open the file in Adobe Reader. This
program is included with My Ancestor Chart program on
CD.
Locate the PDF file you created and by double clicking on
the icon or filename it should open the Adobe Reader program and you
will see your wall chart displayed in Landscape mode. To view the
image more closely you can zoom in to any chosen zoom
level..
You will need to select your Adobe page set up and
printer setup requirements before printing
Page Setup
Select your Output Printer
... that is the printer you intend to print to. Choose your paper
size such as A3, A4, Ledger, Quarto or even very large format paper
sizes. Select Landscape mode
You may need to experiment
with differing paper types. You can print on plain white paper or
you may choose a colored paper. The best effect is on 90gsm Marbled
Parchment Paper. “Antique Beige” color is particularly
attractive.
Printer
Setup
Important: Tick “Shrink oversize pages to paper
size” Important Tick “Auto-rotate and center pages”
Then
go for it.. Print your chart.
Using a
Print Shop
Most of you will ultimately want to print a
the chart in a large paper size. Companies such as Kinkos (many
countries) or Officeworks in Australia will print the chart for you
for a small fee. They will have some standard paper types and sizes.
We paid Au$2.70 for per A3 print size at OfficeWorks. The images
were digital color printed and the clarity and vibrance of charts
printed this way made the Ancestor Charts absolutely stunning.
Genfindit can also supply Antique Beige A3 (420x297mm)
Parchment Paper and ship it to you for Au$14 per 10 sheets including
postage in Australia. Contact records@genfindit.com for
details.
Framing your
Chart
18" x 12" frames are a common size that can be
purchased as a stock line from most picture framing outlets or
stores.
Copyright
The My
Ancestor Chart program and 6 generation layout design is copyright ©
by Julian van der Veer. Please don't make copies of the program as
this will ultimately affect our ability to improve the software for
future release.
Troubleshooting
If you have difficulties
with the program please contact Julian at
records@genfindit.com
We hope you enjoy using the MY
Ancestor Chart.
Julian van der
Veer
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VISIT OUR ONLINE UK ORDERING SERVICE AT http://www.genfindit.com/
Established 1998
http://www.genfindit.com/
28 Hilma Street Collaroy Plateau NSW 2097 Australia
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