Freebie o’ the Week: Family ChARTist
Our second Free Stuff Friday Freebie, another FREE chart option, is a brand spanking new offering from Generation Maps called Family ChARTist. Janet Hovorka (development director for Generation Maps), was showcasing this super-cool new web application at the Family History Expo in St. George last month. She says that Family ChARTist will make creating and designing beautiful genealogy charts easier and faster than ever before. Family ChARTist launched this Monday, so I just had to go and try it out.
Here’s what I made:
Freebie: Any 8.5 X 11 chart free of charge, as a .jgp download. (Larger charts are available for ordering, at a price.)
What it is/does: Offers virtually infinite possibilities for creating a variety of Genealogy charts.
How to get it: Go to Family ChArtist and create your chart. To get the .jpg for your Free Chart, press “Order” at the bottom-right of your screen and download it to your computer.
Downside?
- It took much longer than I expected to create my chart, but that was in part because I got pulled into the process and played around with it a lot.
- I couldn’t figure out how to get pictures onto my charts at all. (Hopefully, you’ll hear more from me about that in coming posts.)
- The process isn’t nearly as intuitive as I had hoped, but it is graphically intriguing.
Why it’s cool: Family ChARTist gives you an amazing number of options for making your chart:
- Data entry – you can use everything from manual data entry to GEDCOM and New FamilySearch imports to get your data entered. You can also include “extra” family members (Yeah, Janet! A big Thank you from adoptees everywhere!).
- Backgrounds – Tons, including a whole cache of LDS temple backgrounds, for those so inclined.
- Titles, Borders & Embellishments – Fun little swills and swishes to add panache.
Final Thoughts: Last week, I highlighted another chart company, Tree Seek, and I still think that is a great option, especially if you’re looking to create a quick chart for family records, or an awesome 9-Generation Fan Chart. However, Family ChARTist is a good option for creating more artsy, Hang-on-the-Wall or Give-to-Grandma-for-Mother’s-Day type charts, especially if you have the time to really play around with it.
This Weeks’ BONUS FREEBIE:
I am a huge Hibernophile (St. Patrick’s Day is my second favorite holiday!) so for all those out there who have a bit of Irish ancestry (and those who wish ye did!), you can get free St. Patrick’s Day clip-art at Vintage Holiday Crafts.
Every year on St. Patrick’s Day, before I let the family eat our traditional meal of corned beef, cabbage, and the most amazing mashed potatoes ever, I make my kids listen to retell the story of St. Patrick – who the man was, and what he did. (Note eye-rolling and groaning all ’round the dinner table. Nevertheless…) it is an amazing story.
Renee,
We had a few unexpected glitches on launch. But we are already on to version 1.1 today with several fixes. The picture uploading should be working now. And some of the “intuitive” processes are fixed with more coming in the near future. This is definitely a work in progress with more graphics, and lots more functionality coming soon.
We’ll look forward to making you a great chart.
Janet
I can certainly attest to the stress of a new launch, and the “glitches” that inevitably come with it! Great job on this one, Janet!
I wonder if you know why Tree Seek is asking to be connected to our Family Search account.
Thanks
Michelle
Check out these links to read about how the process works: Family Photoloom Works with Tree Seek and How to Use Family Photoloom With New FamilySearch.