Making a simple family tree
A family tree diagram reads top-down: the oldest generation at the root, each indent level one generation later. Put a couple on one line ("George & Mary"), indent their children beneath them, and indent again for grandchildren. The layout engine keeps every generation aligned on its own row, however lopsided the branches are — no box-nudging required.
- Start with the ancestor (or couple) you're tracing from.
- Indent one line per child, in birth order if you know it.
- Keep indenting for each new generation; add spouses on the same line.
- Pick a theme, then export a PNG for printing or sharing.
Tips that keep family trees readable
- Trace one direction. A tree shows descendants of one root cleanly. To show ancestors of one person instead, make that person the root and treat each indent level as "parents of".
- Add years sparingly. "Emma (b. 1998)" is helpful; full birth-marriage-death data belongs in a genealogy record, not on the picture.
- Use left-to-right layout for deep trees. Five or more generations fit a page better sideways — one click on the layout toggle.
When you need more than a simple tree
This page is built for quick, presentable family trees — school projects, a reunion handout, the family group chat. If you need marriage links between branches, medical history notation, or the standard clinical symbols used by therapists and social workers, that's a genogram, a different diagram with its own conventions — a dedicated genogram maker handles those properly. And for hierarchies that aren't families at all, the general tree diagram maker and examples gallery cover org charts, category trees, and more.