Click simple commands and SmartDraw builds your family tree for you, automatically. Add or remove a family member and SmartDraw will realign and arrange all the family tree elements so that everything continues to look great. No need for manual adjustment. Just focus on building your family tree.
Import family photos to personalize your tree. Apply professionally-designed theme colors in a single click to create a stylish final product you can be proud to print or share.
SmartDraw is easy to work with no matter what other apps you use. You can add family tree charts to:
SmartDraw works hand in glove with most file storage systems. You can save your family trees directly to:
Share your family tree with anyone, even if they don't own a copy of SmartDraw, with a link. You can also easily export any diagram as a PDF or common image formats like PNG or SVG.
Have a question? Chat or email us. SmartDraw support is in-house and free!
Share your family tree with other family members. They can help you build your tree in real time or share their input in comments. You can also share your tree with anyone who doesn't own SmartDraw by emailing them a link.
Collaboration is always easy with SmartDraw.
Select any of these family trees below to open SmartDraw in your browser and customize them to make them your own.
Decide where to start building your family tree. Most people begin with themselves and add their siblings and their parents. Then they build upwards adding their ancestors including grandparents and great-grandparents, and so on. You'll also want to decide how many generations you want to show in your tree. Most family trees focus on a direct lineage and immediate family, but you can also build a more comprehensive family tree and include all known relatives.
In SmartDraw, click on New Document, choose the Tree Diagrams category and select the Family Tree template. The template will have all the tools and symbols you need to complete your family tree. In fact, you'll start with a basic family tree already on the page.
Select any box and type to add your name and names of your family members.
There are two ways you can add family members. You can click the yellow arrow shaped action buttons to add a new family member in the direction of the arrow. Alternatively, you can click the buttons on the SmartPanel to the left of your drawing area to Add Ancestor, Add Descendant, Add Spouse, or Add Sibling. Tip: Add siblings before adding spouses.
Personalize your tree by adding photos of family members to your tree. Select a shape and click Add Picture to browse your computer for a photo to add.
Dress up your family tree with professional colors. You can apply pre-designed color themes. You can also create a custom theme that matches your family and style.
Making a family tree is often a family affair. You can invite family members to work on your tree with you. You can edit your tree as a group in real-time while sharing family stories.
Once your family tree is ready you can export it as a PDF, PNG, or SVG. You can print it or insert it into PowerPoint®, Word®, or any Google Workspace app like Google Docs.
Family trees are powerful genealogy charts that organize and retain historical data related to genealogy by illustrating ancestry, descent and relationship of all members of a family or other genealogical group. Family trees are commonly presented with the oldest generations at the top and the newer generations at the bottom.
Family tree templates from SmartDraw are so easy to use there's virtually no learning curve. Simply open one up and start adding information.
SmartDraw guides you through the process of adding new family members and making sure they are positioned correctly in the tree.
One of the key decisions when building a family tree is deciding who to include. Do you plan to print your tree or share it digitally? The more generations you include, the bigger your tree will be and you may want to limit the information you show to keep your tree legible.
There are quite a few different ways to showcase your family tree. The most common one is probably an ancestor chart. An ancestor family tree starts with one person and traces their parents and grandparents going backward. A descendant chart is the reverse of an ancestor chart. It starts with a single person and shows their children, grandchildren, and future generations going forward. An hourglass or sand glass tree displays both ancestors and descendants around a single individual or couple.
Ancestry is often preferred for its larger database of U.S. records and DNA matches, which provides a better chance of finding matches for U.S. residents. MyHeritage is a strong contender for those with European heritage
A pedigree tree takes a scientific approach to families and focuses on specific inherited traits, medical issues, and diseases using standard symbols for males and females. A family tree is a more general and comprehensive approach to documenting relatives focusing on names and dates of marriage, birth, and death.
SmartDraw lets you add data to any shape including shapes representing your family members on a family tree. If you want to keep the clutter in your visible tree to a minimum, you can store additional information like birth dates, place of birth, and other biographical notes as shape data that is only visible on hover. Learn more about adding shape data.
SmartDraw's family tree maker lets you change the layout of your entire tree in a click. You can invert an ancestor tree or make your tree go left to right or vice versa. You can also easily modify your branch style or click and drag individual boxes around and your entire chart will automatically adjust to any changes. Let SmartDraw do the work for you.
Discover why SmartDraw is the ideal family tree maker.