Family Tree Maker Overview
Family Tree Maker is the ideal tool to help you discover and preserve your family’s heritage. It’s quick and easy to use for those just starting to research their family history, but it’s also robust enough for the most serious genealogist.
File Management
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- GEDCOM import and export
- Ability to merge files
- Automatic backups and backups to flash drives, external hard drives, and CDs
- Files can be shared between Windows and Mac versions (with migration tool)
- Download trees from Ancestry
- Multiple databases can be opened at the same time
- Ability to export a branch of your tree
- Files from other genealogy software programs can be imported
Reports, Charts, and Books
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Reports
- Ahnentafels
- Bibliographies
- Calendars
- Custom reports
- Data errors reports
- Descendant reports (NGSQ, Register, d’Aboville* and Henry* formats)
- Documented events reports
- Family group sheets
- Individual reports
- Index of Individuals reports*
- Kinship reports
- LDS ordinances reports
- Marriage reports
- Media item reports
- Media usage reports
- Note reports*
- Outline descendant reports
- Parentage reports
- Photo albums
- Place usage reports
- Research journals/task lists
- Source usage reports
- Surname reports*
- Timelines
- Undocumented fact reports*
- Save report settings*
- Save reports as PDFs, images, and text files (varies by report format)
- Customize historical events for timelines*
Charts
- Ancestor trees—pedigree, fan-shaped, bow tie, tree-shaped, and vertical
- Descendant charts
- Extended family charts
- Hourglass charts showing ancestors and descendants
- Relationship charts
- Wall charts
- Custom templates and the ability to create your own
- Add images, photos, and text anywhere*
- Change layout, borders, colors, and formatting
Books
- Desktop book-building tool that lets you use the facts, photos, and charts you’ve already added to your tree to create a family history. Import text files, automatically generate a table of contents and index of individuals in charts and reports, and export as a PDF or text file.
- Web-based publishing service that lets you create family histories or photos books with automatically generated pedigree trees, family group sheets, and timelines. Print at home or have a professionally bound book sent to you.
- Smart Stories—a narrative tool that helps you create biographies of people in your tree.*
Multimedia Features
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- Media management in one central location
- Import a variety of formats: images, documents, and audio/video files
- Scan images directly into software
- Slide shows
- Categories for grouping and sorting
- Missing media item tool*
- Items can link to multiple individuals and/or sources and citations
Data Entry and Tools
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- Alerts for potential errors
- Blended families view
- Conditional fact sentences*
- Custom facts
- Date calculator
- Fastfields to speed entry of descriptions and locations
- Find and Replace tool
- Find Duplicate People tool
- Global fact updater
- Global spellcheck
- LDS facts and display options
- Locations database with more than 3 million places for consistent data entry
- Multiple formats for date input and display
- Name Converter
- Notes for people, research, facts, media items, and sources—2MB per note (about 200 printed pages)
- People index can be sorted and filtered
- Reference numbers for individuals and relationships*
- Relationship Calculator
- Soundex Calculator
- Support for foreign language characters
- Web-clipping tool to capture any online information
Sourcing and Mapping
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Sourcing
- Source templates for simple and consistent source entry
- Sources and citations can be linked to multiple people and/or facts
- Repositories
- Media items can be added to sources and citations
- Ratings systems
- Copy-and-paste for citations
- Merge for duplicate sources
Mapping
- Dynamic road and satellite maps
- Migration maps for individuals and families
- GPS support
- Identification of nearby cemeteries, churches, and other places of interest
Integration with Ancestry.com
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- Ancestry facts and records merge directly into your tree
- Images can be downloaded to your computer
- Hints from Ancestry about records that might match people in your tree
- A desktop tree can be synced with an online tree for access anywhere
- Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices
- Connection with a community of other researchers
- Multiple privacy options for your online family tree
Help & Support
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- Updates available by download
- Contextual and online help
- U.S.-based telephone support
- Video tutorials*
- Electronic user manual
- Message boards
- Online Knowledge Base and FAQ
- Windows version compatible with Microsoft Windows® 7 and Windows® 8/Mac version compatible with OS X 10.7 or later (including OS X 10.10 Yosemite)
*Windows-only feature