Pedigree chart
Direct line only — no siblings, partners or children. Exactly symmetrical.
- Who appears
- Direct ancestors only
- Best for
- Showing where one person came from, when you know several generations back.
- Styles available
- 10 poster styles
A pedigree is symmetrical by construction: every person has exactly two parents, so each generation has twice the slots of the one before. Ancestors you have not filled in yet stay as dashed placeholders rather than collapsing the shape.
How you build one
You do not lay this chart out yourself. You describe your family in ordinary sentences — “my dad is John”, “his parents were Robert and Anne” — and each person is placed as you go. When the family is in, you choose Pedigree as the shape and pick a style.
Free to build, no account needed to start.
Other chart shapes
Centered chartEveryone, with each generation centered so the page stays balanced.
Family recordGenerations set as columns of type, gathered under braces, with botanical corners.
Classic lineageNames only, in spaced capitals, each family gathered under a curly brace.
Family fanEveryone, swept into a half circle from your oldest known ancestor.
Heirloom fanAn inked ancestor fan with a drawn tree at its heart and your names signed below.
Ancestor fanDirect line only, as a half circle. Best when you know several generations back.