Ancestor Fan Charts

An ancestral fan chart can be designed in either a full circular display or a semi-circular display depending upon the number of generations and the amount birth, marriage, and death information that you want included on your ancestor chart.  The starting individual is in the center, and each successive ring contains the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and so on until the outer ring of the chart is reached. Fan charts compact the layout the most and can be used to show up to about 8-9 generations of ancestors. Once you go past 8-9 generations of ancestors, you will want to consider a vertical ancestor chart instead of an ancestral fan chart. Photos can't be included on fan charts.

If you haven't already designed your family tree chart so that it is ready for printing, we can do the chart design for you. Once we've completed the layout and design work we will send you a non-printable PDF preview of what your chart will look like when printed for you to review and approve. At that point we will also know the dimensions of your chart which is what will determine the cost for printing. If the design, size, and cost for printing are satisfactory to you, we then, and only then, proceed with printing.

If you're designing your own chart, your genealogy software program may lay out your information differently than the examples shown below; however, since we can print from most any genealogy software program, the actual design is not an issue for us. To view other examples of family tree charts, return to our examples page.

Below is an example of an ancestor fan chart which begins at the bottom center and then branches out in an arc above to show each generation of direct ancestors. Using 12 point bold for the names and 10 point regular for the birth, marriage, and death facts, this fan chart which includes 9 generations of ancestors would measure 42 inches tall by 72 inches wide. Siblings of the starting individual can optionally be included; however, the spouse of the starting individual can't be included.

Click on the chart image below to see a larger version in a pop-up window

Below is an enlarged portion of the ancestor fan chart poster shown above which shows the popular option of outlining males in the traditional color blue and females in pink.

Below is an example of how we can customize an ancestor fan chart to make it into a very special gift. Using 12 point bold for the names and 10 point regular for the birth, marriage, and death facts, this fan chart which includes 8 generations of ancestors would measure 42 inches tall by 72 inches wide. Siblings of the starting individual can optionally be included; however, the spouse of the starting individual can't be included

Click on the ancestor fan chart image below to see a larger version in a pop-up window

Another interesting and colorful design for an ancestral fan chart is to color the rings for each change of generation of ancestors as shown below. This type of ancestor fan chart includes only names along with the birth and death years. As a result, it is more compact since it doesn't include as much information. Neither the spouse or siblings of the starting individual can be included in any of these full color ring charts shown below. Unlike the charts above where the font size remains the same throughout the entire chart, the font size becomes smaller in the outer rings on the charts shown below. This 7 generation chart would be about 3 feet wide.

Click on the ancestor fan chart image below to see a larger version in a pop-up window

Below is an enlarged portion of the ancestor fan chart shown above with colored rings.

This same type of colorful design for an ancestral fan chart which shows just names birth-death years can also be laid out in a full circle as shown below.  As a result, it is more compact since it doesn't include as much information.  This 7 generation ancestor fan chart would print on a 3 foot square sheet of paper.

Below is an enlarged portion of the full circle ancestral fan chart shown above with colored rings.

In addition to the other types of family tree charts shown on our examples page which you just came from, there are also many other examples of printed family tree charts on almost every page on our site, so please take the time to browse around for awhile. There are even a few examples of charts with a photographic background on our page about enhancing your chart. We've also included several tips to keep in mind on our page titled submitting your order that you might find helpful as you go about designing your chart.

We're so sure you'll love our genealogy printing services that we confidently provide a complete money back guarantee on all orders. We look forward to being able to work with you and your family. Please call us at 630-653-8400 or e-mail us at sales@ancestryprinting.com if you have any questions about our about our family tree chart printing services. International callers can also Skype us if preferred; however, we ask that you email us to set up a convenient time for a Skype to Skype call.  We are located in the central time zone of the U.S. (GMT/UTC-6 and -5 in the summer), and can make arrangements for incoming Skype to Skype calls up to around 10:00 PM local time on most nights. We only accept Skype to Skype calls that have been pre-arranged by email.  And, if you haven't already done so please watch the video about our services.