Bow Tie Charts

A bow tie chart is yet another variety of ancestor chart and is similar to a standard pedigree chart. It is typically square or portrait orientation depending upon how many generations are shown. It starts with a single individual somewhere around the center of the chart and then shows all of his or her paternal ancestors branching out towards the left and all of his or her maternal ancestors branching out towards the right. This normally reduces the height of a standard pedigree chart by half. Once you go past 5-6 generations of ancestors, a bow tie will become too tall to display in most situations. At that point, you should consider a vertical ancestor chart which is presented in landscape format. Siblings of the starting individual can be included if desired as is shown in the bow tie chart example below. 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 a bow tie chart which begins in the center and then branches to the left to show paternal ancestors and to the right to show maternal ancestors. Using 12 point bold for the names and 10 point regular for the birth, marriage, and death facts, this chart which includes 5 generations of ancestors would measure three feet tall by four feet wide. Click on the bow tie chart image below to see a larger version in a pop-up window

Below is an enlarged portion of the bow tie chart shown above

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.

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 family tree chart printing services or submitting your order. 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.