Graham Love wrote:
There is no doubt at all that the two programs are linked - any existing text is automatically updated - I have no problem with this, it works as stated. Maybe it is just clever wording since I have yet to find a way where say adding a new child is automatically included without preparing a whole new chart. Doing this of course then loses any previous modifications or tailored layout. I do really like the program and use it extensively, but not without effort. Graham
Yes, adding new people is not automatic but it is fairly easy to ADD people to an existing chart without ruining the custom layout.
Admittedly I am using a shareware version of Treedraw on a 30 day trial. Thanks to E Roder for pointing me to where I could find it.
The shareware version only works with GEDCOM files. In my case I first imported the descendants of a person using the focus group in Legacy to define who to export to a GEDCOM, I then modified the chart to add pictures etc and made sure that the chart was nicely laid out. I then went back into Legacy and exported the ancestors of the top person into a second GEDCOM using another focus group. I imported this second GEDCOM into Treedraw as an ancestor tree and with a little juggling to connect the newly imported chart I had the equivalent of an hourglass tree for one person.
It took a little while to get accustomed to the way Treedraw likes to work and I am still learning the most efficient way to modify the charts for printing but with a little practise I think Treedraw will do exactly what I want for building a chart for my reunion next year.
One difficulty I had with the shareware version was in placing imported pictures. When first imported they are huge and require sizing to fit the people boxes. I kept losing the pictures, nothing showed in the people boxes, not even a placeholder frame. If I clicked where the picture was located a blank frame would appear and seemingly willy-nilly the picture might or might not appear. Once I saved the file and reloaded it however all the pictures were visible and no longer disappeared and reappeared.
Another difficulty, and the person who used Treedraw Legacy told me about this too, is that there is no way to resize a picture and maintain the aspect ratio. It is very easy to distort the picture when trying to size it. With windows size handles grabbing a corner restrains the aspect ratio but not in Treedraw. I also noticed that the image frame did not have the side and top/bottom handles that most Windows sizing frames have. Maybe Treedraw does not use the Windows API for creating the image boundaries.
I still have 29 days in the limited trial so I will keep experimenting.
Gordon, you might try experimenting with importing additional people into an existing chart with Treedraw Legacy. If it works like the regular version you should have little trouble adding new people using a focus group to define the people you want to add. Of course I say that not knowing how the Treedraw Legacy version interfaces to Legacy.
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