Family Tree Chart Types Explained: Pedigree, Descendant, Hourglass and Fan Charts

Not sure which family tree chart to print? Compare pedigree, descendant, hourglass, fan and all-relatives charts and learn which one fits your goal.

A family tree can be drawn in many shapes, and each shape answers a different question. Choosing the right chart before you print saves paper, wall space and a great deal of frustration. Here are the main types and when to use them.

Pedigree chart (ancestor chart)

A pedigree chart starts with one person and shows only their direct ancestors: two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents and so on. It is the classic genealogy form because it doubles predictably with every generation.

Use it when you want to show where one person comes from, for example a chart for a child with both sides of the family.

Limits: it hides siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins entirely. A pedigree chart of eight generations has 255 positions, and most researchers have gaps in the older ones.

Descendant chart

A descendant chart starts with a couple and shows everyone who descends from them, with spouses beside each descendant. It grows downwards and, in a large family, very wide.

Use it when you are preparing a family reunion, a book about one surname, or a gift for the oldest living relative who wants to see all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren in one place.

Hourglass chart

An hourglass chart combines the two: ancestors above the central person, descendants below. It is the most personal chart because the person in the middle sees both where they come from and what they have passed on.

Use it when the chart is about one specific person, such as a birthday or anniversary gift. PrintFamilyTree draws hourglass charts by default, with the father's line growing to the left and the mother's line to the right so that every couple stays together.

All-relatives chart

This is an hourglass chart extended with the siblings of every ancestor and their descendants: uncles, aunts, cousins of every degree. It is the fullest picture of a family and also the largest. Expect it to be a poster rather than a page.

Use it when you want a single wall chart of everything you have found.

Fan chart

A fan chart arranges ancestors in concentric half-circles or full circles around the central person. It is compact and decorative, which makes it popular for framed prints, but it has little room for dates and places in the outer rings.

Use it when decoration matters more than detail.

Which chart should you print?

• For a gift for one person: hourglass.
• For a reunion or surname study: descendant.
• For a wall poster with everyone: all relatives.
• For a quick overview of origins: pedigree.
• For a decorative frame: fan.

Whatever you choose, the layout rules stay the same: no boxes may overlap, spouses stay next to each other, children hang below their parents in birth order, and connecting lines should cross as rarely as the data allows. Those are exactly the rules our layout engine enforces, so you can switch between chart types with one click and compare them before printing.