Which genealogy charts make good (and bad) fillable PDFs?

A customer, Joyce, recently emailed EasyGenie with a question about fillable genealogy PDFs. She said:

“I LOVE all your charts. They have made my family genealogy research organized and beautiful. I have the PDF fillable 4 and 6 generation and recently ordered the 5 generation regular forms. Do you think you will be offering a 5 generation PDF fillable form in the future? It would come in handy for a few of my family lines!”

We get this question often, along with requests to turn our giant 10-generation charts (shown in the photo below) into PDFs.

While I was very grateful for Joyce’s feedback, I had to tell her that, unfortunately, there are no plans to turn the 5-generation chart or any of the largest charts (which also include the 8-generation pedigree chart and 9-generation fan chart) into fillable PDFs.

Before I get into my thinking, it’s helpful to explain why Joyce and thousands of other family historians love our fillable genealogy PDFs:

• It doesn't matter if you have poor handwriting. All you need to do is type or copy/paste text into the forms using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software application for PCs or Macs.
• Multiple chart types are available. We offer various chart types, from family group sheets to pedigree charts to specialized charts for preserving stories. While most use Helvetica for text input, some charts are available in a cursive-style font, Aramis.

• Visually appealing. They are easy to understand and look great on screen or printed out. The same cannot be said for software-generated charts or online printouts from Ancestry or FamilySearch.
• Copies for personal use. Customers are free to make as many copies as needed for personal use on their own devices. This means from a single purchase, it’s possible to create charts for multiple family branches. (However, we do request that you purchase additional PDFs if you want to send digital copies of the PDF to relatives.)
• Easy to update. The PDFs can be updated as new information comes to light.
• Affordable, no subscription needed! The PDFs don’t cost much (some individual charts are under $10), and no subscription is required.
• Customers control their data. EasyGenie does not have access to family information that customers type into the charts.
• Minimal software requirements. The only required software is the free Adobe Acrobat Reader on a PC or Mac.

So, why not expand the fillable PDFs to match all of our popular paper charts?

In a nutshell, most EasyGenie charts are hard to convert to fillable PDFs due to the small writing area. This isn't an issue for the large-print 4- and 6-generation charts and family group sheets, but it is a problem for the 5-generation charts, which have some fields that are quite small.

For some of the really large charts (8, 9, and 10 generation), there are two additional obstacles:

1. It takes too much time. Thousands of individual edits are required to set up the fillable forms correctly.
2. Even if names and dates were inputted, such charts could not be scaled down to 8.5 x 11 inch paper for home printers.

Fortunately, the charts we have converted to fillable PDFs are quite versatile. They include workhorses like the large print 6-generation pedigree chart (which can be printed at home, or on full-sized 17 x 22 inch posters at a professional print shop) as well as special charts, such as the Blended Family Kit and Genealogy Stories Kit.

If you have never used a fillable PDF before, we recommend starting with the 4-generation chart (Helvetica or Aramis) and inputting some data (this video shows how):

Nicole and I have an additional request: If you are like Joyce and really love EasyGenie fillable genealogy PDFs, be sure to share your enthusiasm with others, whether it’s at a family reunion or in your local genealogy society. Honest online reviews of our charts are always appreciated, too.