Is there a nice way to output the input?

[Viper2004 0]

Hello,

 

from time to time i create reports or familytrees.

I my opinion the standart reports are not really beautifull designed. So i usually export everything to GEDCOM and reimport it to different programs that might give me a result that i like more. But doing it this way creates other problems. F.ex. the programs that have nicer layouts are usually not as flexible in output-configuration as TMG is. So it it's a compromise in both ways - flexibility against layout.

So i would like to ask if there are ways to improve the standard layout of the reports or if there exists something like a "nice layout" addon for TMG or if somebody knows other ways to create nice looking reports.

 

- Philipp

[Michael Hannah 0]

Hi Philipp,

 

In my opinion TMG provides very easy ways to customize and tailor almost all of the reports to produce more of what a user may want. While I might agree with your comment that some of "the standard reports are not really beautifully designed", in most cases I can modify my tag sentences to change those standard reports to produce what I desire.

 

Perhaps if you explained exactly what you consider a "beautifully designed" report, possibly with examples, some of us users might offer ideas and suggestions about how to get TMG to come close to such a design.

[Paul Lawrence 0]

Hello,

 

from time to time i create reports or familytrees.

I my opinion the standart reports are not really beautifull designed. So i usually export everything to GEDCOM and reimport it to different programs that might give me a result that i like more. But doing it this way creates other problems. F.ex. the programs that have nicer layouts are usually not as flexible in output-configuration as TMG is. So it it's a compromise in both ways - flexibility against layout.

So i would like to ask if there are ways to improve the standard layout of the reports or if there exists something like a "nice layout" addon for TMG or if somebody knows other ways to create nice looking reports.

 

- Philipp

 

You might want to take a look at sample reports on the WhollyGenes web site...

 

go to http://www.whollygenes.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

 

Under Software click on The Master Genealogist and then click on Sample Reports

[Viper2004 0]

Hello Michael,

 

it is not easy to describe what i would call "beautifully designed". IMHO TMGs reports look pretty typewriter-like: No free choice of fonts, no elegant footers or headers, etc. Compared to f.ex. PAF, Legacy, FTM or Reunion the results are rather unsatisfying. My workaround is to export everything to "The Complete Genealogy Reporter" or for familytrees to "familytreefactory". But since i really like working with TMG i'd be glad not to have to use a workaround.

Maybe it's just my settings that make it look that way. Do you have any recomendations for output-settings?

- Philipp

[Terry Reigel 0]

Hi, Philipp,

 

You haven't said what types of reports you are creating. I think TMG does a pretty good job with the Family Group sheets, as long as you send them to printer or PDF rather than to a word processor.

 

It does a great job with narratives in my opinion - far superior to anything else I've seen, and you have huge control of the flow of the narrative - see my article on Creating Flowing Narratives for some examples. I do like to do a little re-formatting, including putting the endnotes in double columns, which I do with a macro in Word. That's covered in another article on my website.

 

TMG's Box charts offer a lot of customization, and you can further edit them extensively in the included chart editor if you like, allowing you to create most any sort of chart you can envision.

[Virginia Blakelock 0]

You have a large selection of fonts for most reports. The examples below of the Family Group Sheet are extremes of plain (Century Schoolbook) and fancy (Lucinda Calligraphy) styles. The default bar colors are gray, but there are ways to change them manually if you prefer another color or a lighter gray.

 

I haven't found another chart software as easy to use and flexible as Visual Chartform. You can make large elaborate wall charts or simple one- or two-page charts, nice to hand out at family reunions. For examples, see the VCF forum here.

 

Virginia