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Virginia Blakelock

VCF chart as a Table of Contents;

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A VCF chart can be used as a Table of Contents. See first two screenshots using different size chart boxes. In these charts, the numbers refer to tabs in an informal 'book' of Family Group Sheets and documents. The boxed numbers are saved in a 'palette chart' to use in another TOC.

 

A palette chart is used to store custom colors, characters, numbers, etc. for convenient re-use. Open the palette chart concurrently with a newly created chart and copy/paste to the new chart the color boxes, characters, numbers, etc. that you plan to use. You can make your own palette chart, or - for a ready-made collection of custom color boxes, numbers, asterisks, and arrows - download the palette at http://vblakelock.com/VCFpalette.vc2. Instructions and practice boxes for hand-coloring charts using the palette are at http://vblakelock.com/practice.vc2. Save the .vc2 files to disk, open VCF and navigate to the Visual Chartform files to open them.

 

I also saved the border on the TOC in the first screenshot to a blank chart for future use. The border is a 1-pixel black line made with the rectangle drawing tool on the tool bar, and positioned about 3/8" in from the edge of the paper. I made the border in an empty chart sized to 8.5 x 11 paper, and copied it to the finished TOC chart. You can get as fancy as you want to with borders - wider, colored, embellished. I like to add the border last thing after the chart is completed so it is not in the way when working on the chart.

 

Virginia

 

TOC22.gifTOCjhb.gifPalette.png

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In this example, chart Tables of Contents are used as covers on clear-view 3-ring binders.

 

Chart info:

 

Descendants box chart

Left to right orientation. Waterfall style

Box size: 150 pixel, 0 minimal height

Text: Tahoma 8

VCF Palette used for numbers and to hand-color.

 

Note: In working charts, I do not use a color legend. Colors are used solely to differentiate family groups or lines and facilitate quickly locating people.

 

The last screenshot is a close-up, showing the number boxes more clearly. I used gray box lines so they would not stand out too much - so the eye goes first to the color, then to the name/ID and then to the page number.

 

Virginia

 

Binders.jpgBrown9x.jpgBrown239x.jpgCloseUpX.jpg

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Virginia, this is simply great stuff! I particularly like the notebook view. It shows the charts "in action" and perfectly illustrates how they can be used.

 

Well done!

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The attached screenshot of a TOC chart uses a modified version of Mike's chart format - eliminating the connecting line to the spouse box - and, in my design, differentiating the spouse box with a lighter shade of the same color. This format allows for more generations per page and, I think, is easier to follow.

 

Virginia

B_11a.jpg

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