How to export a GEDCOM file and print your family tree

From file to framed chart

1. Export your tree as a GEDCOM file (it ends in .ged). The steps for each program are below.
2. Open the builder and drop the file in or choose it. A .zip with a .ged inside works as it is. The file is read in your browser and never uploaded.
3. Pick the chart type and the person it starts from, then a look and a size.
4. Check how big the names will print, and proofread the preview.
5. Pay $12 and download the vector PDF and the 300-dpi PNG.
6. Print it at a copy shop or an online printer, and frame it.

What a GEDCOM file is

GEDCOM, short for Genealogical Data Communication, is a plain text format that almost every family tree website and program can read and write. One file, ending in .ged, holds the people in your tree, their partners and children, and their dates and places, but not photos. Versions 5.5.1 and the newer 7.0 both work here.

Export steps by program

We checked these steps against each company’s own help pages in October 2026. Menus change; if a label doesn’t match, look for Export or Share, then GEDCOM.

Ancestry

1. On the Ancestry website, click the Trees tab and select your tree.
2. In the toolbar on the left, click More (three dots) and select Tree Settings.
3. On the right, under Manage your tree, click Export tree, then Export.
4. When it’s done, click Download your GEDCOM file. It arrives inside a .zip file, which you can add to the builder as it is.

Only the tree’s owner can export it. Source: Ancestry help.

MyHeritage

1. On the MyHeritage website, hover over the Family tree menu and click Manage trees.
2. Click Export to GEDCOM next to the tree you want.
3. Choose whether to include photos (you can leave them out; the chart doesn’t use them), then click Begin the export, and download the GEDCOM file when MyHeritage has prepared it.

Source: MyHeritage help.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch’s help center says you can’t download GEDCOM files from its Family Tree. There are two ways around it:

• Use a desktop program that syncs with FamilySearch, such as RootsMagic or Ancestral Quest. Bring the people you want into a file on your computer, then export that file as GEDCOM (the RootsMagic steps are below). FamilySearch lists programs that work with it in its Solutions Gallery.
• Type the family in. For a few generations, it’s often the quickest way.

Source: FamilySearch help.

RootsMagic

1. Open the file with your tree. Go to the Files page, then choose Export Data, then GEDCOM File.
2. Pick a folder and type a name for the file.
3. In the GEDCOM Export window, choose who to export (everyone, or people you select from a list) and click OK.

Source: RootsMagic help.

Family Tree Maker

1. From the File menu, choose Export.
2. If a note about password protection appears, click Continue. Select Entire file, set Output format to GEDCOM, keep the boxes under Include ticked and click OK.
3. In the Export to GEDCOM window, choose Other from the list and click OK.
4. Pick a folder, name the file and click Save.

Source: MacKiev support.

Gramps

1. Choose Family Trees, then Export…. The Export Assistant opens; click Next.
2. Choose GEDCOM as the output format and click Next.
3. Set the filter and privacy options, then click Next.
4. Pick a file name and folder, click Next, then Apply.

Source: Gramps user manual.

Legacy Family Tree

1. From the File menu, choose Export to, then GEDCOM File.
2. In Produce file for, choose GEDCOM 5.5.
3. Pick your export options, then click Select File Name and START EXPORT.
4. Choose a name and folder, and note where you saved the file.

Source: Legacy help.

Other programs and apps

Most programs put it under File, then Export. If you can’t find it in a phone app, try the website or the desktop program.

Tips for any program

• Keep living people’s names in. If the export offers to privatize living people, turn it off, or living relatives may come through as “Living” or without dates.
• Leave photos and media out. The chart doesn’t use them.
• Export everyone, or one branch. Files up to 20 MB work, and the chart draws only the people around the person you start from.

What the chart uses from your file

From each person: the name, the birth year (or christening or baptism year) and the death year (or burial or cremation year). Only years print, not full dates. From each family: the partners, the wedding year and the children, in the order the file lists them. Families recorded with two husbands or two wives are drawn like any other couple, and someone listed in two families, for example with birth and adoptive parents, is drawn with the birth family.

Not drawn: adoption marks (adopted children look like birth children), divorces, places, notes, sources and photos. Step-children appear only when the chart starts from their parent; the blended family guide explains why.

Your file stays on your computer

The GEDCOM file is read in your browser and never uploaded. To draw the preview, only the names and years of the people in your chart go to our server, which draws it and doesn’t store or log them. After you pay, we keep the chart encrypted for 30 days for re-downloads and typo fixes, then delete it automatically. The details are in our privacy policy.

Not sure which chart to make? Read about the descendant chart and the pedigree chart.

Printing tips

• Pick the size first. Up to about 40 people reads well at 18×24 inches; larger families look best at 24×36. Both are standard poster frame sizes, sold ready-made at most craft and home stores. 11×17 suits a small family or a school project.
• Print the size you bought. Each file is made for one sheet size. Changed your mind? Switch the size in the app and download again; it’s free for 30 days.
• Ask for matte poster paper. It has no shine, so names are easy to read from any angle.
• Send the PDF when you can. It’s vector, so names stay sharp at full size. If an online printer won’t take a PDF, upload the 300-dpi PNG instead (10,800 × 7,200 pixels for 24×36 landscape).
• Leave time before the holidays. Printing and framing can take a few days. Short on time? Email the PDF with a note and frame it together later.

Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest, Family Tree Maker, Gramps and Legacy Family Tree are trademarks of their owners. Family Chart Maker is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.