By a family tree, we mean pedigree charts that represent various family relationships in the form of a tree-like structure. Genogram, on the other hand, is the more detailed format of a family tree depicting his medical history as well as family relationships. Genograms are used for finding out repetitive behavioral patterns and recognizing hereditary tendencies. Today we are going take a look at some of the best genogram makers and family tree creators that you can avail for using in the fields of psychiatry, medicine, social work, psychology, and even genetic research.
Free Online Pedigree Tool. Since 1996, Progeny has been the worldwide leader in pedigree software and tracking family history data. Make pedigrees on your own or have it automatically generated by indicating the proband relatives. Include conditions and custom data per individual, and utilize numerous options to customize the pedigree display.
Points | Genogram | Family Tree |
---|---|---|
Purpose | Depicts interactions and relationships between family members. | Only depicts lineage. |
Area of Use | Helps in evaluation of family systems such as physical problems, deaths, births, relationship conflicts, emotional and mental symptoms as well as educational achievement. | Used as a pedigree chart. |
Detailing | Very detailed and is thus used in social work as well as medical fields. | Not very detailed |
While some of the genogram creators offer phone support; others are limited only to online use. You need to take the same into account before proceeding with your selection.
Genealogists often need to work with several software programs for coming up with an output. That is why you need to make sure that your genogram maker allows hassle-free export and import of data.
Backing up data is extremely crucial while working on big projects. Therefore, you need to make sure that your genogram maker is compatible with online storage platforms such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
Your chosen program needs to have ample fields so that you can add in all of the requisite information for more detailed output.
As the genogram maker often collate data about a variety of attributes related to your family history, it needs to maintain the safety of data so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
People often gift each other family charts for spreading nostalgia. Thus, you need to consider whether it can assist you in taking large print outs of the same before choosing a family tree maker.
You might either wish to share your research with the public or keep it to yourself. The second condition also holds true if you are thinking about publishing the same as a book or journal. Thus, if online sharing is important for you, then you need to select a program that will help you do the same.
Researchers often collaborate with other family tree makers across the globe for brainstorming on a particular issue. You will thus have to make sure that your chosen program is compatible with other ones and can easily read the information sent.
If you wish to print the results of your research in the form of a book, then you need to select a family tree maker that prints your source citations as bibliography or footnotes.
Last but not least, you need to proceed with a family tree maker that maintains the security of your information and prevents unauthorized access to the same.
You can now effortlessly create a variety of genograms and present accurate information of your family using this genogram maker. This time-saving tool makes it possible for users to collaborate with partners on a real-time basis for greater co-operation. Its automatic tools can keep all of your data correctly aligned and organized so that you can enjoy an elegant layout at all times.
Supported Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux |
Price | The lifetime license is only $139.00 |
Scores from Capterra | 4.6/5 |
Link of official website | https://www.edrawsoft.com/edraw-max/ |
This intuitive genogram maker can help you present the relationship between individuals in a graphical format. It is increasingly used by sociologists, family therapists, doctors, genealogists, researchers, and social workers. You can easily find out problems in your family tree using its problem spotter that runs automatically in the background.
Supported Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux. |
Price | Staring price is $49 per user. |
Scores from Capterra | 5/5 |
Link of official website | https://www.genopro.com |
Progeny is a popular pedigree creator that can help you keep track of your family data in an intuitive manner. You can either use this genogram maker to make pedigrees on your own or bank on the ones generated automatically by indicating proband relatives. Drag and drop operation adds up to its ease of use as Progeny allows users to exercise maximum customization in terms of spacing, size, and look of each pedigree.
Supported Platforms | Online |
Price | Free |
Scores from Capterra | 5/5 |
Link of official website | https://www.progenygenetics.com |
Building an interactive family tree becomes an extremely easy affair with this family tree creator, which allows various users to collaborate online for filling in the details. All the information entered in entirely private and can only be seen by members of the family.
Supported Platforms | Online, Mobile |
Price | Free |
Scores from Capterra | Not listed |
Link of official website | https://www.familyecho.com |
You can now build your legacy for being shared with your future generations with this free of cost family tree creator. Other family members can also be invited onboard for enriching the family tree in the form of biographies, videos and pictures.
Supported Platforms | Online, Mobile |
Price | Free |
Scores from Capterra | Not listed. |
Link of official website | https://www.famberry.com |
You can now visualize processes, ideas, and concepts in a simple manner using this family tree creator, which allows seamless collaboration with clients and teams. Its professionally designed shapes can speed up your drawing process and also make your content stand out from peers.
Mac, Windows, SaaS, Cloud, Web | Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mobile |
Price | Starting price of personal desktop version is $75 which needs to be paid once. |
Scores from Capterra | 4.4/5 |
Link of official website | https://creately.com |
You can bank on the tools listed above like EdrawMax for creating complex genograms and family trees effortlessly. The results are bound to improve your overall productivity, no matter they are used in the field of education or for advanced research.
| Genograms are amongst the youngest members of the diagramming family, with a starting use in 1985. Although they are used to describe families and blood relatives connections, genograms greatly differ in look and purpose from the family tree diagrams. The main task of genograms is to visualize the relationships between the members within a family on a very deep level, as well as the genetic diseases which may be transferred from/to a family member. Types of genogramsDespite that genograms are not strictly categorized on different types, most of them contain three layers. The first layer describes the basic information related to the people in the family - marriage, divorce, children, etc. The second layer usually contains information on diseases such as heart condition, diabetes, etc. The third layer adds additional clarity of the emotional bonds and relationships, including who was in love with whom, who is obsessed by someone else, who is abusive mentally and/or physically, etc. While in some genograms all layers co-exist, sometimes diagrams are drawn separately for each of the above-mentioned purposes. Let's look at them in further detail. Basic genogramsThe most basic layer of the genogram contains the family members and the way each person is related to the rest. Unlike family trees, however, genograms contain additional information including the way people are related. This is done by specific symbols and connectors, telling the viewer if a child was miscarried, if there was an abortion, if there are twins, if someone is adopted, etc. The connector lines and shapes can also tell who is living and who has passed away, if people are married or simply living together and more. Here are some examples of the shapes and their meanings:All Basic ShapesHealth information genogramsGenograms with health information are often drawn to serve as a starting point for diagnosing a disease or even for predicting a possible illness that a child may inherit genetically. They are often used by psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians. The predefined symbols of genograms contain basic information whether a member of the family has a physical or mental illness, or even if there is a suspicion of a drug or alcohol abuse. If needed, the creator of the diagram can add additional, custom-made shapes that contain more specific information and describe them in a legend. Common custom shapes are ones, defining heart conditions, diabetes, and others.All Health ShapesRelationship genogramsThe relationships layer of genograms is usually added to give more in-depth information about the relationships between different family members. It can help a therapist learn a lot about a family and see behavioral patterns, their origin and spread amongst the members, as well as predict problems that may occur in the future.All Relationship ShapesExampleTo get a complete idea of a genogram, you can have a look at this example below. |