Here are the select set of resources you’ll need to explore your family’s history.
- Forget rigid templates, with Canva’s family tree maker you can add as many family members as you like, create unique maps, or simply design your family tree from scratch. Use our free image editor Building a family tree means that some of your images may have been taken before the age of digital cameras.
- Attach photos and news stories. Our website provides a free download of Family Tree Maker 24.0.1 for Mac. Our built-in antivirus checked this Mac download and rated it as 100% safe. The program is categorized as Lifestyle Tools. This Mac application is an intellectual property of ancestry.
Start with Software
Your genealogy software is the repository for all the information you discover. It’s the main tool in your genealogy toolbox. Which one you choose will likely depend primarily on whether you use a Windows PC or a Mac.
Software MacKiev. Family Tree Maker is genealogy software for Windows and Mac that allows the researcher to keep track of information collected during research and to create reports, charts, and books containing that information. The software was originally developed by Kenneth Hess of Banner Blue Software, which was purchased by Broderbund in 1995. It passed through the hands of The Learning Company, Mattel. IFamily for Mac. Verdict: This family tree software for Macs is developed to trace the genealogy of each particular person. It is a user-friendly program allowing you to drag several pictures simultaneously, create a simple map with color marks and a diagram with dates of birth displayed.
Already Have Software?
Handy indexes of articles and videos by application are linked below for your convenience:
Still Looking for Software?
I’ve also created a couple of buyer’s guides to help you make a choice between software:
See my recommendations in the following sections.
Genealogy Software for Windows
I recommend RootsMagic 7 and Family Historian. There are many good alternatives though.
- Family Historian
- Family Tree Maker 2017
- Legacy Family Tree
- RootsMagic 7
Genealogy Software for Mac
- Family Tree Maker 2017 for Mac
- GEDitCOM II
- iFamily for Leopard
- MacFamilyTree 8 by Synium
- Reunion 12 by Leister Productions
Get Good Books
Setup Folders on Your Computer
You’ll need places to put archival copies of scanned documents, photos, and other files on your computer. This series of video screencasts will walk you, step-by-step, through setting up a folder system and putting files into it. They’re created on a Mac and take advantage of the powerful alias feature in Mac OS X, but most of the system will work well on Windows too.
Get Information About Your Ancestors
Not all of the information about your relatives is online, so you’ll need to do some sleuthing in the real world. But, there is a wealth of information available online. My advice to you is to consider everything, but only trust it after you prove it. That said, these online databases provide a great source of leads! There’s some overlap between the records on these sites and they each have treasured family history that the others won’t. You can search for free to get an idea which holds the most (and most interesting) genealogy data for your ancestors.
- Fold3.com (Military Records)
- Newspapers.com
- NewspaperARCHIVES.com
- Find out how you are related to the rest of humanity at OneGreatFamily
There are tons more sites, but I want to keep this concise so that it’s most useful for you.
Get a DNA Test
Family Tree Maker for Mac - by Ancestry Review by Beachlyn, Oct 6, 2017
Free Family Tree Maker For Mac Os X
Another rip off! I owned Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 in 2012. I bought it because I was tired of manually updating my great Reunion program from my online Ancestry Tree. I found that FT worked well syncing on fairly small trees, but my two large trees were badly damaged. The sync caused the transfer of records to duplicate each record to sometime duplicate as many as 75 extras for every document. It took me 7 months, and a lot of work to repair those trees. I figured now, almost 8 years later, they’d finally have their act together. I have tried multiple syncs (again on only 2 small trees, thank goodness) and still NO Media transfer whatsoever! After spending 20 minutes typing back and forth with a tech who I was never sure was actually there, I was told to contact them during non peak hours from 5:00 AM-11:00 AM! I subscribe to several genealogy services. I’ve never seen one that doesn’t phone number for a live body!
Family Tree Maker Free Downloads
Biggest Pro: syncing
Biggest Con: syncing and no tech support whatsoever