Canvas Trees - banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots GitHub Wiki

Canvas Trees

Generate interactive family tree visualizations on the Obsidian Canvas for exploration, annotation, and sharing. You can also generate printable PDF tree diagrams.

Table of Contents

Overview

Canvas Roots provides a unified tree generation wizard that supports two output formats:

Output Description Best For
Canvas Interactive Obsidian canvas file Exploration, annotation, linking to notes
PDF Printable tree diagram Sharing, printing, archiving

Both formats share the same person selection and tree type steps, then branch into format-specific options.

Opening the Tree Wizard

From Control Center:

  1. Open Control Center (Ctrl/Cmd + P → "Canvas Roots: Open Control Center")
  2. Go to the Canvas Trees tab
  3. Click New Tree button

From Statistics Dashboard:

  1. Open Statistics Dashboard
  2. Scroll to Visual Trees section
  3. Click any tree type (Pedigree, Descendant, Hourglass, Fan Chart)

Wizard Steps

Step 1: Select Root Person

Search and select the person who will be the root of your tree.

  • Search: Type in the search box to filter by name
  • Sort: Use dropdown to sort by name, birth year, or death year
  • Filter: Filter by family group, collection, or universe
  • Birth/death years appear next to names for identification

Click a person to select them, then click Next.

Step 2: Choose Tree Type

Select the type of tree to generate:

Type Icon Description
Full Tree Hourglass Both ancestors and descendants from root
Ancestors Pedigree Parents, grandparents, etc. (upward)
Descendants Downward tree Children, grandchildren, etc. (downward)
Fan Chart Semicircle Semicircular ancestor display (PDF only)

Configure generation limits:

  • Ancestor generations: How many generations up (parents, grandparents, etc.)
  • Descendant generations: How many generations down (children, grandchildren, etc.)
  • Include spouses: Show spouse relationships

Step 3: Select Output Format

Choose your output format:

Format Features
Canvas Interactive pan/zoom, links to person notes, editable, re-layoutable
PDF Printable, shareable, styled boxes and lines, multiple page sizes

After selecting, the wizard branches into format-specific steps.

Canvas Path: Options and Preview

Canvas Options Step:

  • Scope options: Include step-parents, adoptive parents, filter by collection/place/universe
  • Style options: Color scheme, edge styles, spouse edge display

Canvas Preview Step:

  • Interactive preview with pan and zoom
  • Tree statistics (people count, generations, edges)
  • Verify layout before generating

Canvas Output Step:

  • Set canvas filename
  • Choose save folder
  • Option to open canvas after generation

PDF Path: Options and Generate

PDF Options Step:

  • Page size: Letter, A4, Legal, Tabloid, A3
  • Orientation: Portrait or Landscape
  • Node content: Name only, with dates, with dates and places
  • Color scheme: Default (gender-based), Grayscale, Generational
  • Large tree handling: Auto-scale, increase page size, or limit generations

PDF Output Step:

  • Set PDF title
  • Summary of selections
  • Click Generate PDF to download

Tree Types Explained

Full Tree (Hourglass)

Shows both ancestors above the root person and descendants below:

  • Root person in the center
  • Parents and grandparents flow upward
  • Children and grandchildren flow downward
  • Best for showing a person's complete family context

Ancestors (Pedigree)

Traditional pedigree chart showing only ancestors:

  • Root person at the bottom (or left in horizontal layout)
  • Parents, grandparents, great-grandparents branching upward
  • Binary branching (each person has 2 parents)

Descendants

Inverted pedigree showing only descendants:

  • Root person at the top
  • Children, grandchildren branching downward
  • Can show multiple children per generation

Fan Chart (PDF only)

Semicircular ancestor display:

  • Root person at center-bottom
  • Ancestors arranged in concentric arcs
  • Each generation occupies a ring
  • Compact visualization for many generations

Canvas Layout Algorithms

When generating canvas output, choose a layout algorithm:

Algorithm Description Best For
Standard Family-chart library layout with spouse handling Most trees (< 50 people)
Compact 50% tighter spacing Large trees (50+ people)
Timeline Chronological by birth year Visualizing when people lived
Hourglass Root centered, ancestors up, descendants down Person-focused context

PDF Options

Page Sizes

Size Dimensions Use Case
Letter 8.5 × 11 in Standard US paper
A4 210 × 297 mm Standard international
Legal 8.5 × 14 in Extended US format
Tabloid 11 × 17 in Large format US
A3 297 × 420 mm Large format international

Color Schemes

  • Default: Males in blue/green tones, females in purple/pink tones
  • Grayscale: Black and white for printing
  • Generational: Different colors per generation level

Large Tree Handling

For trees that exceed the selected page size:

  • Auto-scale: Shrink content to fit (may reduce readability)
  • Auto page size: Automatically use larger paper
  • Limit generations: Reduce depth to fit selected size

Next Steps