This page provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions
about our custom charts
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1.
Why should I use Maxbal Genealogy for my custom designed family tree
chart?
We have a reputation for supplying the highest quality products using
top quality materials and are the preferred choice of many professional
genealogists for producing family tree charts for their clients.
We comply with all relevant legislation ensuring that your rights as a
consumer are fully protected so giving you peace of mind when dealing
with us.
We involve you in every step of the design process and do not print your
chart until you approve the final proof ensuring that you always get the
family tree chart that you want.
We offer you a risk free service for chart design. You do not pay until
you approve you chart for printing and are free to walk away at any
stage without incurring any design costs.
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2. How Much Will My Chart Cost
We have a simple pricing structure which is based on the size of the
printed chart, the media it is printed on and whether it is printed in
full colour or in single colour black. e.g. An A1 size (841 x 594 mm)
chart in full colour on 210gsm photographic media is £49.00. The same
chart in single colour black on parchment costs £26.50.
Our prices include the design of the chart.
Unlike other family tree printers we do not charge extra for including
photographs, background colour or background graphics as our price is
based on size alone.
Other family tree printers may charge you for each information field
that is included such as birth, death, marriage and occupation. We do
not charge for including any information fields as our price is based on
size alone.
The only additional charges are: -
- The cost of delivery which we will tell you
when we send the proof of your chart. The typical delivery cost for
an A1 sized chart by Royal Mail 1st class recorded delivery to a UK
address is less than £4.00
- A Transcription cost of £25.00 per 50
individuals only if your data is not supplied as a genealogy program
or GEDCOM file and this is the only charge that we ask you to pay up
front.
- If, after seeing the proof of your chart you
ask us to make corrections or additions to the information that you
have supplied we will make a charge for the extra work at £12.50 per
half an hour.
- If you ask us to rework any graphics or
photographs that you have supplied we will make a charge for the
extra work at £12.50 per half an hour.
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3. I want additional information about
individuals added to my family tree chart.
Standard information that is normally used in family tree charts is Birth, Christening, Marriage, Death and
Burial dates and places. Any other information such as occupation, general notes etc. can be added
but bear in mind when adding information the size of your chart will
probably increase and may increase the
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4. Can I
include siblings on my chart?
Yes - but bear in mind that
including ancestor or descendant siblings can take up a lot of
additional space and may increase the cost of your chart.
If you include siblings for
only the starting person it generally has little effect on the chart
size.
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5. How big will my chart be?
We do not know the final
dimensions until we have designed it as size depends on the number of
generations, the amount of information you want to show for each
individual and the printed size of any
photographs. You will see a proof of your chart before printing so you
can make corrections, add more information if you want to make it bigger or
take away some of the information if it is too big or you want to reduce
it's cost.
If you need the chart to be a specific size or have a maximum size then let us know what it is when you send us your information
and we will design to that size.
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6. Can I supply my own background
You can supply us with your own graphic to use as a background.
This can be a photograph, drawing or a tile.
By "tile" we mean that the graphic is repeated over and over as many times
as required to fill the background as though the whole page is made up
of a single graphic. This is called seamless tiling.
Generally, photographs and drawings do not tile well and they should be
used as a single picture background (see FAQ 7 below about sizes).
When considering backgrounds remember that you have to live with your
wall chart and sometimes lots of background detail and colour can overwhelm the
information on the chart.The background picture file must be in one of the
following formats: jpg, jpeg, bmp, tif, tiff, png
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7. What resolution should my photographs and
graphics be?
The resolution of an image is defined by the number of pixels. The
quality of the printed image depends on how many pixels per inch it is
printed at. In terms of the printer this is known as dpi (dots per inch)
- Printing below 150 dpi will produce a very poor quality image
- Printing at 150 dpi will produce a low quality image
- Printing at 200 dpi will produce an acceptable quality image
- Printing at 300 dpi and above will produce a high quality image
Most photographs on family tree charts are printed at 2 to 3 inches.
A photograph in jpg format to be printed at 3 x 3 inches should
therefore be at least 600 x 600 pixels to produce an acceptable print
quality and 900 x 900 pixels to produce high quality.
If you provide your own photograph or graphic to be used as a
background it should be at least 200 pixels in width and height for each
printed inch. e.g.
- A4 size (297 x 210 mm) - 2300 x 1600 pixels
- A3 size (420 x 297 mm) - 3200 x 2300 pixels
- A2 size (594 x 420 mm) - 4600 x 3200 pixels
- A1 size (841 x 594 mm) - 6400 x 4600 pixels
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8. I want to see my chart before it is printed
At every stage throughout the design process we send you a full size
proof of your chart as a pdf file. We do this so that you can check the
design, colours graphics etc., and just as important, check the accuracy
of the information on the chart. If changes are required we will make
them and send you another proof for checking. This ensures that the
chart will be exactly as you want it.
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9. I want changes made to the chart
We are happy to make any changes that you request to the chart including
changing the font style, colour and size, changing background graphics
and colours, correcting or adding to the information that you supplied.
If, after seeing the initial proof, you require changes to the basic
chart design i.e. fonts used, colours and background there is no charge.
We will make the amendments and send another proof. If you subsequently
request changes then we reserve the right to make a charge for the extra
work at £12.50 per half an hour. We will inform you if there is a charge
and what it will be before carrying out any changes and sending another
proof to you.
We use your information exactly as you send it to us. We do not check
the spelling, punctuation, correct capitalisation, consistency of place
names, dates etc. or the accuracy or the format of dates. You should therefore check
the information and correct any errors before sending it to us.
We recognise that it is easy for mistakes in your information to be
overlooked and will be happy to make any changes that you require after
you have seen the initial proof. if you do ask us to make corrections or
additions to
the information that you have supplied we will make a charge for the
extra work at £12.50 per half an hour. We will inform you what the
charge will be before carrying out any amendments and sending another
proof to you.
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10. What is GEDCOM
GEDCOM is an abbreviation for GEneological Data COMmunications, and
is a standard format for transmitting or transferring genealogical
information from one computer system or program to another.
The GEDCOM specification was originally developed in 1985 and is owned and
managed by the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church)
A GEDCOM file is an Ascii text file, usually (in MS-DOS) with the
extension .GED, which preserves the relationships in a genealogy data
file. Most genealogy programs have the ability to import and export data
as GEDCOM files. If a genealogy program cannot do that, it is probably
not worth using.
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11. How To Save Your Family Tree as a GEDCOM File
All major family tree software programs support the creation of GEDCOM
files. Creating a GEDCOM file does not overwrite your existing data or
change your existing file in any way. Instead, a new file is generated
by a process known as "exporting." Exporting a GEDCOM file is easy to do
with any family tree software by following the basic instructions below.
You can also find more detailed instructions in your genealogy
software's manual or help system. You should also be sure to remove private information
such as social security numbers for people in your
family tree who are still living in order to protect their privacy
Generic Instructions for Creating a GEDCOM File:
* This works for most
family tree software programs but if you experience difficulties check
the program's "help".
- Launch your family tree program and open your genealogy file.
- In the top-left hand corner of your screen, click the File
menu.
- Select either Export or Save as...
- Change the Save As Type or Destination drop-down
box to GEDCOM or .GED.
- Select the location where you'd like to save your file (make
sure it's one you can easily remember)
- Enter a filename such as 'jonesfamilytree' (the program will
automatically add the .ged extension)
- Click Save or Export.
- Some type of confirmation box will appear stating that your
export has succeeded.
- Click OK.
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12. What happens to your information once you chart has been
delivered
We normally keep you information on file for a period of six months from
when you chart is dispatched. This allows you to order reprints of your
chart at a 35% discount during that period.
If you want us to delete your data from our systems at any time during the six month
period you should send an email to
charts@maxbal.co.uk instructing us to delete your information.
If you anticipate ordering reprints after the six month period you
should send an email to
charts@maxbal.co.uk instructing us to retain you data for a longer
period and let us know how long we should retain it. Reprints will be
available to you at a 35% discount for up to one year from dispatch of
your original chart after which we reserve the right to adjust the price
for reprints to 35% of our then current list price.
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