This page created 24 Oct 2014
Hosted by Terry's TMG Tips
Visual Chart Form, commonly called just VCF, is a separate program included with TMG. It is the program that actually creates the Box Charts and Fan Charts when a user specifies them from the Reports menu in TMG. That is, TMG hands off the required data to VCF, which then creates the chart. But VCF is also a very capable editor as well, allowing the user to modify and combine charts in a miriad of ways.
There is a modest section in Terry's TMG Tips that discusses creating, editing and hanging charts. See Creating Charts. However, the real expert in use of VCF is Robin Lamacraft. Robin is a long-time user of TMG and from 2000 to 2013 operated a commercial charting service in Adelaide, Australia, using VCF as his primary tool. Terry's TMG Tips is pleased to host Robin's articles.
Robin's Visual Chart Form Tips is a series of articles addressing various issues and techniques that can help the user make the most effective use of the VCF's considerable capabilities. The articles are listed below:
| General Information Understanding and using VCF |
| Purpose of a Chart - a chart to suit the needs or audience |
| Creating Box Charts - specifying a chart in TMG |
| Data Entry for Charting - consistency and avoiding nuisances |
| Saving, Exporting, & Printing - handling chart files |
| Drawing Lines and Shapes - adding lines to your chart |
| Refining Your Charts Adding content, and using available features to achieve the results you want |
| Selecting, Grouping, Editing - basic chart editing techniques |
| Re-sizing - resizing the charting canvas |
| Text Limitations - limitations on the text in charts |
| Line Limitations - limitations on the lines in charts |
| Person Box - editing the person box content and look |
| Person Images - using images within boxes on your chart |
| Adding Images - adding extra images to a chart |
| Annotating Charts - adding annotations to enhance your chart |
| Accents and Color Coding - use of accents and other colour-coding |
| Advanced Techniques Some advanced techniques I've found useful |
| Editing Lines & Connectors - editing elastic connecting lines and way points |
| Multiple Chart Views - overview and detail at the same time |
| Combining Charts - combining multiple charts on one page |
| Reshaping Charts - modfying the overall size of charts |
| Elastic Line Tricks - multi-colored lines |
| TMG to VCF - how a chart is created |
Gallery of Charts
Click the thumbnails to view full-sized charts
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You can also use the Search function to locate topics of interest.
If you need help in finding the best way to apply the program to your application and preferences, I would suggest subscribing to TMG list on RootsWeb, where Robin and other users are always ready to provide help.
| Terry's TMG Tips Home | Robin's VCF Tips Home | Contact Robin |
Copyright 2014- by Robin Lamacraft