Chart Size, Zoom, and Position

Chart Size and Info
Zooming a Chart On Screen
Positioning a Chart
Reducing the Size of Tree Charts

Changing the Spacing Between Boxes in a Tree Chart

Changing the Spacing Inside Boxes in a Tree Chart
Squeezing an Ancestor Chart

Chart Size and Info

The current page and the total number of pages is always displayed near the left end of the bottom bar. (The current page is defined as the page in the top-left corner of the window.)

Clicking these numbers or choosing File > Get Info will open the Chart Information window with several additional statistics for your chart, including...

Note: some of these details will not appear if the chart was created using older versions of Reunion. Also, the name of the chart layout only appears for charts with boxes.

To copy this information to the Clipboard (for example, if you're having a technical support issue and you need to include this information in an email), click the Copy button.

Chart dimensions are shown in metrics when the System Settings > Language & Text > Formats > Measurement Units is set to Metric.

Maximum Chart Size
There is no limit to the dimensions, number of pages, or number of boxes in a chart.

Zooming a Chart On Screen

To see a reduced or enlarged view of a chart, click the Zoom button in the bottom bar of the chart. Or, select a zoom amount from the Window menu.

To zoom in or out, step-by-step, choose Window > Zoom In [or Out].

The Zoom commands let you see a chart in a reduced view — which helps to give you the "big picture" or an enlarged view, to help you see details.

Reunion has nine zoom levels for charts. The minimum reduction level is 10%. The maximum magnification level is 300%.

Note: Zooming is not the same as reducing a chart when printing.

Zoom Tips
Positioning a Chart

Centering a Chart
To center the objects in the current chart (based on the spread of pages currently used by the chart), choose Object > Align > Everything to Center.

Moving a Chart to the Top-Left Corner
To top-left justify the objects in a chart, choose Object > Align > Everything to Top Left. This removes white space on the top and left sides of the chart. When printed, the chart will be as close to the top and left side of the paper as your printer permits.

Nudging a Chart
Another way to move or nudge an entire chart is to choose Object > Select > All Objects and drag one object, or use the arrow keys on your keyboard to nudge the chart in one pixel increments.

Reunion won't let you drag objects into negative space (off the chart).

Reducing the Size of Tree Charts

Here are several ways to reduce the number of pages required to print a chart...

Reduce Font Size
Reducing the font size or using a font that requires less horizontal space will reduce the size of a chart. To change the font and/or font size for all boxes in a chart, choose Object > Select > All Boxes and then use the buttons in the Text section of the tool panel.
Printer Scaling
Choose File > Page Setup and enter a number into the Scale box. If you change the scaling, the page breaks on screen will be updated to reflect the reduction. Try different scaling percentages until the chart appears the way you want it to print.
 
Change Chart Orientation
To change orientation, choose Tree > Orientation. You should experiment with different chart orientations to see which orientation requires the fewest number of pages.
Squeeze Left-To-Right Charts
Try the Tree > Squeeze Ancestor command on ancestor charts in the Left-To-Right orientation. This attempts to mesh boxes together horizontally — enough to reduce the number of pages required to print a chart. If this results in lines going through boxes, you can choose Edit > Undo.
Reduce Spacing Between Boxes
To reduce the space between all boxes, choose Tree > Space > Less Vertical and/or Tree > Space Between Boxes > Less Horizontal. See below.
Move Branches
In some cases, you can reposition entire branches to reduce the overall chart size. To do this, choose Object > Selection Mode > Descendants, and drag the box at the beginning or top of a branch.
Move Boxes
If a few boxes are located on a page by themselves, you should choose Object > Selection Mode > One Box, and drag the individual boxes onto a page with other boxes, thereby eliminating an entire page from the chart.
Changing Box Layout and Contents

When you're about to create a chart, you have the option to modify the layout. The layout determines whether certain fields are included or excluded in chart boxes. The layout also determines how fields appear in boxes. For example, in descendant charts, names and dates may appear on the same line or on different lines (see Name Setup). If they appear on the same line, boxes will be wider and shorter. If names and dates appear on different lines, boxes will be narrower and taller.

You can't globally change the box layout after a graphic chart is created. However, we discuss box layout here (in the context of optimizing chart size) because it is a very important factor in determining overall chart size.
Removing Empty Lines in Boxes
One way you can ensure that charts require as little space as possible is to check the Exclude empty fields button in the layout setting called Event Format.
General Advice

You should avoid the temptation to create very huge charts. They quickly become unwieldy and require much more time to render on the screen.

To increase available memory for a new chart, you should close other open charts. Each chart window on the screen consumes memory (especially charts with pictures) which could be used to create or edit another chart.

Changing the Spacing Between Boxes in a Tree Chart

To change the space between all boxes in a tree chart, use items in the Tree > Space Between Boxes submenu, shown below. (Better yet, use the Command key shortcuts.) Each time you do this, the boxes will move proportionally to increase or decrease the space between boxes (and thus the size of the chart).

Changing the Spacing Inside Boxes in a Tree Chart

To change the space inside all boxes in a tree chart, use items in the Tree > Space Inside Boxes submenu, shown below. (Better yet, use the Option+Command key shortcuts.) Each time you do this, the space between the text and the border of the box will increase or decrease, giving a little more or less "buffer" between the content of each box and the border of each box.

Squeezing an Ancestor Chart
This command only applies to ancestor charts drawn in the Left-To-Right orientation. The Squeeze Ancestor command attempts to reduce the number of pages required by a chart (horizontally). This command will be most useful after you do some editing to a chart. The Squeeze Ancestor command attempts to mesh boxes together horizontally — enough to reduce the number of pages required to print a chart. Squeezing may result in lines going through boxes. You can subsequently choose Edit > Undo to undo the Squeeze Ancestor command if necessary.