Free Geo Objects allow you to make individual changes to the automatically-created graphic. You can create as many Free Geo Objects as you want. Each object is inserted into an individual layer in the resulting graphic (see The FamilyTreeFactory Layer Model).

To create a new Geo Object, draw a rectangle in the desired area of the treeview with your left mouse button while holding the Ctrl key. Select the option Create Free Geo Object from the menu that appears and select Basic Shapes in Drawn Rectangle or Specific Shapes with Mouse Clicks and finally a geometric type. The remaining procedure depends on the selected shape and selected type. A dialog will open that allows you to give the object a unique name (or accept the suggested name). The object will be shown in the list at the top left with this name. The list shows all objects in the order of the layers. The top object in the list will also be the top layer in the output. In case of overlapping it will cover other objects. The objects can be located below or above the person box layer, in which the actual tree is contained. To change the layer order, use the four buttons with arrows.

Geo objects are defined by points with saved coordinates. The object type rounded rectangle also requires an entry for curve radius. To ensure that the position of the objects in relation to the column/row grid of the graphic remain the same if the box format (column width and/or row height) is changed, the column/row grid of the graphic is used as the scale. This ensures that the Geo Objects maintain their positions and sizes in relation to the person boxes, even if box widths or heights are changed, such as if the content of the boxes is changed. No manual adjustments are necessary. To allow for exact positioning, the units mbox-columns (speak milli-box) and mbox-rows are used for the scale. This allows you to make extremely fine adjustments at an interval of a thousandth of the row and column measurements. This is based on the metric system, where one thousandth of a meter ('m") is defined as a millimeter ('mm').s

In general, you will not need to use the mbox-columns and mbox-rows very often. The position and size of entire Geo Objects or their points can be most easily adjusted with your mouse in the treeview. However, if you need to make high-precision adjustments (which is not possible with the mouse), click the Explanation of mbox-columns/mbox-rows button for a detailed explanation of the scales.

Click the button Rename... to rename the selected Geo Object in the list. The Delete... button deletes the selected object after confirming deletion. You can also hide an object by deactivating the checkbox Output object to prevent the object from being output. This is the preferred method if you only want to hide an object temporarily.

You can also delete a Free Geo Object directly in the treeview by selecting it and pressing the Delete key. A confirmation dialog appears to avoid accidents.

The line width and color are determined in the Lines area. For object types with a surface, the Fill area determines if the surface should be filled and which color should be used. If you click the OK button to leave the dialog, the settings will be saved and used as default settings for new Geo Objects.

The list of point coordinates can also be directly edited to allow for precise changes. This is particularly helpful if points need to be positioned at exactly the same height.

We recommend setting the zoom and position of the treeview in such a way that the current Geo Object can be seen next to the dialog, which can be dragged to the side of the screen. You can then preview the effects of any changes you make in the open dialog by clicking the Apply button.

 

 

 

Modifying Geo Objects:

Geo objects are defined by numbered points. The point numbers are shown in an information window if the mouse cursor is placed over a point in the treeview. The mouse cursor takes on a special shape over points. The points can be moved with the mouse. If you press the Shift key while moving a point, the point will only be moved in steps of 500 mbox-column and mbox-row coordinates.

Additional points can be added by right-clicking on an existing point and selecting Add Point Before or Add Point After from the menu. The terms before and after refer to the direction of counting for the point numbers. You can also delete points from this menu.

The borders of the surrounding dashed rectangle can be moved with the mouse. This causes all of the points in the Geo Object to be moved in proportion. You can also move a border past the opposite border to create a mirror image of the Geo Object.

The various shapes and Geo Object types are described in detail in the sections Basic Shapes in Drawn Rectangle and Specific Shapes with Mouse Clicks.

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