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How to print your MyHeritage family tree as a PDF or poster

MyHeritage is good at finding the records and the matches. Getting the finished tree onto paper is where it gets awkward: the chart tool draws a fixed layout, and the printed posters it sells are a product you buy again every time a cousin is added. This guide takes your tree out of MyHeritage as a GEDCOM file, draws it in Draw My Tree, and leaves you with a vector PDF that prints at any size and is yours to reprint. About ten minutes.

What MyHeritage's own options give you

The Charts tool on MyHeritage renders your tree in one of its templates and lets you download a PDF or order a printed poster. For a compact family that may be all you need. The limits show up with a bigger tree: the layout is theirs, the template decides what a card shows, and a new print means going back through the same ordering flow. What most people searching for this want is a file they control: send it to a local print shop, frame it for a parent, hand it out at a reunion, and export it again next year with the new research in. That is what this guide produces.

Step 1: export a GEDCOM from MyHeritage

  1. Open the Family tree tab on MyHeritage.
  2. Choose Manage trees.
  3. Next to the tree you want, open the actions menu and choose Export to GEDCOM.
  4. MyHeritage prepares the file and emails you a download link. Download the .ged file.

The file carries names, dates, places, relationships and notes. It does not carry the photos attached to people on MyHeritage, and it does not carry Smart Matches or Record Matches; those stay in your MyHeritage account. What comes across, and what happens to the file when you upload it, is covered in Import a GEDCOM from Ancestry, MyHeritage or FamilySearch.

Step 2: import it and choose what to print

  1. Create a free account and create a tree.
  2. Click Import on the rail, choose Replace entire tree if the tree is empty, and drop the .ged file in.
  3. Click Preview to see how many people, relationships, events and notes were found, plus any warnings for MyHeritage tags that have no home here.
  4. Click Apply import.

The tree draws itself with generations lined up and couples side by side. Then decide what the print shows:

  • The whole tree. The default, and a vector PDF handles a large one.
  • One line. Focus on one person's ancestors or descendants, or pick two people and show only the line between them. The export follows what is on screen when you choose the viewport scope.
  • A look. Card shape, typeface, colours, whether photos and dates show. The export can be re-themed with any preset without changing the tree on screen.

Step 3: pick a size

The export is a vector PDF, so it has no fixed size; the same file prints sharp at any dimension, and the size is chosen at print time. Letter or A4 at home suits two or three generations. Tabloid or A3 fits four. For the full tree, take the PDF to a print shop or an online poster printer and ask for the width you want; 24, 36 and 48 inches are common. The sizing detail, the print-shop trade-offs, and how to get a big tree onto one sheet are in How to print your Ancestry family tree; every word of it applies to a MyHeritage export too.

Frequently asked questions

Are photos included? Not from the GEDCOM; MyHeritage keeps them out of the file. Add portraits to people in Draw My Tree afterwards and they print on the cards. One portrait per person comes with a Keepsake Export; albums come with the Family Plan.

What about the MyHeritage tree I keep researching in? Keep it. The GEDCOM is a copy, and MyHeritage is not changed by exporting. When the research moves on, export again and import with the Merge fields or Overwrite conflicts strategy, then print again.

Are living relatives hidden? On a print, you decide. The protection that hides living people applies to public share links; a print is yours, so review it before handing it out, and hide dates if that is the concern.

What does it cost? Importing and drawing the tree is free. The print-ready PDF, SVG and full-resolution PNG come with a one-time Keepsake Export for that tree, or with the Family Plan for every tree; prices are on the pricing page. A guest tree exports a watermarked PNG for free if you only want to see the layout.

Start with your MyHeritage export, or read Print your family tree for the formats and settings in detail.