I’m sure most genealogists are familiar with the DNA Painter website.¹ Whether it’s to use WATO to figure out an unknown parent or to do some Chromosome Mapping, this site is instrumental for anyone working with their DNA.²

Late last year I learned about another tool on the site called Ancestral Trees:³

Not only can you view your tree in traditional pedigree view, you can also see it as a fan:

As dots:

As text:

As well as a map. I love that there are so many wonderful ways to visualize my family tree!

While you can easily create a tree from scratch, you can also upload a family tree file (GEDCOM). Once you have added a person to the tree, it is easy to edit any information, as well as add their YDNA and/or mtDNA haplogroup, and to mark them as a genetic ancestor.

There’s a slider to adjust the number of generations you are viewing and you can change the colour palette. In the settings, you can toggle the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and/or Y DNA haplogroups, or the Ahnentafel number, which gives each person in the tree a unique number.

In the DNA filters, you can toggle the X-DNA path and mtDNA path.

You can also click on “show genetic ancestors” and they will be marked with a DNA symbol.

Another way to view your tree is through dimensions. These are ways of categorizing your ancestors such as age at death, birth century and country of birth. I especially like “Research Level,” dimension, which is based on Yvette Hoitink’s “Six Levels of Ancestral Profiles.” It allows you to see where you can “level up” your research.⁴

You can produce a number of reports with your ancestral tree, such as your where you have brick walls, how complete your tree is, and whether there is pedigree collapse.

I especially like the genealogy facts report, which is like a “nutritional facts” of your tree:

While there are many places to keep your tree online, the versatility of Ancestral Trees for creating and sharing trees means that this is a site worth using. Another useful addition to the suite of DNA Painter tools!

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All websites were accessed 20 March 2025

1.  DNA Painter (https://dnapainter.com/).
2. Jennifer Wiebe, “Using WATO plus to find an unknown parent,”  DNA Painter Blog, 14 Aug 2024, (https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/using-wato-plus-to-find-an-unknown-parent/). Jennifer Wiebe, “Chromosome Painting,” Jennealogie, 14 April 2022, (https://jennealogie.com/2022/04/14/chromosome-painting/).
3. “Ancestral Trees,” DNA Painter (https://dnapainter.com/#list-trees).
4. Yvette Hoitink, “Six Levels of Ancestral Profiles – Level-up Challenge!” Dutch Genealogy, 22 January 2021, (https://www.dutchgenealogy.nl/six-levels-ancestral-profiles/)

All figures are screenshots by the author from a DNA Painter Ancestral Tree created by the author on the DNA Painter website.