The three-book family saga
The novelist follows the Marlows from 1890 to the present. The classic tree opens each book, and she redoes it every volume with the generation that has just appeared, so readers never lose the thread.
Make a family tree for your novel's characters with AI
Your novel's family across three generations, as a sepia oak with medallions or a clean modern chart, with your names written letter for letter. Workflow visible here, no account needed.
Real workflow: the Marlow family over three generations, first in oval medallions hung on a large sepia oak with engraved portraits, then in navy boxes with silhouettes. All six names are right, but Mira Keane is linked to Aldric and Hélène as if she were their daughter.
At a glance
- You provide
- a text or a brief
- What the workflow produces
- 2 images in 4:3
- Canvas structure
- 5 nodes wired by 2 connections
- Models wired in
- GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
- Cost of one full run
- about 6 credits, roughly $0.07
- Account
- The demo is visible without an account; generating requires a free account, trial credits included
A family saga means three generations, second marriages and cousins readers mix up by chapter twelve. The author keeps the tree in a notebook or a spreadsheet, the copy editor asks who fathered whom, and the reader flips back to check. This workflow draws the tree of YOUR fictional family in two versions: a sepia oak with medallions for the book, a clean chart for the series bible or the pitch pack.
The hard part is the links as much as the names. Sunburst writes all six names letter for letter, accents included, but it draws the lines its own way: in the demo, the daughter-in-law ends up hanging from the grandparents like one of their children. So the prompt has to say who married whom, not just who belongs to which generation.
To give everyone a face, see character sheets; for the family's arms, the coat of arms. Both trees cost six credits.
Actual renders from the demo
These are the files of the workflow above, exactly as the models produced them, unretouched. The starting point is shown when there is one.
Render
Who it is for
Family saga and fantasy novelists, writers building a series bible, editors and copy editors.
Which files to provide
The names by generation in quotes, who married whom, whose child is whose, and the style you want.
How it works
- 1
List by generation
Top to bottom, two to four names per generation. Past ten people, make one tree per branch of the family.
- 2
Say who married whom
"Mira Keane, Jonas's wife", "Elsa and Tom, children of Jonas and Mira". Without those links written out, the model joins the boxes however it likes.
- 3
Pick the style
Sepia oak for a historical saga or a printed book, clean boxes for a series bible or a working document.
- 4
Check names and lines
Every name, then every line: where does it start, where does it land? A wrong link in a printed book stands out as much as a typo.
Variations and use cases
The same canvas, tuned for different needs: each variation is two or three lines of prompt away.
The series bible
A writer developing a family drama drops the clean chart into the characters section of his bible. Producers see at a glance who inherits what and why the two brothers stopped speaking.
Fantasy and its noble houses
In a fantasy novel, three houses fight over a throne through marriages. One tree per house, all in the same style, lets the author check the line of succession before writing the coronation chapter.
The editor and the copy editor
The editor wants a character summary before copy editing. The modern tree, sent with the manuscript, saves a dozen emails asking "is she the aunt or the cousin?".
The short film set
In one scene, a framed family tree hangs on the living room wall. The prop maker prints the classic version large, with the names from the script, and the frame reads on camera.
The book club
A bookseller runs an evening on an ensemble novel with a big cast. She prints the tree on A4 for everyone, and the talk is about the story instead of who's who.
Common mistakes
Not writing out the marriages
Giving only the generations lets the model join boxes at random. In the demo, the daughter-in-law became the grandparents' daughter. Name every couple.
Too many people on one page
Fifteen cousins across three generations and the names shrink until they're unreadable. Make one tree per branch, or keep the characters that matter to the plot.
Keeping the invented portraits
The classic style may draw faces in the medallions. They won't look like your characters and can clash with the cover: ask for "medallions without portraits" if you don't want them.
Getting the name styling wrong
An accent, a hyphen, a particle: "de Valmont" and "De Valmont" aren't the same name. Copy each name exactly as it appears in the manuscript.
Recommended models
GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
Nano Banana 2.1
Recraft V4.1Frequently asked questions
Are the names spelled right?
In the demo, yes: "Aldric Marlow", "Hélène Marlow", "Jonas Marlow", "Mira Keane", "Elsa Marlow" and "Tom Marlow" are exact on both trees, accent included.
Are the family links right?
Not quite in the demo: Mira Keane, who married Jonas, gets the line from the grandparents as if she were their daughter. Spell out the marriages in the prompt and check every line.
Can I add birth dates?
Yes: add them in quotes under each name, "Aldric Marlow, 1891-1962". The more text, the more proofreading, digit by digit.
How much do the two trees cost?
Six credits, three per tree on GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst at medium quality. One more tree, for another branch of the family, costs three credits.
Why GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst?
Because it spells correctly on a light background, and a family tree is mostly a page of names. It's also the cheapest model in the catalogue, so rerendering when a line goes astray costs very little.
What output format?
The prompt asks for 4:3, but both demo trees came out almost square, slightly taller than wide, around 1225 x 1284. That sits well on a portrait book page.
Can I have four generations?
Yes: add a generation to the prompt with its names in quotes. Keep few people per row, or the boxes shrink.
Can I put it in my book?
Yes, for your own novel. If you publish through Amazon KDP, disclose AI-generated images; see also the rules on commercial use.
Make a family tree for your novel's characters with AI
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