5
$\begingroup$

So I'm currently drawing lots of creatures to fill the planet of my world building project. But I would like to show them in a organized way - in a phylogenetic tree.

Sure I can draw the line myself in Photoshop, but it its time consuming, plus if I add anything, I basically have to redraw all the line all the way back to the first clades to make rooms for new creatures.

So I'm looking for something user friendly, where you can add text (at the nodes as well), add png/jpeg, and that you can also export/save as an image in high resolution of at least 300 ppi.

Thanks for your inputs

enter image description here

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
6
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I am pretty sure on biology.SE you would find a more precise answer $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 17:21
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @L.Dutch-ReinstateMonica - my guess that on biology you would get downvotes and snarky comments about this being graphic design not biology. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 17:33
  • $\begingroup$ Since you are asking for software, you might find that an appropriate place to ask would be Software Recommendations. I would recommend adding additional parameters to your request, such as operating system, whether cloud-based or web-based is acceptable (and if web-based, what browser), desired range of cost, etc. $\endgroup$
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 17:41
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Can be done with LaTeX & Tikz: tex.stackexchange.com/questions/371118/… $\endgroup$
    – jamesqf
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 17:47
  • $\begingroup$ You might also find people knowledgeable in cladograms and phylogeny in bioinformatics.stackexchange.com $\endgroup$
    – Whitehot
    Commented Feb 14, 2021 at 0:39

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
2
$\begingroup$

This user on this forum made a cladogram for dragons using mesquite, if it worked for them I guess you can give it at least a try.

ironically the largest cladogram I have made so far was on dragons, yes you read that correctly fictional dragons. Since I am sure to get a question or two, the tree was made with mesquite and incorporated several real taxa to compare with plus we used those real taxa as a control tree.

Alternatively, you can try this editable cladogram

diagrams can be exported and added to Word, PPT (powerpoint), Excel, Visio or any other document. Use PDF export for high quality prints and SVG export for large sharp images or embed your diagrams anywhere

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

The ape package in R does pretty much everything you want, although it can be a bit difficult to manipulate the software, though it cannot add tiffs/jpegs. This can be supplemented with the phytools package.

TNT allows for trees to be exported in an SVG format, and from there they can be easily manipulated in Illustrator.

Honestly when I make phylogenetic trees I just use Adobe Illustrator because it results in nice, crisp lines and I can easily create geometric designs. Adjusting node position is a pain though. I only get Illustrator through my place of employment, but Inkscape is a free alternative that I've heard a lot of colleagues rave about.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

I found that one : https://searchman.com/android/app/us/com.cryptobees.mimind/en/cryptobees/mimind-easy-mind-mapping/

I actually think it migth be what I'm looking for!

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ As the name states, what you suggest is used for doing mindmaps $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Commented Feb 14, 2021 at 8:11
-1
$\begingroup$

I would use Powerpoint.

  1. You can make your brackets opaque (black on white background square) and stack lower smaller ones atop larger bigger ones.

  2. Easy to rearrange and stack bracket items.

  3. Easy to add text boxes.

  4. You are offered gridlines to line things up.

  5. You can add image boxes.

  6. You can save a slide as a jpeg or pdf.

I have on good authority that GoogleSlides works as well as Powerpoint and is free but I have not done anything on GoogleSlides myself.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ This has all of the disadvantages that the querent cites for PhotoShop, and for most of the same reasons. $\endgroup$
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 17:42

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .