Migrating from other software

Every major genealogy program exports GEDCOM — the universal interchange format. The route is always the same:

1. Export a GEDCOM in your current program (tips below).
2. In StemmaFiles: Settings → Data → Import GEDCOM.
3. Review the import: people, families, sources, citations, notes and photo references become readable notes in your vault.

StemmaFiles' importer is lenient by design: vendor-specific extension tags are preserved as custom properties (and exported back), unknown records are skipped with a logged warning — an import never fails because another program got creative with the standard.

Program-specific notes

• Family Tree Maker — File → Export → GEDCOM 5.5.1. Media file references are imported; copy the actual files into the vault's Media/ folder.
• RootsMagic — File → Export → GEDCOM file. RootsMagic's source templates flatten to source + citation text, which StemmaFiles models natively.
• Legacy Family Tree — File → Export → GEDCOM; pick "GEDCOM 5.5.1".
• Gramps — Family Trees → Export → GEDCOM (.ged). (Gramps XML is not needed; GEDCOM carries the data.)
• Ancestry.com — Trees → Tree Settings → Export tree. Note: Ancestry does not include record images in the export — download those you need manually into Media/.
• MyHeritage — Family tree → Manage trees → Export to GEDCOM.

After the import

• Check Quality (rail icon) — the data audit lists inconsistencies the old program may have let through.
• Run Duplicates if you merged research from several sources.
• A second GEDCOM can be imported and merged non-destructively (Settings → Data → Import & merge) — matches are proposed, you decide.