Beginning with DNA Painter

Jonny Perl
jonny@dnapainter.com
Twitter: @dnapainter
Instagram: @dnapainter

This talk is for any family historian who has taken a DNA test and
received the results.
DNA Painter is a popular website for genealogists working with
DNA. You can find it at dnapainter.com.
In this webinar I’ll introduce the site and discuss some factors you
should consider before you start. I’ll then describe three of the
site’s main features:
• Ancestral trees
• Relationship prediction via the Shared cM Project tool and
What are the Odds (WATO)
• Chromosome mapping
I’ll introduce each feature, explaining:
• Why people use it
• How to use it, including practical steps
This is an introductory talk, so I’ll be dipping into these features as
opposed to providing in-depth case studies. You’ll find links to
further resources at the end of this handout in the “Useful links”
section.
Finally, I’ll provide my overall top tips.
While this talk is aimed at those who are new to DNA Painter, I hope
there will also be some information that’s useful to existing users
who would like a refresh.

© 2023 J. Perl
Before you start
To use DNA Painter you need a
computer, a passion for family
history, and a willingness to
learn more about DNA.
You don’t have to be very
technical with computers or
DNA, but it would help to take
the following on board:
Computers
• Chromosome mapping involves copy and pasting data. You’ll
find this easier and quicker if you get used to the following:
o CTRL-A (or ⌘/command-A on a Mac) will select all the
text on a page or within a form field
o CTRL-C (or ⌘/command -C on a Mac) will copy all
selected text to your computer’s clipboard
o CTRL-V (or ⌘/command -V on a Mac) will paste the
contents of the clipboard
• DNA Painter is a secure login-based website so there’s
nothing to be afraid of when working there
• Unless you specifically say so, nothing you do will be shared
with anyone else, so you can experiment in complete privacy
• You don’t have to play anything to try it out
Genealogy
• When you’re investigating how you might be related to DNA
matches, you will come across terms such as 1C1R and 2C
o If you haven’t already, it would be good to familiarize
yourself with this terminology and perhaps print out a
chart if necessary
• Ideally you will be comfortable with the idea of using your
research skills to build trees for your DNA matches
DNA
• Understand the main ways that DNA Painter can help you:
o Visualize and share your tree
o Examine your matches

© 2023 J. Perl
 o Make a chromosome map
o Learn more about DNA
• DNA can’t provide the names of your missing ancestors, but it
can suggest next steps and research avenues
• These can then lead you to matches who can share family
documents and perhaps even photos
• Bear in mind that as soon as you delve into DNA results,
there’s a chance you might uncover something life-changing
o This is an important responsibility, and if you find yourself
in this situation, please treat it very sensitively
• If you took your DNA test at AncestryDNA and you want to try
chromosome mapping, you will need to transfer your DNA to a
different company in order to access match segment data
o To do this, you’ll need to download your raw DNA file
from Ancestry and then upload it to one or all of the sites
that accept uploads: FamilyTreeDNA, Gedmatch,
Geneanet, Living DNA and MyHeritage
o There is a comprehensive set of links in the “Useful links”
section below that show you how to do this

© 2023 J. Perl
Ancestral trees: why and how
An ancestral tree at DNA Painter is simply a representation of
someone’s direct line (also known as a pedigree chart)

Why would you create an Ancestral tree?

• Extracting just your direct line helps you to focus on the gaps
that represent missing ancestors
• You can also overlay DNA inheritance paths, which can help
you understand them more easily
• The dimensions feature allows you to explore different views of
your ancestors, including charts showing age at death and
country of birth
• An ancestral tree distils the information that will be most useful
to DNA matches, and you can choose to share it easily while
keeping information about living people private
How do you create an Ancestral tree?
• After signing in, click the ‘Ancestral trees’ tab and click ‘create
a new tree’
• You’ll see a blank tree with generic names like “Father”
o You can click on any node to edit the name
o Hit enter to save it…
• Or you can import your tree from a GEDCOM file (a common
format that you can export from family tree websites/software)

© 2023 J. Perl
 o To do this, click ‘Load GEDCOM’ at the top right
o Drag your file into the box or click and select it
o Once your file is loaded, type the first few letters of the
name of the person whose ancestors you want to import
o As you type, matching names from your GEDCOM will
appear
o Once you see the name of the person you want to
import, click it and then click ‘Import ancestors’
• To change the colour scheme, click ‘Palettes’ at the top right
and click on a different set of colours.
• To overlay an inheritance path, click ‘DNA Filters’ and click the
path you want (for example, ‘Show X-DNA path’)
• “Genetic ancestors” refers to ancestors that you’ve verified
with DNA (for example, if you share significant DNA with a
cousin who is their descendant)
o To mark someone as a genetic ancestor, hover over
them in the tree and click ‘Edit person’
o Then check the box ‘Mark as a genetic ancestor’ and
click ‘Save’
o Genetic ancestors are then visible if you click ‘Show
genetic ancestors’ under ‘DNA Filters’
• To share your ancestral tree, click ‘Share’ at the top right
o This will bring up the share overlay
o By default, all trees are private, but you can click the
switch to mark the tree as shared
o The default privacy setting is ‘Hide the names and details
of living people’ but you can change this if you want
o You can then copy and email the link to anyone you’d
like to share the tree with
o Other users will not need to log in and the link will be
active as long as the switch is set to ‘shared’
o To revoke access, click the switch to set the tree back to
private
o The shared tree is searchable, so DNA matches can for
example enter locations, professions and names
• More ideas for how to use this feature are linked in the “Useful
links” section below

© 2023 J. Perl
Relationship prediction: why and how
The amount of DNA you share with an unknown match can help you
predict what the genealogical relationship you have with this person
might be.
DNA Painter provides several tools that can help with this, including:

Shared cM Project tool

What are the Odds?

© 2023 J. Perl
Why would you use relationship prediction tools?
• They help you understand the wide variety of relationships that
are possible for most amounts of DNA shared
• While testing company relationship estimates have improved a
great deal recently, they can vary enormously
o With the shared cM tool you can enter shared cM
numbers from any site and get a fresh perspective
• These tools can help you figure out which grandparent level
you might have to go back to in order to find the connection
you have with a DNA match
• They can also help you use genealogy as you interpret shared
DNA amounts
o For example, if you know how two different DNA
matches connect to each other, What are the Odds?
(WATO) can help you to place yourself in their family tree
• These tools can also help you clarify your thoughts and map
out possibilities
How do you use relationship prediction tools?
The Shared cM Project tool
• The centimorgan (cM) is the unit used to express the amount of
DNA you share with someone
• The initial view consists of a grid of boxes, each representing a
different relationship, such as first cousin, parent, grandparent
o The boxes are colour-coded so that you can trace the
path vertically back through the tree to the common
ancestor level for that relationship
§ For example, the first cousin (1C) box is green,
leading back to grandparent level also shown in
green
§ The fourth cousin box is yellow, leading back to
great-great-great-grandparent level, also shown in
yellow.
• Each box contains
o The relationship name (for example, 2C, meaning second
cousin)
o The average number of cMs of DNA reported for this

© 2023 J. Perl
 relationship (for example 229 for a second cousin)
o The range of cMs of DNA reported for this relationship
(for example 41-592 for a second cousin)
• You can enter the total number of cMs of DNA that you share
with a match
o The tool will then filter the relationship boxes, showing
just the relationships that are possible for this match
o You can also click on a relationship box to see a
histogram graph showing how the amount you entered
compares to what other people reported for this
relationship
o Finally, the tool will display probabilities, so for example
you can see that for 178cM shared, the most likely group
of relationships at 51% is Half-second cousin (Half 2C),
second cousin once removed (2C1R), Half-second
cousin once removed (Half 2C1R) and first cousin three
times removed (1C3R)
What are the odds?
What are the odds? (WATO) takes the probabilities that you see in
the Shared cM Project tool and uses them alongside a known family
tree.
The goal of WATO is to connect a DNA match to a known tree.
• This could be connecting you to a tree where you are clearly
genetically related but you don’t know how you fit in.
• Or it could be fitting a DNA match into your own known tree
This tool is perhaps a bit too advanced to be included in a beginner
DNA Painter talk. However, it’s sufficiently powerful that I wanted to
put it on your radar so that if you’re interested, you can take the time
explore more after this webinar.

Example case study:

• I share 100cM with a DNA match, James, who was born in
1962
o My father’s maternal cousin also matches James, sharing
40cM with him
• I can use What are the odds (WATO) to make a simple tree

© 2023 J. Perl
 containing my known family
• I then indicate in this tree the amounts of DNA that me and my
father’s cousin share with James
• I can now “try out” positions in the tree where James might fit
by adding nodes in the tree, hovering over them and marking
them as a hypothesis.
o If a position is possible, its score will be marked in green
o If it is not possible, the score will be zero and will be
marked in red
o If there’s only one positive score, it will always be 1.
o Beyond this, the scores are probabilities relative to the
lowest possible score.
o So a score of 100 would mean that this position is
statistically 100 times more likely than the score of 1
In general, WATO will be most useful for helping you find more
people to test and ruling certain people out.
It must always be used alongside genealogical research:
• A hypothesis might be statistically likely based on amounts of
DNA shared
• But it might make no sense at all in terms of genealogy; for
example, the people involved might not have been in the right
place at the right time
For more in-depth info please see the links and webinar in the
“Useful links” section below.

© 2023 J. Perl
Chromosome mapping: why and how
• I built the chromosome mapping application after successfully
connecting a match to my tree (much like James in the
example above)
• Having connected this person, I wondered what I could do with
this information beyond saying ‘I’ve found a new cousin’
• I realized I had not just the total number of shared cMs, but
information about the actual segments of DNA
We all have 23 pairs of chromosomes:
• One comes from our father
• And the other comes from our mother
Similarly, we all have a direct line:
• A biological father, his biological parents, and so on
• A biological mother, her parents, and so on…
Our chromosome map is the genetic equivalent of our direct line.
We start of just knowing we have one copy from each parent, but
after working on our map we can narrow down pieces that we
inherited from specific grandparents and ancestors beyond that.

© 2023 J. Perl
Why would you map your chromosomes?
Most people are driven the sense of self-discovery that comes with
identifying evidence of their much-researched ancestors within their
own DNA. It’s a puzzle that is tremendously fun and addictive for
people who like to see how it all fits together.
Beyond this:
• Your chromosome map provides a practical repository for our
DNA match research, allowing you to collate information from
all DNA platforms (e.g. 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, Gedmatch,
Geneanet, Living DNA and MyHeritage) in one place
• Mapping your chromosomes provides a practical and personal
way to build and cement your understanding of DNA
o For example, when you compare yourself with a match
on a testing site, a set of chromosomes is displayed with
just one chromosome for each number
o But this is just because the testing company doesn’t
know whether the match is on your maternal or paternal
copy of that chromosome
o You have two copies of each chromosome: one paternal
copy and one maternal copy
o Mapping your chromosomes can help reinforce this
• You can find more ideas in the “Useful links” section below
How do you map your chromosomes?
• After logging in, click ‘Chromosome maps’ on the homepage
• Click ‘create a new map’
• Enter your name (or the name of the person whose
chromosomes you’re mapping)
• Specify this person’s sex (so that the site knows whether to
output one or two copies of the X chromosome)
• You can now start paint your first match by clicking the ‘Paint a
new match’ button at the top right
• Now you need segment data: the coordinates of each piece of
DNA you share with your match
• This page at DNA Painter explains how to do this at each
testing site, including how-to videos
• Once you have the data you can paste it into the ‘Paint a new

© 2023 J. Perl
 match’ form and click ‘Save match now’
• You need to enter some basic information:
o Match name
o Known common ancestors
o Whether the match is on your maternal or paternal side
o The site will suggest a colour randomly but you can
adjust this if you need to
Your match is now painted. A few things to bear in mind:
• The process of painting can be addictive, but you should only
paint your own matches on your map. If you want to paint the
match that your sibling or other relative shares with a match,
you should create a map for them. This is because your map
represents just the blend of DNA that *you* inherited from your
ancestors. If you’d like to use the matches that family
members have with known matches, there are some powerful
techniques that can help you do this; please see links about
inferred mapping below.
• Matching someone on a specific chromosome doesn’t
automatically “mean” anything in particular. But knowing that
on this copy, you inherited DNA from a specific ancestor could
be very helpful to you in future if you find an unknown person
who shares the same DNA.

© 2023 J. Perl
Top tips
Remember, this is not easy
When working with DNA, it’s easy to feel ‘I am not currently solving
my mystery, so therefore I'm doing something wrong’. But you are
probably not doing anything wrong. It’s just that this type of work is
very hard, and often requires a great deal of patience.
You also face some challenges that are outside your control. For
example, having learned some basic DNA terminology and facts, you
may excitedly contact DNA matches only to find that they ignore
you. It remains the case that many DNA testers have no interest in or
knowledge of their own genealogy.
Don’t try to do too much at once
You will have noticed that DNA Painter hosts a wide variety of tools,
and links to many more. Bear in mind that not every tool at DNA
Painter is necessarily applicable or useful to every genealogist.
I’d suggest having a particular goal in mind and focusing on the
appropriate tool(s)
• That could be a burning mystery (such as ‘Who was my
paternal grandfather?), in which case you might use “What are
the Odds?”
• Or it could just be a general desire to keep track of matches or
learn more about DNA and inheritance, in which case you
might try chromosome mapping
The main help page at DNA Painter describes which types of tasks
each of the main tools is best for.
Take it slow
It would make sense to start with simple tasks.
For example, if you are interested in mapping your chromosomes,
don’t try and be a completist! Not every match will be solvable. Start
by mapping any known matches. Then focus on the biggest
unknown matches.
Ask for advice if you need it
There are two very active DNA Painter-specific Facebook groups

© 2023 J. Perl
(one for What Are the Odds? and one for everything else) as well as
a site blog with how-to articles.
You can also email me, and there are also many other social media
communities available to help you with DNA questions.
Have fun
Most importantly: this is supposed to be an enjoyable puzzle. If you
are really not having fun, then perhaps the tool you’re using isn’t
right – either for you or for the task you’re attempting. For example,
some people just don’t get along with chromosome mapping. If
that’s you, there’s no shame in that; there are many other analysis
techniques to try.
Finally, please feel free to watch my four previous Legacy Family
Webinars, all of which are linked on the DNA Painter homepage.
Thank you!

© 2023 J. Perl
Useful links
Before you start
Computer literacy
How to Copy, Paste, Select All using Keyboard Shortcuts on
Windows Computer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIS5SX53lE
How to Copy/Paste/Select All using Keyboard Shortcuts on
MacBook, iMac, Apple Computers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VojT6-iTv90
Genealogy
Cousin Chart—Family Relationships Explained
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/cousin-chart
The Cousin Explainer Tea Towel (design by Geoff Sawers)
https://www.presentindicative.com/products/cousin-explainer-
teatowel
DNA
Downloading DNA data from AncestryDNA
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Downloading-DNA-Data
Uploading to FamilyTreeDNA
https://www.familytreedna.com/autosomal-transfer
Uploading to Gedmatch
https://www.gedmatch.com/how-it-works/#how-to-upload
Uploading to Geneanet
https://geneanet.org/dna/upload/
Uploading to Living DNA
https://support.livingdna.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012509652-
Uploading-to-Living-DNA-
Uploading to MyHeritage
https://www.myheritage.com/dna/upload

© 2023 J. Perl
[Video] GenealogyTV: How and Why to Download Raw DNA from
AncestryDNA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5069XcuoMUQ
[Video] Turi King: DNA Family Secrets: A beginner's guide to genetic-
genealogy
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPZER-
xvCEr71byt84As0obB09MoTgVWx

DNA Painter: why and how

Registering at DNA Painter: Every step
https://dnapainter.com/blog/register-at-dna-painter-every-step/
Ancestral trees
What is a GEDCOM file?
https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/getting-
started/gedcom/
Q&A: Everyone Has Two Family Trees – A Genealogical Tree and a
Genetic Tree
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2009/11/10/qa-everyone-has-
two-family-trees-a-genealogical-tree-and-a-genetic-tree/
Eight ways you can use ancestral trees at DNA Painter
https://dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-
trees-at-dna-painter/
The Journey of DNA’s Inheritance Paths: X-DNA and Autosomal
DNA
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/x-dna-autosomal-dna-inheritance-
paths
Keeping track of genetic ancestors: did you know? #2
https://dnapainter.com/blog/keeping-track-of-genetic-ancestors-
did-you-know-2/

© 2023 J. Perl
[video] Setting up an Ancestral Tree and Fan Chart and Exploring
Tree Completeness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkJp5Xk1thg
[video] Keeping track of your genetic family tree in a fan chart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Hcno7en94
DNA Painter Dimensions: a new way to showcase your ancestral line
https://dnapainter.com/blog/dna-painter-dimensions-a-new-way-to-
showcase-your-ancestral-line/

Relationship prediction
The Shared cM Project
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2015/05/29/the-shared-cm-
project/
What is a centimorgan?
https://hapi-dna.org/2020/09/what-is-a-centimorgan/
The Shared cM Project tool
https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4
Introducing the updated shared cM tool
https://dnapainter.com/blog/introducing-the-updated-shared-cm-
tool/
Shared cM histograms: did you know? #3
https://dnapainter.com/blog/shared-cm-histograms-did-you-know-
3/
What are the Odds?
https://dnapainter.com/tools/probability
WATO FAQ
https://dnapainter.com/help/wato-faq
Focus mode in WATO
https://dnapainter.com/blog/focus-mode-in-what-are-the-odds-
wato/

© 2023 J. Perl
Previous WATO webinar
https://familytreewebinars.com/download.php?webinar_id=1288
[video] Michelle Leonard: Understanding Predicted Relationships at
the DNA Testing Sites
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/understanding-predicted-
relationships-at-the-dna-testing-sites/

Chromosome mapping
Why map your chromosomes?
https://dnapainter.com/blog/why-map-your-chromosomes/
Painting a match: every step
https://dnapainter.com/blog/painting-a-match-every-step/
[video] Your First Chromosome Map: Using your DNA Matches to
Link Segments to Ancestors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzd5arHkv64
[video] Getting Started with DNA Painter
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/getting-started-
with-dna-painter
How to Use Chromosome Browsers for Genealogy
https://education.myheritage.com/article/how-to-use-chromosome-
browsers-for-genealogy/
Painting your DNA with inferred matches
https://dnapainter.com/blog/painting-your-dna-with-inferred-
matches/
More tips for inferred chromosome mapping
https://dnapainter.com/blog/more-tips-for-inferred-chromosome-
mapping/

DNA Painter Subscriptions

https://dnapainter.com/blog/dna-painter-subscriptions/

© 2023 J. Perl