When watching TV dramas or reading novels, have you ever found it difficult to remember the names and relationships of numerous characters?

At this time, Character relationship diagram comes in handy. The character relationship diagram presents interpersonal relationships in the form of a visual chart, which is not only easy to remember. Even if you forget temporarily, you can immediately understand by just looking at the chart again.

This article will introduce the usage methods and advantages of the character relationship diagram and recommend 5 practical tools that can be used to create character relationship diagrams for free.

In addition to relationship diagrams, ideas in aspects such as design creativity and process flows can also be clearly presented through charts. As a tool that can automatically generate such charts, PicDoc came into being. This tool can analyze text through AI and automatically generate charts with just one click. Friends who are interested can click here to experience.

Let's get started!

What is a character relationship diagram? Usage methods and advantages

The author used to be troubled by the difficulty of remembering the names and images of characters. Especially when reading a novel, if you continue reading a few days later, you often wonder, "Who is this character?" "Why have these two people become so close?"

At this time, the character relationship diagram comes in handy. Such diagrams can often be seen in the introductions of TV dramas or novels. Present interpersonal relationships in the form of a diagram for easy memorization. Even if you forget temporarily, you can immediately understand as long as you look at the diagram again.

A character relationship diagram refers to a diagram that uses symbols such as lines or arrows to show the relationships between multiple entities (such as characters, things, etc.) Besides TV dramas and novels, it is also often used when organizing historical materials or company personnel relationships. Of course, this kind of relationship diagram is also applicable when analyzing the relationships between things.

By creating a character relationship diagram, these relationships can be intuitively presented, grasped, and understood. In addition, updating the diagram as the information is updated can also help you better understand the evolution of relationships or things. When taking actions such as building interpersonal relationships, having a character relationship diagram can also be of great help.

Key points for creating an association diagram

Although films, TV dramas, or novels with a large number of characters may come with their own relationship diagrams, when trying to understand the relationships between characters from scratch, one might consider creating a character relationship diagram on their own. By mastering the following key points, you can create an easy-to-understand relationship diagram.

Organize necessary information

First of all, it is necessary to organize the information about the characters, entities, and their relationships that you want to display in the diagram. To avoid missing necessary information, it is recommended to group and sort the information according to relevance.

For example, when organizing the personnel relationships of a company, it can be sorted by department or hierarchy. This makes it easier to understand and also easier to confirm whether any important information is missing.

Pay attention to the location of entities

After organizing the information, it enters the stage of creating a character relationship diagram. At this time, first, place the core character or entity in the center of the diagram. Place entities with high relevance nearby and entities with low relevance in more distant positions. This will achieve a better effect.

For example, when creating a character relationship diagram in a novel, first place the protagonist in the center and place related characters around it. Place another protagonist with high relevance beside it and place supporting characters with low relevance in a slightly more distant position. In this way, the relationships between characters will be clearer.

Use graphics and text to emphasize relationship information

Add text labels to the character relationship diagramIt can explain information such as the character traits or the nature of relationships of characters. In addition, information can also be emphasized by adjusting the size of the graphics representing entities, the thickness of lines, or colors, etc.

Recommendations for Character Relationship Diagram Making Tools

Next, we will select 5 tools that are helpful for making character relationship diagrams and introduce them to you.

PicDoc

PicDoc is an AI tool that automatically converts text into charts and can be used online. Simply describe the relationships in text, and the AI will select a suitable template based on the content and generate a character relationship diagram. This tool is particularly suitable for using charts to display relationships such as hierarchies or processes. It supports multi-language text, has an intuitive operation, and anyone can easily create a relationship diagram of characters.

PicDoc also offers rich customization features. You can freely adjust everything from colors, text layout to outline nodes. The generated relationship diagrams can be exported in PNG/JPG/PPT/PDF formats, which are suitable for various scenarios such as report materials, presentation slides, and social media.

PicDoc offers a free plan. After registering, you can use the basic functions and generate charts unlimitedly. Currently, it is in the beta version stage, and all functions are freely available. Try PicDoc now to generate character relationship diagrams!

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is an online chart-making tool. The basic functions can be used for free. It provides templates for creating character relationship diagrams and also has other rich chart types. The operation is basically intuitive and easy to understand, and a beginner's guide is provided.

Lucidchart supports sharing and team collaborative editing functions, so it is very suitable for teamwork.

GitMind

GitMind is an online mind mapping tool with AI capabilities. It supports use on different devices, and data synchronization can be achieved through account registration, which is its main advantage. GitMind offers a variety of relationship diagrams of people and other chart templates, and it is also very convenient for team collaboration.

Canva

Canva is an online design tool that allows you to select a suitable template from a variety of included templates to create charts. In particular, it provides organization chart templates that display the organizational hierarchy, which are suitable for showing the relationships between various people or entities within an organization.

Canva offers a free plan with basic functions available, so you can create an easy-to-understand relationship diagram of people.

Excel

As one of Microsoft's office products, Excel is surely a familiar tool to everyone. As a chart-making software, you can freely arrange various graphics and lines through the "Insert" → "Shapes" function to create a relationship diagram of people. Although there are no templates, the fact that it is free and offers a high degree of editing freedom is also one of its advantages.

Conclusion

This time we introduced usage methods, production techniques, and recommended tools for character relationship diagrams. Whether it's in a story or in reality, it's very important to observe the relationships between characters. I hope this article can serve as a reference and be useful when organizing relationship information.

In additionWith the development of artificial intelligence (AI), it is now also possible to automatically generate diagrams using PicDoc. There is no need to layout by yourself. Just input the text containing relationship information, and the AI will analyze the content and generate a visual diagram. It is currently in the beta version stage, and all functions can be used for free. Friends who are interested can click here to give it a try!