FigTree

FigTree

FigTree is a free, open-source desktop application for drawing and viewing phylogenetic trees. It allows easy editing of basic tree aesthetics, such as node shape, color, size, and line width. It can export trees in a range of file formats for publishing and supports large datase
phylogenetics evolution trees visualization biology bioinformatics

FigTree: Free Desktop Phylogenetic Tree Drawing

A free, open-source desktop application for drawing and viewing phylogenetic trees, with features like easy editing of basic tree aesthetics and support for large datasets.

What is FigTree?

FigTree is a graphical viewer and tree editor program for phylogenetic trees. It is designed to be simple to use, providing basic functions for manipulating tree layout and appearance, such as changing branch widths, node shapes, colors and transparencies. FigTree supports the importing and exporting of trees in standard formats including Newick, NEXUS and phyloXML, allowing trees produced by different programs to be viewed and edited.

Some key features of FigTree include:

  • Editing branch lengths, labels, supports and confidence values
  • Applying line width, color, transparency settings
  • Tree rotation, zooming and root placement
  • Export to vector and raster graphical formats like PDF, SVG and PNG
  • Support for large trees with thousands of taxa
  • Rapid rendering and interactive display
  • Free and open source software

As an easy-to-use and flexible phylogenetic tree viewer and graphic tool, FigTree serves as an accessory program to many popular phylogenetics packages. It allows users to visualize and tweak the final presentation of estimated evolutionary relationships without needing to redo the entire phylogenetic analysis. FigTree is written in Java and works on all major operating systems.

FigTree Features

Features

  1. Visualization of phylogenetic trees
  2. Editing of tree node shape, color, size and line width
  3. Support for large datasets
  4. Export trees in various formats like PDF, SVG, PNG etc.

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

User friendly interface

Cross-platform availability

Actively maintained and updated

Cons

Limited customization options compared to paid software

No built-in phylogenetic tree construction tools

Only supports Newick format for importing trees


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