A free timeline maker for history projects and presentations
This timeline maker turns a list of dated events into a clean timeline you can download. Type each event with its date, a title and an optional description, choose an icon and a colour, and the timeline draws itself in date order. Add eras, such as “British Raj” or “Mughal Empire”, to show long periods as coloured bands behind the events.
Use it for a history project, a class presentation, a company milestone slide or a personal life story. The timeline can run left to right or top to bottom, with spacing that follows the real dates or simply even steps, and you can download a sharp PNG, an editable SVG or a vector PDF, or print it. Everything stays in your browser.
How to use the Timeline Maker
- Edit the example (the road to Indian independence) or press Start blank. Each row is one event: a date, a title and, if you like, a description.
- Write dates as a year (1947, 500 BCE), a month (Aug 1947) or a full date (15 Aug 1947, 1947-08-15, 15/08/1947). A date the tool cannot read is highlighted and left out.
- Pick an icon and a colour for each event. Add eras with a name and a start and end date; leave the end blank for “still going”.
- Choose Horizontal or Vertical, and Proportional to time or Evenly spaced. Turn descriptions and year ticks on or off.
- Download the PNG for a slide, the PDF for printing, or the SVG to edit further. Events and eras can be saved as CSV files and loaded again.
Timeline Maker features
Dates written the way you write them
Years, months, days, “15/08/1947” (day first, as in India and the UK), month names, BCE and CE, and “c. 1500” for approximate dates. Events are always sorted by date, whatever order you type them in.
Eras as colour bands
Show reigns, wars, school terms or project phases as bands under the axis. Overlapping eras are stacked in separate rows so none is hidden.
Icons and colours per event
Fourteen drawn icons (star, flag, book, school cap, globe, crown and more) in a colour-blind-safe palette that you can change event by event.
Proportional or even spacing
Proportional spacing shows that 1857 to 1885 is a longer gap than 1947 to 1950. Even spacing gives every event the same room, which suits timelines with a cluster of dates.
Overlap-free layout
Cards are placed above and below the axis in as few rows as possible, so neighbouring events never cover each other.
How the timeline is laid out
Every date is turned into a number of years (a day counts as a fraction of its year, and 1 BCE is year 0, so a span from 500 BCE to 1947 is one smooth scale). In proportional mode the first event sits at the left end, the last at the right end and the others in between by that number; the year ticks are placed with round steps such as 10, 50 or 100 years, or by month for spans of under four years.
In the horizontal layout each event gets a card above or below the axis. The tool tries the nearer row on each side and uses a new row only when a card would overlap one already there, then draws a stem from the icon to its card. In the vertical layout the cards form one column; if two events are close in time, the later card moves down just far enough to clear the earlier one, and the era bands follow the events. Dates are shown exactly as you typed them.
Tips for a good history timeline
- Keep titles short and put the detail in the description; cards wrap long text but a timeline reads best with a few words per event.
- Choose six to twelve events. Beyond that, split the timeline by theme or period, or switch to the vertical layout, which scales to many events without squeezing them.
- Use eras for long periods and icons for single events, so readers can tell a period from a moment at a glance.
- Check your dates against your textbook or another reliable source. The example uses well-known dates for illustration; you are responsible for the accuracy of what you publish.
- For a project plan with tasks, durations and dependencies use the Gantt chart maker; for numbers over time use the line graph maker, and for family history the family tree maker.
Timeline Maker FAQ
How do I make a timeline online for free?
Edit the example or press Start blank, enter each event with its date and title, and press Download PNG. There is no sign-up and nothing to install.
What date formats can I use?
A year such as 1947, a year with BCE or CE, a month such as Aug 1947, or a full date such as 15 Aug 1947, Aug 15, 1947, 1947-08-15 or 15/08/1947 (day first). “c. 1500” is read as 1500. Anything else is highlighted as unreadable.
Can I make a vertical timeline?
Yes. Change Direction to Vertical to get a single column of cards beside the axis, which also works well for long lists of events and for phones.
What are eras for?
Eras are coloured bands for periods, such as a dynasty, a war or a school term. Give each a name and start and end dates; they are drawn along the axis and stack automatically if they overlap.
Can I move events around by hand?
No: the position of each event comes from its date, so the timeline stays accurate. Choose Evenly spaced if you want equal gaps regardless of the dates.
Is my timeline uploaded anywhere?
No. It is drawn in your browser and saved only in this browser’s storage, and you can save the events and eras as CSV files.