Everything you’ll do in OmniGraffle involves drawing. Whether you’re creating the basic shapes for an organizational chart or prototyping a user interface for your next iOS or Mac app, OmniGraffle is packed with tools to feed your creativity.
Before you dive right in, though, take some time to learn some of the basics of drawing in OmniGraffle. There are many tips and tricks here that can help you master OmniGraffle in no time.
The most basic way to create a shape is with the Shape tool. Select the Shape tool in the toolbar (note, this tool might look different if you have changed its style).
With the Shape tool selected, drag across the canvas until you have a shape that is the size you want. It doesn’t have to be perfect right now; to set an exact size, use the Geometry object inspector (Command–1).
When you draw a shape, the mouse pointer changes to a set of crosshairs. The shape you draw takes on the Current Style in the Style Well. The default is a white-filled box with a simple black stroke. Click and drag to draw the shape; as you do, you’ll see a little box appear that gives you the dimensions of the object you’re drawing. Hold down the Shift key while drawing to restrain the dimensions of the shape to get that perfect square or circle you’ve been striving for.
To select an object, first make sure you are using the Selection tool (), and then click the object. When the object is highlighted—and if it can be resized—you will see eight handles along its edges.
If you have selected two or more objects, the area of the selected objects receives the eight resizing handles. This allows you to position objects on the canvas first, and then later resize select objects as needed.
Once you have selected an object, you can modify it with the Inspectors or use the menu commands to alter its appearance.
To group several objects together so they can be moved or styled as a single unit, select all of the objects and choose Arrange ▸ Group (Shift-Command-G).
A group behaves like a single object; you can select it, move it around, resize it, use inspectors to change its style and properties, connect lines to it, and so on. Any objects can be grouped, even groups.
Click once to select the group as a whole, then click again to select an individual member of the group. You can keep clicking to select members of groups within groups.
To take a group apart, select it and choose Arrange ▸ Ungroup (Shift-Command-U).
You can connect any two objects with the Line tool ().
Any attribute of an object can be changed using the Object Inspectors; its size, shape, color, position, and so on. When you select an object, the applicable Inspectors become available in the right sidebar. Use the Inspector that deals with the attribute you want to change. As you change the settings in the inspector, the object changes on the canvas.
For example, let’s say that you want to change the Fill color inside of that boring white object you’ve just created:
Open the Fill inspector. At the top of the inspector, you’ll find the Fill type pop-up menu, and the Fill color pop-up menu is on the left. For now, let’s leave the Fill type set to Solid Fill, and select a color to fill the object with.
Clicking the arrows on the side of the Fill color control pops up a list of preset colors from which you can choose. However, if you click the little rectangle next to the little arrows, the Colors palette pops open.
A table is a special kind of group that organizes rows and columns of objects. To create a table:
You can also select a number of already-existing objects and then choose Arrange ▸ Make Table; OmniGraffle rearranges the objects into rows and columns to the best of its ability.
Table cells can be selected and edited just like group members. If you resize a cell, the rest of the cells in its row and column resize accordingly. When selecting cells, you can Shift-click to select everything between the cell you click and the last cell you selected.
You can add or remove rows or columns at any time by dragging the table handles outward or inward. Resize the table as a whole by dragging the ordinary corner handles. Use the Edit ▸ Tables commands when working within table cells to insert or select rows and cells.
To dismantle a table, select it and choose Arrange ▸ Ungroup (Shift-Command-U).
A subgraph is a special kind of group that can be expanded to show the hierarchy inside it, or collapsed to make it a single compact object. To create a subgraph:
To collapse a subgraph, select it and then choose Arrange ▸ Collapse Subgraph (or from the contextual menu that appears when you Control-click the subgraph). The objects contained in the subgraph are hidden away, and the subgraph becomes a single object. Any incoming or outgoing connection lines belonging to objects in the subgraph become incoming or outgoing lines of the collapsed object itself.
Subgraph members can be selected and edited just like group members: click once to select the subgraph, then click again to select a member inside.
You can resize the containing rectangle, as long as you don’t make it too small to contain its member objects.
To disassemble a subgraph, select it and choose Arrange ▸ Ungroup (Shift-Command-U).
Finally, the various arrow shapes in OmniGraffle 6 have some smart behavior, whether they are connecting shapes or not.
When you change the point size of the line—say from 1 pt to 2 pts—the arrow scales with the point size of the line.
However, if all you want is a bigger arrow, you can adjust the size of the arrow using the scale field beneath the line tail or head pop-up menus. The scale fields accept positive and negative numbers, so you can have teeny-tiny or really huge arrows.