Toolbars

Shape Toolbar

The shape toolbar is only available when the Diagram Window is active and the Shape Toolbar button has been ticked (see also the Diagram Toolbar).

To learn more about diagram shapes, see Diagram Elements.

Tip: Pressing-and-holding the Shift key while adding a diagram element affects how it is added. For example, pressing the Shift key when adding a rectangle will ensure that the added item is a square. This works with round rectangles too. Shift causes an ellipsis to be added as a circle. Arrows and other items preserve their aspect ratio. Lines will snap to 90 degree alignments.

Tip: Pressing-and-holding the Shift key while resizing diagram elements causes the aspect ratio (ratio of the horizontal to the vertical) to be preserved.

Tip: Pressing-and-holding the Ctrl key while resizing diagram elements causes the element to be resized around its centre point. You can combine the use of the Ctrl and Shift keys to preserve aspect ratio, and resize around a centre point.

Tip: Press the Alt key (or the Altr Gr key) when clicking anywhere on any line (multi-segment or not) add a 'vertex' (a point where the line can be bent or reshaped by clicking-and-dragging) to the line. Press the Alt key (or the Alt Gr key) when clicking on a vertex to remove it (you can't remove either of the last 2 vertices in a line).

Ancs	Add an Ancestor tree to the current diagram.
Descs	Add a Descendant tree to the current diagram.
Both	Add an Ancestor and Descendant tree to the current diagram.
Rels	Add an All Relatives tree to the current diagram.
Fan	Add a Fan Chart to the current diagram.
Text	Add a text box to the current diagram. Click-and-drag on the diagram to show where you want the text box to go. Double-click on it, or right-click and choose Format, to open the Format Dialog in which you can specify the text and other attributes.
Image	Add a picture to the current diagram.
Rect	Add a rectangle to the current diagram. Click-and-drag on the diagram to show where you want the rectangle to go. Double-click on it, or right-click and choose Format, to change the colour and other aspects of the rectangle.
Round	Add a rectangle with round edges to the current diagram. Click-and-drag on the diagram to show where you want the rectangle to go. Select it and click-and-drag on the little yellow diamond that is displayed, to change the roundness of the rectangle. Double-click on it, or right-click and choose Format, to change the colour and other aspects of the rectangle.
Ellipse	Add a circle or ellipse to the current diagram (press-and-hold the Shift key while adding to add a circle - see tips above).
Poly	Add a polygon - a multi-edged object. Click once on the diagram for each vertex (corner-point) of the polygon that you wish to add. Double-click to add the last point (or press the Esc key to show that you have already finished). A polygon cannot have fewer than 3 vertices.
Line	Click-and-drag on the diagram to add a line. Notice that you can add vertices (bend points) to a line after you have added it (see tips above).
Multi	Click-and-drag on the diagram to add a multi-segment line. Any line can be made into a multi-segment line, but if you always intend your line to be multi-segment, it may be more convenient to add it this way. Click once on the diagram for each vertex (corner-point) of the line that you wish to add. Double-click to add the last point (or press the Esc key to show that you have already finished). A line cannot have fewer than 2 vertices. If you want to rotate a multi-segment line (or any line), right-click on it and choose Group from the Grouping menu. You will then be able to rotate it like any other diagram shape.
Arrow	Add arrow shape. The arrow can be formatted in the usual way. When the arrow is selected, click-and-drag on the little yellow diamond to alter the shape of the arrow. Click-and-drag on the little green circle to rotate it (all diagram elements, other than tree items, can be rotated in this way).
Pie	Add a pie shape to the diagram. When the pie shape is selected, click-and-drag on either of the two little yellow diamond to alter the shape of the pie.
Text Pie	Add a text pie shape (also known as a pie shape with text) to the diagram. This shape is exactly like an ordinary pie shape except that it can have text like a text box. After adding it, right-click on it and choose Format from the dropdown menu to add the text.
Free	Add freehand. Click-and-drag on the diagram to add a freehand line. After adding it, right-click and choose Format from the dropdown menu to alter the line thickness and colour. If you want to make minute adjustments to the shape of freehand text, right-click on it, and choose Ungroup from the Grouping menu. You will then be able to move, add or delete any vertices you wish. When you have finished you can group it again.