Custom Templates

Custom templates let you build your own notation packs — collections of custom shapes and connector arrowheads tailored to your domain. Once created, a pack appears under Custom in the template picker, right alongside the built-in notation packs, so your team can work with a consistent, shared visual language.

What a Template Contains

A custom template is a pack that can hold:

  • Custom shapes — authored from SVG, so they render crisply at any size and can carry your own geometry, icons, and visual treatment
  • Custom arrowheads — authored from SVG, for connector endpoints that match your notation (custom heads, tails, and markers)
  • Reusable elements — compositions saved from the canvas, with fill-in text slots (see Reusable Elements)

Managing Custom Templates

Open the manager from View → Manage Custom Templates…

From the Custom Templates window you can:

  • Create Template — start a new pack and give it a name
  • Rename a pack, or delete it
  • Import Shape SVG... and Import Arrowhead SVG... — add shapes and arrowheads from SVG files
  • Review the pack's Elements (reusable elements with their text slots) and delete any you no longer need
  • Choose a Default style — the autostyle that becomes active for new documents created from this template
  • Export... — save the pack as a database file, for example as a backup

Shapes and arrowheads can't be edited inside the window: to change one, delete it and import an updated SVG.

Using a Custom Template

Once a pack exists, its shapes and arrowheads are available wherever you choose notation:

  • In the template / notation picker, switch to the Custom section to find your packs
  • Place custom shapes on the canvas like any other notation symbol
  • Assign custom arrowheads to connector ends from the connector's style controls

Authoring Shapes and Arrowheads

Custom shapes and arrowheads are built from SVG. A few conventions make them behave well:

  • Shapes can include a contour path so connectors attach cleanly to the shape's outline
  • Arrowheads define an anchor point (where the line meets the head) and a tip orientation so they point the right way on any connector

Tip: The fastest way to author a pack is with an AI assistant over MCP — see below.

Creating Templates from a Reference Image (MCP)

If you connect an AI assistant via the MCP server, you can hand it a reference image and ask it to reproduce the graphics. The assistant generates SVG shapes and arrowheads and assembles them into a matching custom template, plus a matching custom style. The relevant MCP tools include create_custom_template, add_custom_shape, add_custom_arrowhead, and export_custom_template.

This is ideal for recreating a brand's iconography or matching the look of an existing diagram set.

Sharing Packs

Use Export... in the Custom Templates window to save a pack as a file. The Custom Templates window has no import command for whole packs; to recreate a pack on another Mac, import its SVG shapes and arrowheads into a new template — or let an AI assistant build it over MCP.

Tips

  1. Keep SVGs clean — simple, well-formed SVG renders fastest and recolors most reliably
  2. Group by domain — one pack per notation (e.g. "Cloud Infra", "Floor Plan") is easier to navigate than one giant pack
  3. Pair with a custom style — a matching custom style finishes the look
  4. Keep your source SVGs — store the original SVG files so you can rebuild or update a pack at any time