Styling
In This Section
Autostyles (Canvas Themes)
Apply Sketch, Comic, or Blueprint styles to your entire canvas with one click. Fine-tune parameters in the Theme Style inspector.
Styling in the Inspector
The Inspector's Style tab: the style component stack for vector shapes, colour schemes for symbols, and connector styling.
Reusing Styles
Keep styling consistent with custom styles and style variants, the Copy Style tool, and saved connector and text defaults.
Custom Styles
Save your own reusable diagram styles alongside the built-in canvas themes and apply them in one click.
Copy & Apply Styles
Use the format painter to copy styles from one element and apply them to others.
Fill Styles
Apply solid colors, gradients, and patterns to shape interiors.
Stroke Styles
Customize shape outlines with width, color, dash patterns, and line endings.
Color Schemes & Document Colors
Recolour notation symbols with their built-in colour schemes, and keep a document palette for consistent colours.
Shadows & Effects
Add depth with drop and inner shadows, adjust opacity, and customize corner radius.
Canvas Background
Give each page a solid colour, a gradient, or a seamless texture background.
Styling Basics
Colors
- Fill color: The interior color of shapes
- Stroke color: The border/outline color
- Text color: The color of text within shapes
Strokes
- Width: Line thickness from hairline to bold
- Style: Solid, dashed, dotted, dash-dot, dash-dot-dot, or long-dash lines
- Cap and Join: How line ends and corners are drawn
Effects
- Shadows: Add depth with drop and inner shadows
- Opacity: Make elements semi-transparent
- Gradients: Create smooth color transitions
Tips
- Consistency: Use the same colors and styles for related elements
- Contrast: Ensure text is readable against background colors
- Simplicity: Don't overuse effects - less is often more
- Styles: Save frequently used looks as custom styles