Custom Styles
Custom styles let you save your own reusable looks alongside the built-in canvas themes (Clean, Sketch, Comic, Blueprint). A custom style captures the visual treatment of your diagram — fills, strokes, shadows, roughness, fill patterns, and more — so you can apply a consistent, polished look to any document with a single click.
Note: Custom styles extend the Autostyles system and are a PRO feature.
Opening the Custom Styles Editor
- Open the Autostyle menu in the toolbar
- Choose Customize…
(View → Canvas Theme lists only the four built-in styles, without Customize….)
The Custom Styles editor opens with two columns:
- Left — a master list of styles, split into Built-in (read-only) and Custom (editable)
- Right — an editable parameter form for the selected style
Creating a Custom Style
You have two starting points:
- Duplicate a built-in — select a built-in style (e.g. Sketch) and click Duplicate to create an editable copy. This is the easiest way to start, because you inherit a complete, working style.
- Start fresh — click New Style (the + button) to create a new editable style.
Use the toolbar beneath the list to manage your styles:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| + (New Style) | Create a new custom style |
| Duplicate | Copy the selected style into an editable custom style |
| Rename | Rename a custom style |
| − (Delete) | Remove a custom style |
Built-in styles can't be renamed or deleted — duplicate one if you want to modify it.
Editing a Style
Select a custom style to edit its parameters on the right. The form is organized into sections:
- Style Pack — the style's variants (see below)
- Render — the hand-drawn parameters used by the Autostyles (roughness, bowing, multi-stroke, fill patterns, and so on)
- Shape — how shapes are drawn
- Connector — how connectors are drawn
- Arrowheads — arrowhead styling
- Style Components — the fills, strokes, and effects that make up the look
Changes are saved to your app-wide style library, so your custom styles are available in every document.
Applying a Style
Custom styles appear in the toolbar Autostyle menu right below the built-in themes. Selecting one applies it to your document instantly.
From the Custom Styles editor you also have two apply modes in the footer:
- Apply — apply the style while preserving any manual per-object overrides you've made
- Reset & Apply — clear manual overrides first, then apply the style cleanly
Style Variants
A custom style can include several variants — alternative looks within the same style pack (for example different accent treatments). While a custom style with variants is active, select shapes and open the Inspector's Style tab: a Style Variants grid appears at the top of the Element Color Components section. Click a variant to apply it to the selected shapes, or click the × button (Clear autostyle from selected shapes) to return them to their plain style.
Default Style for a Template
In View → Manage Custom Templates..., each custom template pack has a Default style picker. The chosen style becomes the active autostyle for new documents created from that template.
Replicating a Style from an 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 look. The assistant creates a matching custom style (and, where shapes are involved, a matching custom template) that you can then apply like any other.
Custom Styles vs. Saved Defaults vs. Copy Style
| Feature | What it does | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Styles | Reusable, document-wide visual style (a custom canvas theme) | Saved in your style library, available everywhere |
| Saved defaults | Default look for new connectors and text | Used for new items |
| Copy Style | One-off copy of one element's look onto others | Ad hoc |
Tips
- Duplicate, don't start from zero — beginning from a built-in style gives you a complete, working baseline
- Name styles by use — "Brand Light", "Workshop", "Print" are easier to find than "Style 2"
- Combine with color schemes — pair a custom style with a color scheme for full control over palette and treatment
- Use Reset & Apply for a clean slate — when a document has accumulated manual tweaks, Reset & Apply gives you a consistent result
Related Topics
- Autostyles (Canvas Themes) — the built-in styles custom styles are based on
- Reusing Styles — saved defaults and other ways to reuse a look
- Copy & Apply Styles — the format painter
- AI Integration — replicate a style from a reference image