Working with Images

Add images to your diagrams to include logos, screenshots, icons, and other visual content.

Adding Images

  • Drag and drop — drag an image file from Finder onto the canvas; it appears where you drop it
  • Paste — copy an image in another app and press Cmd+V

Supported Formats

  • PNG — best for screenshots and images with transparency
  • JPEG — good for photographs
  • GIF — placed as a still image
  • TIFF, BMP, WebP
  • SVG — vector artwork that stays sharp at any size and can be tinted

Resizing Images

  1. Select the image
  2. Drag any corner or edge handle

Images always keep their aspect ratio when you resize them.

Precise Sizing

For exact dimensions, select the image and enter the width and height in the Inspector's Arrange tab → Geometry section.

Image Style: Opacity, Contour, and Shadow

  1. Double-click the image to show its floating action toolbar
  2. Click Image Style

The Image Style panel offers:

  • Image Opacity — make the image semi-transparent to layer it with other content
  • Draw contour — a border around the image, with Contour Color, Contour Type, Contour Width, and Contour Opacity
  • Shadow — a drop shadow behind the image

Tinting SVG Artwork

SVG images — icons, logos, and clipart — can be recoloured in one step:

  1. Select the SVG image
  2. Click the Icon Color button in the floating toolbar
  3. In the Tint row, pick a Custom Color, or choose a colour-scheme swatch

Click None in the Tint row to restore the artwork's original colours. The Inspector's Style tab also offers the image's colour in the Element Color Components section.

Tinting only applies to SVG images; bitmap images (PNG, JPEG, …) keep their colours.

Image as Shape Fill

You can fill a vector shape with an image pattern:

  1. Select the shape
  2. In the Inspector's Style tab, add or select a Pattern Fill
  3. Click Image from File... to choose an image, or Paste Pattern Image to use the image on the clipboard

Tips

  • Optimize file sizes: large images can slow down your document
  • Use PNG for diagrams: PNG preserves crisp lines and text
  • Consider SVG: for logos and icons, SVG provides better quality at any size (see SVG Support)