Vector Drawing Tools

Diagrammix provides a set of vector drawing tools for creating custom shapes and lines beyond the notation library.

Accessing Vector Tools

Click the Draw button (pencil and outline icon) in the main toolbar. The menu has three groups: Shapes, Smart Shapes, and Lines & Paths.

Shapes

Drag on the canvas to draw:

  • Rectangle
  • Circle — circles and ellipses
  • Rounded Rectangle — a rectangle with rounded corners
  • Round End Rectangle — a rectangle whose ends are semicircles (a "stadium" or pill shape)

Hold Shift while dragging to draw a perfect square or circle.

Smart Shapes

Star, Block Arrow, and Ring Segment are inserted with a single click.

Lines & Paths

  • Line — drag to draw one straight line segment. Hold Shift to snap its angle to 15° steps
  • Arrow — a straight line with an arrowhead
  • Polygon — click to place each vertex. Close the shape by clicking near the first point or pressing Return; double-click to finish it as an open path. Backspace removes the last point, Esc cancels
  • Path (Bezier) — click to add corner points, or click and drag to pull out curve handles. Double-click to finish
  • Freehand — drag to draw naturally; the stroke becomes a smooth, open vector path

For lines with several segments, use Polygon or Path.

Editing Vector Paths

Paths drawn with the Line, Arrow, Polygon, Path, and Freehand tools can be edited node by node:

  • Double-click an open path, or right-click any path and choose Edit Nodes
  • Double-click a segment to add a point
  • Select points and press Delete to remove them
  • Right-click a point for Convert to Corner Point, Convert to Smooth Point, Convert to Symmetric Point, Add Curve Handles, or Remove

See Vector Path Editing for details, and Combine Shapes to merge or cut shapes with boolean operations.

More Options

  • Convert to Connector — right-click a straight two-point line to turn it into a connector
  • Expand — right-click a single SVG image to convert it into editable vector shapes
  • Styling — the Inspector's Style tab lets you stack strokes, fills, and effects on a vector shape (for example Rough or Zig-Zag strokes, Pattern and Hatch fills). See Inspector