OmniGraffle (Mac)

Softonic Rating:: Excellent:9/10
License:: Evaluation
Added:: August 2, 2007
Updated:: March 10, 2008
Publisher:: Website
File size:: 42.6 MB
Downloads:: 357

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“The premier diagramming application for Mac OS X”

There's no better way to explain a project than via a diagram. OmniGraffle is an excellent application to create complex graphs, layouts or charts.

As with other Omni Group applications, OmniGraffle is very intuitive, and offers a well structured interface, with easy access to your projects, tools, styles and other menus. OmniGraffle is a great program partly due to the tools it includes like Bézier lines and shapes, stencils or connection magnets. To improve the looks of your shapes you'll have to work with visual styles and smart guides to improve the look and structure of your diagrams.

Apart from powerful tools, a good diagramming program needs to give you a clear outlook of your project, even if it is very complex. The outline view in OmniGraffle gives you a clear view of the whole diagram and comes in really handy ton control changes as you're working. You can also use the Automatic Layout inspector to arrange your project in the best way possible. In case you need to insert multiple areas in your project, OmniGraffle integrates subgraphs, to collapse more content into sections and keep your graphs clear.

OmniGraffle will also let you import Microsoft Visio VSD files, meaning you can work on diagrams with PC users and not worry about compatibility issues.

There's no doubt about it, OminiGraffle is a powerful application, replete with tools and styles to design great looking complex diagrams. It's no surprise then that the program has a price tag of $199.95, which not all users will be ready to pay.

If you're looking for a professional application to create complex diagrams and aren't worried about the price, then OmniGraflle is definitely the program for you.

Languages:

English

Recent changes in OmniGraffle:

as increased layout speed and new automatic layout options with the addition of the Graphviz layout engine. Many of the standard OmniGraffle tools are more powerful, including the line tools which can now create Bezier curves, making drawing and connecting objects more flexible. Additionally, the toolbar has been updated for easy access to common text and object formatting options. OmniGraffle has a large community of users that develop and share free stencils and it's now easier to search, organize and download these stencils using the new local and online search capability in the stencil window.
Updated Visio compatibility.
Other new Professional edition features include subgraphs, which allow sections of diagrams to be reduced to a collapsed state, enabling better management of complex documents. With the shared layers feature in OmniGraffle Professional 5, users can create common elements that will be displayed across multiple canvases. The notes inspector now has new fields for associating custom data values with objects in a diagram and this data is available through both Applescript and OS X's powerful Spotlight search tool. OmniGraffle 5 also supports OS X Leopard's new Quick Look preview feature.

OS requirements for OmniGraffle:

OS: Mac OS X

Minimum requirements:

Processor: PPC/Intel MHz
Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Free registration: Publisher's website

Pros

Powerful tools
Import Microsoft Visio VSD files
Multiple ways to view your diagrams
Create complex diagrams

Cons

Expensive ($199.95)

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From the publisher of OmniGraffle

When you need a clear understanding of how tasks, activities, and processes are carried out, OmniGraffle can help you produce amazing-looking diagrams that communicate information far better than words - and if you're just looking to make a poster for your Sunday garage sale, it's perfect for that too.

Diagrams are basic to the way people think, and we create them all the time without even realizing it. Whatever your profession or interests, chances are you’ve occasionally sketched out some ideas on a piece of graph paper or the back of a napkin. OmniGraffle is the tool to help you organize your thoughts visually, document them beautifully, and communicate them to the world.

More than just a silly name, OmniGraffle is a powerful, yet easy to use diagramming and drawing tool. OmniGraffle can help you make amazing graphic documents quickly by keeping lines connected to shapes even when they're moved, providing stencils full of common symbols for you to drag and drop, and magically organizing diagrams with just one click. Create flow charts, org charts, network diagrams, family trees, project processes, office layouts - or anything else that can be represented by symbols and lines.

Highlights from OmniGraffle 4 include a new dynamic outline view, diagram styles, a Bezier curve drawing tool, and greatly improved import and export options. OmniGraffle 4 Professional adds master canvases, notes, tables, document scale, improved Visio XML import and export, SVG export, and more.