![]() We really like this definition of a mind map by David Sparks (aka MacSparky) from a Mac Power Users episode on Cooking Ideas: It allows any idea to be connected with another at any time, and helps you see connections that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Think of it as the right-brained version of a standard outline that is perfect for “radiant thinking,” an idea popularized by Tony Buzan. The basic idea is that you start with a central idea and build branches (or “nodes”) around it. What is a Mind Map, Anyway?Ī mind map is a diagram that connects information around a central topic or subject. Given the limitations of the built-in documentation, a download link to that PDF, or at least a mention of its existence, would have been most welcome.There are several attractive options for Apple users looking for a mind mapping app to help capture, develop, and organize their ideas, but we think that MindNode is the best because it has a beautiful design that helps get your ideas flowing, is easy to use, has rock-solid sync, and has enough import/export options to be a really useful tool in almost any productivity workflow. A bit of hunting on Omni Group’s website netted the same information in searchable PDF form. The documentation accessible from the Help menu is hampered by the inability to search its contents or even navigate among articles without a trip back to the table of contents. The information entered here is also indexed by Spotlight, providing a way to search for OmniGraffle documents based on the notes, even if that information doesn’t appear in the body of the diagram. The power behind these seemingly mundane bits of metadata comes from OmniGraffle Pro’s ability to use your input as tool-tips when the cursor hovers over an object. Just below that is a table for entering name/value pairs of data describing quantifiable things such as height, weight, or color. In the properties inspector, the note section has fields for the object name and freeform notes. One of OmniGraffle Pro’s sleeper features is the ability to store metadata about any given object. Presentation mode isn’t designed to supplant products like Keynote, it does provide a clean way to share your diagrams with a live audience. ![]() Actions include navigating within the presentation, zooming in on a particular portion of the canvas, opening documents or URLs, even triggering an AppleScript. Canvases in presentation mode needn’t be static selecting the properties tab in the insepctor opens up the ability to assign various actions to the objects on the canvas. Each canvas is treated as a slide and mouse clicks or arrow keys are used to navigate among them. When invoked OmniGraffle Pro enters a full screen mode that hides all tools and inspectors and shrinks the diagram to fit on screen if necessary. Presentation mode offers a simple way to present diagrams to others. Taken together, both of these features can help attain consistency when producing several iterations of a diagram. Layer sharing places the selected layer in every canvas of the current document, akin to a master slide in a presentation program. Invoked from the Canvas settings, Manual Guides can be specified with custom colors, optionally locked in place, and dragged to other canvases in your document. Complimenting traditional guides that can be dragged out of a ruler are Manual Guides. The Omni Group has added a few features to facilitate consistency among the canvases in a given document. Text running along a line can now follow curved paths, adding some refinement to complex diagrams. Because combinations are reversible, you can revert back to independent shapes at will. Controls for combining multiple shapes make it possible to join or intersect any number of objects on a layer, alleviating the need to switch to image editing software for basic mask effects. Some welcome additions to the OmniGraffle Pro toolbox have been introduced. ![]() A refreshed user interface and full support for Retina displays help OmniGraffle Pro 6 stay as useful as ever. To be sure, OmniGraffle Pro 6 looked great on every display I tried, but my preferred two-screen setup with the document on the main display and palettes on the second is no longer an option. The decision to scrap the floating palettes likely has to do with OmniGraffle Pro’s improved support for high-density displays Apple calls Retina.
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