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Create and edit a diagram

Everything you draw lives in a web diagram. This page covers the editor end to end — creating the diagram, drawing and connecting shapes, structuring with pools and lanes, and preparing pages for print. For a guided first run, take the tutorial.

Prerequisites​

  • The Create item permission on the destination folder and a license that includes web diagram editing — see the License capability matrix.
  • The diagram checked out to you. Only viewing a diagram works without a check-out.

Steps​

Create the diagram​

  1. Select the destination folder, then Add Object, and choose the type Diagram.
  2. Under Start with, choose how to begin:
    • Pia: describe the process in a chat, and Pia drafts the diagram for you. Continue with Create a diagram with Pia. This option is cloud-only and Early Access. It appears only after an administrator turns on Pia - Process Intelligence Assistant (for Diagram Creation). See Turn Pia on.
    • Diagram View: the visual editor.
    • QuickMap: build the diagram from a table of steps.
    • Import a file: see Import diagrams.
  3. Where a Template step appears, pick a built-in template or one of your custom templates, made from your organization's own diagrams.
  4. Name the diagram, pick the first version number, and click Finish. The diagram opens checked out to you.

Find your way around the editor​

  • Main toolbar (top): the app menu (export, import, page setup, compare), Check In / Check Out, Undo and Redo, Add text (Text Annotation), Add lines, Format Painter, and Find in Diagram.
  • Side panels (left and right): the panels listed in the table below. Drag the buttons to reorder them, even between sides. To hide panels or show only icons, see Customize the side panels.
  • View bar (lower right): zoom, full screen, and display options — see View a diagram.
  • Canvas (center): where you draw. To move around it, drag with the right or middle mouse button, or hold the space bar and drag.

The side panels:

PanelWhat it's for
ShapesAdd shapes from the shape libraries. See Draw shapes and flows.
ArrangeAlign, space, resize, and layer shapes. See Align and arrange shapes.
Shape LegendSee each shape type the diagram uses, with its symbol and name. While checked out, drag one onto the diagram to add another shape of that type.
CommentsRead and add comments. Requires the Add Diagram Comments or View All Diagram Comments item permission. See Comment on a diagram.
Describes ListSee every object the diagram or its elements describe. While checked out, the panel's Proposed section offers Accept All, so you can accept every proposed relationship at once instead of one by one. See Describes relationships.
PathsSee named routes through the flow, and create new ones while checked out. See Use paths.
NumberingShow, hide, and renumber shape numbers. See Shape numbering and style.
Process MiningProcess Mining A discipline that uses event data recorded by enterprise systems to discover, monitor, and improve real business processes — revealing how work actually flows rather than how it was designed.Overlay process variantsVariant A unique trace pattern in an event log. Variant analysis ranks how often each path is taken and is the fastest way to spot process deviation. from a Process MiningProcess Mining A discipline that uses event data recorded by enterprise systems to discover, monitor, and improve real business processes — revealing how work actually flows rather than how it was designed. project (Early Access, Cloud only). See Mining variant overlay.
NarrativeRead the narrative for the selected shape. See Narrative reports.
DiagrammingSet properties that depend on the selected object's type, such as a BPMNBPMN An ISO/OMG standard graphical notation for modeling business processes. Process360 Live uses BPMN 2.0 for design and simulation artifacts. task type or value stream data. See BPMN diagrams.
DescribesConnect the selected shape to an object in the repository. See Describes relationships.
StylesFormat shapes, lines, text, and the diagram itself. See Shape numbering and style.
NoteAttach rich-text documentation to a shape. See Notes.
LinksManage the selected shape's links to web pages and repository items. See Link shapes to files and pages.
Custom PropertiesSet custom properties on the selected element. See Diagram-defined custom properties.
Display FieldsChoose which extra data shows on shapes. See Display fields.
AutomationSet automation properties on BPMNBPMN An ISO/OMG standard graphical notation for modeling business processes. Process360 Live uses BPMN 2.0 for design and simulation artifacts. elements. Requires the Automation module and a Designer or Architect license. See Web BPMN diagram elements with automation.

Shapes, Arrange, Styles, Numbering, and Display Fields appear only while you have the diagram checked out. In view mode they're hidden, because you can't edit the diagram there. They keep their place in your layout and come back when you check the diagram out.

The diagram editor with the toolbar, the Shapes panel, and the side panels.

Draw shapes and flows​

  1. Open the Shapes panel and pick a library. Click Manage to change which libraries this diagram offers.
  2. Drag a shape onto the canvas and type to add Shape textShape text The text displayed on a diagram shape. Type while a shape is selected to add or edit it. Part of the shape feature family alongside Shape Links and Shape Properties..
  3. Grow the flow from a selected shape: orange circular handles on its faces place a connected next shape — the same type you last added — and the Quick Shape MenuQuick Shape Menu The shape picker that opens when you add a connected shape through the orange circular handles on a selected diagram shape. It offers the shapes of the diagram's current shape library. that opens lets you switch the type if you want a different one (Ctrl+Space opens the same menu for a selected shape later). The connection is drawn for you.
  4. For free connections, use the Add lines tool: draw from one shape to another, and select the tool again when you're done — it stays active until you do. Add text places free-standing text, which the Add lines tool can connect to shapes; it turns itself off once you finish the text (Shift+Enter, or a click outside it).
  5. As you drag, smart guides help you line shapes up with the shapes around them. To align or evenly space a selection, see Align and arrange shapes below.

To undo a change, click Undo or press Ctrl+Z.

In BPMNBPMN An ISO/OMG standard graphical notation for modeling business processes. Process360 Live uses BPMN 2.0 for design and simulation artifacts. diagrams with Error Checking turned on (a toggle in the app menu, saved with the diagram), warning icons flag conformance problems — for example a decision gateway missing an outgoing flow; select the icon to read the message. Event shapes take their start/intermediate/end look automatically from their connections.

Align and arrange shapes​

Line shapes up as you drag, or tidy a whole selection with the Arrange panel.

  • Smart guides — while you drag a shape, dotted lines mark edge and center alignment with nearby shapes (including centering inside a pool or lane), and double-headed arrows mark even spacing. To turn them off, clear Smart Guides in the view bar's More Options menu. Shapes you drag then still snap to the grid.
  • Arrange panel — with several shapes selected, use the Arrange panel to Align (left, center, right, top, middle, bottom), Distribute (Space Evenly Across, Space Evenly Down), set the Order (Move Forward, Move Backward), or Size them (Make Same Width, Make Same Height, Make Same Size). Many have keyboard shortcuts too — see Keyboard shortcuts for web diagrams.
  • Snap Objects To Grid — in the Arrange panel's Grid section, the grid icon, tooltip Snap Objects To Grid, pulls the selected shapes and their connector ends back onto the grid; an end attached to a shape slides along the face it's attached to. The grid itself is absolute, so a shape that sits off it also lands back on the grid the next time you move it — the command is for tidying shapes without moving them one by one.
  • Adjust Spacing — in the Arrange panel's Adjust Spacing section, select Start (the Adjust Space Tool, Ctrl+M) to add or remove space across a whole region at once: drag in the diagram and every shape beyond the drag shifts with it. Click Done to leave the tool.

Structure with pools, lanes, and phases​

  • Drag a Pool from the Shapes panel onto the canvas and click its header to type the participant or process name. With the pool header selected, green circular handles with a plus appear at the pool's top and bottom and on every lane boundary — click one to add a Lane there. With a lane selected instead, the handles split that lane into sublanes; add sibling lanes from the parent's handles. Add shape textShape text The text displayed on a diagram shape. Type while a shape is selected to add or edit it. Part of the shape feature family alongside Shape Links and Shape Properties. to lanes the same way — click and type roles, systems, or organizations.
  • Phases partition a pool into stages: select the pool header and drag the phase indicator — a green square trailing a dashed line, centered on the phase header — to create and position phase borders. Dragging a phase line moves the shapes in the phase with it.
  • Combine several pools into one — select two or more pools of the same orientation (all horizontal, or all vertical), right-click the selection, and choose Convert Selection to → New Pool. iGrafx wraps them in a single new pool and turns each selected pool into a lane. Lanes follow the pools' position: top to bottom for horizontal pools, left to right for vertical ones. Each lane keeps its original pool's name, any lanes it already had (now sublanes), and its shapes; the new pool takes the phases of the first pool in that order. Styling carries over per lane — each lane keeps the fill, gradient, pattern, and line style of the pool it came from — while the new outer pool uses the default pool style.
  • Pool options — such as Hide Header — live in the Diagramming panel while the pool is selected.
  • When the shape textShape text The text displayed on a diagram shape. Type while a shape is selected to add or edit it. Part of the shape feature family alongside Shape Links and Shape Properties. of a lane or shape matches repository objects, a repository icon appears under the element — click it and pick a match to describe the object in one move.

Split into sub-processes​

  • A Collapsed Sub-Process shape holds a child diagram stored inside the same diagram object — select the plus on the shape to create and open it, and return through the breadcrumb at the top of the diagramming area.
  • A Call ActivityActivity A named step in a process (e.g. "Approve Invoice"). Each event in an event log records one activity occurrence for one case. shape links to a separate diagram object for reuse: select the shape, open the Diagramming panel, and click Choose to pick the diagram to call.
  • Right-click a shape and choose Add Link to Shape to link it to a repository object — for example the external file holding a work instruction — or to a URL. The shape shows a link icon readers can follow.
  • To link from text, select the characters inside the shape textShape text The text displayed on a diagram shape. Type while a shape is selected to add or edit it. Part of the shape feature family alongside Shape Links and Shape Properties., select the link icon that appears, and create the link.
  • The Links panel lists the selected shape's links and is where you manage them. Click Link to add a URL or Browse to pick a repository object — the same dialog the shape's right-click menu opens — or drag an item onto the panel from the repository tree.
  • Each entry in the panel carries icon-only buttons: a pencil, tooltip Edit; a trash can, tooltip Delete; and a drag handle, tooltip Click and drag to reorder.

Notes​

Select a shape and open the Note panel to attach rich-text documentation — procedures, methods, instructions. A note indicator appears on the shape; readers select it to read the note.

Pages, headers, and printing​

  • Page Setup and Print to PDF (app menu): the page size, orientation, and pagination the diagram saves, what prints with it, and how to print a single copy differently — see Set up pages and print to PDF.
  • Header and Footer (app menu): three sections each (left, center, right) with insertable fields — current date/time/user, page numbers, diagram info (name, creator, object ID, process ownerProcess Owner The person accountable for a specific business process — its design, performance, and improvement. The primary stakeholder for mining and simulation outputs.), version info, cycle info (reviewed/approved/endorsed and their dates), described-object info, and custom properties.

Save your work​

While the diagram is checked out, iGrafx saves every change to your working draft automatically. Checking in turns that draft into a new version of the diagram. Check in when you want to share your changes or keep a point you can return to.

Until you check in, people who open the diagram from a link or the repository tree get the last checked-in version. Your working draft is listed on the diagram's History tab, where others can view it.

  1. Click Check In.
  2. Pick the version number and add a comment that says what changed.

After you check in:

  • People who open the diagram from a link or the repository tree get the new version.
  • Readers without the See Unapproved item permission get the new version only once it's approved. See Cycles.
  • The new version stays in the diagram's history. From the History tab, you can open any version, compare it with another, or roll the diagram back to it. See View an item's history and Compare diagram versions.

To keep editing, check the diagram out again. For the full save loop, see the tutorial.

Take over a checked-out diagram​

A checked-out diagram is locked to the person editing it. If that person is unavailable, you can take it over from the app menu — this requires the Administer item permission on the diagram:

  • Undo Check Out discards the working draft and returns the diagram to its latest checked-in version. Any changes in the draft are lost — the confirmation warns you before it proceeds.
  • Transfer Draft hands the working draft, with all its unsaved changes, to a user you pick — they continue right where the previous editor stopped.