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Edit Elements
There are numerous functions to edit the elements on the canvas. The handling of the user interface is similar to what you know from other design applications.
Move and modify
- To modify an element, select it with the left mouse button. You will notice that the element is provided with different colored ports after the click.
- If you draw a frame around several elements (while holding down the left mouse button), they can be moved or edited simultaneously.
- The green ports change the default shape of inserted elements from the shape library.
- The light blue ports are used to change the size of the element.
- Above is a light blue port, which can be used to rotate the element.
- You can now move the element by holding down the left mouse button above the crossed arrows and dragging the element.
Alignment
You can quickly align elements (for example images, shapes, text boxes, Smart Nodes):
- Mark several elements (either by shift-clicking, hold down
CTRL
while clicking on other objects or rubberband selection) - Use the
Alignment
options in the context menu (right-click on the marked elements) - Then select the alignment to use from the menu:
- Align Left aligns all selected elements horizontally to the element that is leftmost.
- Align Center aligns all selected elements horizontally or vertically to the center of the entire selected area.
- Align Right aligns all selected elements horizontally to the element that is rightmost.
- Align Top aligns all selected elements vertically to the element that is topmost.
- Align Bottom aligns all selected elements vertically to the element that is bottommost.
- The Distribute option distributes the selected elements equally horizontally or vertically.
The alignment options can be used very well to model predecessor-successor relationships or parallel processing. They are also often used to align elements e.g. with self-created helplines that are subsequently removed.
The alignment options are only available when multiple objects are selected. Hold down the CTRL key while clicking to select objects.
Resize
Elements and grouped elements can be adjusted to each other in size. You must mark at least two elements with a rubberband frame to enable the “Resize” option in the context menu. Right-click on the selected area (above the crossed arrows) and choose the desired resize option from the shortcut menu:
- Widest changes the width of all selected elements to that of the widest element.
- Smallest changes the height or width of all selected elements to that of the smallest element.
- Highest changes the height of all selected elements to that of the highest element.
Drawing Order
If several elements are on top of each other and you want to change the order, you can use the “Drawing Order” option in the context menu. You must mark at least one element to enable these options in the context menu:
- Move To Top moves the element to the very front of the view so that it is in front of all others.
- Move Up moves the element one view level forward.
- Move To Bottom moves the element all the way back in the view so that it is behind all other elements.
- Move Down moves the element one view level back.
These element order options are especially useful when working with background elements such as frames or images.
Group and Ungroup
The alignment tools are a very helpful feature if you are starting to design the process map. These tools can save a lot of time creating models with a consistent and professional appearance.
Elements can also be grouped together in the Designer to connect them into one movable and formattable element:
- In particular, grouping can make it easier to align elements.
- Groupings do not change the published process map in its appearance.
- Select the elements by drawing a frame or by holding down the CTRL-key. Right-click to open the context menu. Select the entry Group or Ungroup to define or ungroup the grouping.
- Grouped elements can be enlarged or reduced in scaled ratio.
Note: Do not confuse groups with containers. Containers have similar behaviour, but adding and deleting elements of the container works differently. See: Container Elements
Copy and Paste Format, Commands and Values
Especially if you are new to the Process Maps Designer, you will spend some time customizing symbols of the notations and other shapes to your needs. (see: Re-Using Elements)
This however enables you to use these elements to transfer formats, stored actions and values to other elements:
- Copy elements by pressing the key combination
CTRL
+C
andCTRL
+V
or select the option Copy from the context menu to put a selected element into the virtual clipboard and paste it again with the command Paste. - Copy the formatting properties of an element by calling the Copy submenu and the Copy Format action and add this formatting information back to another element using the Paste Format button in the Paste submenu.
- Shapes can have linked M-Files objects, stored commands and values. All this information and settings can be accessed by calling the Copy Commands And Values action in the Copy submenu of the context menu. Add the information to another item by clicking Paste Commands And Values in the Paste submenu.
- Note that the labels of the selected shapes are separate elements (text fields), so their formatting must also be transferred separately (right-click on the text field, Copy Format).
All these functions are very helpful for quick creation and reuse of elements. Try it out right now.