Creating Flowcharts

Creating Flowcharts

Creating Flowcharts

In Canvas X Draw, you can use the Flowchart palette to create a flowchart using standard flowchart symbols and lines. You can adjust the pen, fill, dash, and arrow attributes of the lines, the amount of offset spacing between symbols, the size of the symbols, and the position of symbols relative to each other.

To Create a Flowchart:

  1. Choose Window | Palettes | Flowchart.
  2. Drag a flowchart symbol into your document.
  3. Add additional symbols, by doing one or more of the following:
    • Select a symbol in the Flowchart palette, and then click one of the red arrow direction buttons in the Create Controls section.
    • Select a symbol in the Flowchart palette, and then click one of the blue arrow direction buttons in the Branch Controls section.

To Set the Default Attributes of Flowchart Lines:

In the Flowchart palette, set the Smart Line Attributes to control the Pen, Fill, Dash, and Arrow attributes.

You can quickly select and edit the attributes of smart lines without clicking each one individually. Select the type of Smart Line tool you want to edit from the Toolbox and press Ctrl + A.

To Set the Default Attributes of Flowchart Symbols:

  1. Make sure that no objects are selected in the document.
  2. In the Toolbox, set the Pen, Fill, Dash, and Arrow attributes.

To Change the Attributes of Flowchart Lines or Symbols:

  1. Select the flowchart lines or symbols in the document.
  2. In the Toolbox, set the Pen, Fill, Dash, and Arrow attributes.

    3. As with any Canvas X Draw object, you can also change the size of the selected symbols, the opacity, and effects such as bevel and shadow. You can also align symbols, rotate them, or skew them.

To Replace One Symbol with Another:

  1. Select the symbol you want to replace in your document.
  2. Select the replacement symbol in the Flowchart palette.
  3. Click the Replace button.

To Add Text to Symbols and Lines:

  1. In the document, select the symbol or line that you want to add text to.
  2. Select the Selection tool from the Toolbox. 

  3. Type the text you want to add.

    You can edit the text, change the font, size, color and other attributes as you would for any text you enter in Canvas X Draw.

Flowchart Symbol Properties

Before you place a symbol from the Flowchart palette, be sure to review the symbol properties in the Properties bar.

X and Y

Displays the X and Y coordinates where the symbol will be placed by default.

Reference point

Displays the reference point for the symbol. This is the point on the selected object (or its bounding box) that position data is based on.The reference point is also the fixed point used in an object’s transformation.

Width and Height

Displays the height and width of the object.

Preserve original proportions

Uses the symbol's original proportions.

Use original colors

Uses the symbol's original colors. If you do not select this checkbox, the symbol uses the default attributes from the Toolbox.

Create

Click Create to place the selected symbol in the document.

Flowchart Options

Symbols

Click and drag symbols into your document. You must place at least one symbol in your document before you can use the Create and Branch buttons.

Create

Select a symbol in your document, and then select a symbol in the palette and use the following buttons:

  • Add Top: Places the symbol above the symbol selected in the document.
  • Add Bottom: Places the symbol below the symbol selected in the document.
  • Add Left: Places the symbol to the left of the symbol selected in the document.
  • Add Right: Places the symbol to the right of the symbol selected in the document.

Branch

Select a symbol in your document, and then select a symbol in the palette and use the following buttons to branch the chart:

  • Branch Top: Places two symbols above the symbol selected in the document.
  • Branch Bottom: Places two symbols below the symbol selected in the document.
  • Branch Left: Places two symbols left of the symbol selected in the document.
  • Branch Right: Places two symbols right of the symbol selected in the document.

Symbol Size

Enter the width and height of the symbols. Select the Preserve original proportions checkbox to retain the proportions of symbols when you resize them.

Symbol Offset

Enter the amount of offset spacing between symbols:

  • Offset: Defines the distance between one symbol and the next when you place symbols using the Create buttons.
  • Branch Offset: Defines the distance between two symbols placed using the Branch buttons.

Smart Line Attributes

Select the following attributes to apply to the flowchart lines:

  • Pen
  • Fill
  • Dash
  • Arrow

Loading Additional Symbols

Canvas X Draw comes with a set of standard flowchart symbols, but if you have additional symbols you want to use, you can load them into the Flowchart palette. Any new symbols you add must be in the Canvas X Draw symbol file format (.CSY).

To Load an Additional Set of Symbols:

  1. Save the symbols you want to use in Canvas X symbol format (.CSY) and note the location of the folder where you have saved them.

    The name of this folder is used as the name of the flowchart symbol set in Canvas X Draw.

  2. Open the Flowchart palette. Choose Window | Palettes | Flowchart.
  3. Choose Load Flowchart Symbols from the Flowchart palette menu.

  4. In the Browse For Folder dialog box, select the folder where the symbols are located, and click OK.

    The new set of symbols are available from the drop-down list.

To delete a symbol, use a program such as Windows Explorer to delete the symbol, and then reload the set of symbols in the Flowchart palette to refresh the palette.

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