Recently I find that I need to create a variety of diagrams where shapes relate not by connections, but by contact. In some cases, I need to create a diagram where one or more shapes tessellate. In others, I simply want to use the edges of a shape as a placement guide.
I have a graffle doc I can share with examples of both of these cases. The document is a colorway diagram of a particular kind of Japanese
kumihimo braid. The tiled area at the top represents the four faces (N,S,E,W) of a square braid, while the circle diagram at the bottom shows the starting positions of bobbins around a
marudai -- a circular Japanese braiding loom. The whole thing is linked by a set of groups which turns it into a big "color by numbers" workbook for this braid structure.
My request is this: I would love for the ability to position objects by contact -- edge alignment (or tangency for circles/ellipses), vertex alignment (sides touch then move and snap to corners aligned), and so forth. Also, are there features of OmniGraffle Pro 5 that I've missed that would ease this sort of diagramming?
P.S. The attachment button on the forum editor doesn't work, or else I'd post this file. It's also available as the .graffle file online here (caveat, this probably requires being a member of this particular Yahoo group to access :-P ):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kumi2/files/ABOK%203073/