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Disappointing purchase Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I must say, after all the rave reviews I was expecting a little bit more from OmniGraffle for iPad. I have had no other experience with Omni software before but I must say this all feels very clumsy and Windows-like. Miles away from what I've come to expect from Mac software in my many years of working with it.

Anyway, I just wanted to put that out there. Now for my immediate problem. (The so called online manual, which I consulted to try and find a solution for this issue, really doesn't deserve that title. It only glosses cover a few option in the app in a very verbose, non intuitive and techie way. Where are the user friendly pictures?)

My issue is with the connecting lines between objects. How on earth am I supposed to control their connecting points on the various shapes? When I try to connect the bottom of one shape to the top of another using an angled line it automatically jumps to a random place on that shape. Do I have any control over the points of origin of connecting lines on a shape? I need this control as the automatic lay-out of diagrams comes up with some ridiculous solutions with lines overlapping shapes and randomly originating from all sides of the shape. Please give me some guidance.
 
Interesting tactic, slam the program, then ask for help. Reminds me of the old restaurant review: "the food sucks, and the portions are too small" :-)

The concept you're looking for is that of magnets. Briefly put, they act as connection points for lines. If you select a shape and make a connecting line to another shape, if you haven't set up any magnets, the line will go from center to center (though only the portion between the shapes will be drawn). If you select a shape, tap the (i) button to bring up the inspector, and select the Connections section, you'll find controls for magnets. You can choose the magnet layout for each shape independently, or select a number of objects and set them all at once. Once you've chosen your magnet setting, you can drag the ends of lines to any magnet, and while you are doing so, the magnets will be visible.

See the help for "Making Changes to Connections" for pictures.

If you are unhappy with your purchase, Omni offers a money-back guarantee for 30 days from date of purchase.
 
Thanks for the quick response! That's very helpful.

Sorry I had to get my standard whine out of the way before getting to the point. But you get used to a certain standard of ease-of-use when you grow up on Apple. And if there were any other options besides Omni in this particular field I would certainly explore them, but it seems graph making isn't something many Mac users like doing as the only alternatives available are fugly Windows ports.

OmniGraffle is a fine app, and once I put myself past all the little niggles I will be albe to use it. But it does seem as if it's been designed around options instead of solutions, which makes it infuriatingly complex. But that's another conversation altogether.
 
 


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