The zooming operations are helpful when editing a document. Use the Zoom In command to magnify a portion of the page for more precise working. The Zoom Out command may be needed for viewing a very large drawing, or to view the whole page.
Here's the row of preset zoom levels (in %):
1,2,3,6,13,25,50,75,100,150,200,400,800,1600,2500.
Both Zoom In and Zoom Out use these values: Zoom In ascendingly
and Zoom Out descendingly.
Zoom In - 
. Select ZoomIn by clicking on its View menu item or
toolbar button, or by using its
Ctrl+"+"(Win)/Cmd+"["(Mac) shortcut.
Zoom Out - 
.
Select ZoomOut by clicking on its View menu item or toolbar
button, or by using its
Ctrl+"-"(Win)/Cmd+"]"(Mac) shortcut.
Zoom Box - 
.
Use this tool to enlarge a chosen rectangle area to the size of
the window. Select the Zoom Box tool and drag the mouse to
enclose the area to be enlarged. After you release the mouse
button, this area will be enlarged up to the window size.
Zoom - 
. This
drop down box lets you choose the magnification in percent from a
list, or enter a custom value within the 1-2500% range.
Each document page is crossed by thin grey lines, called grid lines.
You may enable/disable the grid in the View menu, by checking/unchecking the corresponding menu item.
If the Snap To Grid option in the Snap&Glue dialog is enabled, the grid will pull the pointer when you manipulate objects. When you drag a handle, the mouse pointer will jump to the nearest grid node or the cell centre. When moving an object, the same occurs to its alignment box. This helps to position objects precisely.
All grid properties can be set up in the GridProperties dialog. Click Grid under the Tools menu to bring up the dialog.
The most convenient and used is the Grid Spacing - Non-Fixed
mode. In this mode, the grid spacing remains visually the same
regardless the magnification, which increases the accuracy with
each zoom in level. For instance, if the spacing is 0.5 cm at
100%, it will equal 0.25 cm at 200%.
The cell size can be set separately for the width and height. The
following options are available: Fine, Normal, Coarse.
Another grid mode is the Fixed Grid mode. Then the grid spacing is a fixed value, and changes visually with the magnification.
You set a specific distance the grid lines stay apart regardless of magnification, though visually the distance changes. You must use the Fixed mode if you want the grid to be printed.
Note: you must use the Fixed mode if you want the grid to be printed. Non-fixed grid can't be printed.
Note: if you need to work constantly with a specifically set grid, save these settings in a template file, and create new documents from this template.
The rulers show measurements at the scale of the drawing. The current unit of measure is displayed in the place where horizontal and vertical rulers meet. You may change the unit of measure in the Document Properties dialog, under the Settings tab.
The rulers, as well as the grid, take effect on how the snapping works. If Ruler Subdivisions in the only enabled option in the Snap&Glue dialog, the pointer will snap to the imaginary lines, coming out of the rulers' subdivisions. Use this for the most precise snapping.
Another reason for using the rulers is that you can drag vertical and horizontal guides out of them. To do this, click on the ruler and drag the guide out of it to the place where you want it to appear. Release the mouse button. The guide will appear.
Note, that rulers can be enabled/disabled from the View menu.
Usually, you can only see a part of the drawing page on the screen. The Scroll Hand tool is used for moving the page so that you can see its different parts. It looks like a hand that grabs the page and moves according to movement of the mouse.
Switch to the Scroll Hand tool, grab the page with the mouse and move it in the direction you need.
Note: you can activate this tool in whatever mode by holding down the Space key and dragging the page with the mouse.
Snapping is the ability of the mouse pointer to jump into position of the nearest snap location. This feature is used for positioning objects precisely with respect to the grid lines, rulers subdivisions, other objects, etc.
Use the Snap tool on the toolbar to turn the snapping on/off.
You can specify the snapping settings in the Snap&Glue dialog (Tools/Snap&Glue).
If the Snap To Grid option is enabled, the grid will
pull the pointer when you manipulate objects. When you drag a
handle, the mouse pointer will jump to the nearest grid node or
the cell centre. When an entire object is moved, the same occurs
to its alignment box.
By default, this option is set to on.
If Ruler Subdivisions is the only option that's enabled, the pointer will snap to the imaginary lines, coming out of the rulers subdivisions. Use this for very precise positioning.
If the Figure Geometry option is checked, the object you move or resize snaps to the outlines of other objects. It's usually a good option for creating figures that are parts of a whole figure.
If the Snap To Guide option is on, the pointer snaps to the guide lines. This option is on by default.
Figure Handles: the pointer snaps to the nearest resize handle of an object.
Figure Vertices: the pointer snaps to the nearest vertex of an object.
If the Connection Points option is on, the pointer snaps to the nearest connection point of an object.
Even if the snapping is enabled, the pointer jumps to a snap location starting from a certain distance to the location. This distance can be set in the Document Properties dialog. The default value is 15 pixel. If you want to set a specific snap sensitivity distance for all future documents, specify the new value in the Options dialog, under the Default tab (Tools/Options...).
Gluing - is a property of objects to stay connected, even if one of the objects is moved. Unlike snapping, glueing maintains the connection after you release the mouse button. To provide precise positioning of objects and handles, it's usually a good idea to use gluing together with snapping.
To enable/disable the gluing , use the Glue On/Off button on the toolbar
or check the appropriate option in the Snap&Glue dialog
(Tools/Snap&Glue).
You can glue objects to guide lines, control handles to guide lines, or control handles to connection points of objects.
Gluing objects to a guide line:
Sometimes you may need to align objects along a line, so that you can move all objects at once by simply moving the line. This is possible by gluing objects to a guide line. After you glue the objects, they'll be moved together with the guide.
To glue an object to a guide: turn the gluing mode on, then move the object to the place on the guide you want to glue it to. After you release the mouse button, the resize handles on the glued side of the object turn red indicating the object is glued to the guide.
Gluing control handles to guide lines.
Control handles can be glued to a guide. Turn the gluing mode on, move the control handle to the guide line and release the mouse button. Once glued, the control handle turns red. When you move the guide line, all glued control handles move with it.
Gluing control handles to connection points of objects.
This is one of the main reasons you may use the Glue tool for.
For instance, you have an object with a connector, attached to it. Let's suppose that you need to group them to work with them together. However, in this case the loose end of the connector will lose its ability of gluing to objects. To solve this problem, you should add a control handle to the group, attaching it to the loose end of the connector. Then you can glue the resulting new handle to connection points of other objects as if it was the endpoint of the connector.
To glue a control handle to a connection point of an object, turn the Glue on and move the control handle to a connection point of the object you want to glue it to. On releasing the mouse button, the control handle turns red, indicating that it glued successfully. Now, when you move the object, the connection maintains.
When you are drawing a layout that represents a large real-world object, you may have to use scale (for instance, 1cm=1m). To scale of the document can be specified in the Document Properties dialog, under the Settings tab (File/Document Properties).
In the dialog, you may choose one of the preset ISO scales: 1:1000, 1:500, 1:200, 1:100, 1:50, 1:25, 1:20, 1:10, 1:5, 1:2.5, 1:2, 2:1, 5:1, 10:1, 20:1, 50:1. If you need a custom scale, choose the Custom Scale option and specify the desired proportion in the appropriate fields, for example, 1=3, 1in=1ft, 1cm=1km, etc. For the list of supported units of measure, please refer to the Measurements section.
The default scale is 1:1. If you need some other scale for all future documents, save that scale configuration in a template file, and create all new documents from this template.
All numeric values, used in the program are entered and displayed in certain units of measure. The following units of measure are supported:
For dimensions and distances:
| inches, decimal | in |
| inches, fractional | in |
| feet, decimal | ft |
| feet, decimal inches | ft, in |
| feet, fractional inches | ft, in |
| yards | yd |
| miles | mi |
| millimeters | mm |
| centimeters | cm |
| meters | m |
| kilometers | km |
For angles:
| degrees | deg |
| radians | rad |
For font size:
| points | pt |
You may specify units of measurement for a document in the Document Properties dialog, under the Settings tab. In the open document, the current units of measure appears in the top left-hand corner, in the place where the horizontal and the vertical rulers meet.
If you're constantly working with the units of measure other than the default, enter them in the Units Of Measure field under the Default tab, in the Options dialog (Tools/Options). Then each new document will use this units of measure.
In any input field of ConceptDraw dialogs, you may specify values in the measurement systems other than the default. Just put the appropriate abbreviation after the number, for instance: 13 in, 2 mm, 6.5 ft.
When you choose a line or fill color from the button menus on the toolbar, you may need other colors than those 16 the menus offer. Then click on "More Colors" to bring up the Choose Color dialog, where you may pick any of the 256 colors of the color palette of the document.
Each document may have its own color palette. For instance, it's possible to create a palette of 256 gradations of grey. However, you won't be able to use any other colors than these.
To modify color palette of the document, open the Color Palette dialog from the Tools menu (Tools/Color Palette).
To change a color on the palette to another, click on the box with the color you want to change and choose a new color from the standard dialog that will come up. When all changes are made, you may save the resulting palette in a .pal file. To do this, click the Save Palette button. In the file dialog choose the folder where to store and type a filename for your palette. Then click OK. You can use the saved palette in whatever document. Just load its file in the Color Palette dialog.
Document Properties dialog (General, Page, Settings)
You can call the Document Properties dialog by selecting Document Properties under the File menu (File/Document Properties).
The General tab
Here you may type information describing the document in the fields as follows: Title, Subject, Author, Company, Description.
The Page tab
Specifies various settings for the entire page:
Orientation: specifies the page orientation. Portrait option displays the page taller than it is wide, and Landscape option swaps the width and the height (the page is wider than it is tall).
Size: specifies the page dimensions. For Standard and Metric(ISO) options, you choose one of the preset sizes from a respective list:
For Standard:
Letter(8.5in*11in)
Folio(8.5in*13in)
Legal(8.5in*14in)
Tabloid(11in*17in).
For Metric(ISO):
A5(148mm*210mm)
A4(210mm*297mm)
A3(297mm*420mm)
A2(420mm*594mm)
A1(594mm*841mm)
A0(841mm*1189mm)
Custom option lets you enter custom values for the width and the height of the page. By default, all dimensions are displayed in the currently used measurement system. However, may enter values in any supported measurement system (see the Measurements section).
The Settings tab
Here you may specify various document settings.
Units of Measure: specifies the units of measure in which all numeric values are displayed on the rulers, on the status bar, in the input fields in dialog boxes, and in the tables. For specifics, refer to the Measurements section.
Scale:
Here you may choose one of the Standard(ISO) scales. If you
need a custom scale,
- check Custom
- two fields will appear, where you should specify the ratio of
the visual sizes on the page to the real sizes of the objects.
For example, 1 in = 1ft; 1 cm = 2 km, etc... It's recommended
that the units of measure in the first field correspond to the
current units of measure of the document.
For more specific information, refer to the Scaling in documents section.
Undo Dept:
Specifies the number of consecutive actions you can undo. The
default value is 30.
Snap Sensitivity:
Sets the distance from which snapping and gluing activate. This
distance is set in pixels and doesn't depend on the scale or
magnification.
Figure Shadow Offset:
Specifies the amount for horizontal and vertical shadow offset
for all objects in the document.