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OmniGraffle is a wireframing tool for Mac users.https://dudodiprj2sv7.cloudfront.net/product-logos/r4/wN/AHMUF71TJFLU.pngThe Omni GroupOmniGraffle — The sweet spot for diagramming and visual tech communications2019-03-14T23:29:05.401ZWe're a full strategy/design/development shop, and our team is heavily tilted towards Macs. Although the design team has shifted to production-focused tools like Sketch for most of their early stage deliverables, the Strategy team makes heavy use of Omnigraffle for wireframing, roughing out and documenting content models and site maps, etc. On the development site, most of our architects have settled on Omnigraffle for technical diagramming as well — it's not the 800lb Visio gorilla, but it does everything we need it to.,For us, mapping and content model documentation are Omnigraffle's sweet spot. It has enough presentation/styling control to ensure a clean, consistent look that's compatible with the rest of our corporate branding, but lets us focus on the core challenge of communicating complicated relationships and processes to stakeholders.
For wireframing, a few specific features make OmniGraffle particularly useful. Its "sketch" line and fill styles make it easy to throw together some boxes-and-lines mockups that convey basic layout and priority decisions about a new design without implying a particular stylistic treatment. For higher fidelity mockups, it supports a large library of free and commercial UI shapes for OSX, IOS, Android, Windows, Bootstrap, and generic Web sites. Building out a set of shapes/components for quick wireframing and sharing them across an organization is easy, too.,Although the large library of reusable "shapes" makes it possible to build stuff like entity-relationship diagrams, flowcharts, and UML diagrams, it lacks Visio's ability to alter a shape's appearance/behavior by adding metadata to the shape itself. (I.E., changing color when a shape has a particular tag added to it). It is possible to add metadata to shapes, and OmniGraffle's advanced scripting support makes it possible to make custom plugins that automate color/style changes, but baking data-driven features right into the app would be a welcome addition.
Import/Export has improved dramatically over the past several versions, but export in formats like SVG and DXF is still a little too fussy to use for precise CAD work. If you need to spit out PDFs, PNGs, and occasionally import/export simple Visio files, it's fine.
Although OmniGraffle has a solid iPad version, exchanging files between the desktop and iOS versions requires "OmniSync," a passable but clunky file-sharing solution that's specific to Omni* products. I understand that Apple makes it difficult for non-App-Store products to use iCloud effectively, but it's still disappointing.,9,Standardizing on Omnigraffle for our internal diagramming (and at least some of our client deliverables) has made it possible for consultants and technical architects to produce high-quality support materials even when designers don't have time to produce "final" versions.,Microsoft Visio and draw.io,Dropbox Business, Slack, PhpStormJeff EatonEasy way to outline concepts you need to communicate to others2018-11-15T17:00:43.479ZI use OmniGraffle to map out ideas and concepts that require a flexible, large format medium for organizing content. For example, if I'm currently using OmniGraffle to map out a messaging framework for internal use. It helps me easily link ideas together and create hierarchies, which would be difficult using a presentation tool like PowerPoint or keynote. If you need a way of getting abstract ideas on paper and exploring relationships among them, OmniFocus is a great tool for that.,Mind mapping. You can easily link ideas together and OmniFocus can automatically arrange them in a presentable format.
Wireframing. If you're working on simple design concepts, it's a great way to show ideas to designers.
Outlining process flows. If you're outlining a process, such as marketing automation, it's perfect.,No support for team collaboration. I would really like to see a way to share files to iCloud so that others can access and edit.
Better print settings. If you're trying to print a document across many pages, it's not easy to make this happen.
No ability to pre-configure settings. For example, I have to manually change the unit of measure from "inches" to "pixels" when I create a new document, would like the ability to change that fundamentally.,9,Helps speed up the process for communicating concepts.
Allows me to think through ideas more thoroughly.
Great for expediting idea exchanges with design teams.,OmniFocus, Balsamiq, EvernoteJohn RougeuxTHE diagramming software tool for OS X2019-02-07T19:47:48.034ZI use OmniGraffle the same way that others use Micrfosoft Visio, primarily for technical diagrams for my documentation. In my particular case, I am the only person using it, and that is because I came into this position as a user of Apple products for years and continue to use it at home. This department uses all Windows notebooks for Windows server support. The bad news for me is that there isn't a version that runs on a PC, so if I'm working on a drawing in Visio at the office and want to take it home and work on it, I can import it into Visio, but complex arcs don't import cleanly due to its algorithms for computing sine and co-sine values during the import.,OmniGraffle is fairly simple to use, but the one thing I think it does best is working with curved lines, particularly if you are using some of the available arc templates. Drop an arc onto your page, then tell it the dimensions it needs to be, and viola! Done. Manipulating the arcs is as simple as clicking and dragging offset points.
OmniGraffle has also done an excellent job in stirring up the creative minds of many people who create templates and tools to work with OmniGraffle (not that Microsoft hasn't done so either), and managed to get the bulk of those into well organized repositories.
What it all boils down to for me is: it just works. One doesn't need to have a computer science degree to work with it either. It is as simple or complex as you want it to be.,The ability to import Visio drawings is important to a lot of people. However, if one is importing a Visio drawing that has a complex arcs in it, they are not going to import properly. You end up with a drawing in OmniGraffle that doesn't look like it does in Visio - the arc lines are all off.
If one has a very complex diagram that needs to fit on one page but extends close to the margins, you could end up getting a little frustrated because the program keeps wanting to drag another page into the fray.
It may be something very simple to do, but I haven't yet found out how to specify exact page sizes for my drawings. If I just take the default, I'll get an 8/5" x 11" portrait page and have to focus on ensuring everything fits right. On the other hand, if I create a large page to start with because I know it isn't all going to fit on one letter-size page, resizing the page when I'm done is not a pretty picture.,9,ROI really hasn't come into the picture for me. I purchased OmniGraffle Pro for my own use at home, and to a limited degree import work files from Visio.
When it comes to my personal use at home, OmniGraffle has paid for itself many times over with the diagrams I have made for charting path-of-travel for Motorcycle Safety Foundation riding exercises. It has subjectively enriched my documentation of subjects important to me.,Microsoft Visio,ServiceNow, BeyondCompare, Snagit, Adobe Acrobat DCVerified UserOmniGraffle is simply the best choice for modelling on the Mac2018-02-01T19:54:45.483ZOmniGraffle is rapidly becoming the modeling tool of choice for the organisation; we are seeing broadening adoption of the product across the whole organisation.
We were looking for a Mac-compatible modeling tool - similar to Visio for the PC - and OmniGraffle was by far the best choice on the market.,Ease of use and time to adopt software
Multi-device support
Scripting capability
High-end modelling product,More templates stencils and samples
Data integration,10,Low-cost of adoption means every consultant has their own copy
Migration from Windows/Visio to OmniGraffle has been seamless
Support for iOS is a real bonus,Visio, Lucidchart and SmartDraw,Teamwork Projects, OmniFocus, OneNote, MindManager,5,1,Process Mapping
Solution Architecture
Wireframing,10Ash SharmaOmnigraffle is a good, if limited, tool2017-09-14T22:02:29.667ZWe use Omnigraffle for some basic early wire framing of applications and for creation of workflow diagrams. It's stencil libraries enable quick creation of diagrams and documents since you're not having to draw everything from scratch.,Creating diagrams and workflows
Creating Static Wire frame drawings
Creating Specification documentation for an application,There is no capability for creating prototype or interactions, I've starting moving away from using Omnigraffle for wire frames for this reason as there are other tools that accomplish this while enabling interactive features.
It is difficult to create charts
Stability isn't where I'd like it to be. Although I don't ever lose much work due to how MacOS autosaves regularly, I do see crashes and weird glitches more often than I do when using my other productivity tools.,7,Omnigraffle isn't an expensive software tool, so there isn't really any negative from the perspective of raw cost. Thinking in terms of time spent using it on a project - what you create in omnigraffle will inevitably lead to a dead end. It's useful only as documentation. There are other tools like Sketch that integrate into prototyping software and can create useable visual assets for applications in addition to being able to create wireframes.,Sketch,Adobe Photoshop, Proto.io, UXPinMatt Railey
Unspecified
OmniGraffle
35 Ratings
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