I created this quick flowchart when I was trying to figure out how some program code works. It is really helpful. David Gewirtz/ZDNET
Okay, look at this. I know very well that some people don’t like flowcharts. Educator Stephanie Lawless says, “a small part of me dies every time I have to draw an arrow in a box.” Since eleven years ago, Redditor zarcjap asked, “Is flowchart even remotely necessary?” triggered a thread of 34 comments on this thread.
But here’s the point: flowcharts are useful when you want them to. I’m not talking about diagrams ordered by first-year programming instructors, or diagrams as required in a given management course. I’m talking about creating a flowchart when you want to chart the flow of something, either because you want to do it or you think it can help you visualize something that you want to achieve. better viewing angle.
Also: How to take notes on your iPad with Apple Pencil
In my case I was trying to figure out why a piece of my code wasn’t working properly. After going through many times with the debugger, I decided it would be easier to draw the stream and stare at it for a few minutes. I have Apple Freeform on my Mac. While Freeform is somewhat limited (especially on the Mac, where it lacks the iPad’s pencil for freehand drawing), it’s also very fast for incorporating charts with basic shapes.
How to Create a Simple Diagram in Apple Freeform
To use Apple Freeform, you need an iPhone or iPad running iOS 16.2 or later, or a Mac running MacOS 13.1 or later. I’m using it on my Mac Studio, but you can use it on any of those devices the same way.
When you open Apple’s Freeform, this is how you can create a flowchart.
The shape selector is an icon with a square and a circle on it. Just click on it and you will see the shape picker options pane.
As you can see, there are many categories you can choose from. I only use basic shapes for my chart, but you are only limited by your creativity.
Also: The best note-taking app for iPad
When you click a shape to add it to your document, you can click it once and change its color. Or you can click it a second time and write some text inside the shape. One thing that makes Freeform fast is that the text size adjusts to the size of the shape as you write it.
Note that there are three types of lines displayed in the shape selector. The first two are the line and arrow tools. They will draw a line or an arrow. They are almost the same tool, because if you double-click either tool, you can choose whether to put the arrowhead at the end and zoom in or out of it.
The real tool used for our flowchart is the spline tool. That’s because the tool actually attaches to your shape. Notice that when I drag the end of the curve over the square, the square stands out. That’s because it attaches to the spline.
The really useful feature of this is that when you stick two shapes together, you can move the shapes and the axis will move with that shape. In the two images below, I just moved the rounded rectangle. The flow of people follows them all.
Once you’ve decided where to place your shapes and how to connect them, you can modify the connection line. To do this, click in the middle of the line. You will see a small connecting dot and a menu.
If you use the curve option as shown above, you can click the small green dot and move the center of the curve. If you use the right angle option, you can move the dot to adjust how the lines between shapes are drawn. Here’s a more pronounced curve:
And here is the version where the lines are perpendicular:
And that’s it. When I put together my chart, I only included the bare minimum to help me see how the show goes. It could take ten minutes and I got a complete understanding of the program’s process. This will also be a useful chart in case someone else needs to know the same thing.
What are some favorite features for diagrams?
There are three favorite features:
- The ability to attach lines and reshape them, with them moving as you move the shapes.
- The way text automatically grows or shrinks inside a shape, reducing the work you have to do.
- The reality is that the overall canvas is essentially infinite, so you can build the chart in any direction you need.
What are the limitations of Apple Freeform?
The product is clearly more powerful on the iPad. But my biggest complaint is that you can’t save drawings in any format other than PDF. If you want to save a drawing (like I did to show you sample screenshots), your best bet now is to use a screen capture tool or program. We discuss how to make screenshots in this useful post.
How much does Apple Freeform cost?
It’s free as long as you have an iPad, iPhone or Mac with the required OS versions. In a nutshell, it’s version 16.2 or later for iOS and 13.1 or later for MacOS.
More iPad tips and tutorials
You can follow my daily project updates on social media. Remember to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtzon Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtzon Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtzand on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
