Review: OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle takes advantage of OS X, but lacks a strong feature set (August 4th, 2001)
The Good
- Takes full advantage of Mac OS X interface and underpinnnings, easy to use, numerous export options.
The Bad
- Pricey, limited feature set.
The
Omni Group is perhaps Apple's most supportive ally in the quest to show that well
functioning, useful applications can be developed for Mac OS X. The company's
Web browser, OmniWeb, has thus far garnered the most attention, but their other
products - like OmniGraffle
- are worth a look for professionals unwilling to wait for larger developers like
Microsoft to unveil OS X versions of their apps. The flowchart, diagramming, and
planning app doesn't have all the functionality one might hope for, but it does
exemplify a well-writted OS X app and serves its purpose well.
OmniGraffle, like all of the Omni Group's applications, is built from the ground
up for Apple's modern operating system in the Cocoa programming environment. After
using the program for only a few minutes, it's easy to tell that no OS 9 baggage
exists. The interface is completely Aqua-compliant, the preference panel resembles
Apple's own System Prefs, and OmniGraffle behaves as on OS X app should - multitasking
properly and offering superb stability.
More
importantly, however, OmniGraffle takes advantage of the native vector graphics
in OS X to offer scalable, transparent drawings. This means that shapes can be
re-sized virtually infinitely without losing quality or getting rough edges. It
also means that shapes and lines created in OmniGraffle redraw extremely quickly
and in real-time. Granted the tool allows only simple objects, re-sizing, moving,
and manipulating them with such speed and ease would not have been feasible in
an OS 9 application.
OmniGraffle allows users to export their projects in PNG, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, and
GIF formats, making them easy to incorporate into Web pages, layout, or other
documents. Unfortunately, once exported, the images lose their vector and transparent
qualities except in PNG format which allows limited transparency.
There
are several different pallettes in OmniGraffle, as well as a host of templates
which make for an easy learning curve. Among the pallettes included with the app
are UML, organizational, flow chart, and basic. However, the Omni Group decided
to make the pallette function extensible, allowing third parties to develop other
design tools.
OmniGraffle sports shapes that are magnetic. That is, lines and labels will stick
to their original shape or object as a diagram is manipulated. The tool also sports
a nifty automatic layout function that includes a "force-directed" function which
allows the user to control spring, object repulsion, and distance from the edge
of the page. OmniGraffle even animates the shapes as they move to their location
as directed by the auto-layout specifications. A hierarchial auto-layout function
is also available for creating more traditional, organized diagrams.
One
more outstanding component of OmniGraffle is the selection function. Users can
specify for only a certain shape or type of object to be selected. For instance,
if you wanted to modify only the circles in your layout to have a red shadow,
you would simply pick the circle in the selection tool window.
For users seeking a moderately comprehensive, easy-to-use diagramming and layout tool that is OS X-native, OmniGraffle is a practical solution. However, professionals looking for a program that offers more functionality will have to wait for an upgraded version with more features or look to other, less OS X-like and more complicated applications such as CS-Odessa's ConceptDraw.
