OmniGraffle for iPad really delivers a usable business-quality tool, which is something that's not very common on this platform yet. They all came out better than I had any right to expect, even if I spent a little more time creating them that I really wanted to put in. Over the days that I tested the software, I put together a number of charts. Whoever developed that introductory material really deserves a raise. Omni developers realized that a big application like OmniGraffle needed a big introduction, and they provided it in a simple and concise way that was a pleasure to interact with. I was greatly impressed by the thoughtfulness behind this gesture. To make things easier for you, OmniGraffle has provided a basic tutorial document that appears as soon as you open the application. So expect to take time to make each visual element match your mental vision. A great deal of control has been made available to each user, to be able to tweak each diagram to perfection. You can adjust each element's fill, stroke, shape, shadow, font, and more. It brings all the basic elements including grid layouts and adjustable canvas units over from the desktop. What's more, OmniGraffle for iPad is feature-laden. You must keep track of the application mode and its applicable gestures as well as where to find each of the options in which of the various popover menus. You can get it done well, but to get it done quickly requires an enormous amount of recall. You're not going to get anything done fast. It's this recurrent modality that demonstrates the application's greatest weakness. That's a lot of modality for a touch-based system and nearly all the work done by those popover elements could have been presented using a split view, with a menu palette open on one side of the screen and the workspace occupying the rest. You interact with it, and then tap away into the main drawing screen to return to the drawing mode you were previously in. What's more, most application palette interaction (such as setting object properties or pulling a pre-drawn shape from a library) requires you to pop up a modal dialog, a dialog that demands immediate attention. So you must always be aware which mode you are in, otherwise you might end up connecting a pair of shapes instead of moving one around the screen. Drags in one mode do not translate to the same results in the other. For example, there's a layout mode and also a drawing/connection mode. You must first pick up the gesture language and start training yourself to use it. Although flawed in parts, and perhaps overly featured in others, OmniGraffle for iPad delivers a tool that transforms the desktop experience into a mobile solution.ĭon't expect to jump into the tool and do things quickly. They created an iPad application that depended on fingers rather than mice or styluses, to allow users to create high-quality editable and manipulatable presentations.Ĭould Omni pack in all that functionality and still keep the application usable in the iPod's touch interface? For the most part, yes. They envisioned a "back of the napkin" style application that would let you create diagrams on the go, whether at a business meeting or sitting on an Airport shuttle. The Omni Group developers thought otherwise. It wasn't the kind of application that I'd expect to move smoothly to a touch based interface, given its reliance on a vast number of menus, palettes, and other tweaking elements that let you manipulate your creations just so. Hearing that OmniGraffle was coming to the iPad surprised me. The desktop versions I've used have been solid, robust and, most importantly, they've gotten the job done when the job is to lay out and edit organizational wiring diagrams. I have not been a serious user of the product, nor do I own the latest OS X version, but I have used the software enough to recognize that it has made its own niche in the Mac ecosystem. It's a useful tool for planners, managers, and designers. Long a Mac desktop staple, OmniGraffle for OS X offers an interactive editor for laying out charts and diagrams.
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