How to Export a Diagram
This article explains how to export a diagram so that you can share or use it outside of StructureGram.
Before You Start
You'll need an existing diagram open and ready to export.
Quick Steps
- Click the export icon near the top right of your diagram.
- A dropdown appears. Choose one of the three export options below.
Print / PDF
- Configure your settings, including:
- page size and orientation;
- Pages (one page, or spread across several; see below);
- margins;
- what to include, such as a company logo, the diagram title, a footer and the legend.
- When you're happy with the settings, click Print / Export PDF.
Your browser's print window opens. Print on paper, or choose Save as PDF as the destination to save a PDF file.
Export as PDF
A small dialog asks the same questions as printing: page size, orientation, Pages, margins, and what to include. Background grid and centring apply only to printing, so they're not shown.
Click Export PDF and a PDF file downloads to your computer. It has a header with the diagram title (and your company logo, if your organisation has uploaded one) and a footer with the date of export.
Export as PNG
A PNG image downloads to your computer. It contains the diagram on a white background, with no header or footer. If the diagram's legend is switched on, it is added below or beside the diagram, kept within the diagram's own width.
One Page or Several
Both Print / PDF and Export as PDF can spread a large diagram over several pages that join edge to edge. Under Pages, choose:
- Fit to one page (the default);
- a grid of pages; or
- Auto, which uses the fewest pages that keep the labels readable.
See Printing and PDFs Across Several Pages for how pages join, where the legend goes, and the Auto label size.
Including a Legend
The legend (or key) explains what the shapes and lines on the diagram mean. It does not appear on the diagram while you work. It is added only to what you export: PNG, PDF, Print (including multi-page prints and PDFs) and File to FYI.
On an ownership diagram, the legend lists:
- the entity types on the diagram, with an unusual status shown separately (for example, Company - Deregistered; an ordinary company shows simply as Company);
- the kinds of line, such as ownership, member, trustee, loan and security; and
- scenario states, when the diagram shows a scenario.
Turning the legend on or off
- Click the export icon near the top right of your diagram.
- Switch Include legend on or off at the top of the menu.
On an ownership diagram the switch is always there; on a family tree it appears only when the tree has something to explain.
- Each diagram has its own setting. It is saved with the diagram, and you can undo the change like other diagram settings.
- Defaults: ownership diagrams start with the legend off; family trees start with it on.
- The Legend tick in the Print / PDF and Export PDF dialogs is the same setting. Ticking or unticking it there changes the diagram's setting, and the Share menu shows the new value.
- View-only access: you can still switch the legend on or off for your own export. Your choice isn't saved to the diagram.
- Scenario steps: in a step that follows the base diagram's display settings, the switch is greyed out with the note Follows the base diagram, and the base diagram's choice applies.
Where the legend goes
On a printed or PDF page, the legend goes below or beside the diagram, whichever leaves the diagram bigger. On a single page its text is never smaller than 10 pt, and grows up to 12 pt when there's spare room, never at the cost of the diagram's size. See Printing and PDFs Across Several Pages for the details, including multi-page layouts.
Saving Your Choices
Print and Export PDF keep separate defaults:
- Tick Save as my print default in the print dialog.
- Tick Save as my PDF default in the Export PDF dialog.
Until you save PDF defaults, Export PDF starts from your print defaults. You can also set the print defaults under Settings → General → Print Settings.
These defaults cover page layout for all your diagrams. The Legend tick is not part of them: it is the diagram's own setting (see Including a Legend).
Tips
- Export as PDF is the quickest way to get a file to share or attach.
- Use Export as PNG if you want to embed the diagram in a presentation or document.
- Use Print / PDF to print on paper, or when you want the browser's own print options.
- For a large structure, try A3 paper first. If that's still too small, spread the diagram across several pages.