Spacing, Size and Text on a Diagram
Each ownership diagram has its own Spacing, size & text panel. Use it to make the entity boxes bigger or smaller, spread them out or pull them together, and choose how big the text inside them is. A family tree has a smaller text panel with the text settings only (see Family trees).
Percentages of your Styling page settings
The sizes in this panel aren't set from scratch. They are a percentage of the base values on the Styling page (in the left-hand navigation, under the Ownership Diagram tab):
| In this panel | Is a percentage of, on the Styling page |
|---|---|
| Node size | Entity Width and Entity Height (Layout Spacing) |
| Spacing | Horizontal Spacing and Vertical Spacing (Layout Spacing) |
| Text size | Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Link Label Font Size (Typography) |
So 100% means "exactly what the Styling page says", and a diagram at 100% keeps following the Styling page when you change it.
The other steps work differently for size and for text:
- Node size and Spacing at 75%, 125% or 150% are worked out from the Styling page when you click the step, and saved as pixel sizes. If you later change the Styling page, the diagram keeps its sizes and the row shows Custom. Click the step again, or 100%, to recalculate from the new values.
- Text size stays a percentage: a diagram at Large (115%) is always 115% of whatever the Styling page's font sizes are.
Use the Styling page to change the look of all your diagrams. Use this panel to adjust one diagram, for example to fit a large group on a page or to make a small one easier to read. See How to Customise Entity and Relationship Styling.
Opening the panel
- Open an ownership diagram.
- On the toolbar at the bottom of the canvas, click the grid button. Its tooltip reads Spacing, size & text.
A small dot on the button means this diagram's node size or spacing differs from the Styling page.
The panel's settings belong to the diagram, so they apply for everyone who opens it.
Node size
How big each entity box is.
- 75%, 100%, 125%, 150% set the width and height together, as a share of the Styling page's Entity Width and Entity Height.
- Node width and Node height sliders set each one in pixels (width 100–340 px, height 80–320 px), in 10 px steps. The small tick on each slider marks the Styling page's value.
- When the sliders don't match one of the four steps, the row shows Custom.
- The reset arrow beside a slider returns that one value to the Styling page's.
Bigger boxes give the text more room. With Fill boxes (below), bigger boxes also mean bigger text.
Node size also works on a manually laid-out diagram: boxes resize where they are. To resize one entity only, select it and drag its handles (see How to Manually Edit a Diagram).
Spacing
How far apart the entity boxes are.
- 75%, 100%, 125%, 150% set both gaps together, as a share of the Styling page's Horizontal Spacing and Vertical Spacing.
- Horizontal gap (100–400 px) and Vertical gap (50–400 px) set each one separately. The tick marks the Styling page's value, and the reset arrow returns to it.
Spacing only applies while the diagram is on auto-layout. On a manual layout the spacing controls are greyed out with the note "Spacing applies in auto-layout mode. Switch the layout to auto to adjust gaps." See Diagram Layout Status.
Text
How text inside the boxes is sized. Choose one of three modes:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fixed | Same size everywhere; long names are cut short with "…". This is the default for every diagram. |
| Shrink to fit | Same size, but a name that doesn't fit shrinks until it does. It stops shrinking before it becomes unreadable, and is cut short with "…" only if it still doesn't fit. |
| Fill boxes | Each entity's text grows or shrinks to fill its box, so sizes vary between entities. A short name in a big box grows to at most twice its normal size. |
Text size (Fixed and Shrink to fit)
Six sizes, smallest to largest: Smallest (80%), Small (90%), Standard (100%), Large (115%), Larger (130%) and Largest (150%). The line under the buttons names the current size, for example "Standard · 100%".
The percentage applies to all the Styling page's font sizes at once: names, details, small labels and the labels on relationship lines.
How much of the box (Fill boxes)
With Fill boxes, the size buttons are replaced by 70%, 80%, 90% and 100%: how much of each box the text may use. The default is 90%. A lower share leaves more white space around the text.
If the diagram has text outside boxes (names under avatars, labels on relationship lines), a Names and links row keeps the six sizes for that text, because it has no box to fill.
The reset arrow next to Text returns the mode and sizes to the defaults (Fixed, Standard).
Reset all and Drag to preview
- Reset all at the bottom returns node size and spacing to the Styling page's values. It doesn't change the text settings; use the reset arrow next to Text for those.
- Drag to preview: while you drag a slider the diagram updates as you go. The value is saved when you let go.
Common questions
How do I make the text bigger?
- On one diagram: open Spacing, size & text and pick a larger text size (Large, Larger or Largest). If longer names then get cut short, choose Shrink to fit, or make the boxes bigger under Node size.
- On every diagram: raise the font sizes on the Styling page (Ownership Diagram tab, Typography). Every diagram's text size is a percentage of those.
How do I make the text fill the entity boxes?
Choose Fill boxes. Each name grows to use the box, up to the share you pick (70–100%). To make the filled text bigger still, make the boxes bigger under Node size: Fill sizes text to the box, so the text grows with it.
A name is cut off with "…". How do I show all of it?
Try these in order:
- Choose Shrink to fit, so long names shrink rather than being cut.
- Make the boxes bigger under Node size, or drag that one entity's handles.
- Show fewer details inside the box: every detail line competes with the name for space (Diagram Settings → Entities).
- Choose Fill boxes, which sizes each name to its own box.
See How Entity Labels Work on Ownership Diagrams for what goes inside a box.
The text is too small after choosing Shrink to fit or Fill boxes
A long name in a small box has to shrink. Make the boxes bigger under Node size, or show fewer detail lines, so the text has more room.
How do I make the diagram more compact, or spread it out?
Use Spacing: 75% pulls the boxes together, 125% or 150% spreads them out. Combine it with Node size to fit a large diagram on fewer pages.
How do these settings work in a scenario?
The text settings belong to the base diagram and are shared by all its scenarios. In a scenario, the text section says "Text settings are shared with the base diagram."; change them on the base diagram, and every scenario of it follows. If the scenario doesn't inherit display settings, you can change the text settings from the scenario, but the change still applies to the base diagram and all its scenarios.
Node size and spacing can differ in a scenario. While the scenario inherits its settings from the base diagram, those controls are greyed out; turn off inheritance in the scenario's settings to set its own.
Can I reuse these settings on other diagrams?
Yes. Node size, spacing and the text settings are part of a diagram's saved settings, so you can save them under a name and apply them to another diagram. See Saved Diagram Settings.
Does this change what prints?
Yes. Prints, PDFs and PNG exports capture the diagram as drawn, with the same box sizes and text. When you print across several pages with Auto, auto sizes the pages so a typical name (the median across the diagram) prints at the size you choose. With Shrink to fit, some names print smaller than that; with Fill boxes, some print smaller and some larger. See Printing and PDFs Across Several Pages.
Family trees
A family tree has a text button on its toolbar instead (tooltip Text size and fit), with the same Fixed, Shrink to fit and Fill boxes modes and text sizes. Its sizes are percentages of the font sizes on the Styling page's Family Tree tab. Spacing on a family tree is set on that tab under Layout Spacing (Advanced).