Unzip Rows

Unzip Rows is a layout tool that splits a crowded row of entities into two or more stacked rows, trading width for height.

The Problem It Solves

Some diagrams have many entities sitting at the same relationship level — a large corporate group with a dozen subsidiaries under one holding company, for example. Laid out in a single row, that produces a diagram that's very wide and very short: comfortable on a large monitor, but awkward to present, export, or fit on an A4 page.

What Unzip Rows Does

Unzip Rows takes an especially crowded row and staggers its entities across multiple rows instead of one, then packs each row together — so the overall structure takes up noticeably less horizontal space, at the cost of extra height.

By default, a wide row splits into 2 rows. You can choose more:

How many rows to split each one into is adjustable from 2 up to 5, using the stepper that appears once Unzip Rows is turned on. A higher number makes the affected area taller and narrower; the default of 2 is the mildest option.

Unzip Rows only acts on rows that are genuinely crowded — a diagram without a wide row is unaffected by turning it on.

What You'll See

Turn on Unzip Rows, optionally adjust the row count, then trigger a layout run (see How to Change Diagram Layout).
Any sufficiently wide row splits into the chosen number of stacked rows, and the diagram becomes narrower and taller.

How to Turn On Unzip Rows

Open an ownership diagram.
Click the Layout button.
Under Optimise, check Unzip Rows.
Use the Each into stepper to choose how many rows to split into (2–5). The default is 2.
Trigger a layout run — for example, click Refresh.

Tips

Good for large corporate groups. Anywhere you have many entities at the same level — subsidiaries under one parent, or several companies jointly held by the same people — Unzip Rows is the tool to reach for before manually rearranging entities by hand.
Try 2 first. It's the default for a reason: it's the smallest change that meaningfully narrows a wide diagram. Increase the row count only if the diagram is still too wide to comfortably present or export.
Trades width for height. A diagram that was too wide for a page may become comfortably tall instead — check your intended output (screen, export, print) before settling on a row count. See How to Export a Diagram.
Works alongside Untangle. Unzip Rows addresses width; Untangle addresses crossing links caused by shared connections. A large, crowded diagram often benefits from both.
Available with the current Standard layout.