Diagrams, Charts
Developer: The Omni Group
Shareware: $79.95, $48 (Educational)
Version: 4.1.2
Release Date: 2006-08-02
Last Updated: 2007-02-06
Pros: Extremely well-programmed charts and diagrams software; Great interface, great functionality, great results.
Cons: None.
Description
OmniGraffle belongs to those rare software tools which do not leave any room for complaints. Its purpose is to let you design visually appealing and well-structured charts and diagrams, and it does it with an uncommon combination of astonishing user-friendliness and high functionality. For academics it is the perfect tool for brainstorming, organising thoughts and ideas, designing flow-charts for presentational purposes etc.
If you want to use Graffle to simply draw some basic
diagrams the user interface is straightforward enough to
let you do so without even having to open the Help Menu.
However, the software's true beauty only reveals itself
once you delve deeper into its features - styles (not only
for text, but also shapes, lines, fills, images and
shadows), the multi-functional outline panel, the
auto-layout and auto-restyle functions and magnets (spots
on shapes attracting lines) are easily available once you
the get the hang of it, but in the beginning you would not
be able to tell OmniGraffle's potential from the innocent
and friendly interface. A look into the manual helps here.
You often find that the end product of a software often
resembles the look and feel of the software itself and this
is definitely true in this case. The diagrams and charts
created with OmniGraffle look so clean, clear and beautiful
that one is almost tempted not to take them serious -
complex organisational charts are transformed into little
artworks. You might think that I am exaggerating here, but
please look for yourself and also read other users'
comments at Versiontracker and MacUpdate - this software is
a masterpiece. And dont worry about compatibility - you can
export your work to PDF, TIFF, PNG, JPEG, EPS, HTML image
map, SVG, PICT, Photoshp and BMP documents.
Its educational price of $48 is more than fair. Last
thing to say is that the only "complaint" I have ever read
about OmniGraffle was that "it creates such beautiful
charts and graphics that one often gets caught up in the
aesthetics and spends way too much time just making things
look beautiful!" Enough said.
Other Reviews
Macworld
ATPM
Useful Links
OmniGraffle Extras
Graffletopia