Welcome to Lucidchart

Watch: Get started with Lucidchart

The home page

When you sign in to your Lucid account, you will be navigated to your home page. Here you can view and organize documents, create and manage folders, access templates, and import files. This page also serves as a portal to the account settings page, the Lucid admin panel, the integrations marketplace, and the Lucidchart workspace. 

For an in depth overview, check out our Lucid Home Page article.

Create a document

You can start diagramming from scratch with a new blank document, build from a Lucidchart template, or import a file from another supported platform.

To create a document from the home page, follow these steps:

1. Click + New in the upper-left corner.
2. Hover over Lucidchart.
3. Select one of the following options:
   • Blank Document to start a document from scratch.
   • Create from Template to open the Template Gallery and then select a template to get started with.
   • Import and then choose from Visio, Gliffy, Draw.io, or Omnigraffle to import a file. To learn more, check out our Import files into Lucidchart article.

The parts of the workspace

The Lucidchart workspace is where all of the diagramming magic takes place. Before you start creating, it is useful to become familiar with the different parts of the workspace.

The header

From the header you can click:

• The Lucidchart icon to return to the Documents page or leverage universal canvas to switch between Lucid products.
• The title of the document to rename it.
• The More menu to access various menus. See the Menu options section below for more details.
• The Find and Use Features icon, which can help you locate Lucidchart features within the workspace. The feature find tool will search the workspace and the Help center for your query.
• The Changes saved icon to access revision history. From here, you can see and restore old versions of your document.
  • This icon also indicates the save status of your document.
• The Collaboration Tools icon to view the document's active collaborators and toggle various collaboration settings such as collaborator colors and author names on sticky notes.
• The Add Comment icon to comment on the document and discuss ideas with collaborators. For more information, refer to our Collaborate in Lucid article.
• The Presentation Builder icon to enter presentation mode. To add or edit slides, select the drop down to the right of the present icon. Check out our Create a presentation in Lucid article for more information.
• The Record video icon to open the Loom integration and record a video. To learn more, refer to our Record video in Lucidchart article.
•   The Share icon to open the share dialog, through which you can invite collaborators or create a shareable link. To learn more, check out our Share with collaborators in Lucid article.
• The Profile image or initials in the upper right hand corner to update your profile photo, navigate to the Account Settings page, or log out.

Menu options

Select the More menu from the top-left of the document to open a dropdown of options: 

• Edit in Lucidspark uses universal canvas to switch your document from Lucidchart to Lucidspark, allowing you to access Lucidspark tools on the same canvas.
• New allows you to create a new Lucid document.
• Make a copy duplicates the current document, opening the new document in a new tab.
• Export provides the various export options available in Lucidchart.
• Publish allows you to publish your document as a URL, PDF, or image.
• File contains important features like page settings, comparing documents, revision history, managing document status, exporting/downloading your document, and publishing. 
• Edit provides options to copy and paste objects, set default style, turn on spell check and set the spell check language, and use find & replace.
• Select allows you to select different groupings of objects on your document — for example, all lines, all shapes, lines with a specific color, etc. This allows you to easily style multiple shapes or lines at once.
• View provides zoom options and the option to turn off webGL. From this menu you also have the ability to show or hide guides, rulers, and margins.
• Insert allows you to insert images, gifs, templates, and document specific information — for example, creator name, created date and time, last modified date, or page number. 
• Arrange contains arrangement options like bringing shapes to the front or sending them to the back, matching shape sizes, aligning and distributing shapes, and grouping shapes.
• Share allows you to publish or embed your document.
• Help provides access to onboarding tutorials, a link out to the Lucidchart Help center, hotkey shortcuts, and to see new product updates.

The formatting bar

From the formatting bar you can style your text, lines, and shapes. You can also use advanced formatting tools like actions, locking, and magnetizing.

The formatting options from left to right include:

• The Paint format icon to copy and paste shape style. To learn more, check out our Add and customize shapes in Lucidchart article.
• Text formatting such as headers, font, font size, bold, italic, underline, text color, text alignment, and other text options. See Add and style text in Lucidchart for more information.
• Shape and line formatting such as fill color, line color, line width and style, endpoint, style, and other shape options. Refer to Add and customize shapes in Lucidchart and Add and style lines in Lucidchart for details.
• The Link To icon to link a shape to a URL, Lucidchart page, or other Lucid document. Learn more in our Add an Action or link to a shape in Lucidchart article.
• The Actions icon to add actions to an object. You can learn more in our Add an Action or link to a shape in Lucidchart article.
• The Magnetize icon to magnetize shapes to a container, including swim lanes in Lucidchart.
• The Lock icon to lock a selected shape's size and position, style, or content.
• The Contextual Panel icon on the far right-hand side to access advanced shape options.

The Primary Toolbar

The Primary Toolbar can be found on the far left-hand side of the workspace.

In the Primary Toolbar, you may see the following options:

• The Lucid AI icon to generate, summarize, and sort diagrams as well as get help from the Lucid Help Center.
• The Template gallery icon to insert a pre-made template into the Lucidchart document.
• The Shapes panel icon to expand or close the shape menu. 
  • By default, you'll see the Standard, Flowchart, and Basic shape libraries. You can add more libraries or create custom ones through the shape library manager, which you can access by clicking More shapes at the bottom of the panel.
  • Rearrange your shape libraries by dragging and dropping them, minimize or expand them by clicking on the arrow to the left of their names, and remove them by clicking the “X”. Click the star icon to the left of the "X" to favorite a shape library. Starred shape libraries open automatically on all new documents.
  • Select Import Data on the shape menu to import data for a variety of diagram types. Some one-time data imports are available to Free, Individual and Team plans, such as org charts, Entity Relationship Diagrams, and mind maps. Data refresh, however, is an Enterprise only feature.
• The Containers icon to view shape libraries that host containers.
• The Styles panel to use preset and custom Lucid styles to format your document.
• The Conditional formatting panel to Add conditional formatting in Lucidchart.
• The Images panel icon provides options to import image, SVG, or gifs from your computer. You can also  search for shapes, images, or icons by clicking the search bar and entering a keyword. See Shape libraries in Lucidchart for more information.
• The Data panel icon to add or view your linked data. This is an Enterprise-only feature. To learn more, check out our Link data to a Lucidchart document.
• The Visual Activities icon to create interactive activities for your team. For more information, check out Get started with Visual Activities.
• The Diagram as code icon to generate a Lucidchart diagram using Mermaid.
• The Quick tools icon to insert a quick shape bank or quick action to the canvas.
• The Integrations icon to access Lucid's Integrations Marketplace from within the Lucidchart workspace.

The footer

Beneath the workspace you will find the footer.

Manage the pages on your document with the icons on the left side of the footer, including:

• The Page List icon to see and navigate to other pages in the document.
• The Page menu to the right of the current page's title to access the following page options: rename, duplicate, delete, move page right or left, choose a page color for the tab, convert to a master page, or create a new Lucidchart document from the page.
• The  Add Page icon to add an additional page onto your document.
• The  Layers icon to access and edit your layers. 
• The  Page Insights icon to access and create formulas.

You will find document options on the right side of the footer, including:

• Arrow icons to undo your last change or reverse an undo.
• The subtraction and addition icons to adjust your document’s zoom level.
  • Click the current zoom percentage to zoom to a specific percentage, zoom to content, reset zoom, select navigation mode, or view the mini map.
• The  Fullscreen icon to expand your canvas to take up the entire workspace.
• The Help icon to access the Learning center (including tutorial videos, interactive walkthroughs, and Lucid Training Labs), the Lucid Community, the Lucid Help Center, keybord shortcuts, or to report a bug.

FAQ

Is Freehand Drawing available in Lucidchart?

No. Freehand drawing is supported in Lucidspark. For more information, check out our Freehand drawing in Lucidspark article.

How can I move around the canvas?

Right-click and drag the canvas to adjust your view. When you hold down the right-click, your cursor becomes a hand grabbing the canvas as you move the document to see other content.

Resources

To learn more about Lucidchart, explore the additional resources below. These resources are available in English only.

Course

Diagramming Foundations

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