Read this article to familiarize yourself with Lucidscale. Learn how to create new documents, add credentials and data sources to your data hub, and to walk through the functionality available in your document. When you’re ready, read our articles for step-by-step instructions to import and manage infrastructure data for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud (formerly GCP).
Lucidscale is available to Lucid Suite Enterprise accounts as an add-on purchase with the Cloud Accelerator. To learn more about the Cloud Accelerator, refer to our Cloud Accelerator overview article.
If you've migrated from Lucidscale to the Cloud Accelerator, you can use the Cloud Agent to generate a purpose-built diagram from your imported cloud data using Lucid AI. Learn more in our Use Lucid AI’s Cloud Agent to build architecture diagrams in Lucidchart article.
Watch: Welcome to Lucidscale
A Lucidscale document
A Lucidscale document is built around a cloud frame—the engine that takes your imported cloud data and the rules you configure (like structure, filters, and layout)—and automatically generates visualizations from them. When you create a Lucidscale document, a cloud frame is placed on the canvas. You can then create multiple views within that cloud frame, each applying a different configuration to produce a different visualization of the same data. Use the built-in view templates to get started, or create your own customized views.
Learn more: For instructions to add a cloud frame to a Lucidchart document, check out our article.
Now, let’s look at the features and functionality available with a Lucidscale license.
Documents menu
Create a new document
- Select +New.
- Hover your cursor over Lucidscale.
- Select AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
- Select an existing data source or add a new data source by clicking + Import (Account, Subscription, Project).
- Complete the prompted steps to import your infrastructure data and render your resources in a Lucidscale document.
Open an existing document
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Select the Documents dropdown.
- If you have a lot of documents, you can use the search feature to find a document.
- Hover over the Lucidscale document tile and click Open.
Data Hub
The Data Hub is where you can add new and manage existing AWS Accounts, Azure Subscriptions, or Google Cloud Projects, as well as Saved Credentials.
To access the Data Hub, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Lucid Home Page.
- Select Data Hub from the navigation menu at the bottom-left of the page.
In the Imported Accounts (AWS), Imported Subscriptions (Azure), or Imported Projects (Google Cloud) tab, you can:
- View all saved data sources (Accounts, Subscriptions, Projects) that can be used to create Lucidscale documents.
- Import a new Account, Subscription, or Project as a data source.
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Select the three-dot menu next to the data source to Delete or Update data from the cloud provider.
- Note: The Update data option is only supported for data sources associated/added with cloud provider credentials.
- Select the three-dot menu to create a new document.
- Select the three-dot menu to share a data source with other users on your account. To learn more about this sharing option, refer to our Manage credentials and data sources article.
Learn more about how the Data Hub works with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
A credential is a secret (or set of secrets) used by Lucidscale on behalf of users to access their cloud infrastructure data. In the Saved Credentials tab, you can:
- View all saved credentials.
- Add a new credential.
- Select the three-dot menu next to an account to Delete credential.
- Select the three-dot menu to share credentials you have generated with other users on your account.
Learn more about Cloud Provider Credentials: Management, Usage, and Security.
Document overview
Once you have created a document, read the following to familiarize yourself with the Lucidscale workspace.
Note: Images are from an AWS document and will differ slightly by provider.
The header
From the header you can click:
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The Lucidscale icon to return to the Documents page or leverage universal canvas to switch Lucid products for editing your document.
- The title of the document to rename it.
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The Star icon to add the document to your Starred Items.
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The Document options icon to access a variety of options, such as publishing and embedding, exporting a snapshot and printing, customizing your rendering settings by turning WebGL on or off, and navigation mode to switch between trackpad and mouse.
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The document data menu in the upper-left of your open document to view attached data sources, see the date the document was last synced, open the data hub, and sync your document with updated data.
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The binocular icon to access Feature Find, which can help you locate Lucidchart features within the workspace.
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The Comments icon to comment on the document and discuss ideas with collaborators. For more information, refer to our Collaborate in Lucid article.
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The Video icon to open the Loom integration and record a video. To learn more, refer to our Record video in Lucid article.
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The Share icon to open the share dialog and invite collaborators or create a shareable link. To learn more, check out our Share with collaborators in Lucid article.
- Your Profile image or initials in the upper right hand corner to update your profile photo, navigate to Account Settings, or log out.
Views menu
Select a particular View from the menu to see it on your Lucidscale document.
Select the dropdown menu on a particular view to:
- Rename the view
- Duplicate a current view with auto layout or manual layout
- Export configuration as a JSON
- Delete the view
Select the plus icon at the far right-hand side of the Views menu to add additional views. Select the three-dot icon to Import view configurations or Export all view configurations.
Learn more about working with Views in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Note: You can create and manually adjust the layout of your document using a manual layout view. These manual layout views can either be created from scratch or by using existing auto-layout views as a starting point. Unlike in an auto layout view, resources that are manually added to your document data after syncing will not automatically be added to the canvas. You will need to place these resources manually by dragging and dropping onto the canvas or by clicking the "eye" icon for individual resources.
The Formatting bar
- Structure: Use the Structure control menu to control the overall hierarchy of your document. To learn more about how this works, refer to the Structure control instructions below this bullet point list.
- Filters: You can create rules that filter entities in your document based on metadata associated with the resource. Learn more about working with Filters in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
- Conditional formatting: You can create formatting rules that highlight resources in your document to improve visibility and navigation. Learn more about how to Use conditional formatting with resource metadata in Lucidscale.
- Diagram with freeform shapes: This option exports your Lucidscale document to a new Lucidchart diagram on which you can do standard diagramming. You can’t access Lucidscale functionality in the Lucidchart diagram, but you can freely move shapes around the canvas and apply stylistic changes to them (like color and size).
Structure Control
Use the Structure control menu to control the overall hierarchy of your document.
- Click + Add Group to add a new element.
- Hover over a group and click the X to remove.
- Reorder the hierarchy by selecting the arrows (not available for all groups)
Resources and Lines
Openthe panel to the upper-left of your document to work with Resources and Lines.
In the Resources menu, you can:
- See all resources in the document.
- Navigate to an entity in the document by selecting the Resource drop down and clicking the entity you want to view from the list.
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Hide a mapped resource by selecting the eye icon.
- You can see the ratio of hidden/existing items to the right of the resource.
- Click and drag unmapped resources onto your document.
Learn more about working with Resources in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
In the Lines menu, you can:
- Select the checkbox next to a line to render lines between entities.
- See more options by selecting a line’s drop-down.
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Edit line color, style, and type by selecting
the pencil icon next to a line.
Learn more about working with lines in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Data and layout settings
Openthe panel to the upper-right of your document to see the metadata fields associated with your resources rendered and access layout settings for the diagram. What you see in this panel is dependent on what entities you have selected in the document.
In the data menu, you can:
- Select an entity to view its metadata.
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View an entity’s data Configuration.
- Click an entity’s drop-down to view more information.
- View and add Custom Data.
- View resources linked via metadata to a selected resource under "Related Resources".
Learn more about working with the data panel in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
In the layout settings menu, you can:
- Adjust Entity Alignment.
- Set Layout Style.
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Configure Contained Items Layout. This includes:
- Sort Order
- Horizontal and vertical spacing of entities
- Setting Fixed Columns
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Group Contained Items by Type by clicking the toggle.
- When this toggle is enabled, an Order Groups drop-down will appear with more alignment options.
- Add or remove Text Fields.
Learn more about working with document layout in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Resources
To learn more about Lucidscale, explore the additional resources below. These resources are available in English only.
Video playlists
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