Lines are essential to diagramming, which is why Lucidchart strives to make working with them as simple and intuitive as possible. Read this article to learn more about how to add, format, and customize lines.

Add lines to a diagram

There are three ways to add a line:

From a selected object
From the Shape menu
Directly to the canvas

Add a line from an object

Hover your cursor over a shape.
Click a round red node from the side of an object.
Drag your cursor away from the object.

You can connect the line back to the same object, to a different object, or add a new object by selecting one from the menu that appears when you release the mouse on the blank canvas.

add_line_from_shape_to_create_new_shape_on_Lucidchart_canvas.gif

If you do not want to add a new object to a line, click anywhere on the canvas to exit the shape auto-prompt window.

To disable the shape auto-prompt window:

Open your Account Settings by selecting your profile image or initials in the upper-right hand corner.
Click Document Settings from the menu to the left of your screen.
Select the Lucidchart tab.
Find the “After Drawing Lines” section.
Select “Do nothing.”

Add a line from the Shape menu

Click and drag the line and arrow icon from the “Standard” section of the shape menu.
Move the line by dragging its body and lengthen it by dragging one of its ends.

Add a line directly to the canvas

Right-click on the canvas.
From the menu that appears, select Draw Line.

Additional tips:

If you move an object that is connected with a line to another object, the line will also move to maintain the connection.
Hold the Shift key on your keyboard when drawing a line to make its path follow a straight line of 45˚ increments.
Create a line that moves independently from a shape by toggling off "line connections" in document settings.

Turning off line connections allows you to move a line in isolation by clicking the arrow keys on your keyboard, however, lines already connected to shapes cannot be moved in isolation.

Format and modify lines

Lucidchart’s many line modification options give you control over how your lines look. To make a change to an individual line, select the line and navigate to the corresponding section of the Formatting toolbar above your canvas. To set a document’s default line settings, ensure you have no lines selected before setting default line settings from the Formatting toolbar.

Tip: Use Styles to change the look of the lines and shapes in your document with pre-made colors and styles. Check out our Add and customize shapes article for more information.

Line shape

Lucidchart offers three options for line shape:

Straight
Curved
Elbow

The default setting for line shape in a new document is Elbow, which means that your lines’ directions will correspond with the background grid of your canvas and only bend at 90˚ angles.

To change line shape, follow these steps:

Select a line or click the canvas’ background.
Click the Line Options icon from the formatting toolbar.
Select one of the three line shapes available.

If you are using the Elbow line shape, you can add rounding to the line’s angles by toggling the up and down arrows in the “ROUNDED” box in the line options window.

Line color

To change the color of a line, follow these steps:

Select a line (or to set a default, click anywhere on the canvas).
Click the Line Color icon from the formatting toolbar.
Select a color from the color swatch window that appears.

Use a custom color by clicking the plus icon at the bottom of the color swatch window. From here, you can manually select a color by selecting a space in the color swatch or using the color slider. You can also select Hex, HSB, or RGB from the dropdown menu. Once selected, you can adjust the HSB or RGB values or type a Hex code.

Line width

To change the width of a line, follow these steps:

Select a line (or to set a default, click anywhere on the canvas).
Toggle the up and down arrows in the “Line Width” box of the formatting toolbar.

Note: Lucidchart allows line thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 10 px, and rounds inputted measurements to the nearest tenth of a pixel.

Line style

To change the style of a line, follow these steps:

Select a line (or to set a default, click anywhere on the canvas).
Click the “Line Style” box in the formatting toolbar for a display of the available line style options.
Hover your cursor over the different line styles to see how they will appear on your diagram. Click a line style to apply changes.

Additional line style options:

If you are modifying an individual line, you can select "DOUBLE" at the bottom of this window to turn your line into two parallel lines.
If a selected line crosses another line on the canvas, you can make it jump over the other line by selecting "JUMP".
If there is text on a line, you can select “TEXT PILL” to create a pill around the text.

Modify line endpoints

The default line endpoint setting in a new document includes a solid, one-sided arrow. To change endpoints, following these steps:

Select a line (or to set a default, click anywhere on the canvas).
Click the left or right “Endpoint” drop-down in the formatting toolbar to see available options.
Select a style.

To swap the endpoints of a selected line, click the double arrow icon next to the endpoint drop-down menus in the formatting toolbar.
swap_line_endpoints_by_clicking_the_double_arrow_icon_in_formatting_bar.png

Learn more: For more information about how to format lines in an ERD or UML, see our Create an Entity Relationship Diagram in Lucidchart article.

Add and modify text on a line

To add text to a line, follow these steps:

Double-click a line.
Type in the “Text” box that appears.
- Click and drag the text box to move the text to another place on the line, including directly above or below it.

To remove text from a line:

Double-click the text you want to delete.
Highlight or place your cursor at the end of the text.
Press the “Delete” (on Mac) or “Backspace” (on PC) key on your keyboard.

Modify line path

Modify the path of an Elbow line:

Select a line.

A node will appear in the center of each section of the selected line.
If you hover your cursor over a section of a selected line, an additional node will appear at the quarter mark of that section.

Click and drag a node to change the path of the line.

Modify the path of a straight or curved line:

Select a line.

A node will appear in the center of the line.

Click and drag the node to create a joint in the line and change its path.

The line will be separated into two sections and both sections will now have a node in the center of the section

After modifying a line and adding a joint, you can remove the joint by right-clicking the joint and selecting Remove Joint.

Create smart lines

A smart line will automatically adjust its connection points to form the most efficient path between two objects. Here’s how to create one:

Drag a line from one object to another.
When you reach the border of the second object, hold down your cursor until the object is highlighted.
Release your cursor before the highlight goes away.

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