Use quick tools in Lucid

Watch: Quick tools

Access quick tools

In Lucidchart

1. Select the Quick tools icon from the Primary Toolbar on the far left-hand side of the workspace.

In Lucidspark

1. Click the More tools icon from the Primary Toolbar on the left-side of the canvas.
2. Select the Quick tools icon from the menu that appears.

Quick shape banks

When you select a quick shape bank from the Quick tools menu, it adds the associated shape bank to your canvas. To move a shape bank on the canvas, click and drag it to another location. When you're done using the shape bank, you can delete it from your canvas by selecting it and pressing "Delete" on your keyboard—this will not affect any of the shapes you added to the canvas from the shape bank. Unless otherwise specified below, the shapes will appear as seen in the associated shape bank and cannot be customized.

The options available under quick shape banks include:

• Sticky note bank: Add a bank from which you can grab a limitless number of sticky notes to facilitate brainstorming. Change the fill color of your sticky note bank from the formatting bar in Lucidchart or the context toolbar in Lucidspark.
  • You can set the sticky note bank to utilize collaborator colors from the context toolbar in Lucidspark or contextual panel in Lucidchart. 
• Sticker bank: Add a bank that holds a variety of commonly used emojis.
• Dot bank: Add a bank that holds dots of all different colors, which are perfect for assigning out collaborator colors to facilitate a voting session.
• Lucid Card bank: Add a bank from which you can grab a limitless number of blank Lucid Cards.
   
• Story points: The shapes in this bank use a modified fibonacci sequence that is popular with agile teams. Drag a story point shape from the shape bank onto a Lucid Card to automatically update its estimation value.
  • This shape bank is available to all Lucid users, but the ability to drag a story point shape onto a Lucid Card to change its estimation value is only available to Enterprise users.
• T-shirt sizes: The shapes in this bank help you visualize a quick initial estimate to a task or project to help with prioritization and planning. Drag a t-shirt size shape from the shape bank onto a Lucid Card on the canvas to automatically update its estimation value.
  • This shape bank is available to all Lucid users, but the ability to drag a t-shirt size shape onto a Lucid Card to change its estimation value is only available to Enterprise users.
  • Using t-shirt size shapes to automatically update a card's estimation value is only available for generic Lucid Cards. It is not supported for cards created through an integration.
• Profile shapes: Add a shape bank that includes your profile shape and a blank profile shape. You can also add profile shapes for additional collaborators.
• Custom shape bank: Add a custom shape bank that starts out as empty on your document. You can select and drag one or many objects to the bank at once. It can hold up to 25 objects.
  • Rearrange the objects in the shape bank by clicking and dragging them to a new position.
  • Remove an object from the custom shape bank by right-clicking and selecting Delete shape bank item.

Quick shape banks replenish any of the objects taken from it. This means you can take shapes from the bank without ever running out.

Customize sticky note banks

After you’ve added a sticky note bank to the canvas, you can edit various style options depending on which Lucid product you are using. Check out the bolded sections below for more details.

In Lucidspark
The following options are available in the context menu that appears when the sticky note bank is selected in Lucidspark:

• Change the fill color using the Fill color icon.
• Adjust the roundedness of the corners using the Corner radius icon.
• Select new text style options such as font, color, and alignment using the Text options icon.

In Lucidchart and Lucidspark
Follow these steps to access additional advanced options available in both Lucidchart and Lucidspark:

1. Select a sticky note bank on the canvas.
2. Locate the advanced options menu:
   • In Lucidchart, click the Contextual Panel icon from the top-right corner of the canvas, then look for “Advanced options” under the “Layout” tab.
   • In Lucidspark, click the Advanced options icon from the context menu that appears.

From the advanced options, you can:

• Toggle collaborator colors on or off. When toggled on, the fill color of sticky notes dragged on to the canvas matches each user’s assigned collaborator color.
• Toggle horizontal sticky notes on or off. When toggled on, sticky notes double in size horizontally providing more space for text.

Customize story point shape banks

If your team uses custom story points or only wants to see certain options in the story point shape bank, you can edit options by following these steps after adding a story point shape bank to the canvas:

1. Select the story point shape bank.
2. Open the advanced options:
   • In Lucidchart, click the Contextual Panel icon from the top-right corner of the canvas, then click Edit story points under the “Layout” tab.
   • In Lucidspark, click the Advanced options icon.
3. Customize the shape bank using the following options:
   • Change story point values using the dropdown menus or by typing a custom numeric value.
   • Rearrange story point values using the six-dot icon to the left of each dropdown menu.
   • Edit the shape color using the Line color icon.
   • Remove a story point value using the trash can icon to the right of each option.
   • Add an additional story point value by clicking + Add item at the bottom of the panel.
4. Click Save.

Quick actions

Selecting a quick action option from the quick tools menu adds a button associated with the selected feature to your canvas. You can click and drag to move this button. Click the button to activate the feature, and click on it again to deactivate the feature.

AI actions

• Summarize: Use AI to create a written summary of selected content on the canvas.
• Sort Ideas: Sort selected shapes into containers. To provide more context and direction to AI, select Customize on the shape.
• Brainstorm: Add the Brainstorm AI quick action to generate ideas from a prompt.

Annotate

• Comment: Comment on the overall canvas or a specific shape, and assign a task to a tagged collaborator. 
• Record video: Record a video from your Lucid document using Loom or Zight.

Run a meeting

• Timer: Use the timer to keep collaborators engaged and focused throughout a collaboration session.
  • You can also quickly select a predetermined time from the Context Toolbar in Lucidspark or the contextual panel in Lucidchart.
• Laser pointer: Click and drag using the red laser to temporarily point out key parts of the diagram when presenting or working with collaborators.
• Go to shape: Use this feature to create a button that will navigate users to a specific Frame.
  • If you are working in Lucidchart, you need to have previously added at least one Frame to your document in Lucidspark using universal canvas.
  • You can automatically create a "Go to Frame" button by copying the Frame's shareable link from the Context Toolbar.
  • You can select a shape in your Lucid document before copying the document's shareable link with "Link to current view" checked. When you paste the link into a Lucid document, a "Go to shape" button will be generated that takes users to that specific shape when clicked. This does not work in Breakout Boards.
• Go to view: Copy a Lucid document's shareable link with "Link to current view" checked, then paste it in a Lucid document. A "Go to view" button will be generated that takes users to that specific view of the document when clicked. This does not work in Breakout Boards.
• Share: Open the share modal to share via email or shareable link.
• Invite others to me: Use the invite others to me feature when presenting so collaborators can follow along in viewing exactly the place on the canvas you’re currently viewing.
• Private mode: Turn on private mode so collaborators can share thoughts and contribute ideas anonymously.
• Breakout Boards: Open the Breakout board panel where you can add and view all breakout boards, start a breakout session, and add breakout boards as embedded links to the canvas.

Markup

• Pen: Freehand draw directly on the canvas to create a drawing in the path of your cursor. You can customize the color and line width according to your needs.
• Eraser: Erase highlights or freehand drawings you’ve added to the canvas using the highlighter or pen tools. Options include: 
  • Object eraser: Click directly on anything drawn using the highlighter or pen to erase the entire thing.
  • Pixel eraser: Click and drag on the canvas to erase anything in your eraser path drawn by the highlighter or pen.
• Highlighter: Click and drag using the highlighter to permanently highlight key parts of the diagram while presenting or working with collaborators.
• Magic Shape: Freehand draw directly on the canvas and have your drawing converted into a perfect Magic Shape—the list of supported Magic Shapes are outlined in the linked article. 
  • Once converted, this will be treated as an object rather than a drawing and is therefore not subject to being erased using the Eraser discussed above. 

Augment content

• Copy content to: From the dropdown select which Frame you want to copy content to. You can either place the button in a Frame to copy it's content to another Frame or click to select shapes and sticky notes that will then be copied into the Frame when you click the button. 
  • This feature is available in Lucidchart and Lucidspark, but if you are working in Lucidchart you will need to have previously added at least one Frame to your document in Lucidspark using universal canvas. Once there is a Frame on your Lucidchart document, you can select it from the contextual panel on the far right-hand side of the formatting bar.
• Sort by tags: Select the sticky notes manually or by adding them into a selected Frame, then click the button to Sort. They will be sorted into containers based on their tags.
  • Tags can only be added to sticky notes in Lucidspark. To use this quick action in Lucidchart, add the tags in Lucidspark and then switch to Lucidchart using universal canvas.

Integrations

• Import Jira issues: Open the Jira integration modal to import Jira issues into your document as Lucid Cards.
• Convert to Jira issues: Convert sticky notes and Lucid Cards into Jira issues.
• Create Jira issue: Create a new Jira issue.
• Toggle linked issues (Jira): Visualize linked issues with lines between Jira Cards on the canvas.
• Switch to diagramming: Use this feature to place a button that will switch you from Lucidspark to Lucidchart using universal canvas.
• Switch to whiteboarding: Use this feature to place a button that will switch you from Lucidchart to Lucidspark using universal canvas.
• Import from airfocus: Open the airfocus integration modal to import airfocus issues into your document as Lucid Cards.

FAQ

Can I use and access quick tools from a free account?
Yes, but if the quick tool represents a premium feature, it will be accessible only to users on premium accounts. For example, all accounts can add a timer quick tool to their Lucid document, but only users on Team and Enterprise accounts will be able to interact with the timer quick tool.

This also applies to users who have a premium account for only one Lucid product. For instance, if you have a premium Lucidchart account, you can add the timer quick tool to your document. However, since the timer is a Lucidspark feature, you won’t be able to interact with it unless you also have a premium Lucidspark account.

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