I’m learning OmniGraffle, and I’m curious how others like to use it.
Do you use OG for mind mapping various thoughts or do you only use it for specific complex projects? What about mapping ideas for novels or screenplays? I’m trying to get an idea if people use it as their first visual tool no matter how big or small the project is.
Actually no. Omnigraffle is my tool for making workflow diagrams for publications and the likes or redesigning my flat. The mindmapping part to me is a little cumbersome, especially getting the arrow connections right.
All my Mindmapping needs are met in Mindnode- I am much more comfortable with a dedicated app for this task / never considered OG for this… Novel or screenplay outlinining (and all other lists) are happening in OmniOutliner, it is unbeatable with that… I just noticed that I am quite bought into the Omni ecosystem ;-)
Nope, IMO OG isn’t built for speed of mind mapping - I use iThoughts (ipad) and iThoughtsX (Mac) for my mindmapping needs.
Like most things though, any tool that you persist with will be more productive than ‘experimenting’ with a different tool every couple of weeks ;-)
Thanks for the input! I’m trying to mind map with OG quickly, but I noticed it’s not as fast as something like MindNode/iThoughts.
However, after mapping with MindNode, it gets to the point where I wish I could add more details and actions to the map.
When I use OG, it’s not simple to start, but it’ll have all the options I could want as the map grows. I learned some people like to hash out ideas in MindNode/iThoughts, export to OO, then export to OG. Have you ever tried that approach?
I find it’s quite useful to prototype ideas. Mindmaps and workflows are fine but it’s not as efficient, since you have to use your mouse or trackpad, whereas in a traditional mind map creation utility you can just use a keyboard for operation.
You are very right about the keyboard functionality. I think that is the part I’m missing for quick mind maps because I’m a huge keyboard junkie.
It may not be as powerful as a dedicated mind-mapping app, but you can use the outline on the left side to create a quick mind map.
I created that whole mind map without touching the mouse or trackpad. (tab, keyboard arrows, return)
I will definitely play around with the outline approach. Thank you for the suggestion. :)
With this approach, I’m craving a way to make the canvas huge from the beginning without using the auto-size canvas option because I know the canvas will be big. Is this possible?
I want to make a huge canvas like MindNode Pro and zoom in on area. When I need more room, I’ll zoom in/out when needed.
