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Call for OmniGraffle stencil requests

Posted by Linda Sharps on 07.24.07 @ 7:42 AM File Under: OmniGraffle

You OmniGraffle fans probably already know about Graffletopia, which hosts a tons of cool stencils for your downloading pleasure. We've also got quite a few linked from the OmniGraffle extras page, and of course it's super easy to make your own stencils by selecting New Stencil from the Stencils menu and dragging in images.

Currently we aren't including very many ready-made stencils in the app itself, though, so we're going to be working on adding more Omni-created stencils to Graffle's built-in library of objects (and updating a few of the existing ones).

Here's where you can help: what sorts of image collections would you like to see in the app? I am personally voting for a Macworld booth layout stencil (complete with $100-per-day rented trash can!), some cool photo borders, and maybe some DVD/DVR/remote icons (so when my in-laws visit we can create a foolproof graphical set of instructions to help them operate the television without accidentally resetting everything to Spanish, adding a season recording of “Deal Or No Deal?”, and turning the screen magenta), but I figure you guys might have some ideas that are even MORE useful.

Post your stencil requests in the comments, and thanks for helping us out!

 

Comments

  1. sarah

    07.24.07 7:47 AM

    Office layouts, desks, printers, computers, cables, surge protectors, being able to map out where each cable comes from and goes to, would be really handy

  2. Kevin Brennan

    07.24.07 7:58 AM

    * UML 2.0 template.


    * Business process notation


    * Cross-platform UI templates


    * Floor plans


    * Form designs

  3. Alex Szatmary

    07.24.07 8:48 AM

    I like the Network 3D stencil, so I can map my network topology. The current default Network stencil doesn't have switches and routers and stuff.

  4. Simon Johnson

    07.24.07 9:06 AM

    I know that we in the Information architect and usability world love Omnigraffle. Any stencils that support that would be great.


    OmniGraffle Wireframe Palette from Urlgreyhot is fantastic http://www.urlgreyhot.com/personal/resources/omnigraffle_wireframe_palette

  5. Nik

    07.24.07 9:36 AM

    UI templates for web which resize nicely (so the button text doesn't stretch when you make a larger input field), same for GUI design (Mac and *ugh* Windows)


    Mac file types and folders (for workflow diagrams)


    People. Cute little people icons of different types. Good for workflows, table arrangements, etc.


    DTP stencils. Good stuff for doing lightweight illustration, layout and DTP work in OmniGraffle. Attractive borders, font treatments, multi-column text stencils, etc.


    Geography stencils. States, countries, flags and currency. I can imagine a million uses for these things.


    Less cheesy network layout digrams. Stuff that looks like it could come out of Visio's official network diagramming tools, but prettier.


    I think that's enough. I'm sure I could come up with more.

  6. Joan

    07.24.07 10:20 AM

    Furniture and architecture

  7. [...] Call for OmniGraffle stencil requests - [...]

  8. rik

    07.24.07 12:01 PM

    A comprehensive set of network and service infrastructure stencils would be greatly appreciated.


    Specifically, I would like to see a good set of infrastructure stencils which cover the large enterprise, service provider, and telco, environments.


    If this covered infrastructure from the transmission (optical) layer, through ethernet/atm switching, through IP routing and MPLS switching, to IP devices such as firewalls, load balancers etc. up to server infrastructure, then I'd be a very happy person.


    The style should be elegant and clean. Icon style is fine, based on de facto industry standards by Cisco Systems (for example). Please do not try to make the icons look realistic. 2D or simple isometric 3D is fine.


    Anchor points should be at least top, bottom, left, right, centre, but 8 points of connection would be nice, with a design which easily facilitates the addition of more anchor points.


    Connectors are also quite important. Some style similar to Visio's “ethernet LAN” is useful to attach multiple devices to a “bus” concept, whereas in other situations a representation of a copper twisted-pair would be nice.

  9. AJ

    07.24.07 12:21 PM

    Floorplans/blueprints definitely.

  10. Mike S.

    07.24.07 1:13 PM

    I would really appreciate some circular elements like the next step beyone “Dynamic Symmetry” at http://graffletopia.com/stencils/138


    Specifically:

    1. Concentric Circles that can be grouped

    2. Text areas that follow the curve of the circles

  11. SB

    07.24.07 1:35 PM

    Wow, about everything I would ask for is covered:

    - UI elements (both OS X, iPhone, and 'web 2'ish types

    - home layout type thingies: furniture, kitchen/bath, bedroom, etc

    - office layout: desks, chairs, computers, etc

    - forms would be kind of nice, but not sure. If you do, some graph paper would be cool, too.

    - Map widgets, like parks, city dots, markers, etc would be pretty cool (especially with google map background)

    - Cocoa/Obj C frameworks and classes?

  12. AndyExMachina

    07.24.07 2:03 PM

    Would love a nice, clean, flexible database schema stencil.  The ones that currently exist don't look that great when you have tables with many rows vs. tables with few rows.  Annotation of the relationships would be helpful as well (a la Ruby on Rails).

  13. Phil

    07.24.07 4:26 PM

    What would really help were some easy way (or HowTo) for converting Visio Stencils for OmniGraffle.


    I love OmniGraffle for my networking graphics, but there are just too few Cisco Icons available….

  14. Jim Kimball

    07.24.07 8:40 PM

    I second the request for people. When I do workflow diagrams, a small stick figure is perfect for indicating a manual action.

  15. Phil Gyford

    07.24.07 9:09 PM

    Family tree stencil. Not much to it, but would be handy.

  16. Luke

    07.24.07 9:19 PM

    Updated network stencil with all current Mac types and expanded range of networking devices.

  17. Jeppe Brønsted

    07.24.07 9:48 PM

    A UML 2 stencil that scales well. When making the symbol for a node bigger, it should not look deeper. Also connectors for lollipop notation.

  18. Viktor Haag

    07.24.07 10:58 PM

    A good/stable set used to diagram databases (esp SQL).

  19. Kris Geren

    07.25.07 1:38 AM

    PCB layout/etching stencils.  Would be a great tool for electronics hobbyists/DIY-ers to lay out circuit designs for transfer to copper-clad boards for etching.

  20. brian

    07.25.07 3:15 AM

    RPG dungeon features—doors, torches, chests, tables, chairs, chains, etc

  21. Ashley Grayson

    07.26.07 12:50 AM

    From the existing stencil libraries and current requests, it appears OmniGraffle is primarily being used to visually document static relationships, but is even more powerful tool when used in brainstorming and critical thinking. I'm currently doing workshops on Casual Diagramming for Managing Strategy and Change, and use OmniGraffle as a dynamic part of the process and to create the visuals.


    OmniGraffle, could leap ahead as a fundamental business tool with the addition of stencil forms of as many of the core business diagrams as we can set up, such as Force Field, Fishbone, and the whole family of Relationship Diagrams. One difficulty will be that OmniGraffle assumes a hierarchal structure for everything. This makes it easy to do Org charts and other Tree diagrams out of the box, but I've found that some of the best diagrams supporting critical thinking are not hierarchal. If someone at Omni will drop me an email, I'll provide the details that don't fit here.

  22. Ryan

    07.26.07 1:12 AM

    How about some science stencils:

    Chemistry—molecule structure fragments (like ChemDraw), lab components (workbenches, glassware, etc.)

    Physics—nice looking vectors, pulleys, weights and masses, boxes, frictionless surfaces :)

    Biology—protein/dna sequence fragments

  23. dstay

    07.26.07 3:49 AM

    I'd like some medical/anatomical stencils like spinal cord, brain, bones etc…

  24. Andy

    07.26.07 7:43 AM

    I'd love to see some music and pro audio stencils.  Mixers, rack gear,pedals, cables—OmniGraffle would be a great tool for touring bands, venues, churches, etc.  One place that might provide some great examples is http://www.guitargeek.com. 

    I think I'm not alone in saying that omnigraffle rocks…hard.

  25. Sean

    07.27.07 12:39 AM

    One thing that would be nice is a bit of polish added to the current set of stencils.  It would be really good if a Graphics Artist could “unify” them and make a common look and feel.  Right now, many of them feel disjointed and don't look as good grouped together.

  26. Cecily

    07.27.07 7:52 AM

    Windows GUI stencils. I've just about reached my limit with Visio, and would love to switch to OmniGraffle for all my IxD work.

  27. John Cradock

    07.27.07 2:13 PM

    I'd like to see some phone system elements.

  28. Julia

    07.28.07 3:11 PM

    Thanks for all your great work.

    I would love to see some MindMapping layouts in a clean and modern style.

  29. Rik

    07.28.07 8:37 PM

    I agree with Ashley above, some well-developed business stencils would be most useful. For myself, the creative stuff like mind map stencils (with associated (and configurable) logic behaviour for layout) would be great.

  30. Beth

    07.29.07 8:38 PM

    I've created some computer science data structures stencils (linked lists, binary trees, red-black trees). It would be cool to make those more robust so that they could arrange themselves neatly.


    Work on that would help with the family tree.


    UML 2.0

  31. Kurt

    07.30.07 12:23 AM

    Lots o network and rack infrastructure stencils. Generic stencils covering the range of things such as load balancers, app firewalls, IDS', etc. Generic servers, UPS', storage arrays in all manner of rack U's.

  32. MP

    07.30.07 1:48 AM

    A more efficient Mind Mapping stencil would be much appreciated. The problem with the existing one is that it is too fiddly, requiring plenty of dragging and positioning to get anything done.


    I think it is worthwhile for Omni to implement this ... or develop an independent Mind Map product, which seems an overkill to me because OmniGraffle really has 90% of what it takes.


    The ideal would really be a two-way exchange between OmniOutliner to OmniGraffle. You would develop an outline in OmniOutliner, transfer it to OmniGraffle into a MindMap, work some more ... and export back to OmniOutliner. Needless to say, the end product would get a new life in OmniPlan ... Is this feasible?

  33. Ross

    07.30.07 7:25 AM

    I found this page while searching for a stencil for my new home theater project, so I want a home theater stencil!  Amps, TVs, DVD players, etc.  There is one out there for different connections and wiring, but actual hardware objects would be great.

  34. dave

    07.30.07 1:20 PM

    1) home wifi network stencil - standards items that already exist in others, but in one combined (furniture, tv, router, hub, extenders, devices, but keep home./furniture minimal..and wiring!)


    2) better mindmaps, just mo' of 'em..

  35. Trey

    07.31.07 5:34 AM

    It's probably not high on anyone else's list, but it would be nice to see workshop/garage specific items added to floorplans/layouts. I would like to see stencils for workbenches, table saws, bandsaws, drill presses, planers, jointers, routers, etc.

  36. Alberto

    07.31.07 5:44 AM

    Hi, i'm looking for stencil with siemens products (phone adapter ecc..) somebody have links or info?

  37. Rik

    08.01.07 8:06 PM

    If you do enhance the mind map functions in OnmiGraffle, please consider an export to OmniFocus / Omnioutliner to export the mind map data structure to a hierarchical outline to kickstart the actual “doing” of the conceptual stuff.

  38. Frank

    08.03.07 2:53 AM

    How big arrows—straight, curved, orthogonal, that can take fill colors.  I know I can make them (and often do) but some time you just want an easy solution.

  39. a

    08.13.07 8:44 PM

    lots of people stencils and stencils for types of building would be real useful.

  40. Greg

    08.14.07 4:05 AM

    Electronics design stencils would be nice.  Just found some at Graffletopia, but rolling something into the Omnigraffle release would be good.

  41. dionne

    08.15.07 12:25 PM

    Stencil for creating ERD and Database design with options to create constraints (primary keys, unique keys, foreign keys) and specify the data types. The existing ERD templates are not very good and hard to manipulate.

  42. Tom

    08.17.07 3:47 PM

    I'd like to see computer 42u cabinet and rack stencils where it was easy to drop in 1U, 2U, 3U, and 4U servers and network gear.  I'm looking now for a stencil containing a 42U rack, and can't find one.

  43. [...] 20, 2008 at 4:06 pm · Filed under Apple   The Omni Mouth » Call for OmniGraffle stencil requests: great stencils for [...]

  44. sam

    12.16.08 10:24 PM

    Please, Where i can find medical stencils for CT, MRI, X-ray.

  45. Carol

    03.16.09 5:32 AM

    Where can I find some medical documentation stencils. They would include stencils of hand, foot, face, body, arm, elbow….

  46. Cisco

    08.21.09 2:12 PM

    Chemical lab equipment: flasks, distillation columns, heat sources, vacuum, etc (esp. organic) for flow charting synthesis and other types of experiments.

  47. Eric

    10.14.09 11:05 AM

    SmartDraw is a great product but it only works on windoze.  Their templates for furniture and walls are very useful.

  48. Valerie

    02.03.10 7:48 AM

    Would love to have stencils for designing interactive TV applications/channels :)

  49. Christine Hines

    02.06.10 12:08 AM

    A previous version (Omni Graffle 3) had a floor plan stencil.  Why did it go away?  I have a lot of floor plans based on that. Since you don't have a floor plan stencil for OmniGraffle 5 I am forced to stay with version 3.

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